Belmore Sports Ground, formerly known as Belmore Oval, is a multi-purpose stadium in Belmore, New South Wales, Australia. The park covers 22 acres (89,000 m2) and from 1951 has contained the Belmore Bowling Recreation Club green. It is close to Belmore railway station.

Belmore Sports Ground
Belmore
Map
Former namesBelmore Oval
LocationBelmore, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates33°55′0″S 151°5′41″E / 33.91667°S 151.09472°E / -33.91667; 151.09472
Capacity17,000[1]
Record attendance27,804
SurfaceGrass
Opened1920
Tenants
Sydney Olympic (NPL NSW) (1996–2001, 2004–present)
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (NSWRL/ARL/NRL) (SL) (1935–1994, 1996–1998, 2015–present)

The stadium has a capacity of 19,000 people and was built in 1920, with the grandstand itself having the capacity to seat 10,000 people. The ground record crowd for Belmore was set on 12 April 1993 when 27,804 fans saw Canterbury defeat local rivals Parramatta 42–6.[2] The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Sydney Olympic Football Club are the current co-tenants of the ground.

History

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In 1920, the local council took steps to acquire park areas around the Belmore area. The park was named after the suburb it was located: Belmore Park. Belmore Park was eventually purchased in three sections between 1918 and 1921. The first two parcels were purchased by the State government and the third by Council. The park was opened around the early 1920s, the land was formerly known as Gunn's Paddock. In 1936, council purchased a large stand from the Sydney Cricket Ground and had it re-erected at the park as part of unemployment relief works. This stand was opened on 14 March 1936 by Mayor SE Parry and was named after him. Around 1967, council moved other sports played at the park to grounds elsewhere and rugby league was given priority.

Ground Use

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Inside the main grandstand at Belmore Sports Ground

Soccer

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The ground is currently (and mainly) used for soccer as the home ground for former Australian National League club Sydney Olympic FC, which now competes in the New South Wales Premier League.

Sydney Olympic competed in the ground from 1977 to 2001 during the National Soccer League. In 2001 they left the ground to join Endeavour Field. Once the league ceased in mid-2004, the team returned to Belmore where they currently compete.

In 2021, the ground hosted a Round of 32 Australia Cup game between Sydney Olympic and A-League side Sydney FC with Sydney FC winning 4–2.[3]

Rugby league

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The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs NRL team played their home games at Belmore Sports Ground from 1936 until 1998, after which time the club moved its home games to a series of more modern stadiums (currently Accor Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park). The club still used Belmore for training and administration, but subsequently moved these functions to a facility at Olympic Park in early 2008, leaving the club with no connection to the Sports Ground for the first time since the 1930s. However, the club subsequently announced its intention to redevelop the facilities at Belmore and move training and administration back to the ground. The Canterbury-Bankstown club relocated their offices and resumed training at the ground.[4] In 2011, Canterbury's NSW Cup, SG Ball and Harold Matthews teams began playing most home games at Belmore once again.

The spectators' hill on the eastern side of the ground is named after Canterbury legend Terry Lamb.

From 1982 until the end of 1985, Canterbury's arch-rivals the Parramatta Eels used the ground as their temporary home ground while Parramatta Stadium was under construction. The St. George Dragons also used the ground for one season in 1988 while Kogarah Oval was re-developed.

Canterbury-Bankstown returned to playing NRL games at Belmore with two home games during the 2015 NRL season against Melbourne and Cronulla as part of its 80th anniversary celebrations.[5][6] Canterbury-Bankstown played the premiers, North Queensland Cowboys, and Canberra Raiders in the 2016 season at Belmore Sports Ground. The match against the Cowboys was notable as it marked a homecoming for their co-captain, Johnathan Thurston, who debuted with the Bulldogs in 2002 and was part of their 2004 premiership team.[7]

In 2016, it held an International rugby league match between the Cook Islands and Lebanon.[8]

At the end of the 2016 NRL season, Belmore Sports Ground will have hosted 661 games of first grade rugby league since the first game on 13 April 1936. Of the active and semi-active grounds used by the NRL, only the SCG, Leichhardt Oval and Brookvale Oval have hosted more games.

In 2023, the ground hosted its first NRLW matches with the Newcastle Knights taking on the North Queensland Cowboys in the first game, followed by the Wests Tigers taking on the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the second game.[9]

