Civil & Civic was an Australian construction company. Founded in 1951, it was acquired in 1961 by Lend Lease Corporation .
87-735: Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta , New South Wales , Australia , 24 km (15 mi) west of Sydney CBD . The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta Eels of the National Rugby League and the Western Sydney Wanderers of the A-League . Cumberland Oval was the local name for
174-539: A tensegrity structure . But, in the context of sports stadiums, the term "dome" has become standard for all covered stadiums, particularly because the first such enclosed stadium, the Houston Astrodome , was built with an actual dome-shaped roof. Some stadiums have partial roofs, and a few have even been designed to have moveable fields as part of the infrastructure. The Caesars Superdome in New Orleans
261-568: A Roman track of such length. Most dictionaries provide for both stadiums and stadia as valid English plurals. The oldest known stadium is the Stadium at Olympia in Greece, where the ancient Olympic Games were held from 776 BC. Initially the Games consisted of a single event, a sprint along the length of the stadium. Greek and Roman stadiums have been found in numerous ancient cities, perhaps
348-480: A cost of £150 and 12 turnstiles were installed at a cost of £7 each. The stadium was officially opened on 24 August 1892 by Lord Kinnaird and Frederick Wall of the Football Association. No football was played; instead the 12,000 crowd watched a short track and field event followed by music and a fireworks display. Upon its completion the stadium was the first joint purpose-built football stadium in
435-405: A few municipally owned stadiums, which are often known by a name that is significant to their area (for example, Boston 's Fenway Park ). In recent years, some government-owned stadiums have also been subject to naming-rights agreements, with some or all of the revenue often going to the team(s) that play there. One consequence of corporate naming has been an increase in stadium name changes, when
522-472: A few years, and none survive today. Goodison Park was the first purpose-built association football stadium in the world. Walton -based building firm Kelly brothers were instructed to erect two uncovered stands that could each accommodate 4,000 spectators. A third covered stand accommodating 3,000 spectators was also requested. Everton officials were impressed with the builder's workmanship and agreed two further contracts: exterior hoardings were constructed at
609-403: A football pitch with a running track , although certain compromises must be made. The major drawback is that the stands are necessarily set back a good distance from the pitch, especially at the ends of the pitch. In the case of some smaller stadiums, there are not stands at the ends. When there are stands all the way around, the stadium takes on an oval shape. When one end is open, the stadium has
696-461: A given historical context it may actually signify a length up to 15% larger or smaller. The equivalent Roman measure, the stadium , had a similar length – about 185 m (607 ft) – but instead of being defined in feet was defined using the Roman standard passus to be a distance of 125 passūs (double-paces). The English use of stadium comes from the tiered infrastructure surrounding
783-471: A horseshoe shape. All three configurations (open, oval and horseshoe) are common, especially in the case of American college football stadiums. Rectangular stadiums are more common in Europe, especially for football where many stadiums have four often distinct and very different stands on the four sides of the stadium. These are often all of different sizes and designs and have been erected at different periods in
870-591: A hydraulics company with origins in Western Sydney winning the rights and naming it "Pirtek Stadium", which lasted until the demolition. After the conversion to an all-seater stadium, plans to further expand Parramatta Stadium were originally initiated in May 2007. The Parramatta Stadium Trust announced plans to build a new southern stand with room for 2,700 extra patrons as well as a players change room and gym. The plans were not followed through on and no construction
957-594: A number of landmark projects including Stage I of the Sydney Opera House , Australia's first all concrete skyscraper ( Caltex House ), and the world's first high-rise strata title apartment building ( Blues Point Tower ). In 1961 Civil & Civic was acquired by Lend Lease Corporation , but the company continued to trade under the Civil & Civic name, also constructing the world's tallest lightweight concrete construction building ( Australia Square ), and
