Marrara Oval

Marrara Oval

Former names	Marrara Oval, Football Park
Location	Marrara, Northern Territory
Coordinates
Owner	Government of the Northern Territory
Operator	AFL Northern Territory
Capacity	14,000
Surface	Grass
Opened	1991

Marrara Oval (also known as Football Park and currently as TIO Stadium due to naming rights) is a sports ground in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The ground was built in 1991 and Australian rules football and Cricket are primarily played at the venue. The venue was officially opened to the public on 30 June 1991 and was conservatively estimated as costing $8 million. Events held at the stadium includes Northern Territory Football League matches, pre-season Australian Football League matches, and also two AFL Premiership matches each year. The record crowd of 17,500 was set in 2003 for an AFL pre-season practice match between the Aboriginal All-Stars and Carlton Football Club which the All-Stars won.

The first game played under lights at Marrara was a match between Nightcliff and Southern Districts on 9 December 1994. Transport and Works Minister Daryl Manzie officially handed over the lights to the NTFL that day. Installing the lights cost $1.2 million. The light towers were constructed by Darwin firm Norbuilt.

The Sydney Roosters played host against the North Queensland Cowboys in Round 7 of the 2012 NRL season in front of 10,008 fans. This was the first time Darwin hosted a professional Rugby League game since 1995. The second game at Marrara came in Round 17 of the 2013 NRL season when the Penrith Panthers (who had previously played games in Darwin during the 1990s) defeated the Gold Coast Titans 40-18 in front of 8,050 for what was a Titans home game.

The stadium hosted two cricket Tests in 2003 with Australia against Bangladesh and 2004 against Sri Lanka, as well as a total of four one day internationals against Bangladesh in 2003 and 2008. The current total capacity is around 15,000 including 5,000 seats.

Since 2010 both Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs have hosted a single 'home' game each year at the stadium, except for 2011 when Richmond hosted a game rather than the Western Bulldogs. Between 2004 and 2008 a single Western Bulldogs 'home' game was the only AFL season game played at the ground. Port Adelaide also had had a three-year deal with the Northern Territory government and Marrara Oval, in which Port would play two 'away' games at TIO Stadium each year between 2009 and 2012.

TIO Stadium has hosted AC/DC for their "Ballbreaker" tour in November 1996, when 13,000 fans and 170 tonnes of equipment packed the ground. Sir Elton John performed for the first time in the Northern Territory, at TIO Stadium on the 17 May 2008 as part of the his Australian Tour.

In 2014, Sydney based National Rugby League (NRL) club the Parramatta Eels announced they would be playing four games at Marrara over the following four years. The first game came on 9 August (Round 22) during the 2014 NRL season when the Eels defeated the Canberra Raiders 18-10 in front of 9,527 fans.

Attendance records

Top 10 sports attendance records

No.	Date	Teams	Sport	Competition	Crowd
1	7 February 2003	Indigenous All-Stars vs. Carlton Blues	Australian rules football	AFL (preseason)	17,500
2	12 February 1994	Indigenous All-Stars vs. Collingwood Magpies	Australian rules football	AFL (preseason)	15,000
3	12 August 2006	Western Bulldogs vs. Port Adelaide Power	Australian rules football	AFL	14,100
4	14 August 2004	Western Bulldogs vs. Port Adelaide Power	Australian rules football	AFL	13,271
5	11 February 2007	Indigenous All-Stars vs. Essendon Bombers	Australian rules football	AFL (preseason)	13,119
6	18 June 2005	Western Bulldogs vs. Carlton Blues	Australian rules football	AFL	13,037
7	4 July 2015	Melbourne Demons vs. West Coast Eagles	Australian rules football	AFL	11,873
8	28 May 2011	Richmond Tigers vs. Port Adelaide Power	Australian rules football	AFL	11,506
9	16 June 2007	Western Bulldogs vs. Fremantle Dockers	Australian rules football	AFL	11,449
10	28 June 2008	Western Bulldogs vs. Port Adelaide Power	Australian rules football	AFL	11,373

^{Last updated on 5 July 2012}

AFL records

• Highest team score:
  • 23.9 (147) – Port Adelaide vs. Western Bulldogs, 14 August 2004
• Largest winning margin:
  • 93 points – Western Bulldogs vs. Port Adelaide, 13 June 2009
• Lowest team score:
  • 4.10 (34) on two occasions:
    • Gold Coast vs. Western Bulldogs, 19 May 2012
    • Melbourne vs. Fremantle, 5 July 2014
• Most goals in a game:
  • 5 on two occasions
    • Paul Stewart, Port Adelaide vs. Melbourne, 21 July 2012
    • Jack Darling, West Coast vs. Melbourne, 4 July 2015
• Most disposals in a game:
  • 41 – Kane Cornes, Port Adelaide vs. Western Bulldogs, 28 June 2008
• Most goals kicked:
  • 17 – Brad Johnson (Western Bulldogs)

Sources

• AFL Attendance Records

See also

• List of Test cricket grounds

External links

• Marrara Oval at Austadiums