Robina Stadium

For the home of the Geelong Football Club, known commercially as "Skilled Stadium", see Kardinia Park (stadium).

Skilled Park
Location	Robina, Gold Coast, Queensland
Coordinates	28°4′1″S 153°22′44″E
Broke ground	2006
Opened	February 2008
Owner	Queensland Government
Operator	Major Sports Facilities Authority
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	A$ 160 million
Architect	Populous(formerly HOK Sport Venue Event)
Capacity	27,400 [1]
Tenants
Gold Coast Titans (NRL) (2008-present) Gold Coast United (A-League) (2009-present) 2018 Commonwealth Games (Rugby 7s)

Robina Stadium, currently known as its sponsored name Skilled Park, is a rectangular football stadium in the Gold Coast suburb of Robina, Queensland. It is the home ground to the National Rugby League's Gold Coast Titans and A-League's Gold Coast United. Starting in 2011, it will also become the home of the Gold Coast Sevens, the country's leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.

Construction of the venue started in 2006, and finished in February 2008, in time for the 2008 National Rugby League season, when it became the new home of the Titans.

The Stadium

Robina Stadium is located in the satellite growth suburb of Robina, next to Robina railway station. The stadium is effectively a smaller version of Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, and was designed by the same company. The project was funded by the Queensland Government. On 27 September 2006, it was announced that the new ground would be renamed Skilled Park after SKILLED Group won the naming rights to the stadium. The land for the site was purchased by the Gold Coast City Council and gifted to the Queensland Government to build the Stadium.

Sports Minister Judy Spence announced that the new stadium will now be able to seat 27,400 people instead of 25,000. This came after workers on the site found extra space for about 2,400 seats across the stadium while construction was in progress.

Robina Stadium hosted 2 matches in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, which was held in Australia. The ground also became host to the newly created A-League side, Gold Coast United, starting in 2009-10.

The ground first saw finals football when the Titans, in their first finals appearance, hosted the Brisbane Broncos in the first week of the 2009 NRL season play-offs. This ground also witnessed finals when the Gold Coast Titans defeated the New Zealand Warriors 28-16 in the 2010 finals.

Beginning in November 2011, the stadium will host the Gold Coast Sevens, the first event in the annual IRB Sevens World Series of rugby sevens. The country's leg of the series had previously been staged by Adelaide in early autumn (March/April), but was put up for bidding upon the expiry of Adelaide's hosting contract.

Attendance

The stadium produced a record attendance of 27,176 on 18 April 2008 when it hosted the Heritage Round National Rugby League match between Gold Coast Titans and Brisbane Broncos. This figure was surpassed by a crowd of 27,227 on 12 September in a match against the same team in the 3rd qualifying final of the NRL Finals Series 2009.

The stadium produced a record low A-League attendance on 1 December 2010, attracting 1,714 when Gold Coast United hosted the now-defunct North Queensland Fury.

See also

• Carrara Stadium - Used as the primary home venue of the Titans in 2007.

External links

• Skilled Stadium to accommodate an extra 2,000 people: Spence
• Queensland Government - Gold Coast Stadium
• Major Sports Facility Authority: Gold Coast Stadium
• Major Sports Facility Authority: Gold Coast Stadium images
• Robina Stadium at Austadiums
• Skilled wins Titans naming rights
• Skilled Group - Winner of the naming rights