View source for Concord Oval

{{Short description|Rugby stadium in New South Wales, Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox venue
| stadium_name      = Concord Oval
| nickname          = 
| image             = [[File:Concord Oval eastern grandstand.JPG|300px]]
| caption           = Concord Oval showing the eastern grandstand prior to redevelopment
| location          = [[Concord, New South Wales]]
| coordinates       = {{coord|33|52|6|S|151|6|34|E|type:landmark_region:AU|display=inline,title}}
| broke_ground      = 
| opened            = 1985
| closed            = 
| demolished        = 
| owner             = [[City of Canada Bay]]
| operator          = 
| surface           = Grass
| construction_cost = $85 million (2021–22 redevelopment)
| architect         = 
| former_names      = 
| tenants           = [[West Harbour RFC]]<br />[[Western Suburbs Magpies]] (1910–11, 1915–19, 1942)<br />[[Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs]] (1994)<br/>[[Inter Lions SC]]<br />[[Wests Tigers]] (training + administration)
| seating_capacity  = 5,000
|}}

'''Concord Oval''' (also '''Waratah Stadium''') is a [[rugby football]] [[stadium]] in the inner-western [[Sydney]] suburb of [[Concord, New South Wales|Concord]], Australia. The stadium can hold 5000 people, as of November 2022, down from 20,000 when it opened in 1985. {{As of|2022}}, it is used mostly for [[rugby union]] matches and hosted eight matches during the [[1987 Rugby World Cup]]. It is also a venue for [[association football|soccer]] and local [[rugby league]] matches.

Concord Oval is the home ground of [[West Harbour RFC]] in the [[Shute Shield]] rugby union competition, and was the home of [[Greater Sydney Rams]] in the defunct [[National Rugby Championship]]. It is also the training and administration base for the [[Wests Tigers]] rugby league club. The [[Inter Lions SC]] soccer club plays some home games at the ground.

==Facilities==
Since 2022, the stadium has a grandstand on the western side that doubles as the Wests Tigers training and administration facility. The northern end hosts an indoor community sports facility. A small grass hill is on the eastern side with a basketball court and overflow car park behind it while another grass hill is located at the southern end. During the redevelopment, temporary training and administration facilities for the Wests Tigers were located there.

Prior to the redevelopment in 2021, the stadium had two opposing grandstands. The eastern stand hosted tennis box-style seats, a television gantry and change rooms, and ran approximately from try-line to try-line. The western stand contained a gym and some box-style seating. This stand ran approximately from dead-ball line to dead-ball line. In front of the western stand were two rows of seats, while a concrete path extended around the field (except where it ran behind the aforementioned two rows of seats). At each end there was a grassy hill. At the southern or Parramatta Road end, there was a wooden, manually operated scoreboard with an analogue clock.

The stadium is bordered by Gipps Street to the north, [[Parramatta Road]] to the south, Loftus Street to the west and the Cintra Hockey Centre to the east. Parking is at a premium with small carparks behind the northern hill, eastern stand and in the south-east corner, although [[Burwood railway station, Sydney|Burwood railway station]] is not too far away, and the 410, 415, 461N, 461X, 464, 466 and 530 bus routes pass close to the stadium.

==History==
St Luke's Park, which was the home ground of Sydney's [[Western Suburbs Magpies]] [[rugby league]] club in [[1910 NSWRFL season|1910]] and [[1911 NSWRFL season|1911]] was where Concord Oval is now located.<ref>{{cite web|last=westsmagpies.com.au|title=Home Grounds|url=http://www.westsmagpies.com.au/archives/000/php/venues.php|work=Wests Archives|publisher=[[Western Suburbs Magpies]]|access-date=19 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127020820/http://www.westsmagpies.com.au/archives/000/php/venues.php|archive-date=27 January 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Wests started playing their matches at [[Pratten Park]] in 1912, but after pressure from local residents there the council refused the club permission to use that ground, forcing them to return to St. Luke's Oval from 1915 to 1919.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ashfield Municipal Council|author-link=Ashfield Municipal Council|title=Pratten Park Plan of Management|date=2008|publisher=ashfield.nsw.gov.au|location=Australia|pages=6–7|url=http://www.ashfield.nsw.gov.au/files/recreation/parks_and_reserves/plans_of_management/pom_-_pratten__park_-_april_2008.pdf}}</ref> From 1920 Wests resumed playing at Pratten Park and played at St Luke's again in [[1942 NSWRFL season|1942]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://afltables.com/rl/venues/st_lukes_gm.html|title=St Lukes - All Games|website=afltables.com|accessdate=2022-12-05}}</ref>

Concord Oval was reconstructed between 1984 and 1987 to become the home of [[Rugby union]] in Sydney<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shuteshield.com/the-end-of-an-era-at-concord-oval/|title=West Harbour: The End Of An Era At Concord Oval {{!}} Shute Shield|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-01-17}}</ref> and subsequently the redeveloped venue hosted games in the [[1987 Rugby World Cup]].

