The Hubert Murray Stadium is a

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

venue located in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, the capital city of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. It was developed for the

1969 South Pacific Games The 1969 South Pacific Games, held from 13–23 August 1969 at Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, was the third edition of the South Pacific Games. A total of 1,150 athletes participated in the games. Participating countries Twelve Pacific nations ...

on reclaimed land at Konedobu that had previously been shoreline mangroves. The athletics events and the opening and closing ceremonies were held at the new stadium, which was named after Sir

Hubert Murray Sir John Hubert Plunkett Murray (29 December 1861 – 27 February 1940) was a judge and Lieutenant-Governor of Papua from 1908 until his death at Samarai. Early life Murray was born in Sydney, the son of Irish-born Terence Aubrey Murray ( ...

, a former lieutenant governor. With an initial capacity of approximately 15,000 spectators, it was used for soccer and school athletic events after the 1969 games. In late 2003, a three-stage redevelopment of the site at a cost of K120 million via a public-private partnership began to expand the capacity to seat 25,000 people. The redeveloped stadium will be used for

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

, and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in a venue fit for FIFA standards, naturally grassed and with lighting suitable for television broadcasting of night events. The plans for the six-storey main stand include eight restaurants and a gymnasium with the facilities to host the

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; pro ...

competition for the

2015 Pacific Games The 2015 Pacific Games, also known as Port Moresby 2015 or POM 2015, was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from 4 to 18 July 2015. It was the fifteenth staging of the Pacific Games as well as the third to be hosted in Port Moresby. More tha ...

Australian football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

are to be catered for by further expansion in stage three of the redevelopment.

References

Sports venues in Papua New Guinea Football venues in Papua New Guinea Athletics (track and field) venues in Papua New Guinea Buildings and structures in Port Moresby Rugby league stadiums in Papua New Guinea 1969 establishments in Papua New Guinea Sports venues completed in 1969 {{PapuaNewGuinea-sports-venue-stub