Melanesian Cup

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Back to Belmore

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NRL pre-season trials
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Home Score Away Match Information
Date Venue & Crowd Match
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 28–16   Sydney Roosters 5:00pm, Sunday,
12 February 2012
Belmore Oval (12,000)[10] Back to Belmore 1
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 36–14   Newtown Jets 5:00pm, Sunday,
10 February 2013
Belmore Oval (12,000)[11] Back to Belmore 2
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 20–28   South Sydney Rabbitohs 5:00pm, Sunday,
9 February 2014
Belmore Oval (5,913)[12] Back to Belmore 3
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 20–0   Melbourne Storm 5:00pm Saturday,
20 February 2016
Belmore Oval[13]
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 10–20   Penrith Panthers 6:00pm Saturday,
11 February 2017
Belmore Oval[14]
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24–10   Penrith Panthers 6:30pm Saturday,
24 February 2018
Belmore Oval[15]
  Wests Tigers 36–4   Canberra Raiders 2:55pm Sunday,
19 February 2023
Belmore Oval (7,801) 2023 NRL pre-season
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 16–36   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 5:00pm Sunday
19 February 2023
Belmore Oval (7,801) 2023 NRL pre-season
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs   Melbourne Storm 7:00pm Thursday
15 February 2023
Belmore Oval
  South Sydney Rabbitohs   Sydney Roosters 6:00pm Friday
23 February 2024
Belmore Oval
  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 8:00pm Thursday
23 February 2024
Belmore Oval
NRL season games
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Home Score Away Match Information
Date Venue & Crowd Match
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 20–4   Melbourne Storm 7:00pm, Monday,
29 June 2015
Belmore Oval (16,764)[16] 2015 NRL season
Round 16
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 16–18   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 5:00pm, Sunday,
26 July 2015
Belmore Oval (19,005)[17] 2015 NRL season
Round 20
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 8–22   Canberra Raiders 7:00pm, Monday,
4 Apr 2016
Belmore Oval (13,463)[18] 2016 NRL season
Round 5
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 16–24   North Queensland Cowboys 7:50pm, Thursday,
25 August 2016
Belmore Oval (10,144)[19] 2016 NRL season
Round 25
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6–12   Melbourne Storm 6:00pm, Friday,
3 March 2017
Belmore Oval (8,712) 2017 NRL season
Round 1
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 20–18   Newcastle Knights 4:00pm, Sunday,
9 July 2017
Belmore Oval (13,103) 2017 NRL season
Round 18
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 10–32   Gold Coast Titans 3:00pm, Saturday,
16 June 2018
Belmore Oval (6,874) 2018 NRL season
Round 15
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 28–32   Canberra Raiders 7:30pm, Saturday,
7 July 2018
Belmore Oval (10,145) 2018 NRL season
Round 17
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6–28   Melbourne Storm 2:00pm, Sunday,
26 May 2019
Belmore Oval (13,131) 2019 NRL season
Round 11
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24–34   St George Illawarra Dragons 2:00pm, Sunday,
29 May 2022
Belmore Oval (16,991) 2022 NRL season
Round 12
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 26–22   Wests Tigers 4:05pm, Sunday,
19 March 2023
Belmore Oval (16,404) 2023 NRL season
Round 3
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24–44   Brisbane Broncos 3:00pm, Saturday,
15 July 2023
Belmore Oval (17,103) 2023 NRL season
Round 20
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 32-0   Gold Coast Titans 3:00pm, Saturday,
23 March 2024
Belmore Oval (12,037) 2024 NRL season
Round 3
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 22-18   Canberra Raiders 4:05pm, Sunday,
4 August 2024
Belmore Oval (18,110) 2024 NRL season
Round 22
World Club Championship games
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Home Score Away Match Information
Date Venue & Crowd Match
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 18–22   Wigan Warriors 7:00pm, Monday,
9 June 1997
Belmore Sports Ground (10,680)[20] 1997 World Club Championship
Round 1
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 58–6   Halifax Blue Sox 7:00pm, Monday,
16 June 1997
Belmore Sports Ground (5,034) 1997 World Club Championship
Round 2
  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 34–18   London Broncos 3:00pm, Sunday,
22 June 1997
Belmore Sports Ground (4,000) 1997 World Club Championship
Round 3

Ground record

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The ground record attendance was set on 12 April 1993 during Round 5 of the 1993 NSWRL season when 27,804 saw Canterbury-Bankstown defeat Parramatta 42–6.

References

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  1. ^ "Belmore Sports Ground". austadiums.com. Austadiums. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Rugby League Tables / Canterbury 42 v Parramatta 6 / Round 5, 1993". Stats.rleague.com. 12 April 1993. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Sydney Olympic FC v Sydney FC - Australia Cup Match Centre". australiacup.com.au. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  4. ^ Walter, Brad (21 May 2010). "Bulldogs moving home base back to beloved Belmore Sports Ground". Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  5. ^ NRL (28 September 2014). "Belmore to Host Match in 2015". Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Bulldogs confirm Belmore match against Sharks". 13 December 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  7. ^ Brady, Jack (26 August 2016). "Bulldogs faithful buoyed by Thurston's Belmore return". Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Belmore to host Cook Islands v Lebanon clash". asiapacificrl.com. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  9. ^ "NRLW: Knights v Cowboys Tigers v Sharks | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  10. ^ "NRL Trial: Bulldogs v Roosters | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  11. ^ "NRL Trial: Bulldogs v Newtown Jets | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  12. ^ "NRL Trial: Bulldogs v Rabbitohs | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  13. ^ "NRL Trial: Bulldogs v Storm | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  14. ^ "NRL Trial: Bulldogs v Panthers | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  15. ^ "NRL Trial: Bulldogs v Panthers | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  16. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "NRL 2015 – Round 16 – Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  17. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "NRL 2015 – Round 20 – Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  18. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "NRL 2016 – Round 5 – Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  19. ^ "NRL: Bulldogs v Cowboys – Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  20. ^ Wigan Rugby League Old Matches (20 January 2012). "Canterbury v Wigan – 1997 World Club Challenge Tournament". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2018 – via YouTube.
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