Okara Park Stadium

Try Time

Mel Williams, Visitor Services

It’s hard to not get caught up in the rugby hype at the moment. Everywhere you turn in Whangarei are the green and blue signs promoting the Women’s Rugby World Cup and at Kiwi North we have loved welcoming people from all over the world who have come to support their teams and take in the beauty of what Northland has to offer.

I personally have been lucky to attend many rugby games, at many different stadiums. The atmosphere and the emotion of watching the All Blacks win on Eden Park at the opening of the Rugby World Cup in 2011 was second to none. I’ve travelled to Dublin to see our boys play at Landsdowne Road and I’ve seen them dominate against the Wallabies at Etihad Stadium. I made a point at each of these matches, and so many more, to always buy the official programmes. They are treasured items in my “Memory Collection” and an important part of sporting history. Knowing how much these mean to me, I wondered what programmes have survived the test of time from games played right here in Northland, so went searching through the archives in the museum.

I was thrilled to find a collection of programmes representing early games played at Whangarei’s Okara Park Municipal Stadium, including a booklet about the opening of the stadium itself.

The stadium officially opened on May 22nd 1965 with an impressive lineup of events including a rugby match between Whangarei Boys High and Northland College. The Whangarei and County Pipe Band played and the then Prime Minister, Keith Holyoake, met with members of the teams. A second match between North Auckland and the Coronation Shield District XV was played later that afternoon and the Whangarei Municipal Silver Band entertained at half-time.

The next programme I found was from later that same year and was an early indication of the optimism surrounding the new facility. On August 11th 1965 the Springboks came to town as part of the South Africa Rugby Union Tour of Australia and New Zealand. Before then, international teams had no reason to travel north of Auckland. The Springboks played against North Auckland and won 14-11.

A few years later the French National Rugby Union Team toured New Zealand and Australia. They played three test matches against New Zealand and one against Australia but lost all four. Before their third New Zealand test, the French played North Auckland at Okara Park, winning 10-6. The blue programme is from that match, played on August 3rd 1968.

Although Okara Park had a capacity limit of just 30,000 people, a Ranfurly Shield match between North Auckland and Auckland in 1979 resulted in 40,000 fans cramming into the venue and taking advantage of the generous embankment within the grounds.

An $18m redevelopment of the stadium was completed in 2010, ensuring the stadium would meet the standards required to be a part of the Rugby World Cup in 2011. A stadium of many names, Okara Park was renamed Toll Stadium as part of a sponsorship deal, then in 2019, the Stan Semenoff Group, led by businessman and ex-Mayor Stan Semonoff won the naming rights to the venue, rebranding it the Semenoff Stadium we see today.

The stadium has since hosted many prominent international and local sporting events, concerts and festivals. And now, it is where thousands of people are going to enjoy the atmosphere of the Woman’s Rugby World Cup. Hopefully the programmes being purchased will help people relive those memories for many years to come.

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