The Caledonian Ground, often simply known as "The Caley", is a major sports venue in the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. It is primarily used for football (soccer) and athletics, and has a capacity of 7,500.

Location

The Caledonian Ground is currently sited at the northern end of Logan Park in

Dunedin North Dunedin North, also known as North Dunedin, is a major inner suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, located northeast of the city centre. It contains many of the city's major institutions, including the city's university, polytechnic, ma ...

, close to Logan Park High School and close to the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

and

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic was a public New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provided career-focused education and training, offering a range of New Zealand accr ...

. Other major sports venues are located nearby, including the University Oval and the Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza. The ground is nestled at the very edge of the floodplain of the

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

, against the foothills of Signal Hill, on land which was reclaimed in the early part of the twentieth century from the waters of

Pelichet Bay Logan Park is a sporting venue in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It lies on land reclaimed from the former Lake Logan. Features The park contains both Football and rugby grass and artificial pitches, known as both Dunedin Artificial Turf an ...

. The tiny Opoho Creek, a tributary of the Leith, lies to the immediate east of the ground.

History

The venue is often referred to by Dunedinities as the ''New'' Caledonian Ground, an indication that the ground has not long been at its current site. Until 2000 the Caledonian Ground was located in the heart of

South Dunedin South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...

, at the corner of Hillside Road and Andersons Bay Road, some five kilometres to the south. The ground's former site is now largely occupied by the car park of one of the city's main shopping centres. All that remains of the former ground is a gymnasium and a

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

club. The gymnasium is a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

. The original Caledonian complex dated back to 1876, when the city's Caledonian society moved to South Dunedin from their home at the North Ground in

. The ground, and its grandstand, were purchased by the Dunedin City Council in 1943, and were extensively developed after public meetings in late 1950 to decide on a public utility which could also serve as a war memorial. The original Caledonian Ground hosted New Zealand's first National Athletics Championships in December 1889, and also New Zealand's first international football (soccer) match, albeit not officially a full international. On 23 July 1904 New Zealand lost 0-1 at the Caledonian to a New South Wales representative XI. The ground also served as the city's main cycling venue for many years, and was sporadically used as a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

venue between 1880 and 1904, hosting four matches. The Caledonian was also the site of the first human ascent in a

hot-air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

in New Zealand — and first

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

descent — performed by travelling showman

Thomas Scott Baldwin Thomas Scott Baldwin (June 30, 1854 – May 17, 1923) was a pioneer balloonist and U.S. Army major during World War I. He was the first American to descend from a balloon by parachute. Early career Thomas Scott Baldwin was born on June 30, 18 ...

on 21 January 1889.Up, up and away
, ''Otago Daily Times'', 5 May 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.

Usage

The Caledonian Ground is used as the city's main athletics track, and is also one of Dunedin's primary

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 ...

venues;

Otago United Southern United, previously known as Otago United, is a semi-professional football club based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Founded in 2004, they play their home games at the Logan Park and Forsyth Barr Stadium. It is the southernmost football clu ...

formerly played many of their home games at the Caledonian Ground, and it has been the host ground for several later-round stages of the

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auck ...

, including a semi-final in the 2008 competition.

References

{{coord, -45.8633, 170.5270, region:NZ-OTA_type:landmark, display=title Sports venues in Dunedin Cricket grounds in New Zealand Association football venues in New Zealand