Full name | HFC Bank Stadium |
---|---|
Former names | ANZ Stadium |
Address | Suva Fiji |
Location | Suva, Fiji |
Coordinates | 18°9′0″S178°26′57″E / 18.15000°S 178.44917°E |
Owner | Government of Suva City |
Operator | Government of Suva City |
Capacity | 4,300 |
Construction | |
Built | 1951 |
Renovated | 1978–1979 2012–2013 |
Tenants | |
Suva Highlanders Fijian Drua Suva FC Fiji national football team |
The HFC Bank Stadium (formerly known as ANZ Stadium) [1] is a multi-purpose stadium in Suva, Fiji.
HFC Stadium is used primarily for rugby league, rugby union and football matches, and features a track as well as a pitch suitable for worldwide competition. [2] The stadium has a capacity of 4,300. [2]
Originally called Buckhurst Park, the stadium was constructed in 1951 on sixteen hectares of land given by William H. B. Buckhurst in 1948. [3] [4]
The stadium was first renovated in 1978–1979 for the Sixth South Pacific Games. [5] Work commenced in April 1978 with the demolition of the grandstand, which had lost its roof during Hurricane Bebe. [6] The stadium was renamed National Stadium upon reopening in 1979. [5]
A second renovation took place in 2012, sponsored by ANZ Fiji, Fiji's largest bank, at a cost of FJD $17.5 million. [7] The stadium reopened in March 2013, with a rugby union game between the Fiji national team and Classic All Blacks. [7]
In June 2022, the Fiji Sports Council announced HFC Bank as the new naming right sponsor of the stadium with the new name designated as HFC Bank Stadium. [8]
The 2012–2013 renovation also included the park and playing grounds behind the HFC Bank Stadium, which are known as Bidesi Park and Buckhurst Park, [7] retaining the stadium's original name. [3] The Buckhurst and Bidesi grounds include three pitches primarily used for training and competition in rugby league, rugby union, football, and cricket, [2] and a small stadium and synthetic training track. [7] Buckhurst Park was the site of the National Baseball Diamond used in the 2003 South Pacific Games. [9] [2]
Suva is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Division.
The Fiji men's national football team is Fiji's national men's team and is controlled by the governing body of football in Fiji, the Fiji Football Association. The team plays most of their home games at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva.
The Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union. Fiji competed in the Pacific Tri-Nations and now competes in its successor tournament Pacific Nations Cup. Fiji also regularly plays test matches during the June and November test windows. They have beaten the major rugby playing sides of Wales, Scotland, Australia, France, Italy, Argentina and England. The only major sides Fiji are yet to beat are New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland.
Nausori is a town in Fiji. It had a population of 57,866 at the 2017 census. This makes it the fourth most populous municipality in the country. Situated 19 kilometers outside of Suva, it forms one pole of the burgeoning Suva-Nausori corridor. Nausori is home to three provinces Rewa, Tailevu and Naitasiri.
The Pacific Games, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2023 in Honiara, Solomon Islands. The Games were called the South Pacific Games from 1963 to 2007. The Pacific Games Council (PGC) organises the Games and oversees the host city's preparations. Athletes with a disability are included as full members of their national teams. In each sporting event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals are awarded for second place, and bronze medals are awarded for third place.
The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states.
Apia Park is a multi-function sports complex located in Apia, the capital of Samoa. Primarily used for rugby union events, Apia Park is the home stadium of the Samoa national rugby union team, Manu Samoa. It is also a venue for association football. Manuma Samoa use the venue for rugby union matches.
The 2003 South Pacific Games were held in Suva, Fiji from 28 June to 12 July 2003. They are also known as the XII South Pacific Games.
The 2009 Pacific Nations Cup is a rugby union tournament held between five national sides on the Pacific Rim: Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the Junior All Blacks. The New Zealand Māori team that won the tournament last year will no longer take part in this competition because of a decision taken by the New Zealand Rugby Union. Australia A has also decided to pull out due to a similar decision. The inaugural competition was held in 2006. This year the tournament will begin on June 12 and ends on July 3, 2009 and most of the matches will be hosted by Fiji. The awarding of the key international tournament to the Fiji Rugby Union represents a further boost to the continued development of rugby in the region. The two opening round matches will be played outside of Fiji with Samoa hosting the Junior All Blacks in Apia and Tonga entertaining the Fijians in Nukuʻalofa the following day before the tournament moves to Fiji for a 17-day festival of international rugby spread across three match venues: the ANZ National Stadium (Suva), Churchill Park (Lautoka) and Lawaqa Park (Sigatoka).
Ratu Cakobau Park, also known as Vodafone Ratu Cakobau Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use stadium located in Nausori, Fiji. It is currently used for association football, rugby union and American football matches and hosts the home games of Fiji association football clubs Rewa F.C. and Tailevu/Naitasiri F.C. as well as the games of American football team Tailevu Knights. The stadium has a capacity of 8,000. Ratu Cakobau Park was scheduled to host an international match on 16 August 2011, Fiji against Samoa with both men and women's national teams in friendly action. However, bad weather left the pitch in an unplayable condition and the matches were moved to Thomson Park, Navua.
Buckhurst Park may refer to:
The 2014 OFC U-20 Championship was the 20th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 19 and below. The tournament was held in Fiji from 23 to 31 May 2014.
Rugby union at the 1979 South Pacific Games was held in Fiji at the newly renovated National Stadium in Suva, with eight men's teams competing. Tonga beat the host nation Fiji by 6–3 in the final to win the gold medal and finish the tournament undefeated. New Caledonia defeated Western Samoa by 9–8 in the third place match to win the bronze medal.
Hockey at the Pacific Games was introduced as a tournament for men's teams in 1979. Hockey was not played again until 2003 when a women's tournament was included in the schedule for Suva. At the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby the format was changed from eleven-a-side to five-a-side, and both men's and women's tournaments were hosted.
Touch rugby was introduced to the Pacific Games in 2003 at Suva in Fiji. It is an optional sport for the Pacific Games program, and the tournaments include men's, women's and mixed competitions. The first touch rugby tournament at the Pacific Mini Games was played in the Cook Islands in 2009.
Touch rugby at the 2003 South Pacific Games in Suva was held on 7–10 July 2003. Fiji won the finals of the men's and mixed tournaments to claim both gold medals on offer. Touch rugby for women was not introduced until the 2009 Pacific Mini Games held in Rarotonga.
The Fijian Drua is a professional rugby union team based in Fiji that competes in the Super Rugby. The team was created by the Fiji Rugby Union and launched in August 2017, shortly before the 2017 National Rugby Championship. The team previously competed in the Australian National Rugby Championship competition between 2017 and 2019, when the tournament was disbanded.
The 2022 OFC Women's Nations Cup was the 12th edition of the OFC Women's Nations Cup, the quadrennial international football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the women's national teams of the Oceanian region. It was originally scheduled from July to August 2022, but was moved to January and February to accommodate changes to the FIFA Women's International Match Calendar. The OFC announced on 4 March 2021 that it was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and on 29 April 2022 announced that Fiji would host the tournament from 13 to 30 July.
The 2022 OFC Women's Nations Cup Final was a football match on 30 July 2022 that took place at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, Fiji, to determine the winner of 2022 OFC Women's Nations Cup. The match was between Papua New Guinea and hosts Fiji.
The 2023 Super Rugby Pacific Season is the 28th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and a combined team from Samoa, Tonga and other Pacific Island nations. The defending champions are the Crusaders, who won their 11th title in 2022.