Central Park was a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

stadium in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

, England, which was the home of Wigan RLFC before the club moved to the JJB Stadium in 1999. Its final capacity was 18,000. The site is now a

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

supermarket and car park.

History

On 6 September 1902, Wigan played at Central Park for the first time in the opening match of the newly formed First Division. An estimated crowd of 9,000 spectators saw Wigan beat

Batley Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

14–8. The first

international was played between

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and Other Nationalities at Central Park on 5 April 1904, Other Nationalities won 9-3 in the experimental -less 12-a-side game, with Wigan players David "Dai" Harris, and Eli Davies in the Other Nationalities team. The visit of St. Helens on 27 March 1959 produced Central Park's record attendance of 47,747, and set a record for a

regular season league game in Britain. Wigan won the game 19–14, holding off a Saints comeback after having led 14–0. Floodlights were installed on 120 ft high pylons in summer 1967 so that the club could play in the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy. On 7 October 1987, Central Park was the first English venue used for the

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australian National Rugby League and the British Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. Super League sides have won the c ...

(WCC) between the English champions and the

Winfield Cup The Winfield Cup was an Australian rugby league trophy awarded to the winner of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership (NSWRL) Grand Final from 1982 to 1994, and then to the winner of the newly-founded Australian Rugby League (ARL) Grand Fi ...

premiers from Australia. The 1987 World Club Challenge between Wigan and Manly-Warringah saw the home side run out 8-2 winners in a try-less game in front of 36,895, though many who were there believe the attendance was closer to 50,000 (speculation) on the night, far exceeding the 36,000 capacity of the ground at the time. The game was marred by several all-in brawls, while Manly captain

Paul Vautin Paul Vautin (born 21 July 1959), nicknamed Fatty, is a former Australian rugby commentator and former professional rugby league player, captain and coach. He has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since joining ...

was almost pushed over the fence and into the crowd by a group of Wigan players who had tackled him into touch, the incident sparking another all-in. Second-rower Ron Gibbs became the first player to be sent off in a WCC after hitting Wigan centre Joe Lydon with an elbow to the head after Lydon attempted a field goal, while later in the game Manly fullback Dale Shearer appeared to step on Lydon's head while getting up from a tackle. Nevertheless, the success of the match and its high attendance saw the World Club Challenge made into an annual event between the English and Australian champions starting in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. A week after the 1992 Rugby League World Cup final (WCF) at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

which saw defeat 10-6, Central Park hosted the

1992 World Club Challenge The 1992 World Club Challenge match was contested by the 1991–92 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan Warriors, Wigan and the 1992 NSWRL season's premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. The match took place on Friday night, 30 October in Engla ...

between Wigan and the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

. With twelve players who played in the WCF playing the challenge (5 from Wigan, 7 from Brisbane), the Broncos became the first Australian side to win the challenge in England with a 22-8 victory in front of 17,764 fans. Wigan would get their revenge just two years later when they defeated the Broncos 20-14 in the 1994 World Club Challenge played in front of a WCC record attendance of 54,220 at the

ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Several thousand fans travelled to Brisbane to support the team, and the win saw Wigan become the first English team to win the Challenge on Australian soil. In January 1997 the club's shareholders approved a deal in which the stadium would be sold to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

's owner

Dave Whelan David Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is an English businessman and former Association football, footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra F.C., Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is ...

and be redeveloped to provide a new home for both the football and rugby teams. Two months later however, the Warriors' chairman Jack Robinson accepted a rival bid from Tesco, pointing out that the supermarket's offer was three times bigger than Whelan's. The final game at Central Park was on Sunday 5 September 1999. Wigan beat St Helens by 28 points to 20, 96 years and 364 days after the first game against Batley was played. The Central Park site later became a

supermarket and car park.

Rugby League Test Matches

List of rugby league test matches played at Central Park.

Rugby League Tour Matches

Other than Wigan club games and test matches, Central Park was also a regular host to various international touring teams from 1907 to 1994.

World Club Challenge/Championship

Central Park hosted 5

games between 1987 and 1997.

References

External links