Carrara Stadium
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Carrara Stadium or Carrara Sports Complex is a sporting venue on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia located in the suburb of Carrara. In 2007 it will be the home ground for the Gold Coast Titans National Rugby League team for their inaugural season. It has previously been the home ground for teams in the Australian rules football (AFL), Australian Rugby League (ARL) and National Rugby League (NRL) competitions.
History
Carrara Stadium was built on the site of pre-existing Carrara Oval by Christopher Skase after the Brisbane Bears were granted a licence to enter the VFL Australian rules football competition. The stadium was built with makeshift stands designed for night games to maximise the television audience. The Fitzroy Football Club defeated the Brisbane Bears in the first VFL game played at Carrara Oval before a crowd of 17,795 in 1987.[link] (The Brisbane Lions website records this crowd as 22,684, however the stadium did not have this capacity in 1987.[link])
However the Bears onfield performance proved poor and VFL crowds at Carrara stadium rarely reached these heights again. In 1993 the Bears relocated to the Gabba. The ground was then sold to the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) and left without a major tenant, although the Gold Coast Seagulls played home games against the Brisbane Broncos at the ground.
The Gold Coast Clippers a team in the now defunct Australian Baseball League played the 1989-90 season at Carrara Stadium before changing their name to the Daikyo Dolphins and moving to Palm Meadows. However by the 1992-93 season they moved back to Carrara, and subsequently changed their name to the Gold Coast Cougars after Daikyo pulled sponsorship of the team. The Cougars continued using Carrara up untill the of the Australian Baseball League ended because of financial difficulties in 1999.
The Gold Coast City Council built an indoor sports centre nearby which hosted the Gold Coast Rollers National Basketball League team until 1996, when they were excluded from the competition.
In that year the Gold Coast Chargers moved to the stadium for their matches in the Australian Rugby League competition. The continued to use the ground until the end of the 1998 season, when they were locked down by the newly-formed National Rugby League. Rugby league matches have continued to be played at the stadium, with pre-season trials being played there annually from 2002 to 2005[link], and NRL premiership matches in 2001 and 2005.
In 2005 the NRL announced that a licence would be awarded to the Gold Coast Titans, and that the stadium would be their home ground in 2007 until the completion of Gold Coast Stadium, which will be opened in 2008. [link]
2006 Schedule
The following matches are scheduled for 2006 at Carrara Stadium.
| Date | Teams | Sport | Competition | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 February | Brisbane Lions v. Essendon Bombers | Australian rules football | NAB Cup | 13,269 [link] |
| 25 February | Canterbury Bulldogs v. New Zealand Warriors | rugby league | NRL pre-season trial | 12,130 [link] |
| 11 March | Sydney Swans v. Richmond Tigers | Australian rules football | AFL Regional Challenge pre-season trial | 6,277 [link] |
| 18 March | Brisbane Lions v. Collingwood Magpies | Australian rules football | AFL Regional Challenge pre-season trial | 10,117 [link] |
| 16 April | Melbourne Demons v. Adelaide Crows | Australian rules football | AFL premiership | 8,258 [link] |
| 13 May | Hawthorn Hawks v. Brisbane Lions | Australian rules football | AFL premiership | 12,415 [link] |
| June 18 | Canterbury Bulldogs v. North Queensland Cowboys | rugby league | NRL premiership | 16,231 |
| July 15 | Queensland Roar v. Sydney FC | soccer | A League pre-season | 7,132 |
Attendance records
| Date | Teams | Sport | Competition | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 March 1994 | Gold Coast Chargers v. Brisbane Broncos | rugby league | New South Wales Rugby League premiership | 22,688 |
| 27 May 2005 | North Queensland Cowboys v. Canterbury Bulldogs | rugby league | National Rugby League premiership | 21,012 |
| 28 February 2005 | St George Illawarra Dragons v. Canterbury Bulldogs | rugby league | National Rugby League pre-season | 18,356 [link] |
Tenants
| Years | Tenant | Sport |
|---|---|---|
| 1983-1984 | Nerang Bulls | Rugby union |
| 1987-1992 | Brisbane Bears | Australian rules football |
| 1989-90 | Gold Coast Clippers | Baseball |
| 1992-93 | Daikyo Dolphins | Baseball |
| 1993-1999 | Gold Coast Cougars | Baseball |
| 1996-1998 | Gold Coast Chargers | Rugby league |
| 2007 | Gold Coast Titans | Rugby league |
Sources
- [AFL Attendance Records]
- [NRL Attendance Records]
- [Brisbane Lions website]
- [Gold Coast Titans website]
- [Nerang Bulls Rugby Union website]
- [Gold Coast City Council - Carrara Stadium]
See also
External links
- [Description and aerial view of Carrara Oval at the Gold Coast City Council's web site]
- [Austadiums Cararra Profile]
- [Bring Carrara Back to Life - But Slowly]
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