Belmore Sports Ground

Belmore Sports Ground

Belmore
Former names	Belmore Oval
Location	Belmore, New South Wales
Coordinates	33°55′0″S 151°5′41″E / 33.91667°S 151.09472°E / -33.91667; 151.09472Coordinates: 33°55′0″S 151°5′41″E / 33.91667°S 151.09472°E / -33.91667; 151.09472
Capacity	25,000[1]
Record attendance	27,804
Surface	Grass
Opened	1920
Tenants
Sydney Olympic (NSWPL) Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (NSWRL/ARL/NRL) (SL) (1935-1994, 1996-1998, 2015-present) Parramatta Eels (NSWRL) (1982-1985) Sydney Wave (ABL) (1990-1991) St. George Dragons (1988)

Belmore Sports Ground, formerly known as Belmore Oval, is a multi-purpose stadium in Belmore, New South Wales, Australia. The park covers 22 acres (89,000 m²) and from 1951 has contained the Belmore Bowling Recreation Club green. It is close to Belmore railway station.

The stadium has a capacity of 25,000 people and was built in 1920, with the grandstand itself having the capacity to seat 12,000 people. The ground record crowd for Belmore was set on 12 April 1993 when 27,804 fans saw Canterbury defeat local rivals Parramatta 42-6.^[2] The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Sydney Olympic Football Club are the current co-tenants of the ground.

History

In 1920, the local council took steps to acquire park areas around the Belmore area. The park was named after the suburb it was located: Belmore Park. Belmore Park was eventually purchased in three sections between 1918 and 1921. The first two parcels were purchased by the State government and the third by Council. The park was opened around the early 1920s, the land was formerly known as Gunn's Paddock. In 1936, council purchased a large stand from the Sydney Cricket Ground and had it re-erected at the park as part of unemployment relief works. This stand was opened on March 14, 1936 by Mayor SE Parry and was named after him. Around 1967, council moved other sports played at the park to grounds else-where and rugby league was given priority.

Ground Use

Inside the main grandstand at Belmore Sports Ground

Association football

The ground is currently (and mainly) used for Association football as the home ground for former Australian National League club Sydney Olympic FC, who now competes in the New South Wales Premier League.

Sydney Olympic competed in the ground from 1977 to 2001 during the National Soccer League. In 2001 they left the ground to join Toyota Stadium. Once the league ceased in mid-2004, the team returned to Belmore where they currently compete.

Rugby league

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs NRL team played their home games at Belmore Sports Ground from 1936 until 1998, after which time the club moved its home games to a series of more modern stadiums (currently ANZ Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park). The club still used Belmore for training and administration, but subsequently moved these functions to a facility at Olympic Park in early 2008, leaving the club with no connection to the Sports Ground for the first time since the 1930s. However, the club subsequently announced its intention to redevelop the facilities at Belmore and move training and administration back to the ground. The Canterbury-Bankstown club relocated their offices and resumed training at the ground.^[3] In 2011, the Bulldogs NSW Cup, SG Ball and Harold Matthews teams began playing most home games at Belmore once again.

The spectators' hill on the eastern side of the ground is named after Bulldogs legend Terry Lamb.

From 1982 until the end of 1985, the Parramatta Eels used the ground as their temporary home ground while Parramatta Stadium was under construction. The St George Dragons also used the ground for one season in 1988 while Kogarah Oval was re-developed.

Canterbury-Bankstown returned to playing NRL games at Belmore with two home games during the 2015 NRL season against Melbourne and Cronulla as part of its 80th anniversary celebrations.^[4][5] The Bulldogs will play the Premiers, North Queensland Cowboys, and Canberra Raiders in the 2016 season at Belmore Sports Ground.

In 2016 it held an International rugby league match between the Cook Islands and Lebanon.^[6]

At the end of the 2016 NRL season, Belmore Sports Ground will have hosted 661 games of first grade rugby league since the first game on 13 April 1936. Of the active and semi-active grounds used by the NRL, only the SCG, Leichhardt Oval and Brookvale Oval have hosted more games.

Back to Belmore

NRL pre-season trials

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date	Venue & Crowd	Match
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	28 – 16	Sydney Roosters	5:00pm, Sunday, 12 February 2012	Belmore Oval (12,000)[7]	Back to Belmore 1
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	36 – 14	Newtown Jets	5:00pm, Sunday, 10 February 2013	Belmore Oval (12,000)[8]	Back to Belmore 2
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	20 – 28	South Sydney Rabbitohs	5:00pm, Sunday, 9 February 2014	Belmore Oval (5,913)[9]	Back to Belmore 3
The 2015 "Back To Belmore" Trial match was not played due to other trial commitments. The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs played against the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne, Victoria at AAMI Park.
The 2016 "Back To Belmore" trial match is to be played against Melbourne. The trial game will be played on February 20[10]

NRL season games

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date	Venue & Crowd	Match
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	20 – 4	Melbourne Storm	7:00pm, Sunday, 29 June 2015	Belmore Oval (16,764)[11]	2015 NRL season Round 16
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	16 – 18	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	5:00pm, Sunday, 26 July 2015	Belmore Oval (19,005)[12]	2015 NRL season Round 20
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	8 – 22	Canberra Raiders	7:00pm, Sunday, 4 Apr 2016	Belmore Oval (13,463)[13]	2016 NRL season Round 5
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	16 – 24	North Queensland Cowboys	7:50pm, Thursday, 25 August 2016	Belmore Oval	2016 NRL season Round 25

Ground Record

The ground record attendance was set on 12 April 1993 during Round 5 of the 1993 NSWRL season when 27,804 saw the Bulldogs defeat the Parramatta Eels 42–6.

References

External links

• Back to Belmore - Official Campaign Website
• Belmore Sports Ground at Austadiums