Toowoomba Sports Ground
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Clive Berghofer Stadium (officially known as Toowoomba Sports Ground and previously known as Athletic Oval) is a stadium in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Situated on Mary Street on the eastern fringes of Toowoomba CBD adjacent to Queens Park and
Toowoomba East State School Toowoomba East State School is a heritage-listed state school on the corner of Arthur and Mary Streets, East Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1935 to 1936 by the Queensland Department of Public Works. It wa ...
. The ticket counters and entrance are on Arthur Street behind the (east facing) grandstand. It was renamed to reflect the home club's major sponsor, philanthropist property developer and former local Mayor
Clive Berghofer Clive John Berghofer (born 4 March 1935) is an Australian property developer, politician and philanthropist. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, Alderman and Mayor of Toowoomba. Early life Clive Berghofer was born on 4 May ...
. The stadium is the home ground of National Premier Leagues soccer club, the
South West Queensland Thunder South West Queensland Thunder is a semi-professional soccer club based Toowoomba, and represents the South West Queensland Region in the National Premier Leagues Queensland and Football Queensland Premier League. The club was established in 201 ...
. The Gold Coast Titans have played pre-season games here since 2014 and in 2018 hosted the first ever National Rugby League (NRL) premiership match in Toowoomba. The stadium also plays host to rugby league, rugby union and football (soccer) and includes lights which are up to National Rugby League standard. The recently upgraded grandstand includes undercover seating for 2,300. It has the capacity to hold 9,000 people officially, however the largest crowd is estimated to be 10,000 which occurred during a 2004 NRL pre-season game between Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm.Profile
at austadiums.com
In the past, the stadium has hosted international and national rugby league matches as well as concerts and rodeos. The stadium became the scene of controversy when indigenous activist Stephen Hagan in 1999 noticed a sign declaring the name of the E. S. "Nigger" Brown Stand, named after the 1920s rugby league player Edwin Stanley Brown who was also known as "Nigger" Brown. Hagan regarded the word " nigger" as offensive and embarked on a ten-year campaign to have the stand renamed, while those opposed to the renaming said that Brown's nickname could not be a racial slur as Brown was a fair-skinned man of European descent. While Hagan's court battles were ultimately unsuccessful, the name was not used again when the stand was demolished as part of the stadium's upgrades.


See also

* Sport in Queensland


References

Sports venues in Queensland Rugby league stadiums in Australia Rugby union stadiums in Australia Soccer venues in Queensland Buildings and structures in Toowoomba Toowoomba Clydesdales Venues of the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics {{Australia-sports-venue-stub