Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium
Full name	Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium
Nickname
Built	1999
Opened	February 2000
Capacity	20,059
Home of	Central Coast Mariners FC

Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium at night

Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium (formerly known as Northpower Stadium and Central Coast Express Advocate Stadium) is a sports venue on Grahame Park in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Originally designed to be the home stadium for the North Sydney Bears rugby league team, the stadium is now home to the Central Coast Mariners football club. The stadium continues to host irregular rugby league and rugby union fixtures although unsuccessful bids have been made to have locally based teams play in the NRL and Super 14. Image File history File links Bluetongue_CC_Stadium. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Old Farts by the Sometimes-United Nations. ... February is the second month of the calendar year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... This is a list of major football (soccer) stadia, grouped by country and ordered by capacity. ... Central Coast Mariners FC, also known as The Mariners or abbreviated to CCM, is a professional football (soccer) team located in Gosford, Australia. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1805x1200, 427 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Central Coast Mariners FC Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium User:Woldo/Contributions ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1805x1200, 427 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Central Coast Mariners FC Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium User:Woldo/Contributions ... Gosford is the main city of the Central Coast of New South Wales, located approximately 50 km north of the Sydney Central Business District (CBD) in a straight line, but somewhat further by road due to the shape of the coastline. ... The Central Coast is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales, lying on the coastline north of Sydney and south of Newcastle. ... Emblems: Floral - Waratah (Telopea speciosissima); Bird - Kookaburra (Dacelo gigas); Animal - Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus); Fish - Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis) Motto: Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) Slogan or Nickname: First State, Premier State Other Australian states and territories Capital Sydney Government Const. ... The North Sydney Bears where a former club in the New South Wales Rugby League, the predecessor of the National Rugby League as the premier Australian rugby league competition. ... Rugby league is a team sport played by two teams of 17 players, with 13 on the field at any one time and 4 on the bench (reserves). ... Central Coast Mariners FC is a football (soccer) team based in Gosford, New South Wales, one of three teams from New South Wales competing in the A-League. ... A scrum Rugby union (often referred to as rugby, union or football) is one of the two codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league. ... NRL can mean: National Rugby League US Naval Research Laboratory Namespace Routing Language This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The current Super 14 logo The Super 14 is a rugby union championship competed for by teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. ...

The stadium is rectangular and is unusual in that seating is located on only three sides of the ground. The southern end is open giving filtered views of Brisbane Water through a row of palm trees. With an all seater capacity of 20,059 it is currently the sixth largest stadium in the A League. It is within walking distance of the Gosford CBD, the railway station and is adjacent to the Central Coast Leagues Club. Brisbane Water is the northern arm of Broken Bay on the east coast of New South Wales Australia. ... For the former incarnation of the USL First Division see A-League Soccer The A-League is the major Australian domestic football (soccer) competition, which kicked off its inaugural 2005-06 season on August 26, 2005. ... Gosford is a railway station located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia on the Newcastle & Central Coast Line. ...

History

In 1911, Erina Shire Council proposed to create a park on the shore of Brisbane Water. The park required much land to be reclaimed from marshland. It also required privately owned land to be purchased by council and a section of road to be demolished. Waterside Park was opened in 1915 and a cricket pitch was added during that year. Further reclamation of the foreshore extended the park during the Depression that gave work to the unemployed. By 1939 surplus railway land had been added and a Bowling Club and green as well as tennis courts had been constructed. In 1939 the Park was renamed Grahame Park.

For the three years 2000-2002, it was one of the home grounds of the Northern Eagles, a merged team from the North Sydney Bears and Manly-Warringah clubs. The Northern Eagles were a short-lived Rugby League team, formed during the rationalisation of the National Rugby League by the merger of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the North Sydney Bears, in 2000. ... The North Sydney Bears where a former club in the New South Wales Rugby League, the predecessor of the National Rugby League as the premier Australian rugby league competition. ... The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are a team in the National Rugby League (NRL), the premier rugby league football competition in Australia. ...

In 2003, with no major sporting team in residence, the stadium played host to three group matches in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The Pacific Islanders rugby union team played one match their on their 2004 tour. The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth world cup in rugby union history. ... First match Queensland Reds 29 - 48 Pacific Islanders (20 June 2004) Largest win NSW Waratahs 21 - 68 Pacific Islanders (25 June 2004) Worst defeat New Zealand 41 - 26 Pacific Islanders (10 July 2004) The Pacific Islanders rugby union team (usually known as just Pacific Islanders) are an international rugby union...

The prospects for the stadium improved in 2005 with the formation of the Central Coast Mariners, a team in the newly-formed national A-League football (soccer) competition. This team is resident at the stadium, resulting in regular national-level competition at the stadium. The stadium is regarded as iconic of the Mariners Football team as it has the back drop of brisbane water. Central Coast Mariners FC, also known as The Mariners or abbreviated to CCM, is a professional football (soccer) team located in Gosford, Australia. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Further use of the stadium in 2006 follows from it being the home ground to the Central Coast Waves rugby union team, which joined the Shute Shield in 2006. The Central Coast Waves are a rugby union club based on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia. ... A scrum Rugby union (often referred to as rugby, union or football) is one of the two codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league. ... The Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Before the A-League season re-commenced, a highly successful NRL match was held there between the Sydney Roosters and Newcastle Knights (won by the Knights 32-18), drawing a large crowd of 18,124. The continuous shunning of a centra coast team by the NRLhowever is leading to an increase in Football dominance in the area. However with the advent of NRL side the Melbourne Storm relocating their juniors to the local area, the stadium is set to see more NRL matches in the 2007 season. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The National Rugby League (NRL) is the premier rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand. ... The Sydney Roosters (also known as The Roosters) are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. ... The Newcastle Knights are a National Rugby League team based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. ... NRL can mean: National Rugby League US Naval Research Laboratory Namespace Routing Language This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Look up Football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia that is owned by News Limited, part of News Corporation that also owns the Herald Sun, Melbournes most popular newspaper. ...

Trivia

• The seating at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium still spells the words "Bears" in each bay in spite of the originally intended tenants, the North Sydney Bears, never having called the ground home.
• The stadium has had many naming rights sponsors, including NorthPower Energy, the Central Coast Express Advocate (a local newspaper), and now Bluetongue Brewery.
• Bay 16 is the area which is occupied by the Central Coast Mariners ultras fans, "The Marinators".

The North Sydney Bears where a former club in the New South Wales Rugby League, the predecessor of the National Rugby League as the premier Australian rugby league competition. ... FC Porto Ultras Super Dragões, Portugal The Ultras movement, or simply Ultras, is the name given to organized supporters groups for sports teams, mostly European and South American supporters of football (soccer) teams. ...

External links

• Official website of the Central Coast Stadium
• Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium at Austadiums

Coordinates: -33.428° 151.338° Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.