David Farrington Park
| Centennial Park | |
| Location | Cnr Weka Street and Miramar North Road, Wellington, New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Owner | Wellington City Council |
| Operator | Wellington City Council |
| Capacity | 2,250 |
| Surface | Grass Pitch |
| Tenants | |
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Team Wellington Miramar Rangers AFC |
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David Farrington Park, previously known as Centennial Park, is a football ground in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. It is used for football matches and is the home ground of both Team Wellington and Miramar Rangers AFC. Terraced seating on the embankment can accommodate 600 patrons.
The grounds name was changed to David Farrington Park as a mark of respect to the local football stalwart who died in 2008.
On 16 April, David Farrington Park saw the first OFC Champions League game played in Wellington when Team Wellington beat AS Magenta 7–1, also qualifying Team Wellington for the home and away final against Auckland City for the 2017 OFC Champions League title and a chance to play at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in United Arab Emirates.
The park was originally a motor camp during the Centennial Exhibition in 1940, which is how it got its original name, before it was used as temporary accommodation for New Zealand immigrants landing in Wellington.
The field which is now widely considered one of the best playing surfaces in New Zealand received a renovation in 2012 by Mexted Performance Sport Surfaces. The park had a build-up of organic matter and contaminants so the surface was holding water and wasn’t draining away, affecting playability. Mexteds’ Contracts used a planer, to take 100mm off the playing surface in two 50mm passes, then re-levelled the sub-grade and installed new primary drainage in between the existing drain lines. The sand based park has a 250mm layer of dune sand and over the years a build-up of organic matter in the top 100mls has stopped the water from draining away. For the majority of times it rained, the surface would hold water. Mexteds introduced a new 50mm layer of clean turf sand.
Another noticeable change is the new style of grass that was sown following the drainage work, which is intended to have more stability and will hold the profile together better. The new creeping rye grass, which grows like a cooch, will have more durability and will prove to be a better grass for the sand-based park and the Wellington conditions. Some of the sand from David Farrington Park was able to be recycled at Houghton Bay Park to level off low spots. Houghton Bay is a former landfill site that experiences regular subsidence.
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