Carlaw Park


Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of around 28,000 in the 1930s, though this fell to around 17,000 by the time the ground was closed in 2002.

History

The stadium's grandstands and terraces were built in 1916, and it became the home of rugby league in Auckland from 1921. It was named after James Carlaw, the chairman of the Auckland Rugby League managing committee who secured the land in 1920 and developed the ground further.
The ground was officially opened on 25 June 1921 and City Rovers defeated Maritime 10–8 on the opening day in front of 7,000 fans. Herb Lunn scored the first try and Eric Grey kicked the first goal on the ground.
The ground hosted the sole test match in the New Zealand leg of the 1951 French rugby league tour of Australasia.
The Auckland Rugby League spent £4,322 on capital expenditure in developing the ground. The ground was purchased for $200,000 in 1974.
The ground hosted 3 Winfield Cup games with the first game between Newcastle and Manly Warringah attracting 17,368 spectators. Strong attendances across these matches led to the inclusion of the Auckland Warriors into the Winfield Cup in 1995.
During its long history it hosted many matches in various Rugby League World Cups. The stadium capacity was officially listed as 17,000 when it closed in 2002 due to health and safety reasons. Between 1924 and 1999 Carlaw Park hosted sixty-six Test matches. The largest Test crowd was an estimated 28,000 during the 1928 England tour. New Zealand won the game, defeating England 17–13. The final rugby league test at the ground came on 22 October 1999 when New Zealand defeated Tonga 74–0 in front of the ground's lowest ever test crowd of 4,528.

Later years

In August 2006 the Auckland Rugby League reached an agreement to lease the property off to be developed as a retirement home. No development has started as of August 2007. However the site has been officially 'handed over' in August 2007 in a ceremony involving Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Carlaw Park was one of the venues under consideration for Stadium New Zealand, a proposed stadium to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Complications over the lease of the property, the requirement for additional land to be taken from Auckland Domain, and the proximity of the heavy traffic on Stanley Street led to other options being preferred by the Government. The backers of Carlaw Park hosting the Cup secured NZ$200 million for its possible development, but the government finally chose Eden Park to host the World Cup games.
Carlaw Park is now the site of a Caltex service station, several offices, a Quest Apartments hotel building, and the University of Auckland's largest student accommodation Carlaw Park Student Village. Since mid-November 2018, Carlaw Park has been connected by a walkway to the Parnell railway station.

Rugby league test matches

List of rugby league test matches played at Carlaw Park.
Test#DateResultAttendance
12 August 1924 def. 16-822,000
24 August 1928 def. 17-1328,000
330 July 1932 def. 24-925,000
420 August 1932 def. 20-186,500
528 September 1935 def. 22-1420,000
62 October 1935 def. 29-88,000
74 October 1935 def. 31-820,000
88 August 1936 def. 10-825,000
915 August 1936 def. 23-1117,000
107 August 1937 def. 12-812,000
1114 August 1937 def. 16-1525,000
1210 August 1946 def. 13-811,000
138 October 1949 def. 13-1012,361
1412 August 1950 def. 20-1320,000
154 August 1951 def. 16-1519,229
1618 July 1953 def. 18-1616,033
1724 July 1954 def. 27-722,097
1814 August 1954 def. 12-66,186
196 August 1955 def. 19-920,500
2013 August 1955 def. 11-612,000
2126 July 1958 def. 15-1025,000
229 August 1958 def. 32-1525,000
2323 July 1960 def. 9-217,914
246 August 1960 def. 9-314,007
251 July 1961 def. 12-1011,485
268 July 1961 def. 10-812,424
2723 July 1962 def. 19-014,976
2810 August 1962 def. 4-3
2911 August 1962 def. 27-816,411
3025 July 1964 def. 24-1610,148
3115 August 1964 def. 10-27,279
3219 June 1965 def. 13-813,205
3326 June 1965 def. 7-511,383
346 August 1966 def. 25-814,494
3520 August 1966 def. 22-1410,657
361 June 1969 def. 20-1013,459
377 June 1969 def. 18-149,848
3811 July 1970 def. 19-1515,948
3925 July 1970 def. 33-1613,137
4026 June 1971 def. 24-313,917
4127 July 1974 def. 13-810,466
4210 August 1974 def. 20-011,574
4321 July 1979 def. 16-89,000
4411 August 1979 def. 18-117,000
451 June 1980 def. 27-612,321
4615 June 1980 def. 15-69,706
477 June 1981 def. 26-312,200
4821 June 1981 def. 25-28,100
4912 June 1983 def. 16-418,000
502 October 1983 def. 60-207,000
5114 July 1984 def. 12-010,238
5228 July 1984 def. 32-167,967
5330 June 1985 def. 10-619,132
547 July 1985 def. 18-015,327
556 July 1986 def. 22-814,566
5613 June 1991 def. 60-67,000
5722 October 1999 def. 74-04,528

Rugby League World Cup

List of Rugby League World Cup matches played at Carlaw Park.
Results are from the 1968, 1975, 1977 and 1985–1988 World Cups.
WC Game#DateResultAttendance
125 May 1968 def. 15-1018,000
22 June 1968 def. 7-215,760
321 June 1975 drew with 17-1712,000
421 June 1975 def. 13-89,368
527 September 1975 def. 24-818,000
629 May 1977 def. 27-1218,000
75 June 1977 def. 23-410,000
819 June 1977 def. 28-208,000
910 July 1988 def. 66-148,392