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Brookvale Oval
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brookvale Oval | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pittwater Road Brookvake, NSW 2100 |
| Opened | 1911 |
| Owner | Warringah Council |
| Surface | Grass |
| Tenants | |
| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (NRL) (1947-1999, 2003-Present) Northern Eagles (NRL) (2000-2002) |
|
| Capacity | |
| Approximately 23,000 | |
Brookvale Oval is a sporting ground located at Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Warringah Council and is primarily used by the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles rugby league team. Brookvale Oval has an approximate capacity of 23,000 people.
As of 2006, Brookvale Oval is the most played-on Australian professional rugby league ground in active usage in the National Rugby League, having hosted over 550 first grade games.
Contents |
In the late nineteenth century, the suburb of Brookvale was known as Greendale. The name Brookvale was later adopted as that was the name of the home built by the original grantee of the land, William Francis Parker. It was in this area that Dan Farrell built his stone house called "Inverness" which was later to become Manly Leagues Club.
A block of nearby land called Farrell's Paddocks was sometimes used for local community events. This land was originally granted to William Redman in 1857. The original parcel was subsequently subdivided into smaller lots and sold. The change from agricultural use to public recreation did not occur until after the turn of the century following a period of lobbying by local residents for the Government to give the community a park.
Farrell’s Paddock was the site of a banquet in 1910 to mark the extension of the tramway from Manly to the village of Brookvale. In the following year, the State Government reached agreement with Warringah Shire Council to acquire land for a park near the Shire’s Offices. The acquired land plus a smaller parcel of land bought from Miss Jane Malcolm (later known as Jane Try) from Brookvale, was officially opened in 1911 as Brookvale Park.
The Park was transformed into a showground within the first decade. In 1921, the Brookvale Show was established with the formation of the Warringah Agricultural, Horticultural, Amateur Sports and Athletic Association. Between 1919 and 1928 children from Brookvale School planted trees to commemorate Arbor Day and it was the setting for school sports days and Empire Day picnics.
Over fifty annual shows were held at Brookvale Park before the show was moved to St. Ives Showground. Trotting and ring events were features of early shows at Brookvale. The trotting track occupied a substantial area of the Park with lighting of the ring for night entertainment. Substantial improvements were later made to form a sporting oval by the addition of stands. Pavilions were constructed along Alfred Road to house show exhibits. Outside of the annual show period these pavilions were used for local church services and meeting rooms for the local community. They were also used by local bands as a place to practice.
During the Second World War Brookvale Park was utilised by the Defence Force for training purposes.
While Manly Council favoured rugby union and would not permit league to play at Manly Oval, Warringah Council was more sympathetic to the rugby league cause and encouraged the playing of rugby league matches at Brookvale Park. Thus when the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles were granted first grade status in 1947, the team's first match in the big league was a home game at Brookvale Oval against Western Suburbs. Manly played well against more fancied opponents in that historic first match at Brookvale scoring three tries to one but narrowly losing the match 15 - 13 courtesy of a string of scrum penalties from referee Aub Oxford.
The single record attendance for any event at Brookvale was set during a regular season clash between the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and Parramatta Eels on 31 August 1986 which drew 27,655 fans. Given changes to the configuration of the ground undertaken in the 1990's it is unlikely that this record will ever be broken.
Seating at the ground is in one of three linked grandstands. The Jane Try stand houses those season-ticket holders of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and is located on the western side of the ground. The Jane Try Stand opened in 1971 and was built at a cost of $250,000.
The second grandstand addition to Brookvale Oval was the Southern Stand built in 1979, located at the Southern end of the ground. The Southern Stand houses some corporate facilities.
The most recent structural addition to the ground is the Ken Arthurson stand. The Ken Arthurson Stand was officially opened on Sunday 14th June 1995. It was built at a cost of $3.3 million and seats 1,250 people. The stand is named for the greatest administrator in the club's history and contains corporate boxes as well as reserved seating for fans. The Arthurson stand is located in the south-western corner of the ground between the Jane Try and Southern stands.
There is some limited general admission seating around the perimeter concourse of the ground with a depth of between 3 and 5 rows. Other general admission areas include the Eastern Hill, which spans the length of the eastern side of the ground, and the Scoreboard Hill (Family Hill) which is located at the Northern End of the ground underneath the scoreboard and temporary reply screen.
During 2007 the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the community at large are asking the NSW State Government and the Federal Government for some urgent funding for much-needed upgrades to Brookvale Oval.
Brookvale Oval whilst considered a premier sports ground during the 1970’s and 1980’s has in more recent times lacked capital improvements compared to other grounds.
The ground needs $ 5 million to $ 20 million to bring it up to the standard that is expected of premier sports ground in 2008 and beyond.
The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles have historically played the majority of their home matches on Sunday afternoon. As of season 2006 however this has begun to change and the Sea Eagles only played 3 of their 11 Brookvale Oval home games in the 2006 season on Sunday afternoon. The move toward night games is part of an overall trend in the NRL and seems set to continue in the 2007 season when only two games per week will be played on Sundays. It has been suggested that the Sea Eagles will petition the NRL for Sunday fixtures in order to retain the traditional family atmosphere at Brookvale Oval.
Popular pre and post-match venues for fans include the Brookvale Hotel and the Manly-Warringah Leagues Club. The Leagues Club is the official post-match venue of the team.
- Brookvale Oval at Austadiums