page_title: Mount Smart Stadium
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Mount Smart Stadium / History
caption_attribution_description: Big Day Out 2007
context_page_description: Mount Smart Stadium is located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the home ground of National Rugby League team, the New Zealand Warriors. Built within the quarried remnants of the Rarotonga / Mount Smart volcanic cone, it is located 10 kilometres south of the city centre, in the suburb of Penrose.
context_section_description: The Mount Smart Domain Board was established in 1943 with the purpose of transforming the former quarry site into a public reserve. In 1953, a plan was approved for a sports stadium which was officially opened in 1967. In 1978, it hosted 3 matches of the World Series Cricket tour of New Zealand. The stadium hosted track and field events including the highly successful Pan Am series during the early 1980s.
  During the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour the Auckland rugby league team defeated the tourists 30-14 at Mt Smart before a crowd of 8,000. Mount Smart hosted its first rugby league international on 23 July 1989 when New Zealand and Australia played the third test of the Kangaroos 1989 New Zealand Tour. In front of 15,000 fans, Australia defeated the Kiwis 22-14 to wrap up the series 3-0.
  The stadium was chosen as the Main Athletics Stadium as well as the opening and closing ceremonies venue of the 1990 Commonwealth Games. It was where the New Zealand national football team (the All Whites) played all their home qualifying games for the 1982 FIFA World Cup. This was the first occasion that New Zealand had qualified for a FIFA World Cup and the event captured the imagination of the nation with large crowds packing the stadium.
  Adele holds the attendance record of the stadium, with 45,000 fans, who saw her play at Adele Live 2017. Ericsson Stadium was the host of the Super League's 1997 World Club Championship Final between Australian teams the Brisbane Broncos and Hunter Mariners. In front of 12,000 fans, the Broncos defeated the Mariners 36-12. Ericsson Stadium hosted three quarters of the 1999 Rugby League Tri-nations' games, including the final, which New Zealand lost 20–22.
  The stadium is now owned by the Auckland Council, following the merger of Auckland's regional authorities and managed by Auckland Stadiums. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the back of the grandstand roof at Mount Smart was used for Bungee jumping. Following the first rugby league test at the stadium in 1989, Australian captain Wally Lewis and teammate Peter Jackson both 'took the plunge'.
  Mount Smart Stadium also hosted the first standalone NRL Women's Premiership match between the New Zealand Warriors and St. George Illawarra Dragons on 22 September 2019. The Dragons won this match 26–6.
caption: Big Day Out Double Stages, Auckland 2007
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