Redfern Oval
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Redfern Oval is an Australian football ground, 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 ,
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 ...
, Australia. The South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club played at Redfern Oval between 1948 and 1987. Rabbitoh supporters often refer to Redfern Oval as "The Holy Land".


Description

The former
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 ...
ground had a main grandstand on the wing with seats on either side and a hill surrounding the rest of the ground with a few rows of seats near the fence. The total capacity of the ground was around the 20,000 mark, until the redevelopment. The current ground has a lone grandstand with bench style seating, with the structure incorporating the Rabbitohs' training equipment/gym, as well as a cafe and basic luxury hospitality. The seating is covered by a large roof spanning the width of the structure. The stand is wheelchair accessible and also contains hearing loop accessibility. The player's tunnel is accessed by a small staircase which is below field level. Around the rest of the ground (which is now all public park, including the field) is three rows of terraced, hill seating. $19 million was spent by the City of Sydney Council to completely upgrade and renovate Redfern Oval which has allowed the Rabbitohs to return to Redfern in 2009 with state-of-the-art training facilities for players and coaches. The upgrade offers the Rabbitohs a professional standard playing surface and facilities to allow the oval to be used as their preferred training ground and for a limited number of pre-season and exhibition matches. Although Redfern Oval is no longer used as a venue for first grade rugby league it is still used as a home ground for Souths in the
Jersey Flegg Harry "Jersey" Flegg (6 April 1878 in Bolton, Lancashire23 August 1960 in North Sydney, New South Wales) was an English-Australian rugby league identity. Both a player and administrator, he was a leading figure in the birth of the sport in Aus ...
competition, the South Sydney Canterbury Cup team and the local Sydney combined competition.


History

Redfern Park was designed and constructed during the 1880s as a Victorian pleasure ground with ornamental gardens, cricket pitches, bowling green and a bandstand. In 1903, legendary cricketer
Victor Trumper Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...
played at the ground and reportedly hit a ball out of the field which went through the second-floor window of the boot factory across the road where a block of apartments now stand. It was not until 1946 that South Sydney made a formal proposal to make Redfern Oval as their permanent home ground. As a result, Redfern Council added spectator seating and a hill at the oval for fans to watch the game.


The Rabbitohs use of the oval


Premiership matches (1948–1987)

In 1948, the South Sydney Rabbitohs began playing at the ground, as part of their home-ground usage. The first match played at the ground was on 17 April 1948 against arch rivals
Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...
with the match finishing in a 19-19 draw. Souths played at Redfern until the end of 1987, where they move to the
Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...
the following year. In July 1987 Souths played Manly in front of a premiership record crowd of 23,257. The venue's all-time attendance record of 24,219 on 26 March 1967 in a Pre-season Cup double header featuring South Sydney vs
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 Balmain vs
Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
. After 1987, Redfern was only used in the premiership as South Sydney's training ground. However, it did host the Charity Shield game between the Rabbitohs 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 ...
in 1988, the last time the venue hosted the game between the clubs. Redfern also as hosted two games of the 1995
Tooheys Challenge Cup The Tooheys Challenge Cup (subsequently known by various other sponsors' names including the Network 10, Channel Ten Challenge Cup, Lotteries in Australia, Lotto Challenge Cup and Tooheys Brewery, Tooheys Challenge Cup) was a Pre-season knockout r ...
pre-season competition with a double header on 11 February. In the early game
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 Sydney ...
defeated the Sydney Tigers 18-10, while the Rabbitohs marked their return to the ground with a 14-19 loss to a new team in the premiership, the
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
based
Western Reds The Western Reds were a rugby league football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1992 as the Western Reds, they entered into the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995 before defecting to the rival Super League competition ...
. After a break of nine years, Redfern Oval returned as South Sydney's home ground for three games in the
1996 ARL season The 1996 ARL premiership (also known as the 1996 Optus Cup due to sponsorship from Optus) was the 89th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be administered by the Australian Rugby League (ARL). Twenty team ...
. Its return match saw the
Gold Coast Chargers The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from New South Wales Rugby League season 1988, 1988 to New South Wales Rugby League season 1994, 1994, the Australian Ru ...
pip the Rabbitohs 18-16. South Sydney then won their final two premiership games at the ground, defeating the Western Reds 24-18, before accounting for the
South Queensland Crushers The South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, a ...
48-16 on 14 July 1996 in front of 3,107 fans. In 2005, South Sydney had plans to return to Redfern Oval and redevelop the ground into a 20,000 seat stadium. The proposal was ultimately rejected by Sydney Council and Lord Mayor
Clover Moore Clover Margaret Moore (née Collins, born 22 October 1945) is an Australian politician. She has been the List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney, Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney since 2004 and is currently the longest serving Lord Mayor of Syd ...
. Moore claimed that
George Piggins George Leslie Piggins AM (born 14 October 1944) is an Australian rugby league personality. He is a former player, coach and administrator of the South Sydney Rabbitohs club. Following their exclusion from the National Rugby League premiership ...
option would further reduce the average open space per person in the Redfern-Waterloo area below the current 5.9 square metres per person, which is already under the city average of 6.6. It was ultimately decided by Sydney City Council that Redfern would be converted into a 5000 seater training facility with the possibility of playing interstate
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 ...
teams at the ground. Piggins said of Moore's plan "This new plan is consistent with the latte set moving into Redfern. If you are catering for a NRL crowd of 8000, you will go out of business".


Return to Redfern (2009–present)


Metricon High Performance Centre

On 18 January 2019, South Sydney announced a partnership with home builder,
Metricon Metricon is a home building company in Australia. The company was established in Caulfield, Melbourne in 1976 to build homes, develop land, sell house and land packages and construct commercial buildings. Metricon currently runs its operation fr ...
, to have naming rights to the Metricon High Performance Centre at Redfern Oval for two years.


References


External links

* {{NRL Grounds South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby league stadiums in Australia Sports venues in Sydney Redfern, New South Wales fr:South Sydney Rabbitohs