Lancaster Park

Lancaster Park was a historic sports venue with a rich history.

Opened in 1881, the park was more than just a sports ground. It was a place of noise and nerves, triumph and heartbreak, where crowds cheered themselves hoarse and generations learned what it meant to belong to Canterbury.

Rugby and cricket were its beating heart, but many other sports found a home there at some point: tennis, swimming, athletics, cycling, horse racing, hockey, rugby league, football, Australian rules, softball, and baseball. In 1894, the very first New Zealand cricket team played an international match here against New South Wales, a milestone etched into the country’s sporting story.

Lancaster Park was also a stage for moments that had nothing to do with sport. Royal visits passed through its gates. There were concerts, ballooning displays, marching events, and jamborees. In 1986, 64,000 fans packed the ground to see Dire Straits perform.

Even during hard times, the park adapted. During World War I, parts of Lancaster Park were turned into a potato farm. In the 1920s, memorial gates were erected to honour local athletes who served in the Great War, bearing the words:

“To Commemorate the Glorious Deeds of the Athletes of this Province in the Great War Aug. 1914–Nov. 1918.”

As professional sport grew, the stadium took on new sponsored names - Jade Stadium, then AMI Stadium. It was the home of the Canterbury Crusaders, and a fortress for the All Blacks, who played 48 test matches there between 1913 and 2010, losing only 8 of them. Lancaster Park also hosted matches during the 1987 Rugby World Cup.

The 2011 Christchurch earthquake changed everything. The damage was severe, and despite years of debate and hope, the decision was eventually made to demolish the stadium in 2019. Its physical form is gone, but Lancaster Park lives on in memory, in stories told of the great events once attended there.