Park
Athletic Park is a former rugby ground in Wellington that hosted 42 All Blacks tests. Discover more about this famous rugby stadium with rugby gurus RugbyPass.
About Athletic Park
Athletic Park is a former rugby ground in Wellington, New Zealand. Throughout its time in operation, it was home to the Wellington Lions and Hurricanes, and hosted 42 All Blacks test matches and four matches of the 1987 Rugby World Cup. Athletic Park was inducted into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame in 2021
The origins of Athletic Park can be traced all the way back to 1896, when it was owned by the Athletic Rugby Company and had room for 800 spectators. For much of its life, it was a fairly open stadium that was exposed to strong winds. As a result, its famous steep grandstand used to sway during matches. Throughout the years, Athletic Park was modernised and updated several times. By the time it closed in 1999, it could easily house 39,000 spectators.
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.
