David Farrington Park, previously known as Centennial Park, is a football ground in the suburb of Miramar in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, New Zealand. It is used for football matches and is the home ground of both

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and

Miramar Rangers AFC Miramar Rangers AFC is an amateur New Zealand association football club in the Wellington suburb of Miramar. The club is one of the most successful in New Zealand having won the Chatham Cup four times and the National League title twice. Over t ...

. In 2009, the grounds name was changed to David Farrington Park as a mark of respect to the local football stalwart who died in 2008. On 16 April, David Farrington Park saw the first

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game played in Wellington when

beat

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7–1, also qualifying Team Wellington for the home and away final against

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for the

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title and a chance to play at the

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in United Arab Emirates.

History

The park was originally a motor camp during the

Centennial Exhibition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

in 1940, which is how it got its original name, before it was used as temporary accommodation for New Zealand immigrants landing in Wellington. The field was renovated in 2012 by Mexted Performance Sport Surfaces. The park had a build-up of organic matter and contaminants so the surface was holding water and was not draining away, affecting playability. Mexteds used a planer to take 100mm off the playing surface in two 50mm passes, then re-levelled the sub-grade and installed new primary drainage in between the existing drain lines, and introduced a new 50mm layer of clean turf sand. New creeping rye grass was sown following the drainage work, which is intended to have more stability and hold the profile together better. Some of the sand from David Farrington Park was recycled at Houghton Bay Park to level off low spots. Houghton Bay is a former landfill site that experiences regular subsidence.

Ground layout

The ground is typical of the type of stadium found in New Zealand. There is one uncovered grandstand on the west side of the ground which can accommodate around 600 spectators, and a small hill in the north-west corner. The rest of the terrace on the east side retreats a metre or so away from the playing surface. Overall the capacity for the ground is 2,000. At the south end is Miramar School, while the clubhouse resides at the north end.

References

{{NZNL fb stadiums Association football venues in New Zealand Sports venues in Wellington