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#17327971822021044-575: A plan to prefabricate frames for worker housing in Finland, plumbing in England, ship materials via Cooma and recruit labour from the Netherlands to erect the homes. Dusseldorp established Civil & Civic to take on and manage the multimillion-dollar contract. Civil & Civic went on to become Australia's leading provider of project management services in the construction industry, delivering
1131-522: A single sport while others can accommodate different events, particularly ones with retractable seating . Stadiums built specifically for association football are common in Europe; Gaelic games stadiums, such as Croke Park , are common in Ireland, while stadiums built specifically for baseball or American football are common in the United States. The most common multiple use design combines
1218-713: A test match against France in 1994. Parramatta Eels is the main Rugby League team to use this stadium as their home-ground usage in the NRL premiership season. They have been here since 1986. In 1995 and 1996, the ground was also used for the short-lived Sydney Tigers, what became of Balmain Tigers . In 1997 the Sydney Tigers went back to being the Balmain Tigers and moved back to Leichhardt Oval . Also in 1995,
1305-687: A venue for Everton F.C. ). In the U.S., many professional baseball teams built large stadiums mainly out of wood , with the first such venue being the South End Grounds in Boston , opened in 1871 for the team then known as the Boston Beaneaters (now the Atlanta Braves ). Many of these parks caught fire, and those that did not proved inadequate for a growing game. All of the 19th-century wooden parks were replaced, some after
1392-680: Is a true dome structure made of a lamellar multi-ringed frame and has a diameter of 680 feet (210 m). It is the largest fixed domed structure in the world. Even though enclosed, dome stadiums are called stadiums because they are large enough for, and designed for, what are generally considered to be outdoor sports such as athletics, American football , association football , rugby , and baseball . Those designed for what are usually indoor sports like basketball, ice hockey and volleyball are generally called arenas . Exceptions include: Different sports require different playing surfaces of various size and shape. Some stadiums are designed primarily for
1479-528: Is often cited as the first modern seater stadium, at least in the UK. Designed by the engineer J.J. Webster and completed in 10 months by George Wimpey , on the site of the Franco-British Exhibition , this stadium with a seating capacity of 68,000 was opened by King Edward VII on 27 April 1908. Upon completion, the stadium had a running track 24 ft wide (7.3 m) and three laps to
1566-678: Is the Nippon Professional Baseball league of Japan, in which many of the teams are themselves named after their parent corporations. Also, many newer European football stadiums, such as the University of Bolton and Emirates Stadiums in England and Signal Iduna Park and Allianz Arena in Germany have been corporately named. This new trend in corporate naming (or renaming) is distinguishable from names of some older venues, such as Crosley Field , Wrigley Field , and
1653-654: The 1976 Grand Final 13–10 to Manly, and the 1977 Grand Final replay 22–0 to St George after the first Grand Final was drawn 9-9. The 1981 NSWRFL season saw the first premiership success for the Eels as they finished 3rd in the regular season before defeating the Newtown Jets 20 to 11 on Sunday 27 September 1981. As the Parramatta Eels secured their first-ever Premiership, defeating the Newtown Jets in
1740-610: The 1981 Grand Final , wildly jubilant scenes erupted in Parramatta, the Leagues club quickly overflowed with Eels fans celebrating with thousands rallying at nearby Cumberland Oval and, in a frenzy of vandalism, burned the Oval's grandstand to the ground. For a while some junior rugby league matches were played on the unfenced oval before the site was eventually redeveloped. In November 1984 the construction company Civil & Civic won
1827-794: The Allianz Arena in Munich was called the FIFA World Cup Stadium, Munich during the tournament. Likewise, the same stadium will be known as the "München Arena" during the European Competitions. Similar rules affect the Imtech Arena and Veltins-Arena . This rule applies even if the stadium sponsor is an official FIFA sponsor—the Johannesburg stadium then commercially known as "Coca-Cola Park", bearing
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#17327971822021914-514: The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs team changed their name to 'Sydney Bulldogs', and played their home games at this ground. In 1996, they reverted to their original name and returned to Belmore Oval . The stadium was used as a host venue for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup and the 2010 Four Nations . Two of Ireland 's 2008 Rugby League World Cup Group C games were played at Parramatta Stadium: one against Tonga and
