The Caledonian Ground, often simply known as "The Caley", is a major sports venue in the New Zealand city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. It is primarily used for football (soccer) and athletics, and has a capacity of 7,500.

Location

The Caledonian Ground is currently sited at the northern end of Logan Park in

Dunedin North Dunedin North, also known as North Dunedin, is a major inner suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, located northeast of the city centre. It contains many of the city's major institutions, including the city's university, polytechnic, ...

, close to

Logan Park High School Logan Park High School is a high school founded in 1974 in Dunedin, New Zealand. It has a roll of students as of with a teaching staff of about 50, with some 18 further auxiliary and administrative staff. History The school was built on th ...

and close to the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

and

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic is a public Education in New Zealand#Tertiary education, New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell, New Zealand, Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provides career-f ...

. Other major sports venues are located nearby, including the University Oval and the Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza. The ground is nestled at the very edge of the floodplain of the

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

, against the foothills of Signal Hill, on land which was reclaimed in the early part of the twentieth century from the waters of

Pelichet Bay Logan Park is a sporting venue in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It lies on land land reclamation, reclaimed from the former Lake Logan. Features The park contains both Association football, football and rugby union, rugby grass and artif ...

. The tiny Opoho Creek, a tributary of the Leith, lies to the immediate east of the ground.

History

The venue is often referred to by Dunedinities as the ''New'' Caledonian Ground, an indication that the ground has not long been at its current site. Until 2000 the Caledonian Ground was located in the heart of

South Dunedin South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial, retai ...

, at the corner of Hillside Road and Andersons Bay Road, some five kilometres to the south. The ground's former site is now largely occupied by the car park of one of the city's main shopping centres. All that remains of the former ground is a gymnasium, which is a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

. A bowling club, which survived the original move, closed and was bulldozed in 2015. The original Caledonian complex dated back to 1876, when the city's Caledonian society moved to South Dunedin from their home at the North Ground in

. The ground, and its grandstand, were purchased by the Dunedin City Council in 1943, and were extensively developed after public meetings in late 1950 to decide on a public utility which could also serve as a war memorial. The original Caledonian Ground hosted New Zealand's first National Athletics Championships in December 1889, and also New Zealand's first international football (soccer) match, albeit not officially a full international. On 23 July 1904 New Zealand lost 0–1 at the Caledonian to a New South Wales representative XI. The ground also served as the city's main cycling venue for many years, and was sporadically used as a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

venue between 1880 and 1904, hosting four matches. The Caledonian was also the site of the first human ascent in a

hot-air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...

in New Zealand — and first

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

descent — performed by travelling showman

Thomas Scott Baldwin Thomas Scott Baldwin (June 30, 1854 – May 17, 1923) was a pioneer balloon (aircraft), balloonist and United States Army, U.S. Army major (rank), major during World War I. He was the first American to descend from a balloon by parachute. Early ...

on 21 January 1889.Up, up and away
, ''Otago Daily Times'', 5 May 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.

Usage

The Caledonian Ground is used as the city's main athletics track, and is also one of Dunedin's primary

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

venues;

Otago United Southern United, previously known as Otago United, is an amateur football club based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Founded in 2004, they play their home games at the Logan Park and Forsyth Barr Stadium. It is the southernmost football club playing ...

formerly played many of their home games at the Caledonian Ground, and it has been the host ground for several later-round stages of the

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are Wellington Olymp ...

, including a semi-final in the 2008 competition.

References

{{coord, -45.8633, 170.5270, region:NZ-OTA_type:landmark, display=title Sports venues in Dunedin Cricket grounds in New Zealand Association football venues in New Zealand Athletics (track and field) venues in New Zealand