Westpac Stadium
Encyclopedia
Westpac
Stadium, (formerly WestpacTrust Stadium, noncommercial name Wellington Regional Stadium) is a major sporting venue in Wellington
, New Zealand
. Due to its shape and silver coloured external walls, it is colloquially known as The Cake-Tin to the locals and other New Zealanders. Fans of football (soccer) team sometimes refer to the stadium as The Ring of Fire.
The stadium's bowl site size is 48,000 sq m.
The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction
and is situated close to major transport facilities (such as Wellington Railway Station
) one kilometre north of the CBD
. It was built on reclaimed railway land
, which was surplus to requirements.
It was built to replace Athletic Park
, which was no longer considered adequate for international events due to its location and state of disrepair. The stadium was also built to provide a larger-capacity venue for One Day International cricket events, due to the Basin Reserve
ground losing such matches to larger stadia in other parts of the country.
The stadium also serves as a large-capacity venue for concerts.
ITM Cup rugby team, and the primary home of the Super Rugby Hurricanes
. The stadium also hosts the NZI International Sevens
, one of the events in the annual IRB Sevens World Series
for national rugby sevens
teams. Westpac Stadium regularly serves as a home venue for All Blacks
rugby matches.
Westpac Stadium is also the home venue for A-League
football (soccer)
team Wellington Phoenix FC
, the stadium often referred to as "The Ring of Fire" by Phoenix supporters. It also serves as a major home venue for the New Zealand national football team (the All Whites), notably hosting the home leg of their 2010 FIFA World Cup
qualification match against Bahrain.
The stadium has also been used for rugby league
matches, including national team fixtures and New Zealand Warriors
away fixtures. Australian rules football
exhibition matches
were played in 2000 and 2001 by teams from the Australian Football League
.
During the summer the stadium generally hosts international and occasionally domestic limited overs cricket, with the home team being the New Zealand
Black Caps for the international contests and Wellington Firebirds
for the domestic competition.
Off-field facilities built into the stadium also included the New Zealand Institute of Sport, and a campus for the Wellington School of Cricket, run by the Wellington Cricket Association
.
. This was the first time the event was hosted outside of Edinburgh, Scotland.
In 2002 during an England versus Black Cap
cricket match, director Peter Jackson
recorded 30,000 fans chanting in Black Speech
for the sound of 10,000 chanting Uruk-hai
during the Battle of Helm's Deep
in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
2006 events at the stadium have included a concert by The Rolling Stones
which ended the Australasian leg of its A Bigger Bang World Tour, and World Wrestling Entertainment
's first ever New Zealand show, part of the WWE Smackdown! Road to Wrestlemania Tour (4 March).
On 14 October 2007, Australia
defeated New Zealand
in the Centenary Test rugby league
game. The 58–0 defeat set a new record for the largest loss by the New Zealand national rugby league team.
On 1 December 2007, the stadium hosted an exhibition match between Wellington Phoenix FC and Los Angeles Galaxy
. LA Galaxy won 4–1 in front of 31,853 spectators, the largest crowd for non-national football (soccer)
match in New Zealand history.
On 17 January 2008 the stadium hosted the first leg of The Police Reunion Tour
and over Easter
the inaugural two day "Rock2Wgtn
" music festival, headlined by Kiss
and Ozzy Osbourne
. Attendance over the two days was around 50,000.
New Zealand hosted the 2008 FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup. Six pool matches and two playoff matches were played at the Westpac Stadium. Due to FIFA
rules disallowing host stadia to be named after non-FIFA sponsors, the stadium was officially known as "Wellington Stadium" during the event.
The stadium hosted the national team's 2010 FIFA World Cup
qualifying match on 14 November 2009 against Bahrain
. New Zealand won the match 1–0, with a record crowd of 35,194 for a football match in New Zealand.
On 28 January 2010 AC/DC
kicked off the Australasian leg of its Black Ice World Tour
at the stadium. The concert quickly sold out so a second was scheduled for 30 January. The stadium was also a venue for Bon Jovi
's The Circle Tour
in 2010.
The stadium hosted eight games during the 2011 Rugby World Cup
including two quarterfinal matches.
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
Stadium, (formerly WestpacTrust Stadium, noncommercial name Wellington Regional Stadium) is a major sporting venue in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, 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...
. Due to its shape and silver coloured external walls, it is colloquially known as The Cake-Tin to the locals and other New Zealanders. Fans of football (soccer) team sometimes refer to the stadium as The Ring of Fire.
