Jade Stadium, formerly known as Lancaster Park is a sports stadium situated in Christchurch. It has hosted various sports: rugby, rugby league, hockey, cricket, soccer, athletics, trotting until in 1899 this club moved to Addington Racecourse, swimming and as a function centre has hosted non-sporting events such as concerts by U2 in 1989 and and, Billy Joel in 1987.

It is however primarily a Rugby and Cricket ground. Its current capacity is 36,500 after redevelopment.

1998 saw Jade Stadium become the new name of Lancaster Park after naming rights sold to the Jade Software Corporation Limited.

Contents

1 Ownership 2 Official opening 3 Expansion 4 Rugby 4.1 Ranfurly Shield 5 Cricket 6 Rugby League 7 Financial difficulty 8 Religious events 9 Other facts 10 External links

Ownership

In 1880 Canterbury Cricket and Athletics Sports Co Ltd was established. The company then purchased 10 acres, 3 roods 30 perches (43,642 m²) of the Lancaster Estate for £2,841 at £260 per acre (£642.47/km²). In 1904 Canterbury cricket would became the sole owner of the ground. Then in 1911 the Canterbury Rugby Union became co-owners with the Canterbury Cricket Association over the ground.

Official opening

In 1881 the first cricket match to be played on the ground was scheduled for the opening on 8th October, it was however canceled due to rain. An athletics meeting became the first event held on the ground on 15th October.

Expansion

The embankment was expanded in 1957, increasing the capacity to 33,000. Two new stands were opened in 1965 further increasing the capacity to 58,500. In 1995 the Hadlee Stand opened in tribute to the successful cricketing family which came from Canterbury. 2000 saw the destruction of the embankment and No. 4 stand and the opening of the DB Draught stand.

Rugby

Jade Stadium is home to the Crusaders Super 12 franchise and the Canterbury team in the NPC, both of which have been very successful in their respective competitions. The Crusaders do not play all of their home games at Jade Stadium, however, because the franchise draws players from several NPC unions on the South Island. The team plays one game annually at Trafalgar Park in Nelson.

Ranfurly Shield

Canterbury successfully retained the Ranfurly Shield against Waikato in 1954 with a last minute try. The conversion was never taken as the crowd rushed the field before the game could be completed.

Cricket

The Lighting towers added in 1996 - the first in a major New Zealand stadium; these were put to use in 1997 when New Zealand's first day-night cricket one-day international match was held at Jade Stadium against England infront of 25,000.

Rugby League

Jade Stadium has served over years as a 'home away from home' stadium for teams the Australian NRL competition such as the Wests Tigers, as despite the name of the team New Zealand Warriors insinuating Jade Stadium is part of their franchise base, this team is based at Ericsson Stadium in Auckland.

Financial difficulty

In 1912 a Floral Fete, a festival, was held to raise funds to clear the debt of £2,000 in order to prevent the ground being cut up into building sites.

The financial difficulty the ground faced was so great that during New Zealand's involvement in World War I in 1915 the main oval at Lancaster Park was ploughed up and was used as a potato field in an attempt to raise more revenue.

Religious events

Jade Stadium in 1954 held a Roman Catholic prayer rally. This drew a large attendance. Pope John Paul II has also held a public mass on the oval in 1986, this drew 28,000

Other facts

Amusingly, a cricket game was paused for 2 hours in 1883 so a rugby game could occur.

During New Zealand's involvement in World War II from 1940 to 1944 the park's facilities were used for military training, 800 troops were accomodated in the grounds at one point.

In 1976 the main playing field was graffitied using acid with the words "Welcome to Racist Game" marked on the field as a protest against the presence of two South African international rugby players - John Williams and Johan Oosthuizen.

As of Friday 18th August, 2000 Jade Stadium is officially smokefree - "Smoking is banned in all indoor areas, seating bowls, including access ways and around entry gates."

External links

• Jade Stadium Official Site