Location | Sydney, Australia |
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Operator | Blacktown Venue Management Ltd |
Capacity | 41,000 |
Opened | 1999 |
Blacktown International Sportspark (formally known as Blacktown Olympic Park) is a multi-sports venue located in Rooty Hill, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The venue includes two cricket grounds, which has also been used for Australian rules football, an athletics track and field, three baseball diamonds, two soccer fields, four softball diamonds, administration centers and park land.
It was constructed for the 2000 Sydney Olympics to host softball and baseball events. The facilities have since been used as a training and administrative base for the Greater Western Sydney Giants from 2010 to 2012, and for the Western Sydney Wanderers FC since 2012.
As part of Australia's unsuccessful 2018-2022 FIFA World Cup bid, the athletics track at the western end of the park was proposed to be developed into a soccer stadium named Blacktown Stadium. The stadium would have had 41,000-seat, a figure which would be downgraded to 26,000 post-tournament.
In 2014, Western Sydney Wanderers proposed to build a centre of excellence, consisting of a training base, offices and a youth academy at Blacktown International Sportspark. As part of the multimillion-dollar elite training base and academy, purpose-built grass playing fields, administration facilities, medical rooms and offices on the southern side of the precinct would be built.
The three-day match between Cricket Australia XI and New Zealanders in October, 2015 has been abandoned after concerns over the pitch. New Zealand apparently refusing to bat because of the dangerous state of the wicket. In that match, Ryan Carters (209) and Aaron Finch (288 not out) scored 503 for the opening wicket and match score remained as Cricket Australia XI 503/1 (dec). The stand easily eclipsed the previous Australian record of 456 set by openers Ernie Mayne and Bill Ponsford for Victoria state in 1923-24.