The stadium's bowl site size is 48,000 sq m.
The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction
Fletcher Construction
Fletcher Construction Limited is a leading New Zealand construction company. It is owned by Fletcher Building Limited and has three main divisions:*Building and interiors *South Pacific...
and is situated close to major transport facilities (such as Wellington Railway Station
Wellington Railway Station
Wellington Railway Station is the southern terminus of New Zealand's North Island Main Trunk railway, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line. In terms of number of services and in passenger numbers, it is New Zealand's busiest railway station.-Development:...
) one kilometre north of the CBD
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
. It was built on reclaimed railway land
Reclamation of Wellington Harbour
The reclamation of Wellington Harbour started in the 1850s, originally to increase the amount of usable flat land for Wellington city. Reclamations in the 1960s and 1970s were to meet the needs of container shipping and new cargo handling methods...
, which was surplus to requirements.
It was built to replace Athletic Park
Athletic Park (Wellington)
Athletic Park was a well-known ground used mostly for rugby matches in Wellington, New Zealand. The ground was also the inaugural home of New Zealand's principal knockout football tournament, the Chatham Cup ....
, which was no longer considered adequate for international events due to its location and state of disrepair. The stadium was also built to provide a larger-capacity venue for One Day International cricket events, due to the Basin Reserve
Basin Reserve
The Basin Reserve , is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand, used for Test, first-class and one-day cricket. Some argue that its proximity to the city, its Historic Place status and its age make it the most famous cricket ground in New Zealand...
ground losing such matches to larger stadia in other parts of the country.
The stadium also serves as a large-capacity venue for concerts.
Facilities
The stadium is a multi-purpose facility, though used mainly for sporting events. It is the home of the Wellington LionsWellington Rugby Football Union
The Wellington Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union in the city of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand...
ITM Cup rugby team, and the primary home of the Super Rugby Hurricanes
Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise)
The Hurricanes are a New Zealand professional Rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in the Super Rugby competition...
. The stadium also hosts the NZI International Sevens
Wellington Sevens
The Wellington Sevens or the New Zealand International Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in Wellington, New Zealand. The tournament, the third on the IRB Sevens World Series circuit, is played at Wellington's Westpac Stadium in early February and includes teams from 16 countries...
, one of the events in the annual IRB Sevens World Series
IRB Sevens World Series
The IRB Sevens World Series, known officially as the HSBC Sevens World Series as of the 2010-11 season, through sponsorship from banking group HSBC, and also sometimes called the World Sevens Series, is a series of international rugby union sevens tournaments organised for the first time in the...
for national rugby sevens
Rugby sevens
Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...
teams. Westpac Stadium regularly serves as a home venue for All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
rugby matches.
Westpac Stadium is also the home venue for A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...
football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
team Wellington Phoenix FC
Wellington Phoenix FC
Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. The club competes in the Football Federation of Australia A-League. Ricki Herbert has been the coach since the club's inception to the A-League in July 2007. The current club captain is...
, the stadium often referred to as "The Ring of Fire" by Phoenix supporters. It also serves as a major home venue for the New Zealand national football team (the All Whites), notably hosting the home leg of their 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
qualification match against Bahrain.
The stadium has also been used for rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
matches, including national team fixtures and New Zealand Warriors
New Zealand Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership and are the League's only team from outside Australia...
away fixtures. Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
exhibition matches
Australian rules football exhibition matches
Australian rules football has been introduced to a wide range of places around Australia and the world since the code originated in Victoria in 1859....
were played in 2000 and 2001 by teams from the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
.
During the summer the stadium generally hosts international and occasionally domestic limited overs cricket, with the home team being the 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...
Black Caps for the international contests and Wellington Firebirds
Wellington Firebirds
The Wellington Firebirds are one of six New Zealand first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket.It is based in Wellington. It competes in the State Championship first class competition, the State Shield domestic one day competition and the State Twenty20 Cricket Tournament.The...
for the domestic competition.
Off-field facilities built into the stadium also included the New Zealand Institute of Sport, and a campus for the Wellington School of Cricket, run by the Wellington Cricket Association
Wellington Firebirds
The Wellington Firebirds are one of six New Zealand first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket.It is based in Wellington. It competes in the State Championship first class competition, the State Shield domestic one day competition and the State Twenty20 Cricket Tournament.The...
.
