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. It is now the site of several offices and the University of Auckland's largest student accommodation Carlaw Park Student Village.
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. [1]
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. [2] 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. [2] The ground was purchased for $200,000 in 1974.
The ground hosted 3 Winfield Cup games (one in 1992 the two other games were held in 1993) with the first game between Newcastle and Manly Warringah attracting 17,368 spectators. [3] 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. [4] Between 1924 and 1999 Carlaw Park hosted sixty-six Test matches. [2] 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.
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. [5] 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. [6] 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. [7] The backers of Carlaw Park hosting the Cup secured NZ$200 million for its possible development, [8] but the government finally chose Eden Park to host the World Cup games.
Carlaw Park is now the site of several offices, a Quest Apartments hotel building, and the University of Auckland's largest student accommodation Carlaw Park Student Village. [9] [10] [11] Since mid-November 2018, Carlaw Park has been connected by a walkway to the Parnell railway station. [12]
List of rugby league test matches played at Carlaw Park. [13]
| Test# | Date | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 August 1924 |  New Zealand def.  England 16-8 | 22,000 |
| 2 | 4 August 1928 | New Zealand def. England 17-13 | 28,000 |
| 3 | 30 July 1932 | England def. New Zealand 24-9 | 25,000 |
| 4 | 20 August 1932 | England def. New Zealand 20-18 | 6,500 |
| 5 | 28 September 1935 | New Zealand def.  Australia 22-14 | 20,000 |
| 6 | 2 October 1935 | Australia def. New Zealand 29-8 | 8,000 |
| 7 | 4 October 1935 | Australia def. New Zealand 31-8 | 20,000 |
| 8 | 8 August 1936 | England def. New Zealand 10-8 | 25,000 |
| 9 | 15 August 1936 | England def. New Zealand 23-11 | 17,000 |
| 10 | 7 August 1937 | Australia def. New Zealand 12-8 | 12,000 |
| 11 | 14 August 1937 | New Zealand def. Australia 16-15 | 25,000 |
| 12 | 10 August 1946 | New Zealand def. England 13-8 | 11,000 |
| 13 | 8 October 1949 | Australia def. New Zealand 13-10 | 12,361 |
| 14 | 12 August 1950 | New Zealand def.  Great Britain 20-13 | 20,000 |
| 15 | 4 August 1951 | New Zealand def.  France 16-15 | 19,229 |
| 16 | 18 July 1953 | Australia def. New Zealand 18-16 | 16,033 |
| 17 | 24 July 1954 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 27-7 | 22,097 |
| 18 | 14 August 1954 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 12-6 | 6,186 |
| 19 | 6 August 1955 | France def. New Zealand 19-9 | 20,500 |
| 20 | 13 August 1955 | New Zealand def. France 11-6 | 12,000 |
| 21 | 26 July 1958 | New Zealand def. Great Britain 15-10 | 25,000 |
| 22 | 9 August 1958 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 32-15 | 25,000 |
| 23 | 23 July 1960 | New Zealand def. France 9-2 | 17,914 |
| 24 | 6 August 1960 | New Zealand def. France 9-3 | 14,007 |
| 25 | 1 July 1961 | New Zealand def. Australia 12-10 | 11,485 |
| 26 | 8 July 1961 | Australia def. New Zealand 10-8 | 12,424 |
| 27 | 23 July 1962 | New Zealand def. Great Britain 19-0 | 14,976 |
| 28 | 10 August 1962 |  South Africa def. New Zealand 4-3 | |
| 29 | 11 August 1962 | New Zealand def. Great Britain 27-8 | 16,411 |
| 30 | 25 July 1964 | New Zealand def. France 24-16 | 10,148 |
| 31 | 15 August 1964 | New Zealand def. France 10-2 | 7,279 |
| 32 | 19 June 1965 | Australia def. New Zealand 13-8 | 13,205 |
| 33 | 26 June 1965 | New Zealand def. Australia 7-5 | 11,383 |
| 34 | 6 August 1966 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 25-8 | 14,494 |
| 35 | 20 August 1966 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 22-14 | 10,657 |
| 36 | 1 June 1969 | Australia def. New Zealand 20-10 | 13,459 |
| 37 | 7 June 1969 | New Zealand def. Australia 18-14 | 9,848 |
| 38 | 11 July 1970 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 19-15 | 15,948 |
| 39 | 25 July 1970 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 33-16 | 13,137 |
| 40 | 26 June 1971 | New Zealand def. Australia 24-3 | 13,917 |
| 41 | 27 July 1974 | New Zealand def. Great Britain 13-8 | 10,466 |
| 42 | 10 August 1974 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 20-0 | 11,574 |
| 43 | 21 July 1979 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 16-8 | 9,000 |
| 44 | 11 August 1979 | New Zealand def. Great Britain 18-11 | 7,000 |
| 45 | 1 June 1980 | Australia def. New Zealand 27-6 | 12,321 |
| 46 | 15 June 1980 | Australia def. New Zealand 15-6 | 9,706 |
| 47 | 7 June 1981 | New Zealand def. France 26-3 | 12,200 |
| 48 | 21 June 1981 | New Zealand def. France 25-2 | 8,100 |
| 49 | 12 June 1983 | Australia def. New Zealand 16-4 | 18,000 |
| 50 | 2 October 1983 | New Zealand def.  Papua New Guinea 60-20 | 7,000 |
| 51 | 14 July 1984 | New Zealand def. Great Britain 12-0 | 10,238 |
| 52 | 28 July 1984 | New Zealand def. Great Britain 32-16 | 7,967 |
| 53 | 30 June 1985 | Australia def. New Zealand 10-6 | 19,132 |
| 54 | 7 July 1985 | New Zealand def. Australia 18-0 | 15,327 |
| 55 | 6 July 1986 | Australia def. New Zealand 22-8 | 14,566 |
| 56 | 13 June 1991 | New Zealand def. France 60-6 | 7,000 |
| 57 | 22 October 1999 | New Zealand def.  Tonga 74-0 | 4,528 |
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# | Date | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 May 1968 | France def. New Zealand 15-10 | 18,000 |
| 2 | 2 June 1968 | France def. Great Britain 7-2 | 15,760 |
| 3 | 21 June 1975 | New Zealand drew with England 17-17 | 12,000 |
| 4 | 21 June 1975 | New Zealand def.  Wales 13-8 | 9,368 |
| 5 | 27 September 1975 | Australia def. New Zealand 24-8 | 18,000 |
| 6 | 29 May 1977 | Australia def. New Zealand 27-12 | 18,000 |
| 7 | 5 June 1977 | Great Britain def. France 23-4 | 10,000 |
| 8 | 19 June 1977 | New Zealand def. France 28-20 | 8,000 |
| 9 | 10 July 1988 | New Zealand def. Papua New Guinea 66-14 | 8,392 |
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