Clive Berghofer Stadium

Last updated

Clive Berghofer Stadium
Clive Berghofer Stadium
AddressArthur & Mary Sts, Toowoomba
Coordinates 27°33′33″S151°57′58″E / 27.55917°S 151.96611°E / -27.55917; 151.96611
Capacity 9,000 [1]
SurfaceGrass
Tenants

Clive Berghofer Stadium (officially known as Toowoomba Sports Ground and previously known as Athletic Oval) [2] is a stadium in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Situated on Mary Street on the eastern fringes of Toowoomba CBD adjacent to Queens Park and Toowoomba East State School. The ticket counters and entrance are on Arthur Street behind the (east facing) grandstand.

It was renamed to reflect the home club's major sponsor, philanthropist property developer and former local Mayor Clive Berghofer. The stadium is the home ground of National Premier Leagues soccer club, the South West Queensland Thunder. The Gold Coast Titans have played pre-season games here since 2014 and in 2018 hosted the first ever National Rugby League (NRL) premiership match in Toowoomba. The stadium also plays host to rugby league, rugby union and football (soccer) and includes lights which are up to National Rugby League standard. The recently upgraded grandstand includes undercover seating for 2,300. It has the capacity to hold 9,000 people officially; however, the largest crowd is estimated to be 10,000 which occurred during a 2004 NRL pre-season game between Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm. [1] In the past, the stadium has hosted international and national rugby league matches as well as concerts and rodeos.

The stadium became the scene of controversy when indigenous activist Stephen Hagan in 1999 noticed a sign declaring the name of the E. S. "Nigger" Brown Stand, named after the 1920s rugby league player Edwin Stanley Brown who was also known as "Nigger" Brown. Hagan regarded the word "nigger" as offensive and embarked on a ten-year campaign to have the stand renamed, while those opposed to the renaming said that Brown's nickname could not be a racial slur as Brown was a fair-skinned man of European descent. While Hagan's court battles were ultimately unsuccessful, the name was not used again when the stand was demolished as part of the stadium's upgrades. [3] [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Football Stadium (1988)</span> Former sports venue in Sydney, Australia

The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in the Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rectangular field venue for rugby league, rugby union and football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lang Park</span> Multi-purpose stadium in Milton, Queensland, Australia

Lang Park, nicknamed "The Cauldron", also known as Brisbane Stadium and by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility comprises a three-tiered rectangular sporting stadium with a capacity of 52,500 people. The traditional home of rugby league in Brisbane, the modern stadium is also now used for rugby union and soccer and has a rectangular playing field of 136 by 82 metres. The stadium's major tenants are the Brisbane Broncos, the Dolphins (NRL), the Queensland Reds and the Queensland Maroons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newcastle International Sports Centre</span> Sports stadium in Newcastle, Australia

Newcastle International Sports Centre, known as McDonald Jones Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Newcastle, Australia. The ground is home to the Newcastle Knights and Newcastle Jets FC (A-League). It is owned by the Government of New South Wales and is administered by Venues NSW. Due to past sponsorship deals, the ground has been previously known as Marathon Stadium, EnergyAustralia Stadium, Ausgrid Stadium and Hunter Stadium. Newcastle International Sports Centre is also known as Newcastle Stadium when in use during AFC competitions due to conflicting sponsorship reasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Beetson</span> Australian former RL coach & Australia international rugby league footballer

Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia, New South Wales and Queensland all between 1964 and 1981. His main position was at prop. Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain Australia in any sport and is frequently cited as the best post-war forward in Australian rugby league history. He also had an extensive coaching career, spanning the 1970s to the 1990s, coaching Australia, Queensland, Eastern Suburbs, Redcliffe Dolphins and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

The Central Division of the Queensland Rugby League is responsible for the promotion, administration, and facilitation of rugby league throughout most of regional Queensland. Regional areas include the Darling Downs, Wide Bay–Burnett, the South West, the Central West, and Fitzroy & Mackay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballymore Stadium</span> Multifunctional Australian stadium in Brisbane

Ballymore is a rugby union stadium situated in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia. It is the headquarters of Queensland Rugby Union and was the home ground of the Brisbane City team in the National Rugby Championship, until the league's disbandment in 2019. It is also used as a training facility for the Queensland Reds and Australian Wallabies rugby teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindmarsh Stadium</span> Football stadium

Hindmarsh Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Australian A-League team, Adelaide United.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Webcke</span> Australia international rugby league footballer

