About Athletic Park

Although Athletic Park was most famous as a rugby stadium, it was also the inaugural home of New Zealand’s first principal knockout football tournament, the Chatham Cup. In addition, Pope John Paul II visited the stadium in 1986 and several rock concerts were also held there, including performances from Kiss, U2, David Bowie and Elton John.

However, Athletic Park was primarily a rugby stadium and it hosted 42 test matches involving the All Blacks between 1904 and 1999. In addition to this, it also hosted four games of the 1987 Rugby World Cup. New Zealand played their final game there in 1999, when they defeated France 54-7.

Athletic Park was knocked down in 1999 and was replaced by Westpac Stadium (now Sky Stadium). Today, the ground has been demolished and replaced with a retirement village.