The stadium also hosted four first grade [[rugby league]] matches, three of them in 1994 as [[Bulldogs Rugby League Football Club|Canterbury]]'s second home ground during that season.

In the early 2010s the City of Canada Bay Council prepared a masterplan <ref>http://www.lpma.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/171785/Concord_Oval_draft_POM_for_public_exhibition_May_2012_version.pdf{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> to bring major events back to an expanded and rejuvenated Concord Oval. This includes construction and installation of broadcasting equipment such as satellite dishes, antennas, camera platforms and commentary boxes, as well as training quality floodlighting and a new scoreboard.

In 2020, it was announced that the Concord Oval will undergo a $51 million redevelopment to accommodate the [[Wests Tigers]] new training and administration complex to be completed by mid–2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.austadiums.com/news/news.php?id=731|title=$51m Concord Oval redevelopment approved|website=Austadiums|access-date=2020-01-17}}</ref> Demolition works began in mid-2020 with the Eastern Stand completely demolished by July 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forums.leagueunlimited.com/threads/future-nrl-stadiums-part-ii.445841/page-783|title=Future NRL Stadiums part II|website=League Unlimited|date=8 May 2015 |access-date=2020-07-29}}</ref> The new training and administration facility, commercially known as the '''[[Zurich Insurance|Zurich]] Centre''' was officially opened on 18 November 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.austadiums.com/news/1228/wests-tigers-officially-open-centre-of-excellence|title=Wests Tigers officially open Centre of Excellence|website=Austadiums|access-date=2022-12-05}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230801000000*/https://www.adcoconstruct.com.au/case-study/redevelopment-of-concord-oval/ Redevelopment of Concord Oval] ADCO Constructions</ref>

==Rugby World Cup==
Concord Oval hosted six matches of the [[1987 Rugby World Cup|1987]] [[Rugby World Cup]].

{|class="wikitable"
! Date
! Competition
!colspan=2| Home team
!colspan=2| Away team
! Attendance
|-
|23 May 1987 || [[1987 Rugby World Cup|1987]] [[Rugby World Cup]] Pool 1 || {{ru|AUS}} || 19 || {{ru|ENG}} || 6 || 17,896
|-
|30 May 1987 || [[1987 Rugby World Cup|1987]] [[Rugby World Cup]] Pool 1 || {{ru|ENG}} || 60 || {{ru|JPN}} || 7 || 4,893
|-
|rowspan=2|3 June 1987 || rowspan=2|[[1987 Rugby World Cup|1987]] [[Rugby World Cup]] Pool 1 || {{ru|ENG}} || 34 || {{Ru|USA}} || 6 || rowspan=2|8,785
|-
| {{Ru|AUS}} || 42 || {{Ru|JPN}} || 23
|-
|7 June 1987 || [[1987 Rugby World Cup|1987]] [[Rugby World Cup]] Quarter-final 2 || {{Ru|AUS}} || 33 || {{Ru|IRE}} || 15 || 14,356
|-
|13 June 1987 || [[1987 Rugby World Cup|1987]] [[Rugby World Cup]] Semi-final 1 || {{Ru|AUS}} || 24 || {{Ru|FRA}} || 30 || 17,768
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{austadiums|39}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081202024502/http://www.rleague.com/db/venue/concord_oval/index.php Concord Oval] Rleague.com.

{{Australian-baseball-stadiums |state=collapsed}}
{{Sydney Storm |state=collapsed}}
{{1987 Rugby World Cup Venues |state=collapsed}}
{{NRL Grounds}}
{{NRC Grounds}}

[[Category:Western Suburbs Magpies]]
[[Category:Multi-purpose stadiums in Australia]]
[[Category:Sports venues completed in 1985]]
[[Category:Rugby league stadiums in Australia]]
[[Category:Rugby union stadiums in Australia]]
[[Category:1985 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Sports venues in Sydney]]
[[Category:Concord, New South Wales]]
[[Category:Wests Tigers]]