Central Park (Wigan)

Central Park

Home of Rugby League
Full name	Central Park
Location	Wigan, England
Coordinates	53°33′1.5″N 2°37′33″W / 53.550417°N 2.62583°W / 53.550417; -2.62583Coordinates: 53°33′1.5″N 2°37′33″W / 53.550417°N 2.62583°W / 53.550417; -2.62583
Capacity	18,000
Record attendance	47,747 vs St Helens 27 March 1959
Surface	Grass
Construction
Built	1902
Opened	1902
Closed	1999
Demolished	1999
Tenants
Wigan RLFC (1902–1999)

Central Park was a rugby league stadium in Wigan, England, which was the home of Wigan RLFC before the club moved to the JJB Stadium in 1999. Its final capacity was 18,000. The site is now a Tesco supermarket car park.

History

On 6 September 1902, Wigan played at Central Park for the first time in the opening match of the newly formed First Division. An estimated crowd of 9,000 spectators saw Wigan beat Batley 14–8.

The first rugby league international was played between England and Other Nationalities at Central Park on 5 April 1904, Other Nationalities won 9-3 in the experimental Loose forward-less 12-a-side game, with Wigan players David "Dai" Harris, and Eli Davies in the Other Nationalities team.

The visit of St. Helens on 27 March 1959 produced Central Park's record attendance of 47,747, and set a record for a rugby league regular season league game in Britain. Wigan won the game 19–14, holding off a Saints' comeback after having led 14–0.

Floodlights were installed on 120 ft high pylons in summer 1967 so that the club could play in the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy.

On 7 October 1987, Central Park was the first English venue used for the World Club Challenge (WCC) between the English champions and the Winfield Cup premiers from Australia. The 1987 World Club Challenge between Wigan and Manly-Warringah saw the home side run out 8-2 winners in a try-less game in front of 36,895, though many who were there believe the attendance was closer to 50,000 on the night, far exceeding the 36,000 capacity of the ground at the time. The game was marred by several all-in brawls, while Manly captain Paul Vautin was almost pushed over the fence and into the crowd by a group of Wigan players who had tackled him into touch, the incident sparking another all-in. Manly fullback Dale Shearer and second-rower Ron Gibbs were the main villains of the parochial Wigan crowd. Gibbs became the first player to be sent off in a WCC after hitting Wigan centre Joe Lydon with an elbow to the head after Lydon attempted a field goal, while later in the game Shearer appeared to step on the head of Lydon while getting up from a tackle.

Despite the ugly on-field play, the success of the match and its high attendance saw the World Club Challenge made into an annual event between the English and Australian champions starting in 1989.

A week after the 1992 Rugby League World Cup Final (WCF) at Wembley Stadium which saw Australia defeat Great Britain 10-6, Central Park hosted the 1992 World Club Challenge between Wigan and the Brisbane Broncos. With twelve players who played in the WCF playing the challenge (5 from Wigan, 7 from Brisbane), the Broncos became the first Australian side to win the challenge in England with a 22-8 victory in front of 17,764 fans. Wigan would get their revenge just two years later when they defeated the Broncos 20-14 in the 1994 World Club Challenge played in front of a WCC record attendance of 54,220 at the ANZ Stadium in Brisbane. Showing the loyalty of the clubs fans, several thousand travelled to Brisbane to support the team, the win seeing Wigan become the first English team to win the Challenge on Australian soil.

In January 1997 the club's shareholders approved a deal in which the stadium would be sold to Wigan Athletic's owner Dave Whelan and be redeveloped to provide a new home for both the football and rugby teams. Two months later however, the Warriors' chairman Jack Robinson accepted a rival bid from Tesco, pointing out that the supermarket's offer was three times bigger than Whelan's.^[1]

The final game at Central Park was on Sunday 5 September 1999. Wigan beat St Helens by 28 points to 20, 96 years and 364 days after the first game against Batley was played. The Central Park site later became a car park for a Tesco supermarket.

Rugby League Test Matches

List of rugby league test matches played at Central Park.^[2]

Test#	Date	Result	Attendance
1	11 January 1908	England  def.  New Zealand 18–16
2	7 February 1923	Wales  def. England 13–2	12,000
3	30 September 1925	England def. Wales 18–14	12,000
4	2 October 1926	Great Britain  def. New Zealand 28–20	14,500
5	11 January 1928	England def. Wales 20–12	12,000
6	27 February 1943	England def. Wales 15–9	17,000
7	26 February 1944	England drew with Wales 9–9	16,028
8	10 March 1945	England def. Wales 23–8	23,500
9	20 September 1947	Wales def. England 10–8	27,000
10	22 September 1948	England def. Wales 11–5	12,638
11	1 March 1950	England def. Wales 11–6	27,500
12	17 September 1952	England def. Wales 19–8	13,503
13	17 November 1956	Great Britain def.  Australia 21–10	22,473
14	23 November 1957	England def.  France 44–15	19,152
15	12 December 1959	Great Britain def. Australia 18–12	26,089
16	17 February 1962	France def. Great Britain 20–15	17,277
17	3 April 1963	Great Britain def. France 42–4	19,487
18	6 November 1965	Great Britain drew with New Zealand 9–9	7,919
19	5 March 1966	France def. Great Britain 8–4	14,004
20	4 March 1967	France def. Great Britain 23–13	7,448
21	25 October 1969	England drew with France 11–11	4,568
22	17 February 1974	Great Britain def. France 29–0	9,108
23	21 October 1978	Australia def. Great Britain 15–9	17,644
24	18 October 1980	Great Britain drew with New Zealand 14–14	7,031
25	20 November 1982	Australia def. Great Britain 27–6	23,126
26	2 November 1985	Great Britain def. New Zealand 25–8	15,506
27	1 March 1986	Great Britain def. France 24–10	8,112
28	21 January 1989	Great Britain def. France 26–10	8,266
29	30 October 1993	Great Britain def. New Zealand 29–12	16,502

Rugby League World Cup

List of Rugby League World Cup matches played at Central Park.
Results are from the 1960, 1970, 1975, 1985–1988, 1989–1992 and 1995 World Cups.

WC Game#	Date	Result	Attendance
1	24 September 1960	Australia  def.  France 13–12	20,278
2	8 October 1960	New Zealand  def. France 9–0	2,876
3	21 October 1970	Australia def. New Zealand 47–11	9,805
4	1 November 1975	England  def. Australia 16–13	9,393
5	22 November 1986	Australia def.  Great Britain 24–15	20,169
6	24 October 1987	Great Britain def.  Papua New Guinea 42–0	9,121
7	11 November 1989	Great Britain def. New Zealand 10–6	20,346
8	9 November 1991	Great Britain def. Papua New Guinea 56–4	4,193
9	11 October 1995	England def.  Fiji 46–0	26,263

Non-Test Internationals

Preceded by Springfield Park	Home of Wigan RLFC  1902 – 1999	Succeeded by DW Stadium
Preceded by Sydney Cricket Ground	Host of the World Club Challenge  1987	Succeeded by Old Trafford
Preceded by Anfield	Host of the World Club Challenge  1992	Succeeded by ANZ Stadium

See also

• English rugby league stadia by capacity

References

External links

• Wigan Warriors Official
• Central Park History Page @ Cherry & White.co.uk
• Wigan-Warriors