Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of around 28,000 in the 1930s, though this fell to around 17,000 by the time the ground was closed in 2002. It is now the site of several offices and the University of Auckland's largest student accommodation Carlaw Park Student Village.

History The stadium's grandstands and terraces were built in 1916, and it became the home of rugby league in Auckland from 1921. It was named after James Carlaw, the chairman of the Auckland Rugby League managing committee who secured the land in 1920 and developed the ground further.

The ground was officially opened on 25 June 1921 and City Rovers defeated Maritime 10–8 on the opening day in front of 7,000 fans.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. , p.p.62-63 Herb Lunn scored the first try and Eric Grey kicked the first goal on the ground.

The ground hosted the sole test match in the New Zealand leg of the 1951 French rugby league tour of Australasia.

The Auckland Rugby League spent £4,322 on capital expenditure in developing the ground. The ground was purchased for $200,000 in 1974.

The ground hosted 3 Winfield Cup games (one in 1992 the two other games were held in 1993) with the first game between Newcastle and Manly Warringah attracting 17,368 spectators. Strong attendances across these matches led to the inclusion of the Auckland Warriors into the Winfield Cup in 1995.

During its long history it hosted many matches in various Rugby League World Cups. The stadium capacity was officially listed as 17,000 when it closed in 2002 due to health and safety reasons. Between 1924 and 1999 Carlaw Park hosted sixty-six Test matches. The largest Test crowd was an estimated 28,000 during the 1928 England tour. New Zealand won the game, defeating England 17–13. The final rugby league test at the ground came on 22 October 1999 when New Zealand defeated Tonga 74–0 in front of the ground's lowest ever test crowd of 4,528.

Later years In August 2006 the Auckland Rugby League reached an agreement to lease the property off to be developed as a retirement home. No development has started as of August 2007. However the site has been officially 'handed over' in August 2007 in a ceremony involving Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Carlaw Park was one of the venues under consideration for Stadium New Zealand, a proposed stadium to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Complications over the lease of the property, the requirement for additional land to be taken from Auckland Domain, and the proximity of the heavy traffic on Stanley Street led to other options being preferred by the Government. The backers of Carlaw Park hosting the Cup secured NZ$200 million for its possible development, but the government finally chose Eden Park to host the World Cup games.

Carlaw Park is now the site of several offices, a Quest Apartments hotel building, and the University of Auckland's largest student accommodation Carlaw Park Student Village. Since mid-November 2018, Carlaw Park has been connected by a walkway to the Parnell railway station.

Rugby league test matches List of rugby league test matches played at Carlaw Park.Carlaw Park rugbyleagueproject.org Test# Date Result Attendance1 2 August 1924 def. 16-8 22,0002 4 August 1928 def. 17-13 28,0003 30 July 1932 def. 24-9 25,0004 20 August 1932 def. 20-18 6,5005 28 September 1935 def. 22-14 20,0006 2 October 1935 def. 29-8 8,0007 4 October 1935 def. 31-8 20,0008 8 August 1936 def. 10-8 25,0009 15 August 1936 def. 23-11 17,00010 7 August 1937 def. 12-8 12,00011 14 August 1937 def. 16-15 25,00012 10 August 1946 def. 13-8 11,00013 8 October 1949 def. 13-10 12,36114 12 August 1950 def. 20-13 20,00015 4 August 1951 def. 16-15 19,22916 18 July 1953 def. 18-16 16,03317 24 July 1954 def. 27-7 22,09718 14 August 1954 def. 12-6 6,18619 6 August 1955 def. 19-9 20,50020 13 August 1955 def. 11-6 12,00021 26 July 1958 def. 15-10 25,00022 9 August 1958 def. 32-15 25,00023 23 July 1960 def. 9-2 17,91424 6 August 1960 def. 9-3 14,00725 1 July 1961 def. 12-10 11,48526 8 July 1961 def. 10-8 12,42427 23 July 1962 def. 19-0 14,97628 10 August 1962 def. 4-3 29 11 August 1962 def. 27-8 16,41130 25 July 1964 def. 24-16 10,14831 15 August 1964 def. 10-2 7,27932 19 June 1965 def. 13-8 13,20533 26 June 1965 def. 7-5 11,38334 6 August 1966 def. 25-8 14,49435 20 August 1966 def. 22-14 10,65736 1 June 1969 def. 20-10 13,45937 7 June 1969 def. 18-14 9,84838 11 July 1970 def. 19-15 15,94839 25 July 1970 def. 33-16 13,13740 26 June 1971 def. 24-3 13,91741 27 July 1974 def. 13-8 10,46642 10 August 1974 def. 20-0 11,57443 21 July 1979 def. 16-8 9,00044 11 August 1979 def. 18-11 7,00045 1 June 1980 def. 27-6 12,32146 15 June 1980 def. 15-6 9,70647 7 June 1981 def. 26-3 12,20048 21 June 1981 def. 25-2 8,10049 12 June 1983 def. 16-4 18,00050 2 October 1983 def. 60-20 7,00051 14 July 1984 def. 12-0 10,23852 28 July 1984 def. 32-16 7,96753 30 June 1985 def. 10-6 19,13254 7 July 1985 def. 18-0 15,32755 6 July 1986 def. 22-8 14,56656 13 June 1991 def. 60-6 7,00057 22 October 1999 def. 74-0 4,528

Rugby League World Cup List of Rugby League World Cup matches played at Carlaw Park.Results are from the 1968, 1975, 1977 and 1985–1988 World Cups. WC Game# Date Result Attendance1 25 May 1968 def. 15-10 18,0002 2 June 1968 def. 7-2 15,7603 21 June 1975 drew with 17-17 12,0004 21 June 1975 def. 13-8 9,3685 27 September 1975 def. 24-8 18,0006 29 May 1977 def. 27-12 18,0007 5 June 1977 def. 23-4 10,0008 19 June 1977 def. 28-20 8,0009 10 July 1988 def. 66-14 8,392

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