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| No. 1 Sports Ground | |
 Interactive map of No. 1 Sports Ground | |
| Ground information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Newcastle, New South Wales |
| Country | Australia |
| Establishment | 1876[1] |
| Capacity | 10,000[2] |
| Owner | Newcastle District Cricket Association |
| Operator | Cricket NSW |
| Tenants | New South Wales Newcastle City Sabres(1854-present)Newcastle City Australian Football Club (1883-present) |
| End names | |
| Parry Street End National Park End | |
| International information | |
| First WODI | 3 February 2000: Australia v England |
| Last WODI | 10 March 2009: Australia v South Africa |
| As of 7 September 2020 Source:No. 1 Sports Ground | |
Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground is a multi-usestadium located inNewcastle, New South Wales, and has a nominated capacity of approximately 10,000. It neighboursNewcastle Number 2 Sports Ground.
It is currently used mostly forcricket matches, located withinNational Park. The ground first hostedFirst-class cricket in 1981 whenNew South Wales playedQueensland. Ground was for many years a stopover on the tour itinerary for many visiting teams as they faced the Northern New South Wales XI. In 1981/82 the ground was allocated a Sheffield Shield match when the SCG was unavailable, and healthy crowds saw No.1 then become host to at least one first-class fixture per year.[3]
Newcastle District Cricket Association also use the Sports Ground for 1st grade matches. It is used primarily for the grand final held every March. In March 2009, Belmont DCC defeated Toronto Workers Kookaburras at the ground to win the premiership.[4]
As of 2014, 20 First-class matches had been played at the ground, the last in 2009.[5] The ground will play host to a match betweenNew South Wales Blues againstWestern Australia Warriors inSheffield Shield played from February 25 to 28.
The ground will receive a multi million-dollar upgrade in September 2020. The upgrade will consist of new concrete seating to be added to increase the seating capacity of the ground from 400 to 790 along the Parry St side of the ground, new lighting, drainage, a new fence and sightscreens, resurfacing and a new cricket square with the size of the playing field increased to cater for pre-seasonAustralian Football League games. This will mean that theNewcastle City AFC will have to play at another venue, potentially Hawkins Oval, until No.1 reopens.[6]
The venue could potentially host an AFL Women's fixture in 2022.[7]
No. 1 Sports Ground is currently used forAustralian rules football, cricket andrugby league and has been used for athletics, rugby union andassociation football at various times. It also hosts the local rugby league andAustralian rules football grand finals each year, and is currently used as a home ground by theNewcastle City Australian rules football and cricket clubs.
The stadium has also been used for three international friendly matches across three different decades all of which featured theAustralia men's national soccer team. The first match was againstIndia on 17 September 1938 which ended in a 4–1 victory for India.
v
India| 17 September 1938 | Australia | 1–4 | India | Newcastle |
| Report |
| Stadium:Newcastle Sports Ground Attendance: 9,000 |
v
South Africa| 7 June 1947 | Australia | 5–1 | South Africa | Newcastle |
| Report |
| Stadium:Newcastle Sports Ground Attendance: 18,442 Referee: William McWilliams (Australia) |
v South Africa| 1 October 1955 | Australia | 1–4 | South Africa | Newcastle |
| Report | Stadium:Newcastle Sports Ground Attendance: 2,937 Referee: G. Muir (Australia) |
From 2018 onwards, concerts associated with theSupercars Championship motor racing event, theNewcastle 500, have been held at the venue. ASimple Minds concert took place on 24 November 2018 as part of their "Walk Between Worlds Tour", but aKiss concert scheduled for 23 November 2019 as part of theirOne Last Kiss: End of the Road World Tour was cancelled along with the rest of the Australian/New Zealand tour dates.[8]
Top 5 Sports Attendance Records
| No. | Date | Teams | Sport | Competition | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 February 2007 | New South Wales v.South Australia | Cricket | T20 | 10,652 |
| 2 | 12 March 2005 | Sydney Swans v.Collingwood Magpies | Australian rules football | AFL (preseason) | 5,002 |
| 3 | 24 October 2004 | New South Wales v.Tasmania | Cricket | ING Cup | 3,816 |
| 4 | 13 March 2004 | Sydney Swans v.Essendon Bombers | Australian rules football | AFL (preseason) | 3,405 |
| 5 | 18 March 2006 | Sydney Swans v.St Kilda Saints | Australian rules football | AFL (preseason) | 3,203 |
Last updated on 13 July 2014
32°55′53″S151°45′48″E / 32.93139°S 151.76333°E /-32.93139; 151.76333Starting in the 2009 season, the no 1 Sports ground is also hosting Football (Soccer), as home ground to the inner city's top football club, Cooks Hill United who compete in the ID2 regional competition.
