The Gabba

The Gabba (known officially as the Brisbane Cricket Ground) is a stadium located in the city of Brisbane in the suburb of Wollongabba and the present home of Brisbane in the AFL.
==Creation and early years==
The ground was originally created as a cricket ground in 1895 with the first local game played the next year. It's use in the early years is sketchy, but football started being played there in 1905 until World War 1 before moving elsewhere. Soccer and rugby league were played there spasmodically and greyhound racing took place there as well in 1928.
Test cricket arrived at the venue in 1931 when Australia played South Africa and the following Summer hosted it's first Ashes Test during the Bodyline series. It also became the home of the Queensland state cricket team.
The condition of the venue was heavily criticised early in the 1950's but it continued to host Test matches and Sheffield Shield matches. The most famous of these was the tied Test between Australia and the West Indies in 1960.
Football returned in 1959 remained until 1971 before returning in the late 1970's and early 1980's. From 1972 to 1993 greyhound racing returned.
==Expansion and improvements==
In 1993 the Brisbane Bears started playing their home games at the Gabba, abandoning Carrara. Under pressure already from cricket, the venue underwent changes pre season. The last greyhound meeting was held in February 1993 with the track around the ground removed. The Sir Gordon Chalk Building was renovated to house the Bears Social Club and change rooms, and the Clem Jones Stand was refurbished as well. A new Western grandstand was constructed and the oval playing surface was extended to better cater for football. This initial work was completed in time for the Bears' first home game.
In 1995, the Queensland cricket team hosted the Sheffield Shield final where they would win the Shield for the first time.
In 1997 the Bears merged on field operations with Fitzroy and became the Brisbane Lions. The capacity continued to grow with the current two tier stand constructed in stages. The last stage was completed in 2005, including the demolishing of the Social Club to be replaced by a three tier grandstand.
In 2000 meanwhile the venue hosted qualifying matches for the Olympic Games soccer competition.
==Present status==
Further refurbishments were done when it became likely that the MCG would not be able to host the AFL grand final in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The venue was confirmed as the very first non Victorian venue to host the grand final and in late October 2020, Richmond defeated Geelong for the premiership. The current capacity is 42,000 with the record crowd for a football match being for the 2019 AFL Qualifying Final between Brisbane and Richmond.
==Other uses==
As mentioned, the venue is used for cricket and has been used for soccer and rugby league with the latter holding the sporting attendance record of 46,355 for a test between Australia and Great Britain in 1954.
The venue has also been used for concerts with the venue attendance record being held by Adele's 2017 concert - 60,000.
==Future of the venue==
At some point soon the venue is going to be totally rebuilt. This will be in preparation for Brisbane to host the 2032 Olympic Games and the Gabba will be used as the main stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics. The planned capacity will be increased to 50,000 people.
Category:Venues