Henson Park

Henson Park - Marrickville, Sydney (NSW)

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Ground Details: Located in Marrickville, a suburb of inner-western Sydney, Henson Park was opened in 1937. The site was a former brickworks. Its first major event was the 1938 Empire Games, the forerunner to the Commonwealth Games in which the venue hosted cycling. During the games, crowds regularly exceeded 40,000. The velodrome surrounding the playing field was removed during the late 1970's and replaced by a grass running track used for local school athletics carnivals.

The ground looks quite the same as it has since opening. On the western side, there is the King George V Memorial Grandstand, a small stand seating no more than 1000 people. From the north west to the south-east side of the ground runs a huge grass hill, easily the longest and tallest hill in Sydney. From the south east to the west, there is a bitumen bank where cars can park. About 200 cars can fit and it has always been popular to watch matches from your car seat. There is also a brick scoreboard with a kiosk in the north-east corner and a media/corporate centre also with a kiosk to the northern side of the King George V Memorial Grandstand.

Since 1937, the ground has been home to the Newtown Rugby League Football Club, today known as the Newtown Jets. The Jets played in the NSWRL, forerunner to the NRL until 1983 when it was dropped from the competition for financial reasons.

The highest attendance for Henson Park was recorded during Empire Games in which around 40,000 fans attended the cycling. For a Newtown match it is 21,588. And for a Rugby League match, the record crowd is 30,500 for a Grand Final replay between St George and Wests in the mid 1960s.

Capacity 30,000
Seats 1,000
Other websites on the web that contain information on this venue:

• Australian Stadiums - Henson Park
  
• Stats.rleague.com - Henson Park
  

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