2001-636: The Lansdowne Rugby Football Club – colours red, black and yellow." Some 300 cartloads of soil from a trench beneath the railway were used to raise the ground, allowing Dunlop to use his engineering expertise to create a pitch envied around Ireland. Other early stadiums from this period in the UK include the Stamford Bridge stadium (opened in 1877 for the London Athletic Club ) and Anfield stadium (1884 as
2088-669: The Marconi Stallions was played at the venue. Olympic win the match 2–0 in what was the highest soccer attendance at Parramatta Stadium stands at 26,353. On 19 June 1992, the Parramatta Eels versus Great Britain Lions game on the Lions 1992 tour of Australasia attracted a crowd of 18,220, the largest non-Test match crowd of the Lions tour, with Parramatta winning 22–16. Prior to the match, Parramatta and Great Britain winger's Lee Oudenryn and Martin Offiah , generally regarded at
2175-638: The National Football League or the American Football League . (To a certain extent, this continues in lower football leagues as well, with the venue now known as Charles Schwab Field Omaha being used as the home stadium of the United Football League's Omaha Nighthawks .) Along with today's single use stadiums is the trend for retro-style ballparks closer to downtown areas. Oriole Park at Camden Yards
2262-640: The Summer Olympics and the FIFA World Cup (of association football), during which cities often pledge to build new stadiums in order to satisfy the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or FIFA . In recent decades, to help take the burden of the massive expense of building and maintaining a stadium, many American and European sports teams have sold the rights to the name of the facility. This trend, which began in
2349-460: The 1940s. The first stand at Cumberland Oval was built in 1850 and others followed at various times up to the final stand was built in 1936. Players from the local cricket club erected a two-rail fence around the oval during the 1860s but a solid planked safety barrier was needed for motor cycle racing, although this did not stop several deaths occurring as a result of crashes. The dirt track was originally 18 feet in width until expanded to 30 feet for
2436-654: The 1960s stadiums began to be used as live venues for popular music, giving rise to the term " stadium rock ", particularly for forms of hard rock and progressive rock . The origins of stadium rock are sometimes dated to when the Beatles played Shea Stadium in New York in 1965. Also important was the use of large stadiums for American tours by bands in the later 1960s, such as the Rolling Stones , Grand Funk Railroad and Led Zeppelin . The tendency developed in
2523-604: The 1970s, but accelerated greatly in the 1990s, has led to sponsors' names being affixed to both established stadiums and new ones. In some cases, the corporate name replaces (with varying degrees of success) the name by which the venue has been known for many years. But many of the more recently built stadiums, like the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg , Germany, have never been known by a non-corporate name. The sponsorship phenomenon has since spread worldwide. There remain
2610-532: The 1990s. In several cases, an American football stadium has been constructed adjacent to a baseball park , to allow for the sharing of mutual parking lots and other amenities. With the rise of MLS, the construction of soccer-specific stadiums has also increased since the late 1990s to better fit the needs of that sport. In many cases, earlier baseball stadiums were constructed to fit into a particular land area or city block. This resulted in asymmetrical dimensions for many baseball fields. Yankee Stadium , for example,
2697-754: The 2009–10 A-League season, Sydney FC defeated Perth Glory 3–2. The game had been moved from the Sydney Football Stadium due to the Edinburgh Military tattoo. On 26 July 2012, new A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers announced a five-year deal with Parramatta Stadium, and made its debut with a crowd of 10,458. On 25 October 2014, the stadium hosted the first leg of the 2014 AFC Champions League Final between Western Sydney Wanderers and Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal . Parramatta Stadium has been used for various rugby league matches such as pre-season Sevens tournaments in 1989 and 1990, and
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2784-404: The 2015 refurbishment. In 2013, the club imported seven sets of rail seats and worked with Parramatta Stadium to perform a test installation. The proposed installation would have been the first safe seating in the country, in any sport. However, it didn't move past the planning stage. It was included in the rebuilt stadium however, as a dual purpose modular system of seats or railings. In June 2014
