Olën Park, also known as Profert Olën Park for sponsorship reasons, is a
stadium
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
in
Potchefstroom
Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
It was used for
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 ...
matches by the
Leopards
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...
team in the First Division of the Currie Cup as well as the Vodacom Cup. Quite often the annual inter-varsity between the North-West University and the University of the Free State is also played here.
Profert Olën Park was named after Carl Ludwig Theodor Olën who was the President of the Western Transvaal Rugby Union during the period 1922 to 1934. The stadium can host approximately 22,000 spectators.
In recent times a local fertilizer company situated in Potchefstroom, Profert has been contributing not only financially but also with their products and expertise, towards the upkeep of the playing field and as thus obtained the naming rights of the stadium.
The following games of note have been played at Profert Olën Park:
The British Lions of Sam Walker in 1938, the All Blacks of Fred Allen in 1949, the British Barbarians in 1958, the All Blacks of Brian Lachore in 1970, the French team of 1971, the British Lions of Willie-John McBride in 1974, the New Zealand Cavaliers of Andy Dalton in 1986 and Australia in 1992(on that day captained by P Slattery).
As from 2012 Profert Olën Park will again be the stadium where all the home fixtures of the Leopards will be played because the sponsorship of the Royal Bafokeng Sports of the Leopards, has been terminated at the end of 2011.
In 2018, the announced that financial constraints meant they could no longer afford the maintenance of the stadium and they would play their rugby elsewhere.
References
Rugby union stadiums in South Africa
Sports venues in North West (South African province)
{{SouthAfrica-sports-venue-stub