Blacktown International Sportspark

Last updated

Blacktown International Sportspark
BlacktownBaseball.jpg
Blacktown International Sportspark
Location Sydney, Australia
OperatorBlacktown Venue Management Ltd
Capacity 10,000 [1]
Opened1999
Website
blacktownsportspark.com.au
Ground information
International information
First WODI27 January 2012:
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia v Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Last WODI29 January 2012:
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia v Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
As of 7 September 2020
Source: CricketArchive

Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP) (formally known as Blacktown Olympic Park) is a multi-sports venue located in Rooty Hill, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The venue includes two cricket grounds, which have also been used for Australian rules football, an athletics track and field, three baseball diamonds, two soccer fields, four softball diamonds, administration centers and park land.

Contents

It was constructed for the 2000 Sydney Olympics to host softball and baseball events. [2] The facilities have since been used as a training and administrative base for the Greater Western Sydney Giants from 2010 to 2012, and for the Western Sydney Wanderers FC since 2012. Since 2010 the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League have used the main baseball stadium as their home field.

Facilities

Australian Rules Football & Cricket Centre

The Australian Rules Football & Cricket centre was constructed in 2008. It features two ovals for Australian Rules Football & Cricket, stadium, function facilities and an indoor practice centre for Cricket. The official opening of the centre was held in on 22 August 2009 with the Mayor of Blacktown City, Councillor Charlie Lowles joined by Chief Executive Officers from AFL NSW/ACT and Cricket NSW.

Greater Western Sydney Giants

Greater Western Sydney Giants (GWS) had a permanent presence at Blacktown from 2010 to 2014. After the Blacktown City Council spent $27 million on an AFL stadium & training facility, GWS abandoned the facility, in favour of a $45m facility built by the NSW Government at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush in Sydney's inner west, [3] that also included an upgrade to the Sydney Showground Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park. The club has used the stadium for AFL Women's and men's reserves games in the Victorian Football League.

Blacktown Football Park

The combined football facilities on the southern side are known as "Blacktown Football Park", and are the Blacktown Spartans home ground and the Western Sydney Wanderers training facility and mini-stadium known as the Wanderers Football Park. In addition to two broadcast level boutique stadiums, there are another dozen football pitches, the Wanderers administrative & training base and several Five-a-side football courts.

Blacktown Spartans

A boutique stadium at the facility hosts National Premier League fixtures for Blacktown Spartans FC. There is a small grandstand with the player facilities, seating and a canteen. The far side has metal bench railings while the two ends are slight elevated grassy hills.

Western Sydney Wanderers

When the Wanderers started in 2012 the club used the Athletics Centre grandstand as temporary offices and the grassed middle of the field as their training pitch, with some pre-season games played on it. The youth team would also use the Spartans stadium for Youth League & NPL fixtures.

In 2014, Western Sydney Wanderers began the process of building a centre of excellence, consisting of a training base, offices and their youth academy at Blacktown International Sportspark. As part of the multimillion-dollar elite training base and academy, purpose-built grass playing fields, administration facilities, medical rooms and offices on the southern side of the precinct were built. [4] The $15 million club funded project ran into a land rights issue that delayed the completion until 2019. The main pitch has a 500 capacity grandstand and the playing surface replicates the one at the Western Sydney Stadium and is known as the Wanderers Football Park.

In addition to being the training facility for the club it also hosts senior team pre-season matches, the W-League team, the youth side in the National Premier League system and junior league matches. The Wanderers first W-League match was a 2-1 win vs the Newcastle Jets on Saturday 2 January 2021, with Rosea Galea scoring both goals for the home side. The youth team defeated the Northern Tigers by 3-1 on Sunday 21 March 2021 at the ground. It has also been regularly used for the Wanderers NPL NSW team, and in May 2022 it hosted a competitive game for the A-League Men's team for the first time, with the Wanderers losing an 2022 Australia Cup play-off qualifier match against the Brisbane Roar.

Cricket

The three-day match between Cricket Australia XI and New Zealanders in October 2015 was abandoned after concerns over the pitch. In the late afternoon on the first day the ball was bouncing unpredictably from the fast bowlers and by the second morning the pitch surface was severely cracked and saw the footmark and batting creases worn down to bare dirt. New Zealand bowled with spin only until the Australian declaration followed Carters dismissal before lunch. New Zealand then refused to bat because of the dangerous state of the wicket and the game was abandoned after an hour spent discussing the situation between the teams & officials. [5] Ryan Carters (209) and Aaron Finch (288 not out) scored 503 for the opening wicket and the match ended with the sole innings being Cricket Australia XI scoring 503/1 (dec) with New Zealand giving every player in the team a bowl except for wicket-keeper BJ Watling. The Finch-Carter partnership easily eclipsed the previous Australian first class record of 456 set by openers Ernie Mayne and Bill Ponsford for Victoria in 1923–24.