2871-674: The Australian leg of The New World Tour with two shows there on 22–23 March 1993. In 2015 the NSW Government announced that the stadium would be demolished and replaced, and to that end, Parramatta Stadium was demolished in February 2017, with the new Western Sydney Stadium built in the same location. Cumberland Oval was the main sporting venue for the Parramatta District from the mid 19th Century until 1982. It
2958-517: The Eels' 36 – 6 victory over the St. George Dragons . The only try for the Dragons came when centre Michael O'Connor fielded an infield kick from Eels front rower Paul Mares and raced 91 metres to score with a flying Eric Grothe only just failing to stop him as he came across in cover. On 20 May 1990, the 1989–90 National Soccer League Grand Final between western Sydney based clubs Sydney Olympic and
3045-566: The NSL and the creation of the A-League , the club was wound-up at the end of the 2003–04 season . Parramatta Power contested the last NSL Grand Final against Perth Glory at the stadium. The ground hosted seven NSL Grand Final matches, in 1986 (second leg), 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 2001 and 2004. In April 2007, Sydney FC played one game in the AFC Champions League against Persik Kediri at Parramatta Stadium. In February 2010, during
3132-574: The NSW State Government embarked on citywide "Stadium Strategy", intended to cease investment in small suburban grounds, and spend a large amount of money on a small number of new modern facilities. This strategy was developed as the Parramatta Stadium refurbishment completed new corporate hospitality facilities, player facilities, food and drink outlets, bathrooms, training field and gym facilities, all of which were located in
3219-683: The Parramatta District Rugby League Club, later renamed to the Parramatta Eels, was admitted into the NSWRL Premiership in 1947, Cumberland Oval became the club's home ground. The first match was played against Newtown (now Newtown Jets) on 12 April 1947, before a crowd of 6,000. The largest crowd to watch a rugby league match at Cumberland Oval was 22,470 when the Eels took on the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 26 April 1971. The club lost
3306-487: The U.S. The Baker Bowl , a baseball park in Philadelphia that opened in its original form in 1887 but was completely rebuilt in 1895, broke new ground in stadium construction in two major ways. The stadium's second incarnation featured the world's first cantilevered second deck (tier) in a sports venue, and was the first baseball park to use steel and brick for the majority of its construction. Another influential venue
3393-453: The US is bleachers , which is mostly used for seating areas with bench seats as opposed to individual seats, and which often are uncovered; the name refers to the bleaching effect direct, unshaded sunlight has on the benches and patrons in those sections. Many stadiums make luxury suites or boxes available to patrons at high prices. These suites can accommodate ten to thirty people, depending on
3480-413: The championship series 2-0 after a 10-9 thriller in favour of the visiting side. List of rugby league test matches played at the stadium. Stadium A stadium ( pl. : stadiums or stadia ) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view
3567-458: The construction of new facilities. In Europe and Latin America, where there are multiple association football clubs in any given city, and several leagues in each country, no such monopoly power exists, and stadiums are built primarily with private money. Outside professional sports, governments are also involved through the intense competition for the right to host major sporting events, primarily
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3654-478: The contract to design and build a new stadium. In November 1985 the stadium was complete, with a rectangular playing area several metres below the Cumberland Oval surface. On 5 March 1986 the Parramatta Stadium was opened by Queen Elizabeth II . On 16 March the first NSWRL Premiership match was played at the ground with 26,870 in attendance. Parramatta's Steve Sharp scored the ground's first try in
3741-564: The cricket, motor sports and rugby venue that had existed prior to Parramatta Stadium being built, with the area having been used for recreational activities since 1788, the founding year of the British colony in New South Wales. The stadium also hosted numerous other sporting and cultural events since its opening in 1986. Michael Jackson performed there during his Bad World Tour on 20–21 November 1987, and Paul McCartney concluded
3828-399: The event. Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event at the ancient Greek Olympic festival was the race that comprised one length of the stadion at Olympia , where the word "stadium" originated. Most of the stadiums with a capacity of at least 10,000 are used for association football . Other popular stadium sports include gridiron football , baseball , cricket ,
