| AMI Stadium | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | |
| Opened | 1880 |
| Expanded | 2002 |
| Owner | |
| Operator | VBase Venue management |
| Surface | Grass |
| Former names | Lancaster Park (1881 - 1998), Jade Stadium (1998 - 2007) |
| Tenants | Crusaders |
| Capacity | 36,000 |
AMI Stadium, formerly Jade Stadium and Lancaster Park, is a sports stadium situated in Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch (Ōtautahi The largest City in the South Island, it is also the second largest city and third largest urban area of New Zealand New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. For the speedway team see Canterbury Crusaders (speedway. The Crusaders (formerly the Christchurch (Ōtautahi The largest City in the South Island, it is also the second largest city and third largest urban area of New Zealand New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island
It has hosted various sports, including rugby union, rugby league, cricket, soccer, athletics, trotting (until, in 1899, this club moved to Addington Racecourse), and non-sporting events such as concerts by U2 in 1989 and 1993 and Billy Joel in 1987, but is primarily a rugby and cricket ground and is the home of the Crusaders rugby union team, who compete in the Super 14. Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered The trot is a two beat diagonal gait of the Horse where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time William Martin Joel (born May 9 1949 is an American Pianist and Singer-songwriter. Rugby football (usually just " rugby " may refer to a number of sports through history descended from a common form of Football developed at Rugby School Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries For the speedway team see Canterbury Crusaders (speedway. The Crusaders (formerly the The Super 14 is the largest Rugby union football club championship in the Southern hemisphere, consisting of four state teams from Australia (Queensland/Reds Its current capacity is 36,000. [1]
Formerly known as Lancaster Park, the stadium was renamed as Jade Stadium in 1998, after the naming rights were sold to Jade Software Corporation Limited. In 2007, the naming rights were sold to AMI Insurance Limited and the stadium was renamed as AMI Stadium.
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Ownership
In 1880 Canterbury Cricket and Athletics Sports Co. Ltd was established. The company then purchased 10 acres, 3 rods 30 perches (4. 426 hectares) of the Lancaster Estate for £2,841 at £260 per acre (NZ$ 1284. Explanation The hectare is commonly used in most countries around the world especially in domains concerned with land planning and management such as Agriculture, The acre is a unit of Area in a number of different systems including the imperial and U The New Zealand dollar ( sign: $; code: NZD) is the Currency of New Zealand. 95/hectare). In 1904 Canterbury cricket would became the sole owner of the ground. Then in 1911 the Canterbury Rugby Union became co-owners with the Canterbury Cricket Association over the ground. An Act of Parliament in November 1919 vested title to Lancaster Park in the Crown, and established the Victory Park Board to take responsibility for its management.
JADE Stadium Limited was established in December 1998 to manage the existing facilities on behalf of the Victory Park Board and the Christchurch City Council. A five-member board of directors, drawn from Christchurch’s business community and the Christchurch City Council, governs the company. Christchurch (Ōtautahi The largest City in the South Island, it is also the second largest city and third largest urban area of New Zealand
Official opening
In 1881 the first cricket match to be played on the ground was scheduled for the opening on 8th October, but it was cancelled due to rain. An athletics meeting became the first event held on the ground, on 15th October.
Expansion
The embankment was expanded in 1957, increasing the capacity to 33,000. Two new stands were opened in 1965 further increasing the capacity to 38,500. In 1995 the Hadlee Stand opened in tribute to the successful cricketing family which came from Canterbury. Sir Richard John Hadlee, MBE, (born July 3, 1951) is a former New Zealand Cricketer He played club and provincial cricket for 2000 saw the destruction of the embankment and No. 4 stand and the opening of the DB Draught stand (renamed the Tui stand in 2006) and the Paul Kelly Motor Company Stand (West Stand). See also Heineken International Heineken International is a group which owns a worldwide portfolio of over 170 beer brands mainly Pale lager, though some other
Before the 2011 Rugby World Cup the Eastern Stands (No. 1, 2 and 3 stands) will be demolished and replaced with a new stand (see Deans Stand below) in the same design of the newly completed Western Stand. The total capacity is expected to be raised to 43,000, making it the second largest stadium in New Zealand, after Eden Park, which is planned to hold 60,000 after similar upgrades.
Deans Stand
On Tuesday April 22 2008 a press release was issued announcing that that Eastern Stands, which were demolished in 2007, will be named the Deans Stand when it is officially opened in January 2010. The Deans name has been a part of rugby at the stadium for more than a century. Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short Bob Deans was an All Black and also captained the Canterbury rugby team, Bruce and Robbie Deans were both All Blacks and members of the Canterbury team with Robbie also coaching the team, Bob's brother Colin played rugby at the ground, Bruce & Robbie's father Tony played cricket on the ground, and in the sixth generation of the family Millie Deans is a member of the Canterbury women's rugby team. Bob Deans, (born Robert George Deans on 19 February 1884 in Christchurch, New Zealand - 1908 was a former All Black The All Blacks are New Zealand's national team in Rugby union, the country's National sport. The Canterbury Rugby Football Union' (CRFU is the official governing body for Rugby union in a substantial part of the Canterbury region of New Ian Bruce Deans (born 25 November, 1960) was a New Zealand Rugby union player Robert Maxwell Deans, born 4 September 1959 in Cheviot, New Zealand is the current coach of the Wallabies Colin Thomas Deans born on the 3 May, 1955 in Hawick in the Scottish borders was a Rugby union player Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries The name Deans is also the family name of the first successful settlers in the city with brothers John and William Deans building their house in 1843[2].
