Ballymore is a rugby union stadium situated in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia. It is the headquarters of Queensland Rugby Union and the home ground of the Brisbane City team in the National Rugby Championship. It is also used as a training facility for the Queensland Reds and Australian Wallabies rugby teams.
The stadium was the home ground of the Reds until they moved to Suncorp Stadium in 2006. The Brisbane Strikers football club also played at the ground prior to 2003. Ballymore was used as a training facility and headquarters for A-League club Brisbane Roar from 2008 to 2014.
Video Ballymore Stadium
History
The QRU set up headquarters at Ballymore in 1966 under a deed of grant from the state government. The first club game played at the new site was a match between Teachers and Wests. The QRU moved in February 1967. In March of the following year Ballymore's grandstand was officially opened. The Eastern Stand was opened on 21 June 1992. The ground exceeded capacity in 1993 when 26,000 watched the Wallabies play South Africa. A year later the first match under lights was played at the ground. Today the grandstand is known as the McLean Stand (named in 1982 after the McLean family). The Eastern stand is known as the Bank of QLD stand.
The Queensland Reds played their home matches at Ballymore from 1967 until 2005. Their Super Rugby matches were moved to Suncorp Stadium for the 2006 season but they still played their home games in the 2006 Australian Provincial Championship at Ballymore. The stadium also hosted the Ballymore Tornadoes during the only season of the Australian Rugby Championship in 2007.
Maps Ballymore Stadium
Present use
Though the Reds have since moved out of Ballymore to Suncorp Stadium, which has almost three times the capacity, Ballymore is still the host to many rugby union matches. The Queensland Premier Rugby finals are held at the ground, and Queensland XV and off-season matches for the Reds are also played at Ballymore. Since 2014, the Brisbane City team in the National Rugby Championship has played home matches at the stadium.
The QRU has plans to redevelop the site to include a high performance centre comprising advanced sports medicine and training facilities, a gymnasium and aquatic facilities, as well as on-site accommodation for visiting teams.
Rugby World Cup
Ballymore hosted five matches of the 1987 Rugby World Cup.
See also
- Rugby union in Queensland
- Queensland Rugby Union
References
External links
- Ballymore Redevelopment Proposal
- Ballymore Stadium at Austadiums
- "State of the art" Rugby Centre proposed for Ballymore
Source of article : Wikipedia
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