3915-408: The first and second Busch Stadiums , in that the parks were named by and for the club's owner, which also happened to be the name of the company owned by those clubowners. (The current Busch Stadium received its name via a modern naming rights agreement.) During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, some stadiums were temporarily renamed because FIFA prohibits sponsorship of stadiums. For example,
4002-692: The ground between 2001 and 2002. Australia A also played a match against Canada in 2002 at Parramatta Stadium. During 2007, Parramatta Stadium was also the home ground for the Western Sydney Rams club side that participated in the now defunct Australian Rugby Championship . Baseball was played at Parramatta Stadium with the Sydney Blues playing home matches there. The Blues entered the Australian Baseball League in 1992 and played out of Parramatta Stadium. Due to
4089-485: The ground was the 2016 Intrust Super Premiership NSW grand final between Mounties and Illawarra with Illawarra winning their first and only premiership 21–20. Between 1999 and 2004, the stadium was home to Parramatta Power , a National Soccer League (NSL) club owned and operated by the Parramatta Leagues Club (owner of the Parramatta Eels rugby league club). With the announcement of the demise of
4176-423: The ground's capacity to 21,500, down from the previous capacity of 27,000. On 23 March 2013, the third A-League Sydney derby saw the highest A-League attendance at Parramatta Stadium, with 19,585 turning out for the occasion, which ended in a 1–1 draw. Parramatta Stadium announced on 9 October 2013, that for the first time in the history of the stadium that it would take on a naming rights sponsor, with Pirtek ,
4263-476: The largest among them, are megaprojects that can only be afforded by the largest corporations, wealthiest individuals, or government. Sports fans have a deep emotional attachment to their teams. In North America, with its closed-league " franchise " system, there are fewer teams than cities which would like them. This creates tremendous bargaining power for the owners of teams, whereby owners can threaten to relocate teams to other cities unless governments subsidize
4350-605: The lead of Aerosmith and including Mötley Crüe , Quiet Riot , W.A.S.P. and Ratt . Since the 1980s, rock, pop and folk stars, including the Grateful Dead , Madonna , Michael Jackson , Beyoncé , Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift , have undertaken large-scale stadium based concert tours . Civil %26 Civic Civil & Civic was founded by Dick Dusseldorp in 1951 on behalf of Dutch building companies Bredero's Bouwbedrijf and The Royal Dutch Harbour Company as an Australian building contractor. Its first contract
4437-577: The main grandstand. They were completed in mid-2015, while the additional seating at either end of the ground was halted pending a decision on where Parramatta would stand in the new stadium strategy. In September 2015, the New South Wales Government announced that the stadium would be replaced with a new 30,000 seat venue on the same site, officially named the Western Sydney Stadium . Construction began in 2017 and
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#17327971822024524-418: The mid-1970s as the increased power of amplification and sound systems allowed the use of larger and larger venues. Smoke, fireworks and sophisticated lighting shows became staples of arena rock performances. Key acts from this era included Journey , REO Speedwagon , Boston , Foreigner , Styx , Kiss , Peter Frampton and Queen . In the 1980s arena rock became dominated by glam metal bands, following
4611-456: The mile (536 m); outside there was a 35-foot-wide (11 m), 660-yard (600 m) cycle track. The infield included a swimming and diving pool. The London Highbury Stadium , built in 1913, was the first stadium in the UK to feature a two-tiered seating arrangement when it was redesigned in the Art Deco style in 1936. During these decades, parallel stadium developments were taking place in
4698-481: The modern stadium. The first stadiums to be built in the modern era were basic facilities, designed for the single purpose of fitting as many spectators in as possible. With tremendous growth in the popularity of organised sport in the late Victorian era , especially association football in the United Kingdom and baseball in the United States, the first such structures were built. One such early stadium
4785-613: The most famous being the Stadium of Domitian , in Rome. The excavated and refurbished ancient Panathenaic Stadium hosted attempted revivals of the Olympic Games in 1870 and 1875 before hosting the first modern Olympics in 1896 , the 1906 Intercalated Games , and some events of the 2004 Summer Olympics . The excavation and refurbishment of the stadium was part of the legacy of the Greek national benefactor Evangelos Zappas , and it