Rugby union
Super 14
AMI Stadium is home to the Crusaders Super 14 franchise and the Canterbury team in the Air New Zealand Cup (formerly the National Provincial Championship, or NPC), both of which have been very successful in their respective competitions. For the speedway team see Canterbury Crusaders (speedway. The Crusaders (formerly the The Super 14 is the largest Rugby union football club championship in the Southern hemisphere, consisting of four state teams from Australia (Queensland/Reds The Canterbury Rugby Football Union' (CRFU is the official governing body for Rugby union in a substantial part of the Canterbury region of New The Air New Zealand Cup is New Zealand 's professional domestic Rugby union competition The Crusaders do not play all of their home games at AMI Stadium, however, because the franchise draws players from several unions in the South Island that compete in the Air New Zealand Cup and the NPC's other successor, the Heartland Championship. The Heartland Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the AA Rewards Heartland Championship, is an amateur domestic Rugby union competition in The team plays one game annually at Trafalgar Park in Nelson or at Alpine Energy Stadium in Timaru. Trafalgar Park is a large sports ground within the heart of the city of Nelson, in New Zealand 's South Island. History Early settlement Settlement of Nelson began about 1100 years ago by Māori Alpine Energy Stadium is a multi-use Stadium in Timaru, New Zealand. They have hosted four Super 12/Super 14 finals in 2002, 2005, 2006 and in 2008. The Super 14 is the largest Rugby union football club championship in the Southern hemisphere, consisting of four state teams from Australia (Queensland/Reds Road to the Final See also 2006 Super 14 season Pre-game The game was expected to be centred around the defence of both sides Road to the Final See also 2008 Super 14 season The Crusaders and Waratahs finished the Round-robin first and second on the Super 14 table respectively
Ranfurly Shield
Canterbury successfully retained the Ranfurly Shield against Waikato in 1954 with a last minute try. The New Zealand region of Canterbury (Waitaha is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is perhaps the most prestigious trophy in New Zealand 's domestic Rugby union competition The Waikato Rugby Union' (WRU is the official governing body of Rugby union in the region of Waikato in the North Island of The conversion was never taken as the crowd rushed the field before the game could be completed. A pitch invasion, known as rushing the field in the United States occurs when a crowd of people who are watching a sports game run onto the field to celebrate or protest about
Cricket
Cricket has long been played at AMI Stadium. Day/night cricket was made possible after the lighting towers were added in 1996 - the first in a major New Zealand stadium. These were first put to use in 1997 when New Zealand played England in front of a crowd of 25,000.
Rugby League
AMI Stadium has served over years as a 'home away from home' stadium for teams in the Australasian NRL competition, such as the Wests Tigers, as despite the name of the team New Zealand Warriors insinuating AMI Stadium is part of their franchise base, this team is based at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland. The Wests Tigers are a professional Rugby league football club in the National Rugby League (NRL the premier Rugby league competition in Australasia The New Zealand Warriors (formerly the Auckland Warriors) are a professional Rugby league team based in Auckland, New Zealand Mt Smart Stadium, formerly Ericsson Stadium, is a Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
Financial difficulty
In 1912 a Floral Fete, a festival, was held to raise funds to clear the debt of £2,000 in order to prevent the ground being cut up into building sites.
The financial difficulty the ground faced was so great that during New Zealand's involvement in World War I in 1915 the main oval at Lancaster Park was ploughed up and was used as a potato field in an attempt to raise more revenue. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All
Religious events
In 1954 Lancaster Park held a Roman Catholic prayer rally. This drew a large attendance. Pope John Paul II also held a public mass on the oval in 1986, attracting 28,000 people. Pope
2011 Rugby World Cup
During the debate surrounding Auckland's stadium for RWC 2011, RWC Minister Trevor Mallard said that AMI Stadium in Christchurch would be the main cup venue if Auckland could not decide which of its stadiums it would prefer (see Stadium New Zealand) [1]. The Auckland metropolitan area or Greater Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country The 2011 Rugby World Cup will be the seventh staging of the tournament. Stadium New Zealand, often called the Waterfront Stadium, was the provisional name for a national stadium proposed for Auckland's waterfront to host the 2011 Eden Park was eventually chosen as Auckland's preferred stadium and the main venue for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Eden Park is the main sports ground in Auckland, New Zealand for both Rugby union during winter and Cricket in summer
Other facts
- Amusingly, a cricket game was suspended for 2 hours in 1883 so a rugby game could occur.
- During New Zealand's involvement in World War II from 1940 to 1944 the park's facilities were used for military training, 800 troops were accommodated in the grounds at one point. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including
- In 1976 the main playing field was graffitied using acid with the words "Welcome to Racist Game" marked on the field as a protest against the presence of two South African international rugby players - John Williams and Johan Oosthuizen.
- On Friday 18th August, 2000 Jade Stadium became officially smokefree - "Smoking is banned in all indoor areas, seating bowls, including access ways and around entry gates. Events 293 BC - The oldest known Roman temple to Venus is founded starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica. "
- The 2006 Super 14 final was played in thick fog at Jade Stadium. Road to the Final See also 2006 Super 14 season Pre-game The game was expected to be centred around the defence of both sides People at the stadium could not see much of the game, and amused themselves with paper darts instead. Television coverage was also affected.
References
External links
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