Kiwitea Street, also known as Freyberg Field, is a multi-purpose

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

in the suburb of

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is used for

Association football 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 ...

matches and is the home stadium of both

Auckland City FC Auckland City Football Club is an association football club based in the suburb of Sandringham, New Zealand, Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Northern League (New Zealand), Northern League. Auckland City have ...

and

Central United Central United Football Club is an amateur association football club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand who complete in the NRFL Northern Conference. The team was officially called ''Central Soccer Club'' until 1996 when it changed ...

. Terraced seating can accommodate 250 patrons. The stadium is named for

Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a United Kingdom, British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the List of g ...

. Kiwitea Street was the venue of the

2007 Chatham Cup The 2007 Chatham Cup was the 80th annual nationwide knockout association football, football competition in New Zealand. Up to the last 16 of the competition, the cup was run in three regions (northern, central, and southern), with an open draw f ...

final.

History

Initially, the Central club played their home games at either the

Auckland Domain The Auckland Domain, also known as Pukekawa / Auckland Domain, is a large park in Auckland, New Zealand. Consisting of of land, Auckland Domain is the oldest park in the city. Located in the central suburb of Grafton, New Zealand, Grafton, the ...

or the Oakley Ground in Waterview. A move to a permanent home site came in 1965, when Freyberg Field, situated on the borders of the suburbs of

and Mount Albert in Kiwitea Street, was made available for use as a football pitch, in spite of it being just forty-five metres wide. The next quarter of a century saw Central increase the width of the pitch on three occasions, each time at club members' personal expense. The last such exercise took place in the late 1980s. After buying up adjoining properties, a massive timber retaining wall was erected, and 5000 cubic metres of earth was removed. However, only six first-team games could be played at Kiwitea Street in 1992, due to its poor condition. Following consultations with the Auckland City Council and the New Zealand Turf Culture Institute, a plan was implemented to develop an all-weather, sand carpeted pitch at Central – similar to those at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

and the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

– over a three-year period. The final result saw Kiwitea Street with a new football-playing surface by 1995. In addition to these extensive works the club has also undertaken further major developments at the ground including: 1. The construction of a covered grandstand in 2004;
2. Additions to the clubrooms to incorporate a new boardroom, administration office, corporate hospitality wing and dedicated medical and physiotherapy room (2004–2007);
3. Further sand-slitting, sand-carpeting, and a full resurfacing of the pitch in 2007.

Stands

*"David Vlatkovich Stand" - East stand, named after former Central United player and club member.

References

1965 establishments in New Zealand Association football venues in New Zealand Sports venues in Auckland Sports venues completed in 1965 Auckland City FC Albert-Eden Local Board Area {{NewZealand-stadium-stub