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| [[June 18]] || Canterbury Bulldogs v. [[North Queensland Cowboys]] || rugby league || NRL premiership || 16,231
| [[June 18]] || Canterbury Bulldogs v. [[North Queensland Cowboys]] || rugby league || NRL premiership || 16,231
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| [[June 18]] || [[Queensland Roar]] v. [[Sydney FC]] || [[Football]] || [[A-League]] Pre-Season Cup ||
| [[June 18]] || [[Queensland Roar]] v. [[Sydney FC]] || [[Football (soccer)]] || [[A-League]] Pre-Season Cup ||
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Revision as of 05:41, 7 July 2006

Carrara Stadium
or Carrara Sports Complex
Map
Location Carrara, Gold Coast, Queensland
OwnerGold Coast City Council
OperatorGold Coast City Council
Capacity22,000
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke ground1986
Opened1987
ClosedOpen
Tenants
Gold Coast Titans

Carrara Stadium or Carrara Sports Complex is a sporting venue on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia located in the suburb of Carrara. In 2007 it will be the home ground for the Gold Coast Titans National Rugby League team for their inaugural season. It has previously been the home ground for teams in the Australian rules football (AFL), Australian Rugby League (ARL) and National Rugby League (NRL) competitions.

History

Carrara Stadium was built on the site of pre-existing Carrara Oval by Christopher Skase after the Brisbane Bears were granted a licence to enter the VFL Australian rules football competition. The stadium was built with makeshift stands designed for night games to maximise the television audience. The Fitzroy Football Club defeated the Brisbane Bears in the first VFL game played at Carrara Oval before a crowd of 17,795 in 1987.[1] (The Brisbane Lions website records this crowd as 22,684, however the stadium did not have this capacity in 1987.[2])

However crowds at Australian rules football matches rarely reached these heights again, and in 1993 the Bears relocated to the Gabba. The ground was then sold to the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) and left without a major tenant, although the Gold Coast Seagulls played home games against the Brisbane Broncos at the ground.

The Gold Coast Clippers a team in the now defunct Australian Baseball League played the 1989-90 season at Carrara Stadium before changing their name to the Daikyo Dolphins and moving to Palm Meadows. However by the 1992-93 season they moved back to Carrara, and subsequently changed their name to the Gold Coast Cougars after Daikyo pulled sponsorship of the team. The Cougars continued using Carrara up untill the of the Australian Baseball League ended because of financial difficulties in 1999.

The Gold Coast City Council built an indoor sports centre nearby which hosted the Gold Coast Rollers National Basketball League team until 1996, when they were excluded from the competition.

In that year the Gold Coast Chargers moved to the stadium for their matches in the Australian Rugby League competition. The continued to use the ground until the end of the 1998 season, when they were locked down by the newly-formed National Rugby League. Rugby league matches have continued to be played at the stadium, with pre-season trials being played there annually from 2002 to 2005[3], and NRL premiership matches in 2001 and 2005.

In 2005 the NRL announced that a licence would be awarded to the Gold Coast Titans, and that the stadium would be their home ground in 2007 until the completion of Gold Coast Stadium, which will be opened in 2008. [4]

2006 Schedule

The following matches are scheduled for 2006 at Carrara Stadium.

Date Teams Sport Competition Crowd
24 February Brisbane Lions v. Essendon Bombers Australian rules football NAB Cup 13,269 [5]
25 February Canterbury Bulldogs v. New Zealand Warriors rugby league NRL pre-season trial 12,130 [6]
11 March Sydney Swans v. Richmond Tigers Australian rules football AFL Regional Challenge pre-season trial 6,277 [7]
18 March Brisbane Lions v. Collingwood Magpies Australian rules football AFL Regional Challenge pre-season trial 10,117 [8]
16 April Melbourne Demons v. Adelaide Crows Australian rules football AFL premiership 8,258 [9]
13 May Hawthorn Hawks v. Brisbane Lions Australian rules football AFL premiership 12,415 [10]
June 18 Canterbury Bulldogs v. North Queensland Cowboys rugby league NRL premiership 16,231
June 18 Queensland Roar v. Sydney FC Football (soccer) A-League Pre-Season Cup

Attendance records

Date Teams Sport Competition Crowd
18 March 1994 Gold Coast Chargers v. Brisbane Broncos rugby league New South Wales Rugby League premiership 22,688
27 May 2005 North Queensland Cowboys v. Canterbury Bulldogs rugby league National Rugby League premiership 21,012
28 February 2005 St George Illawarra Dragons v. Canterbury Bulldogs rugby league National Rugby League pre-season 18,356 [11]

Tenants

Years Tenant Sport
1983-1984 Nerang Bulls Rugby union
1987-1992 Brisbane Bears Australian rules football
1989-90 Gold Coast Clippers Baseball
1992-93 Daikyo Dolphins Baseball
1993-1999 Gold Coast Cougars Baseball
1996-1998 Gold Coast Chargers Rugby league
2007 Gold Coast Titans Rugby league

Sources

See also