Western Springs Stadium

Western Springs Stadium is a stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. Built within a natural amphitheatre, it is primarily used for rugby union matches during the winter and for speedway during the winter. It is also occasionally used for large concerts and festivals.

Western Springs Stadium has a crowd capacity of 30,000 for sports and upwards of 50,000 for concerts. It is located four kilometres west of the city centre in the suburb of Western Springs.

Western Springs Stadium was built on land purchased from the Motion family by Auckland City Council in 1875 in order to build the Western Springs reservoir and pump station. Situated in a natural amphitheatre, concrete terracing was constructed. It was designed and modelled on European stadiums which included a banked concrete cycling track, a cinder running track and a grassed centre area for football and sports. The original design included a covered grandstand which would fill the gap between the concrete terraces, the cycling track finishing straight was designed and built to start and finish in front of the proposed grandstand (where the pit area now is). The stadium was never completed.

1929 the stadium built by Relief Labour was opened to serve cycling, athletics and football sports . The cycling track was over 500 yards in circumference as the European tracks were then. The cinder all weather Athletic 440-yard running track was the first of its type in NZ and it with the overall stadium would have easily compared to the famous Wembley Stadium in England. Some conjecture has been made when motorcycle speedway commenced on Western Springs. Saroway Park Newmarket was being used at the time. Previously the Mt Albert volcanic crater had been used. It was not until 1935 Motorcycle broadsiding commenced on the cinder running track (as they did on Wembley). On Christmas Day December 1937 midget car racing was introduced at a special international meeting, it included NZ pioneers Ron Roycroft and Geo Smith. The first official season then followed in January 1938. Speedway was still being raced at the previous venue at the Epsom Showgrounds. Athletics disappeared from Western Springs as a result and New Zealand's only all weather Athletics track was replaced by the traditional grass tracks until the late 1960s. When the first of the new style all weather athletics tracks were built Western Springs was already many years ahead of its time with an all weather cinder surface laid in 1929.

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