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Leichhardt Oval is a
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
and
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
stadium in
Lilyfield, New South Wales Lilyfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lilyfield is located 6 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Inner West Council. Lily ...
, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the
Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
(NRL) team, along with
Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Stadium, formerly Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, is a multi-use stadium in Leumeah, New South Wales, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. It is the home ground of the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Wests Ti ...
and
Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, commercially known as CommBank Stadium, is a multi-purpose rectangular stadium in Parramatta, within the Greater Western Sydney region, approximately west of Sydney CBD. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium ...
. Prior to its merger with the
Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...
, it was the longtime home of the
Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...
, who used the ground from 1934–1994 and 1997–1999. It was named after
Ludwig Leichhardt Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, (23 October 1813 – c. 1848) was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's dis ...
. As of July 2012, Leichhardt Oval is the most played-on Australian professional rugby league ground in active use in the
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
, having hosted 794 games since Balmain played its first game at the ground against Western Suburbs in Round 1 of the 1934 NSWRFL season, held on ANZAC Day, Wests winning the game 18-5. Balmain's first win at the ground came in the very next game of the 1934 season with a 27-13 win over
University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
.


History

Leichhardt Oval was first used as a rugby league football ground in 1934 and became the home ground of the Balmain Tigers. The ground underwent a major overhaul during the 1970s when the configuration of the ground was changed (from east-west to north-south) and lighting installed. As it was one of the few rugby league grounds with lighting and was located close to the city, Leichhardt Oval began to be used for non-Balmain games such as the pre-origin interstate games between
NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
and
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
(Leichhardt was originally preferred to the
Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...
for interstate games from 1978 due to dwindling crowds in an era when NSW dominated the contests. Also, unlike the SCG at the time, Leichhardt had lights allowing for night games). On 16 June 1981, Leichhardt Oval hosted the last interstate game between
NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
and
Qld ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...
played under the old 'State of Residence' rules before the permanent move to the now familiar
State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...
. The game, which attracted only 6,268 fans, saw the Steve Rogers captain NSW, with Qld Origin players
John Ribot John Ribot () (born John Ribot de Bresac on 3 March 1955), also known by the nickname of "Reebs", is an Australian sports administrator, former rugby league footballer of the 1970s and 1980s. Once a Queensland State of Origin and Australian int ...
,
Paul McCabe Paul McCabe (born 4 August 1959 in Toowoomba, Queensland) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for several clubs as well as representing Queensland in State of Origin series. McCabe was ...
and
Rod Morris Rod Morris is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative front row forward, he played club football in the New South W ...
in the side, win a surprisingly competitive game 22–9. Playing that night were some of the stars of the game at the time including:
Chris Anderson Chris Anderson may refer to: Sports * Chris Anderson (baseball) (born 1992), American baseball player * Chris Anderson (cheese roller), 22-time winner of annual cheese rolling * Chris Anderson (footballer, born 1925) (1925–1986), Scottish footb ...
,
Noel Cleal Noel Harvey "Crusher" Cleal (born 16 October 1958) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. A destructive for the Manly Sea Eagles, he also represented New South Wales in the State of Origin Series and the Austra ...
,
Steve Mortimer Stephen Charles Mortimer (born 15 July 1956), also nicknamed "Turvey", is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a . Mortimer played a Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs club record 272 first-grade games between 1976–88, winni ...
, Ray Price and
Les Boyd Les Boyd (born 17 November 1956) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played representative football for the Australian national side in international matches as well as the New South Wales si ...
(NSW), coached by
Ted Glossop Ted Glossop (1934 – 31 December 1998) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. Playing career He played for the St. George Dragons for eight seasons between 1950 and 1958 and played 115 games for the club scoring 17 tries. He ...
, and
Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...
,
Gene Miles Gene Miles (born 21 July 1959) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative , he played his club football in the Brisbane Rugby Lea ...
,
Chris Close Christopher "Choppy" Close (born 5 February 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. A robust three-quarter back, he represented Australia internationally and Queensland in St ...
and
Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...
(Qld), who were captain-coached by Arthur Beetson. From 1974, with the ground having lights for night football, Leichhardt was also used as the base of the NSWRL's annual mid-week competition, hosting most of the games and all Finals from 1974 until 1986 before the Final was moved to the new
Parramatta Stadium 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 t ...
in 1987. The last Mid-week Final held at Leichhardt was the 1986 National Panasonic Cup Final, with the
Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...
defeating Balmain 32–16. On 4 August 1985 a crowd of 21,707 set a then Balmain Tigers ground attendance record for a Round 22 clash in the 1985
Winfield Cup The Winfield Cup was an Australian rugby league trophy awarded to the winner of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership (NSWRL) Grand Final from 1982 to 1994, and then to the winner of the newly-founded Australian Rugby League (ARL) Grand Fin ...
against the
St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...
, won 17–15 by St. George. This remained the Tigers attendance record for only four years until beaten by the 22,750 who attended the Round 22 match against Penrith in 1989. Balmain left the ground after the 1994 NSWRL season when they moved to Parramatta Stadium as part of an identity change to the Sydney Tigers. The move was not popular with supporters however and the club returned to Leichhardt for the 1997 season, with the Balmain name returning. Balmain played their final game as a stand-alone team in 1999 when they defeated Parramatta 20–10 in appalling conditions. The ground then became one of the home grounds of the new Wests Tigers team.


