Okara Park
Okara Park is a multi-use stadium in Whangarei, New Zealand. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and is the home stadium of Northland Rugby Union. The stadium is able to hold 25,000 people and was built in 1965.
The park is currently undergoing a $16m redevelpoment with the a stadium know as Northland Events Centre being built. The new stadium will turn Okara Park into a multi-purpose Northland sports hub.[1] [2]
Despite Okara Park only having a capacity for 25,000 people, there was a match of Rugby Union in 1979 where around 40,000 people crammed into the stadium thanks to its large embankment. The occasion for this record crowd was the defence by the local side, North Auckland, of the prized Ranfurly Shield against Auckland. The stadium has held national games e.g. the NZ Maori beat the Tongan national team 66-7 at Okara Park in 1998. It has also hosted matches between Northland and touring international sides such as the British Lions, and Tonga, Samoa and Fiji in the mid 1990's.
References
- ^ "Builders get ball rolling on Okara Park project". The Northern Advocate. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
- ^ "Controversy as council revives Okara Park upgrade". The Northern Advocate. 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
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