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Eden Park
Eden Park
The History Of Football At Eden Park
(to 31 August 2022)
by Jeremy Ruane
Eden Park. The National Stadium. Home ground of the All Blacks and Auckland rugby. In the summer months, the odd one-day or T-20 cricket international graces the ground, which, just last year, was awarded the right to host concerts - the legendary Billy Joel will shortly become the first major international act to perform at the venue since 1975.
And of course, it will be the centre of world attention on July 20 next year as the Football Ferns grace the country's biggest sports arena in the opening match of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Finals.
That will be the first-ever women's football fixture to grace the hallowed turf, which was swamp land for many years until being acquired by the Eden Cricket Club in 1903. The facilities back then, and throughout much of the twentieth Century, are a far cry from what they are now - the floodlights, for instance, only came about in 1999.
By which time football had graced the ground on three occasions, the first of which was the last match of a New Zealand tour by South Africa, the only time that nation has played football on these shores.
To mark the event, the four internationals took place at the venues synonymous with rugby back in the day - Christchurch's Lancaster Park, Dunedin's Carisbrook, Wellington's Athletic Park and the only ground which still plays host to the world's rugby-playing nations, Eden Park.
Gordon Smith scored New Zealand's goal as they were eclipsed 4-1 by the South Africans on July 19, 1947, the visitors having won the other internationals on their tour of the nation by some quite remarkable scorelines - 6-5, 6-0 and 8-3.
A week and ten years later, football graced Eden Park once more, this time for the first-ever visit to New Zealand by a European club side. FK Austria blazed a trail which numerous clubs from football's nerve centre have followed over the years, dishing out 7-1 hidings to our national team in the two matches which took place in Auckland and Wellington, with Tom McNicholl scoring New Zealand's goal at Eden Park on July 27, 1957.
It wasn't until March 27, 1988, that football next graced the garden of Eden, this time for a double-header in the Oceania Football Confederation's
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   Programme covers from the internationals, all part of the writer's NZ collection
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Olympic Qualifying Tournament, back in the days before the U-23 age restriction was introduced by FIFA.
A strong All Whites team coached by Kevin Fallon, and boasting such luminaries as Ricki Herbert, Grant Turner and Duncan Cole RIP, went down 1-0 to Israel in the second match played at the ground that afternoon, Australia having trounced Taiwan
3-0 in the earlier encounter, with Graham Arnold, Frank Farina and Paul Wade the Socceroos' goalscorers.
Sunday's fixture agin the old enemy will be just the fourth time our national team has played at the National Stadium, but football fans born since 1990 will be familiar with Eden Park courtesy the regular visits by Wellington Phoenix in recent seasons, primarily for A-League fixtures.
Their most famous match here took place on 23 July 2014, as they overpowered English Premier League side West Ham United 2-1 on the Football United tour, which also featured Newcastle United and Sydney FC.
Wellington is to date unbeaten at Eden Park in the ten matches they've played at the venue, winning six and drawing four. The same can't be said for their reserve team, however, Federico Marquez scoring both goals as WaiBOP United prevailed 2-0 over Wellington Phoenix in the lone ASB Premiership fixture to ever take place at Eden Park, a curtain-raiser to an A-League fixture in December 2014.
Wellington Phoenix's record at Eden Park, including crowd figures:
2011
November 19, 1-1 Adelaide United, 20078
2013
February 2, 1-0 Perth Glory, 11566
2014
February 1, 2-1 Adelaide United, 18056
July 23, 2-1 West Ham United, 19193
December 13, 1-1 Central Coast Mariners, 11051
2019
February 15, 1-1 Melbourne Victory, 22648
December 7, 2-1 Western Sydney Wanderers, 8851
2020
February 15, 1-0 Melbourne City, 15347
2021
May 30, 2-2 Perth Glory, 22223
2022
April 24, 1-0 Western Sydney Wanderers, 15245
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