Belmore Sports Ground

Infobox_Stadium
stadium_name = Belmore Sports Ground
nickname =


location = Belmore, NSW
broke_ground =
opened = 1920
owner =
operator =
surface = Grass
tenants = Sydney Olympic (NSWPL)
seating_capacity = 25,000

Belmore Sports Ground, formerly known as Belmore Oval, is a multi-use stadium in Belmore, New South Wales, Australia. The park covers 22 acres and from 1951 has contained the Belmore Bowling Recreation Club green. It is close to the Belmore railway station.

The stadium has a capacity of 25,000 people and was built in 1920.

Uses

The ground is mainly used for football (soccer) and is the home ground for Sydney Olympic FC, a team in the New South Wales Premier League.

The Canterbury Bulldogs NRL team played their home games at Belmore Sports Ground from 1935 until 1998 and still used Belmore for their training and administration but since early 2008 these have been moved to Sydney Olympic Park. Due to the BSG's dilapidated state, the "Back to Belmore" campaign was launched in August 2005 with the protest mainly aimed at procuring Federal Government funding to upgrade Belmore Sports Ground as a top-class sporting facility and the Canterbury-Bankstown area's premier sporting venue, with a view of the Canterbury Bulldogs staging a select number of their NRL home games at their traditional home ground in the long-term future.

Bulldogs legend Terry Lamb has a stand at the ground named after him.

History

In 1920, the local council took steps to acquire park areas around the Belmore area. The park was named after the suburb it was located: Belmore Park. Belmore Park was eventually purchased in three sections between 1918 and 1921. The first two parcels were purchased by the State government and the third by Council. The park was opened around the early 1920's, the land was formerly known as Gunn's Paddock. In 1936, council purchased a large stand from the Sydney Cricket Ground and had it re-erected at the park as part of unemployment relief works. This stand was opened on March 14, 1936 by Mayor SE Parry and was named after him. Around 1967, council moved other sports played at the park to grounds else-where and rugby league was given priority.

External links

* [http://www.backtobelmore.com.au Back to Belmore - Official Campaign Website]