Shane Webcke is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, who spent his entire club career playing for the Brisbane Broncos. Webcke represented Queensland in the State of Origin 21 times and also captained the side. He made 26 test appearances for Australia. His position was prop forward and at his peak he was renowned as the best front rower in the world. Alongside Glenn Lazarus and Arthur Beetson, Webcke is considered by many to have been one of the finest post-war front-rowers to play the game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willows Sports Complex</span> Stadium in Townsville, Queensland, Australia

The Willows Sports Complex was a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was used predominantly as a rugby league ground as the home ground of the North Queensland Cowboys National Rugby League club. The ground was also used for rugby union and soccer. From 2009 to 2011, A-League football club North Queensland Fury called it home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parramatta Stadium</span> Defunct sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia,

Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta Eels of the National Rugby League and the Western Sydney Wanderers of the A-League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wollongong Showground</span> Multi-sports stadium

Wollongong Showground, known as WIN Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Wollongong, Australia. The stadium was officially opened in 1911. From 1982 until 1998 it played host to every home match for the Illawarra Steelers NRL team, and is still the team's home ground in the lower grade competitions. It is now used as one home ground of the St George Illawarra Dragons rugby league side and Wollongong Wolves of the National Premier Leagues NSW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Clydesdales</span> Australian rugby league club, based in Toowoomba, QLD

The WesternClydesdales are a rugby league football club based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The Clydesdales originally played in the Queensland Cup from the competition's inception in 1996 until 2006, and were the feeder club for the Brisbane Broncos between 1999 and 2006. They re-entered the Queensland Cup in 2023 as the Western Clydesdales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports on the Gold Coast, Queensland</span>

Sport on the Gold Coast has a rich history. As a popular tourist destination leisure sports like Golf, but most particularly sports associated with its famous beaches, have always been popular. A number of surf clubs line Gold Coasts beaches, who host a variety of swimming and athletic events collected into surf carnivals along with competitions evolved from methods of surf life saving.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncan Thompson</span> Australian RL coach and former Australia international rugby league footballer

Duncan Fulton Thompson MBE was an Australian veteran of both WWI and WWII and a rugby league footballer, coach and administrator. He was wounded on active service in WWI and has been named amongst the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century, and is regarded as the father of modern coaching. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1960 New Year Honours "for services to the community in the field of Sport."

Stephen Hagan is an Australian author and anti-racism campaigner. He is also a newspaper editor, documentary maker, university lecturer and former diplomat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunshine Coast Stadium</span> Sports venue in Bokarina, Queensland, Australia

Sunshine Coast Stadium is a multi-sport venue located at Bokarina in the Kawana Waters urban centre on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. The stadium is the main venue in a sporting precinct that also includes seven fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penrith Stadium</span> Stadium in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia

Penrith Stadium is a rugby league and association football stadium located in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwin Brown</span> Australian rugby league footballer

Edwin Stanley "Nigger" Brown (1898–1972) was an Australian rugby league player who played in the 1910s and 1920s. A Queensland state and Australian international representative centre, he played club rugby in Toowoomba for Newtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South West Queensland Thunder FC</span> Football club

South West Queensland Thunder is a semi-professional soccer club based Toowoomba, and represents the South West Queensland Region in the National Premier Leagues Queensland and Football Queensland Premier League. The club was established in 2012, and play their home fixtures at Clive Berghofer Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Sydney Stadium</span> Stadium in Parramatta, Australia

Western Sydney Stadium, commercially known as CommBank Stadium, is a multi-purpose rectangular stadium in Parramatta, within the Greater Western Sydney region, approximately 24 km (15 mi) west of Sydney CBD. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium (1986) which in turn was built on the site of the old Cumberland Oval, home ground to the Parramatta Eels since 1947. The current stadium opened in April 2019 and has a 30,000-seat capacity. The stadium is owned by the NSW Government and built at a cost of $300 million. The stadium hosts games across the major rectangular field sports in Sydney.

References

  1. 1 2 Profile at austadiums.com
  2. "Stadium Information". cliveberghoferstadium.com.au. Queensland Department of National Parks, Recreation Sport & Racing. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  3. "'Nigger' Brown issue laid to rest at last". Brisbane Times . Fairfax Media. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  4. "Controversial stand to be demolished". Brisbane Times. Australia: Fairfax Media. 22 May 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2011.