Leichhardt Oval Today (2000–present)

The ground remains a venue for high level rugby league in Australia although it currently holds only four
NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
games a year. This decision to reduce the number of games is mainly financial and related to issues such as ground capacity, corporate facilities, and financial incentives to play games at
Bankwest Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, commercially known as CommBank Stadium, is a multi-purpose rectangular stadium in Parramatta, within the Greater Western Sydney region, approximately west of Sydney CBD. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadi ...
and
ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand * ...
. Ironically for a ground once prized for its lighting, the cost of playing night games is another factor as the current lighting is not considered acceptable. In spite (or perhaps because) of its antiquated facilities, Leichhardt Oval is beloved by Tigers fans especially those who formerly supported Balmain. Match attendances are usually close to or at capacity. Attempts to improve facilities are underway with the goal to return Leichhardt to its place as a top level rugby league venue. In 2007, the
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
Government announced it would provide finance to help in the redevelopment of the ground. Previously it had provided a loan to match grants made from Leichhardt Council and the Balmain Football Club. A group known as Stop the Rot aims to revamp the ground into a first class sporting venue.
A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed in 1954 as APIA Leichhardt, ...
were renamed Sydney Tigers before the start of the 2009 New South Wales Premier League, and moved their home ground from Lambert Park back to Leichhardt Oval, for the first time in over a decade.
A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
club Sydney FC also played a pre-season friendly against rivals
Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...
on 6 June 2009. The stadium continues to host pre-season games for Sydney teams, friendly games for Australian national youth teams and
FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austral ...
games. In 2011 Lambert Park received a major upgrade that installed a synthetic pitch, which has seen higher profile matches moved to the Oval as professional teams prefer not to risk injury on a non-natural surface. On 21 November 2009, Leichhardt Oval hosted 2 matches in a double-header of the W-League. Sydney FC took on Perth Glory while after that
Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...
played the
Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...
. During 2009, the thirty-year lease of Leichhardt Oval by the Wests Tigers Franchise, came to an end. In 2009, the Keith Barnes Stand and Norm Robinson Stand were named in honour of Balmain Tigers greats,
Keith Barnes William Keith Barnes AM (born 30 October 1934), also known by the nickname of "Golden Boots", is a Welsh-born Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He was a f ...
and
Norm Robinson Norman "Latchem" Robinson (17 October 1900 – 18 March 1980) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer, coach, selector and club administrator for the Balmain Tigers club in Sydney and a City, State and National selector and ma ...
. From 2005 until 2012, it was home of the Balmain-Ryde Eastwood Tigers (an amalgamation between Balmain and the old Sydney Metropolitan League side Ryde Eastwood), who played in the
New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...
competition. From 2013 until 2017, the club joined forces with the Western Suburbs Magpies, and formed the
Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...
(just like the first grade competition). From 2018 onwards, Wests Tigers changed their reserves team to the Western Suburbs Magpies. This NSW Cup club now shares its home games between Leichhardt Oval and Campbelltown Stadium. The Australian
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
football team Sydney Stars, a joint venture between the Sydney University and Balmain rugby clubs, announced Leichhardt Oval as its home ground in the
National Rugby Championship The National Rugby Championship, known as NRC, was an Australian rugby union competition. It was contested by eight teams, seven from Australia and one from Fiji. The tournament ran from 2014 until 2019 before being disbanded in 2020 following t ...
(NRC). On 28 June 2015, the laneway at Leichhardt Oval was named "Laurie's Lane" in honour of former long-time
Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...
fan Laurie Nichols. On 22 June 2019, two Rugby League Test matches were played at Leichhardt Oval, with Fiji playing Lebanon in game one, with Papua New Guinea and Samoa playing in the second game. On 29 September 2019, the
St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...
played the
Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...
in the first standalone
NRL Women's Premiership The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is ...
match to be played in Australia. On 6 August 2022, Leichhardt Oval hosted St Ignatius College Riverview v St Joseph’s College Hunters Hill for the
GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
rugby union competition. The game was to be played at Riverview, however, it was relocated to Leichhardt Oval due to the expected crowd of 15,000. Near the end of the match the railing of a small grandstand collapsed and several spectators were injured.


Attendance record

The stadium has a nominal capacity of 20,000. However, its recorded highest crowd figure is 23,000, which occurred for the 1981 Tooth Cup Final between South Sydney and
Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydne ...
. The Wests Tigers' highest attendance at the venue is 22,877, which was set on 24 July 2005 as the Tigers defeated South Sydney 42–20. The highest recorded crowd for a Balmain Tigers game is 22,750. This record was set on 27 August 1989, for a Round 22
NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...
game against the
Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...
, won 33–6 by the
Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
bound Tigers.


Gallery

File:Leichhardt Oval Football Stadium (1).jpg, Scoreboard File:Leichhardt Oval Football Stadium (2).jpg, N.C. (Latchem) Robinson Stand File:Leichhardt Oval Football Stadium (4).jpg, Wayne Pearce Hill and Scoreboard File:Leichhardt Oval Football Stadium (5).jpg, Wayne Pearce Hill and Seating File:Leichhardt Oval Football Stadium (6).jpg, Field From Player Tunnel File:Leichhardt Oval Football Stadium (7).jpg, Field from media area File:Leichhardt oval2.jpg, alt=Leichhardt Oval panorama, Leichhardt Oval


Interstate matches

List of interstate matches played between
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
and
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
at Leichhardt Oval.1981 NSW vs Qld highlights
/ref>


Midweek Cup Finals

Leichhardt Oval played host to 13 Amco Cup / Tooth Cup / KB Cup / Panasonic Cup Finals between 1974 and 1986.


References


External links

* {{NRC Grounds Sports venues in Sydney Rugby league stadiums in Australia Rugby union stadiums in Australia Balmain Tigers Wests Tigers 1934 establishments in Australia Sports venues completed in 1934 A-League Women stadiums Sydney FC (A-League Women)