4872-425: The name of one of FIFA's major sponsors , was known by its historic name of Ellis Park Stadium during the 2010 FIFA World Cup . Corporate names are also temporarily replaced during the Olympics. Modern stadiums bring several negative environmental issues with their construction. They require thousands of tons of materials to build, they greatly increase traffic in the area around the stadium, as well as maintaining
4959-401: The namesake corporation changes its name, or if it is the naming agreement simply expires. Phoenix's Chase Field , for example, was previously known as Bank One Ballpark, but was renamed to reflect the takeover of the latter corporation. San Francisco's historic Candlestick Park was renamed as 3Com Park for several years, but the name was dropped when the sponsorship agreement expired, and it
5046-475: The old stadiums they replace. In North America, where baseball and American football are the two most popular outdoor spectator sports, a number of football/baseball multi-use stadiums were built, especially during the 1960s, and some of them were successful. Since the requirements for baseball and football are significantly different, the trend has been toward the construction of single-purpose stadiums, beginning with Kansas City in 1972–1973 and accelerating in
5133-448: The other against Samoa . When the Parramatta Eels were playing the ground's eastern grandstand is named the Mick Cronin Stand and the western grandstand, the Ken Thornett Stand in honour of two of the club's leading former players. On 18 September 1997 two 1999 Rugby World Cup qualifiers – Western Samoa vs Tonga and Australia vs Fiji —were played at Parramatta Stadium. A number of NSW Rugby Union club matches were played at
5220-705: The public. An "all-seater" stadium has seats for all spectators. Other stadiums are designed so that all or some spectators stand to view the event. The term "all-seater" is not common in the U.S., as very few American stadiums have sizeable standing-only sections. Poor stadium design has contributed to disasters, such as the Hillsborough disaster and the Heysel Stadium disaster . Since these, all Premier League , UEFA European Championship and FIFA World Cup qualifying matches require all spectators to be seated. Seating areas may be known as terraces , tiers , or decks . Originally set out for standing room only, they are now usually equipped with seating. Another term used in
5307-487: The rectangular pitch there was controversy due to the extremely short home run fence that was only 230 feet, 100 less than is typical for a baseball game. The Sydney Blues were later known as the Sydney Storm and played there occasionally until the collapse of the Australian Baseball League in 1999. During the 93/94 Finals series, Game 2 between Sydney and the Brisbane Bandits attracted a record Australian baseball league crowd of 13,700 fans at Parramatta that saw Brisbane win
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#17327971822025394-428: The south stand under cover, while the remaining three stands were left as terraces and uncovered. It was the first stadium to feature continuous seating along the contours of the stadium. These early venues, originally designed to host football matches, were adopted for use by the Olympic Games, the first one being held in 1896 in Athens , Greece. The White City Stadium , built for the 1908 Summer Olympics in London
5481-407: The speedcars. The boundary fence and track remained in place after all speedway racing ended in 1959. Some of the early touring English cricket teams played at Cumberland Oval at a time when Parramatta was "way out in the country". The cricket club evolved as Central Cumberland for the initial Sydney Grade Competition in 1893/94. When the nearby King's School moved to North Parramatta during the 1970s
5568-401: The stadium's history. The vastly differing character of European football stadiums has led to the growing hobby of ground hopping where spectators make a journey to visit the stadium for itself rather than for the event held there. In recent years the trend of building completely new oval stadiums in Europe has led to traditionalists criticising the designs as bland and lacking in the character of
5655-460: The stadium. The increased traffic around modern stadiums has led to create exposure zones says the Health Effect Institute, exposing 30–40% of people living around the stadium to potential health issues. Many stadiums are attempting to counteract these issues by implementing solar panels, and high efficiency lighting, to reduce their own carbon footprint. Although concerts, such as classical music, had been presented in them for decades, beginning in
5742-403: The stadium. A pre-existing fund of $ 8 million for upgrading the stadium was combined with $ 20 million of new funding. The expansion was expected to increase the capacity of the stadium to 24,700. Western Sydney Wanderers along with active support group the Red and Black Bloc campaigned for the installation of German style rail seating to enable safe standing in the northern stands as part of
