Athletic Park was a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

ground located in Newtown, a suburb of

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It was owned and operated by the Wellington Rugby Football Union, and was used for Wellington first-class matches, as well as local club matches. It hosted the first

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

(All Blacks) home test match in 1904, and continued to be used as a regular venue for All Blacks home matches until its closure and demolition in 1999. It was also the primary home ground of the Wellington Hurricanes (now known as the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

) between 1996 and 1999.

History

The ground was an open park overlooking

Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...

and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

and was therefore exposed to Wellington's regular strong winds. For this reason, it was described by French journalist Denis Lalanne as a "desolate, cyclone-swept stadium... pitiful and at the same time wonderful." It was famous for the Millard Stand, a very steep grandstand which used to sway in the winds. The Millard Stand was completed in 1961 and named for Wellington Rugby Football Union administrator J. N. Millard. The Millard Stand replaced the Western Bank, a section that was so popular that fans would camp at the ground overnight to ensure they could sit there. The regular patrons of the Western Bank, referred to as "Bankers", were considered particularly knowledgeable about rugby union. Towards the end of its life, the stadium fell into a poor condition but was still cherished by the public. Throughout the 1980s several proposals were made to modernise the grounds, but instead a decision was made to build a new stadium. Several alternatives were proposed, including a new stadium in

Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...

or revamping the

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve, also known as the Cello Basin Reserve for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the Basin, is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It is used for Test cricket, Test matches, and is the main home ground of t ...

or Fraser Park in Hutt Valley. The proposal that was ultimately successful was a new stadium built on unused land near the Wellington railway station. This stadium, now formally known as Wellington Regional Stadium and colloquially as "The Cake Tin", was completed in 1999, and Athletic Park closed permanently that same year. Athletic Park has now been demolished and replaced with a retirement village, colloquially known as "Arthritic Park". The last match played at the ground was on 10 October 1999, between

and

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

in the NPC, with Wellington prevailing 36–16.

Rugby union

Test matches

Athletic Park hosted 42 Test matches involving the All Blacks from 1904 to 1999, including the 43–6 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1996. The ground record crowd was 59 000 people, set in a 1959 match against the British Lions. The phenomenon of extreme winds at the ground was most famously displayed in the 1961 Test against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, later nicknamed the "Cyclone Test", as it was played in hurricane-force winds of up to 79 miles per hour (127 kph). Lalanne's review of the match declared it to have been "a nightmare spectacle", with the extreme winds causing the closure of most of the newly built Millard Stand, numerous errors in gameplay and touch kicks that were pushed behind the kicker. New Zealand eventually prevailed 5-3 in the lowest-scoring game of the tour, after

Don Clarke Donald Barry Clarke (10 November 1933 – 29 December 2002) was a New Zealand rugby union player who played 89 times (31 of these were test matches) as a New Zealand international from 1956 until 1964. He was best known for his phenomen ...

made a sideline conversion by kicking almost parallel to the try line, with the wind curling the ball between the posts. The last Test match played at Athletic Park was against France on 26 June 1999, with the All Blacks winning 54–7.

Rugby World Cup

Athletic Park hosted four matches of the

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

Association football

In 1923, Athletic Park hosted the inaugural final of the Chatham Cup, New Zealand's principal knockout

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

(soccer) tournament.

Music and other events

Athletic Park also played host to other non-sports events, including a visit by Pope John Paul II in 1986 and various rock concerts.

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

performed a concert in 1980 as part of their Unmasked Tour. In 1983,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

and

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals, lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums, percussion). Th ...

performed at Athletic Park, with further performances by Dire Straits in 1986 and 1991.

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

performed two concerts there, the first on 10 March 1982 as part of his Jump Up! Tour and the second was on 22 February 1984 as part of his Too Low for Zero Tour.

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British New wave music, new wave duo formed in 1980, consisting of Scottish vocalist Annie Lennox and English musician and producer Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Dave Stewart. They were both previously in the Tourists, a band t ...

performed on 28 January 1987 as part of their Revenge Tour. In March 1980,

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

played what was described by Grant Harding of Hawke's Bay Today as "the worst concert ever" at the ground. The band began arguing and fighting amongst themselves during the performance and left the stage, before later returning to continue. Those attending chanted for the return of the supporting band, New Zealand's Street Talk as the music deteriorated.

References

External links

Athletic Park remembered
{{Authority control Rugby union stadiums in New Zealand Sports venues in Wellington City Defunct sports venues in New Zealand Defunct rugby union venues 1890s architecture in New Zealand 1999 disestablishments in New Zealand Hurricanes (rugby union)