Western Springs Stadium
Encyclopedia
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, that consists of a natural amphitheatre
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
. During the winter it is used for club rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
matches and over summer it is used for speedway
Dirt track racing in New Zealand
Speedway is a popular type of motorsport that takes place on oval tracks in New Zealand. A number of tracks throughout the country provide regular racing programs and sanctioned racing series...
. It is also occasionally used for large music concerts and festivals.
Western Springs Stadium has a crowd capacity of 30,000 for sports and upwards of 50,000 for concerts. It is located four kilometres west of the city centre in the suburb of Western Springs
Western Springs
Western Springs is a residential suburb and park in the west of the city of Auckland in the north of New Zealand. It is located four kilometres to the west of the city centre, situated to the north of State Highway 16....
.
History
Western Springs Stadium was built on land gifted by the pioneer Timber Millers of the Motion family for a sports stadium. Situated in a natural amphitheatre, concrete terracing was constructed. It was designed and modelled on European stadiums which included a banked concrete cycling track, a cinder running track and a grassed centre area for football and sports. The original design included a covered grandstand which would fill the gap between the concrete terraces, the cycling track finishing straight was designed and built to start and finish in front of the proposed grandstand (where the pit area now is). The stadium was never completed.1929 the stadium built by Relief Labour was opened to serve cycling, athletics and football sports . The cycling track was over 500 yards in circumference as the European tracks were then. The cinder all weather Athletic 440 yard running track was the first of its type in NZ and it with the overall stadium would have easily compared to the famous Wembley Stadium in England. It was not until November 30, 1936 that the first motorcycle racing commenced on the cinder running track (as they did on Wembley). In December 1937 midget car racing was introduced at a special international meeting, it included NZ pioneers Ron Roycroft and Geo Smith. The first official season then followed in January 1938. Speedway was still being raced at the previous venue at the Epsom Showgrounds. Athletics disappeared from Western Springs as a result and New Zealand's only all weather Athletics track was replaced by the traditional grass tracks until the late 1960s. When the first of the new style all weather athletics tracks were built. Western Springs was many years ahead of its time with the acknowledged all weather cinder surface in 1929.
1950's saw promoters "take over" with the blessing of the Auckland City Council pleased to receive a monetary return. The early promoters combined Cycling, Motorcycle Speedway and Speedway Cars who all raced together on the same program with a large following. The war intervened and in 1944 Speedway became a huge entertainment and the formula of Cycling, Speedway Bikes and Midgets reached International heights. Western Springs was well and truly the home of Speedway with wheelsports including cycling.
Speedway previously had competed on Epsom Showgrounds, Blanford Park on the old cycling track around the soccer field (now under the Grafton Gully motorway) and Olympic Park (Saraway Park) in Newmarket.
Stock car promoters raised the height of the speedway/running track introducing stock cars and forcing speedway motorcycling out, who relocated to Rosebank Road. Speedway cars were affected at this time by a conflict with Stock Car promoters. During the 1960s Cycling was forced out of the stadium as the promoters in tandem with the Auckland City Council made access difficult and later impossible with the requirement of the speedway track. The Auckland City Council had little regard to Amateur sports as Cycling and Athletics, and also to the stadium itself, never completing the complex and building the Grandstands. So much neglect they allowed the deterioration of the main concrete terraces which slipped away during the 1960s almost taking the cycling track with it. It took months to effect repairs, under strong public criticism they finally did some thing to re-instate the damaged terraces. The surrounding stadium grounds deteriorated into a Council yard with derelict equipment and buildings littering the boundary of the site which spread to the adjoining Lake and Pump House and abandoned relief campsite. Speedway Cars resurged into a new golden era when stock cars went to Gloucester Park and finally Waikaraka Park.
Because cycling was forced out the cycling track was never able to be used again, so it was removed to widen the new speedway midget race track, at the same time smaller cycling velodromes track sizes became the International requirement.
The 1960s saw a brief return of what the stadium concept originally was; this was assisted by the Speedway promoter who laid the athletic track. On the success of Peter Snells' Olympic victories an International Athletic and Cycling event was held with the largest crowd recorded for the stadium. It was larger than the 1950 British Empire Games cycling events and Closing Ceremony.
Two concerts held at the stadium were the largest concerts ever in the Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
at the time (although since overtaken by Rock in Rio
Rock in Rio
Rock in Rio is a series of music festivals held in three cities: Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Lisbon in Portugal and Madrid in Spain.Four incarnations of the festival were in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, 2001 and 2011, four in Lisbon, in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010, and two in Madrid in 2008 and 2010....
). On 26 November 1983, the final date of David Bowie's Serious Moonlight World Tour was attended by either 74,480 fans (according to bootleg recordings) or by 83,000 (according to the promoter years later http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?ObjectID=162300). On 14 March 1987, over 80,000 fans saw the concert by ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
.
At the top of the hill that forms the amphitheatre is a street of houses - the residents have a view into the stadium from their back gardens. This has often been referred to by the artists on stage, who have often encouraged the residents to donate money to charity in lieu of an entrance fee - notably, Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
from U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
(1989) and Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
(2003). In 1993's ZooTV show, Bono made a mid-performance phone call to one of the neighbouring properties with a grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
built in the backyard overlooking the stadium, and earlier in the day the band had sent up a selection of tour merchandise to attempt to sell to the viewers.
In February 2007, the WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
Road To Wrestlemania 23 Tour came to Western Spring attracting over 12,000 WWE fans.
Speedway
Western Springs Stadium has been used for speedwayDirt track racing in New Zealand
Speedway is a popular type of motorsport that takes place on oval tracks in New Zealand. A number of tracks throughout the country provide regular racing programs and sanctioned racing series...
since November 30, 1936 when motorcycling (broad siding) was introduced. Midget Car racing started in December 1937 with an International race including NZ pioneers Ron Roycroft and Geo Smith. The first full speedway season started in January 1938. With the war years there was a break until 1944 when Speedway with Cycling, Motor Cycling and Midget Cars became the major entertainment event during the summer months in Auckland.
Speedway events take place at the stadium from early November through to mid March. Speedway activities have been under threat in recent years due to complaints and legal action from a local minority group. Currently speedway events are limited to 12 events per season, but negotiations and legal action by community groups and speedway promoters are ongoing.
Rugby
Between late March and early October the stadium is used by the Ponsonby Rugby Club for training and games. Western Springs Stadium has also hosted NRL games when Mt Smart stadium has been unavailable.External links
- New Zealand Speedway Directory Links to New Zealand Speedway Websites
- Western Springs Speedway Club
- Springs Speedway
- Springs Stadium Residents Association
- Ponsonby Rugby Club