5829-491: The start of the "jewel box" era of park construction. The largest stadium crowd ever was 199,854 people watching the final match of the 1950 World Cup at Rio de Janeiro 's Maracanã on 16 July 1950. Domed stadiums are distinguished from conventional stadiums by their enclosing roofs. Many of these are not actually domes in the pure architectural sense, some being better described as vaults , some having truss -supported roofs and others having more exotic designs such as
5916-439: The theatre, with its seating arrangements foreshadowing those of modern stadiums. The Romans copied the theatre, then expanded it to accommodate larger crowds and more elaborate settings. The Romans also developed the double-sized round theatre called amphitheatre , seating crowds in the tens of thousands for gladiatorial combats and beast shows. The Greek stadium and theatre and the Roman circus and amphitheatre are all ancestral to
6003-450: The time as the fastest player in rugby league, faced off in a Tooheys Blue Label challenge race over 100m (try line to try line). Oudenryn caused what many believed to be a huge upset by defeating Offiah by approximately half a metre. In December 2002, work began on converting the formerly grassed hill areas (The Brett Kenny Hill and The Peter Sterling Hill) into seated terrace areas (holding 4,500 spectators). This redevelopment reduced
6090-441: The turf pitches were removed and the cricket club moved to the oval that had been the school's main sports ground. The club now known as the Parramatta District Cricket Club still has the Old Kings Oval as its main ground. The Parramatta Rugby Union club now plays at Granville Rugby Park. Cumberland Oval was originally used for rugby league by the Parramatta Iona and Endeavours clubs and the Western Districts representative side. When
6177-466: The various codes of rugby , field lacrosse , bandy , and bullfighting . Many large sports venues are also used for concerts. "Stadium" is the Latin form of the Greek word " stadion " ( στάδιον ), a measure of length equalling the length of 600 human feet. As feet are of variable length the exact length of a stadion depends on the exact length adopted for 1 foot at a given place and time. Although in modern terms 1 stadion = 600 ft (180 m), in
6264-622: The venue. Luxury suites at events such as the Super Bowl can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Due to the number of people congregating in stadiums and the frequency of events, many notable accidents have occurred in the past, some causing injury and death. For example, the Hillsborough disaster was a human crush at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield , England on 15 April 1989. The resulting 97 deaths and 765 injuries makes this
6351-468: The world. The architect Archibald Leitch brought his experience with the construction of industrial buildings to bear on the design of functional stadiums up and down the country. His work encompassed the first 40 years of the 20th century. One of his most notable designs was Old Trafford in Manchester. The ground was originally designed with a capacity of 100,000 spectators and featured seating in
6438-406: The worst disaster in British sporting history. Much effort has been spent to avoid the recurrence of such events, both in design and legislation. Especially where there is a perceived risk of terrorism or violence attention remains high to prevent human death and keep stadiums as places where families can enjoy a public event together. In Europe and South America, during the twentieth century, it
6525-585: Was Boston 's Harvard Stadium , built in 1903 by Harvard University for its American football team and track and field program. It was the world's first stadium to use concrete-and-steel construction. In 1909, concrete-and-steel construction came to baseball with the opening of Shibe Park in Philadelphia and, a few months later, Forbes Field in Pittsburgh . The latter was the world's first three-tiered sporting venue. The opening of these parks marked
6612-613: Was another two years before the new name of Monster Cable Products ' Monster Park was applied. Local opposition to the corporate naming of that particular stadium led San Francisco's city council to permanently restore the Candlestick Park name once the Monster contract expired. More recently, in Ireland, there has been huge opposition to the renaming of Dublin 's historic Lansdowne Road as the Aviva Stadium . Lansdowne
6699-585: Was built on a triangular city block in The Bronx , New York City. This resulted in a large left field dimension but a small right field dimension. Before more modern football stadiums were built in the United States, many baseball parks, including Fenway Park , the Polo Grounds , Wrigley Field , Comiskey Park , Tiger Stadium , Griffith Stadium , Milwaukee County Stadium , Shibe Park , Forbes Field , Yankee Stadium , and Sportsman's Park were used by
