Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre - History

History

The facility opened in 1975 and was officially named Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Sports Centre by the Queen in 1977 to mark her Silver Jubilee. It was constructed in close proximity to both the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital and Griffith University campus, which provided athlete accommodation.

The original roofed stadium was intended to be the only permanent seating facility. The remainder of the stadium seating was built as "temporary" seating and was intended to be removed after the Commonwealth Games had finished. Public opinion resulted in the unroofed temporary seating being retained as permanent.

The stadium was named ANZ Stadium from 1993 to 2003 when it was the home of the Brisbane Broncos rugby league football team. The stadium currently has a capacity of 48,400 people, although the record crowd is 58,912, set during the 1997 Super League Grand Final which saw the Broncos defeat the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 26-8. The capacity can be increased to 60,000 with the use of extra temporary seating in front of the Eastern and Western grandstands. These were removed when the running track was relaid for the 2001 Goodwill Games.

In 1999, ANZ Stadium hosted eventual champions Australia in their Davis Cup Semi-Final win over Russia 4-1. Temporary grass courts were erected up one end of the field and temporary stands on 3 sides. The crowd capacity for this event was 10, 600. 1999 Australian Open Champion and Russian Davis Cup player Yevgeny Kafelnikov described the court "like playing on a potato field" and "that court is just not acceptable for this kind of event".

In 2002, ownership transferred to the Queensland Government Major Sports Facilities Authority and the venue was given its present name.

The stadium has hosted a number of events, including:

• Australian Championships in Athletics
• State of Origin games
• 1982 Commonwealth Games
• Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - 31 March 1985
• U2 - 20 November 1993, with Big Audio Dynamite II and Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, 25 February 1998, with Sidewinder and 7 November 2006, with Kanye West
• Madonna - 24 November 1993
• The Rolling Stones - 12 April 1995
• The Eagles - 24 November 1995
• Michael Jackson - 19 November 1996
• 1997 Super League Grand Final
• 1999 Davis Cup Semi-Final tie vs. Russia
• 2001 Goodwill Games
• An assignment on the third season of The Mole, filmed in early 2002, where the contestants had to draw an animal using the painting machines normally used to mark the playing fields.
• The Red Hot Chili Peppers - 22 November 2002
• Pearl Jam - 25 November 2009, with Relentless7
• AC/DC - 25 and 27 February 2010, with Wolfmother
• This venue served as an evacuation centre for residents affected by the 2010–2011 Queensland floods.

The stadium is still actively used by athletes at a local, State and National level Many local clubs such as Thompson Estate and Eastern Suburbs Athletics use it regularly for training.

The stadium has also permitted students of the neighboring Griffith University (Nathan campus) to use its expansive carpark, free of charge. This is due to the relatively low availability of parking as well as the cost of parking on the campus (there is no free parking). Students who don't mind the ten minute walk from the stadium take advantage of the large carpark.