Seagulls Stadium was a
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 ...
stadium located on Gollan Drive in
West Tweed Heads, New South Wales.
Originally known as Chris Cunningham Field, it was the home ground of the
Gold Coast-Tweed Giants rugby league franchise, who entered the
New South Wales Rugby League premiership in 1988. Tweed Heads was chosen as the venue for Giants games, despite the club's name indicating they were based in the nearby state of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
. This was due to a clause in the expansion licence, which stated that only one team was allowed to play in South East Queensland (this was awarded to the
Brisbane Broncos, who also entered the premiership in 1988).
The stadium's capacity was close to 13,500. The record attendance was 13,423 for a match between the Giants and the Broncos on 8 May 1988. This was also the Giants first ever win in the NSWRL Premiership when they shocked the 'Big Brother' Broncos 25–22.
When the Seagulls Leagues Club purchased the Giants franchise in 1990, the team was renamed Gold Coast Seagulls to reflect their home stadium. The club's woeful record on the field (they finished with the
wooden spoon three straight seasons, from 1991 to 1993) and the
Super League war forced the club to sell the stadium and fold the team after the 1995 season.
Without a viable tenant, and being a largely inferior facility to nearby
Carrara Stadium, Seagulls Stadium sat dormant until it was dismantled and the site bulldozed. A housing complex now covers the site.
The stadium's electronic scoreboard, 3500-seat grandstands and 40 corporate boxes were purchased in 2000 by the
Wollongong Wolves football (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 t ...
team, based over away. These pieces formed the basis of a new 14,000-seat stadium in
Figtree, a suburb of
Wollongong
Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...
, which was scheduled to open in 2008.
See also
*
Sports on the Gold Coast, Queensland
References
External links
Sports venues in New South Wales
Defunct rugby league venues in Australia
Sports venues on the Gold Coast, Queensland
Sport in Tweed Heads, New South Wales
Tweed Heads Seagulls
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