The Indian cricket team in Australia in 2020–21 tour saw the visiting Indian team use the cricket ground as their Covid lockdown training area.

Proposed developments

As part of Australia's unsuccessful 2018–2022 FIFA World Cup bid, the athletics track at the western end of the park was proposed to be developed into a soccer stadium named Blacktown Stadium. The stadium would have had 41,000-seat, a figure which would be downgraded to 26,000 post-tournament. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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

Canberra Stadium is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports venue by capacity in Canberra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blacktown</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located 34 km (21 mi) west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Greater Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Cricket Ground</span> Sports and events stadium, since 1851

The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and association football. It is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team, the Sydney Sixers of the Big Bash League and the Sydney Swans of the Australian Football League. It is owned and operated by Venues NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales who also hold responsibility for Stadium Australia and the Sydney Football Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rooty Hill, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Rooty Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rooty Hill is located 42 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

<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">North Sydney Oval</span> Sports venue

North Sydney Oval is a multi-use sporting facility in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, owned and operated by North Sydney Council. First used as a cricket ground in 1867, it is also used for Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union and soccer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarrow Stadium</span> New Zealand rugby stadium

Yarrow Stadium is situated in the central suburb of Westown in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand, with main vehicle access off Maratahu Street. Named the third best rugby stadium on earth by New Zealand Rugby World magazine in May 2009, Yarrow Stadium conforms with the International Rugby Board's "clean stadium" policy.

<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">Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre</span>

The Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre, also known as the State Hockey Centre of New South Wales is a multi-use stadium in Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was built in 1998 to host the field hockey events at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Its current capacity is 8,000 people, with seating capacity for 4,000. For the Olympic Games capacity was boosted to 15,000 through the use of temporary stands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marconi Stadium</span> Soccer stadium in Sydney, Australia

Marconi Stadium is a soccer stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is the home ground for Marconi Stallions, as well as regularly hosting matches for the Western Sydney Wanderers FC including their National Youth League and W-League teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blacktown Baseball Stadium</span>

Blacktown Baseball Stadium is a baseball facility located in Rooty Hill, a suburb in Sydney, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Western Sydney Giants</span> Australian rules football club

The Greater Western Sydney Giants are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park which represents the Greater Western Sydney region of New South Wales and Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakeside Stadium</span> Australian sports arena

Lakeside Stadium is an Australian sports arena in the South Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for association football club South Melbourne FC, Athletics Victoria, Athletics Australia, Victorian Institute of Sport and Australian Little Athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011–12 Sydney Blue Sox season</span>

The 2011–12 Sydney Blue Sox season will be the second season for the team. As was the case for the previous season, the Blue Sox will compete in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) with the other five foundation teams, and will again play its home games at Blacktown International Sportspark Sydney. The team will be defending its record from the 2010–11 season where it had the best win–loss record during the regular season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Showground Stadium</span> Stadium in Sydney

Sydney Showground Stadium is a sports and events stadium located at the Sydney Showground in Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It hosted the baseball events for the 2000 Summer Olympics. The Showground, including the stadium, is operated by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (RAS), under lease from the New South Wales Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Sydney Wanderers FC</span> Football club

Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian Professional Leagues (APL). formerly under licence by the Football Federation Australia (FFA). The club had established itself as a major force in both Australia and Asia, having won one A-Leagues Premiership and an AFC Champions League title in its history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blacktown ISP Oval</span>

Blacktown International Sportspark Oval is an Australian rules football and cricket ground located in Rooty Hill, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The stadium was constructed in 2009 as part of the Blacktown International Sportspark. It has a capacity of 10,000 people.

<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.

Sport is a significant aspect of the Sydney lifestyle. Activities range from the occasional international event, annual competitions, competitive leagues and individual recreational pursuits. Sydney is the home of Australia's biggest sports league, the National Rugby League, hosting 16 teams, and the base for a number of teams in national competitions including two Australian Football League and eight National Rugby League teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtney Nevin</span> Australian soccer player (born 2002)

Courtney Jade Nevin is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a full-back for English Women's Super League club Leicester City, and the Australia women's national team. She has previously played for Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne Victory in the W-League, as well as Damallsvenskan side Hammarby IF.

References

  1. ↑ "Blacktown International Sportspark". Austadiums. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  2. ↑ 2000 Summer Olympics official report. Archived 9 November 2000 at the Wayback Machine Volume 1. p. 370.
  3. ↑ "NSW to retain NRL grand final". Brisbane Times. 8 June 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "Western Sydney Wanderers set to confirm $18 million centre of excellence in Blacktown". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Brettig, Daniel. "New Zealand tour game abandoned over pitch concerns". www.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Blacktown Stadium – Sydney

33°46′17″S150°51′13″E / 33.77139°S 150.85361°E / -33.77139; 150.85361

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.