6786-686: Was common for violent bands of supporters to fight inside or close to association football stadiums. In the United Kingdom they are known as hooligans . Structural features that increase safety include separate entry and exit accesses for each spectator area, especially separating accesses for home and visitor supporters, dividing walls, glass parapets, vibration attenuation and sprinkler systems. Security features that have been adopted include armed surveillance, Identity document checks, video surveillance , metal detectors and security searches to enforce rules that forbid spectators to carry dangerous or potentially dangerous items. Modern stadiums, especially
6873-561: Was completed in April 2019. Parramatta Stadium's last A-League match was a semi-final between the Western Sydney Wanderers and Brisbane Roar where the Wanderers came from a 3–0 deficit to win the game 5–4 in extra time. The Parramatta Eels hosted the final game of first grade rugby league at the ground, defeating St George Illawarra 30–18, with Bevan French scoring three tries in a blowout scoreline. The final ever game to be played at
6960-649: Was done. In 2010, a commission was done to establish a "Master Plan" for the future development the stadium. The master plan, if completed, would have the stadium finish with a capacity of 31,300 seats as well as extensive redevelopment of the facilities at the stadium for players, corporate sponsors, the media and supporters. On 2 July 2013, the Australian Federal Government, the New South Wales State Government and Parramatta Local Council announced an expansion for
7047-496: Was initially a venue for horse-racing, cricket and athletics then for rugby union from 1879 and rugby league from 1909. Motorsports racing started in 1930 with motorcycles, then speedcars in 1936. Among the famous names who used the oval in their respective sports were English cricketer W. G. Grace , and Australia's triple Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham who raced in midget cars at the Cumberland Speedway in
7134-480: Was redeveloped as the Aviva, opening in May 2010. On the other hand, Los Angeles' Great Western Forum , one of the earliest examples of corporate renaming, retained its name for many years, even after the namesake bank no longer existed, the corporate name being dropped only after the building later changed ownership. This practice has typically been less common in countries outside the United States. A notable exception
7221-563: Was reportedly the first floodlit stadium. Floodlighting in association football dates as far back as 1878, when there were floodlit experimental matches at Bramall Lane, Sheffield during the dark winter afternoons. With no national grid , lights were powered by batteries and dynamoes , and were unreliable. Since the development of electrical grids, lighting has been an important element in stadium design, allowing games to be played after sundown, and in covered, or partly covered stadiums that allow less natural light, but provide more shelter for
7308-509: Was the Lansdowne Road Stadium , the brainchild of Henry Dunlop , who organised the first All Ireland Athletics Championships. Banned from locating sporting events at Trinity College, Dunlop built the stadium in 1872. "I laid down a cinder running path of a quarter-mile, laid down the present Lansdowne Tennis Club ground with my own theodolite, started a Lansdowne archery club, a Lansdowne cricket club, and last, but not least,
7395-468: Was the first ancient stadium to be used in modern times. Stadiums in ancient Greece and Rome were built for different purposes, and at first only the Greeks built structures called "stadium"; Romans built structures called " circus ". Greek stadia were for foot races, whereas the Roman circus was for horse races. Both had similar shapes and bowl-like areas around them for spectators. The Greeks also developed
7482-525: Was the first such ballpark for Major League Baseball to be built, using early-20th-century styling with 21st-century amenities. There is a solar-powered stadium in Taiwan that produces as much energy as it needs to function. Stadium designers often study acoustics to increase noise caused by fans' voices, aiming to create a lively atmosphere. Until the advent of floodlights , most games played on large areas had to rely on natural lighting. Bramall Lane
7569-576: Was to supply and erect 200 prefabricated houses for the Snowy Mountains Authority which had been established by William Hudson , engineer of the Snowy Mountains Scheme . Hudson's greatest obstacle in the completion of the scheme was the provision of labour and materials. Without a resolution to these two problems the realisation of the project was doubtful. But 31-year-old Dutch immigrant Dick Dusseldorp conceived
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