Rugby League Park

Apollo Projects Stadium is a rugby football stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand.[2] It was formerly called Orangetheory Stadium, AMI Stadium, and before that, the Addington Showgrounds.[3]

Apollo Projects Stadium
Aerial view of Rugby League Park in July 2012
Former namesRugby League Park, AMI Stadium, Christchurch Stadium
Location95 Jack Hinton Drive, Addington, Christchurch, New Zealand
Coordinates43.5437°S 172.6041°E / -43.5437; 172.6041
OwnerCanterbury Rugby League
Capacity17,104 (Sport mode)
Construction
Expanded24 March 2012
ArchitectPopulous
Tenants
Canterbury Bulls, South Island, Crusaders[1]

History

The park is part of a complex with Wolfbrook Arena and Addington Raceway and has hosted international rugby league matches since the 1950s, including World Cup matches in 1975, 1977, 1988, 1990 and 1991.

The ground was bought by Canterbury Rugby League from the Christchurch City Council in the 1990s.

It was at this ground that the Kiwis won the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour's sole test in New Zealand to qualify for the 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup final.

Apollo Projects Stadium

Rugby League Park sustained significant damage during the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake and was closed until 24 March 2012.[4] After the earthquake the stands had to be demolished.

The 2011 earthquake damaged AMI Stadium at Lancaster Park, the main sporting ground in Christchurch, beyond repair. As a temporary replacement for the city, Rugby League Park was upgraded and renamed AMI Stadium to seat 18,000 by March 2012 with a possible expansion to 26,000 for major games. As a result, the Crusaders are based there indefinitely, and the stadium has also hosted All Blacks test matches as well as a Wellington Phoenix pre-season match in September 2012.[1][5][6] On 9 November 2013 it held a round 5 A-League match between Wellington Phoenix and Perth Glory in which the teams drew 1-1. On 14 May 2016, the ground played host to an NRL match between the Penrith Panthers and the New Zealand Warriors with the former being the home team.[7] Another NRL game took place on 9 June 2018 with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles replacing Penrith as the home team against the Warriors.[8] The Sea Eagles played another game at the stadium in 2019 but decided to not play in Christchurch in the 2020 season.

On 6 July 2018, the stadium was officially renamed to the Wyatt Crockett Stadium, becoming de-branded from AMI Stadium. This was to commemorate the Crusaders player Wyatt Crockett reaching the milestone of playing 200 Super Rugby matches.

On 6 April 2019, it was announced that the stadium would soon be known as Orangetheory Stadium.[9] The new name went into effect in June 2019.

In June 2023 it was announced that in August 2023 the stadium would be renamed to Apollo Projects Stadium, sponsored by Apollo Projects, a design and construction company.[10]

International rugby league matches

A list of rugby league test matches played at the Addington Showgrounds / Rugby League Park.[11]

Test#DateResultAttendanceNotes
129 July 1950 New Zealand def.  Great Britain 16–1010,0001950 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
227 June 1953 New Zealand def.  Australia 25–55,5091953 Trans-Tasman Test series
31 August 1964 New Zealand def.  France 18–84,9351964 New Zealand vs France series
419 July 1970 Great Britain def.  New Zealand 23–98,6001970 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
54 August 1974 Great Britain def.  New Zealand 17–86,3161974 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
615 June 1975 New Zealand def.  France 27–02,5001975 Rugby League World Cup
712 June 1977 Great Britain def.  New Zealand 30–127,0001977 Rugby League World Cup
85 August 1979 Great Britain def.  New Zealand 22–78,5001979 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
922 July 1984 New Zealand def.  Great Britain 28–129,8241984 New Zealand vs Great Britain series
1017 July 1988 New Zealand def.  Great Britain 12–108,5251988 Great Britain Lions tour
1123 June 1991 New Zealand def.  France 32–102,0001991 New Zealand vs France series
124 November 2017 New Zealand def.  Scotland 74–612,1302017 Rugby League World Cup Group B
1318 November 2017 Tonga def.  Lebanon 24–228,3092017 Rugby League World Cup Quarter finals
149 November 2019 Fiji def.  Papua New Guinea 22–208,8752019 Oceania Cup
159 November 2019 New Zealand def.  Great Britain 23–88,8752019 Great Britain tour of Oceania

References
  1. Gorman, Paul (8 September 2011). "League park Crusaders' new home". The Press. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  2. "Christchurch Stadium". Vbase. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  3. "Crusaders veteran Wyatt Crockett earns stadium name change". Stuff. 4 July 2018.
  4. Kickoff delayed but winter codes expect to play Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine The Star, 4 March 2011
  5. New rugby stadium for Christchurch New Zealand Herald, 8 November 2011
  6. Phoenix to play pre-season tournament in India stuff.co.nz, 7 August 2012
  7. "NRL: Panthers v Warriors | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  8. "NRL: Sea Eagles v Warriors | Austadiums". austadiums.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  9. "Christchurch Stadium soon to be known as Orangetheory Stadium". Stuff. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  10. "New naming partnership for stadium". Newsline. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  11. Rugby League Park @ Rugby League Project
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