Pratten Park is a sporting complex in the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

suburb of Ashfield. It was officially opened on 12 September 1912 by the

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

, Frederic Thesiger. Pratten Park was named after

Herbert Pratten Herbert Edward Pratten (7 May 1865 – 7 May 1928) was an Australian politician. He served as Minister for Health (1924–1925) and Minister for Trade and Customs (1924–1928) in the Bruce– Page Government. He became a Senator for New Sout ...

, an alderman and then mayor of Ashfield. The first ever rugby league match at Pratten Park was Western Suburbs vs Annandale on 24 August 1912, with a crowd of 500 people. Annandale won the match 15–6. The park is best known as the original home of 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 ...

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 ...

team, who played there from 1912 to 1966 and then sporadically from 1971 to 1973 and in 1977 and 1985. The final first grade rugby league match played at the park was on 18 August 1985, where Wests played Penrith, who won the match 42–16. In total, 353 first grade games were played at Pratten Park. Pratten Park has also hosted

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

matches and was the home ground of

Sydney Olympic FC Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in 1957 by Greek immigrant ...

for a brief period in the 1980s. The ground has also been used for lower league NSW Soccer matches. Its highest attendance for a rugby league match was 12,407 in a 1964 New South Wales Rugby Football League season game between Western Suburbs and

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

, and 13,556 for a soccer game in 1984 between

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football, soccer club, based in Belmore, New South Wales, Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan- ...

and

APIA Leichhardt FC 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, ...

. The ground is still home to the

Western Suburbs District Cricket Club Western Suburbs District Cricket Club is a cricket club based in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They are also known as the Western Suburbs and play in the Sydney Grade Cricket competition. They were founded in 1895 a ...

. Over the years, the club has had Michael Clarke and Bob Simpson among its playing ranks.

Facilities

Pratten Park has very basic facilities. There is a small grandstand in the north-western corner with the rest of the ground surrounded by grass hills. Over a number of years the grandstand fell into disrepair and was eventually closed, but restoration work saw it re-opened in late 2007.

Sources

* * www.westsmagpies.com.au

References

Sports venues in Sydney Rugby league stadiums in Australia Western Suburbs Magpies 1912 establishments in Australia Sports venues completed in 1912 Cricket grounds in Australia {{NewSouthWales-struct-stub