Events
In 2000, The Westpac Stadium hosted the Edinburgh Military TattooEdinburgh Military Tattoo
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of Military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and International military bands and display teams in the Scottish capital Edinburgh...
. This was the first time the event was hosted outside of Edinburgh, Scotland.
In 2002 during an England versus Black Cap
Black Cap
In English law, the black cap was worn by a judge when passing a sentence of death. Although it is called a "cap", it is not made to fit the head like a typical cap does; instead it is a simple plain square made of black fabric...
cricket match, director Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
recorded 30,000 fans chanting in Black Speech
Black Speech
The Black Speech is a fictional language created by J. R. R. Tolkien.One of the languages of Arda in Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, it was spoken in the realm of Mordor...
for the sound of 10,000 chanting Uruk-hai
Uruk-hai
The Uruk-hai are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth. They are introduced in The Lord of the Rings as an advanced breed or breeds of Orcs that serve Sauron and Saruman...
during the Battle of Helm's Deep
Battle of the Hornburg
The Battle of the Hornburg is a fictional battle in J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings. The battle pitted the forces of the Wizard Saruman against the Rohirrim under King Théoden, who had taken refuge in the mountain fortress of the Hornburg at Helm's Deep...
in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
2006 events at the stadium have included a concert by The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
which ended the Australasian leg of its A Bigger Bang World Tour, and World Wrestling Entertainment
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...
's first ever New Zealand show, part of the WWE Smackdown! Road to Wrestlemania Tour (4 March).
On 14 October 2007, Australia
Australian national rugby league team
The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...
defeated New Zealand
New Zealand national rugby league team
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league football since intercontinental competition began for the sport in 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name...
in the Centenary Test rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
game. The 58–0 defeat set a new record for the largest loss by the New Zealand national rugby league team.
On 1 December 2007, the stadium hosted an exhibition match between Wellington Phoenix FC and Los Angeles Galaxy
Los Angeles Galaxy
The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional soccer team, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, and the league's second...
. LA Galaxy won 4–1 in front of 31,853 spectators, the largest crowd for non-national football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
match in New Zealand history.
On 17 January 2008 the stadium hosted the first leg of The Police Reunion Tour
The Police Reunion Tour
The Police Reunion Tour was a 2007–2008 worldwide concert tour by The Police, marking the 30th anniversary of their beginnings. At its conclusion, the tour became the third highest grossing tour of all time, with revenues reaching over $340 million...
and over Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
the inaugural two day "Rock2Wgtn
Rock2Wgtn
The Rock2Wgtn Fesival was a two day music festival. It is the second major music festival to be held in New Zealand, the first being the Big Day Out, but Rock2Wgtn is the first purely metal/rock festival. It is also the first two-day festival, as the Big Day Out is held over a single day...
" music festival, headlined by Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
and Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
. Attendance over the two days was around 50,000.
New Zealand hosted the 2008 FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup. Six pool matches and two playoff matches were played at the Westpac Stadium. Due to FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
rules disallowing host stadia to be named after non-FIFA sponsors, the stadium was officially known as "Wellington Stadium" during the event.
The stadium hosted the national team's 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
qualifying match on 14 November 2009 against Bahrain
Bahrain national football team
The Bahrain national football team is the national team of the Kingdom of Bahrain and is controlled by the Bahrain Football Association; it was founded in 1951 and joined FIFA in 1966. They have never reached the finals of the World Cup, but have twice come within one match of doing so...
. New Zealand won the match 1–0, with a record crowd of 35,194 for a football match in New Zealand.
On 28 January 2010 AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
kicked off the Australasian leg of its Black Ice World Tour
Black Ice World Tour
Black Ice World Tour was a 2008/2009/2010 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC in support of the group's 15th studio album, Black Ice, which was released in October 2008. The tour was the band's first since the Stiff Upper Lip World Tour in 2000/2001.The jaunt began in Wilkes-Barre,...
at the stadium. The concert quickly sold out so a second was scheduled for 30 January. The stadium was also a venue for Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
's The Circle Tour
The Circle Tour
The Circle Tour is a worldwide concert tour by American rock band Bon Jovi. The arena leg of the tour has finished and the stadium run has begun, starting off in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and then heading to East Rutherford, New Jersey for the grand opening of New Meadowlands Stadium...
in 2010.
The stadium hosted eight games during the 2011 Rugby World Cup
2011 Rugby World Cup
The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
including two quarterfinal matches.