History
The Brisbane Cricket Ground is better known as "The Gabba" and comes from the suburb of Woolloongabba in which the ground is situated.There are two theories about the meaning of the Aboriginal words from which "Woolloongabba" is derived - "whirling water" or "fight talk place".
"The Gabba" dates back to 1895, when the land was designated as the site for a cricket ground.
The Gabba 1965
Until January 1931, Sheffield Shield and Test cricket was played at the Exhibition Grounds.
The first Sheffield Shield match scheduled for The Gabba (31 January to 4 February 1931) was washed out without the captains even bothering to toss.
The first Test match played at The Gabba was against South Africa from 27 November to 3 December 1931. Don Bradman made 226 in the first innings of this Test and this remains the highest individual score in a Test played in Brisbane.
In the 1950s and 1960s The Gabba hosted soccer matches involving the English first division clubs Blackpool (with Sir Stanley Matthews), Everton, Manchester United and the Chinese and South African National Soccer teams.
Events held at The Gabba over its 110 year history include: Athletics,
AFL, Baseball, Concerts, Cricket, Cycling, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Pony and Greyhound Racing.
The Redevelopment
From November 1974 until early 1993, there were very few improvements at the Gabba. The 1993 Master Plan set out a 15 year plan to completely redevelop the Gabba.
Stage 1 saw the removal of the greyhound track and reconfiguration of the playing field to the same dimensions as the MCG.
Stage 2 (construction of the temporary Western Stand, installation of terrace seating and provision of corporate suites and boxes) was completed by Easter 1993, when the Brisbane Bears played their first match at the Gabba as permanent tenants.
Stage 3 (Northern Stand, lights for night sport and new scoreboards) was completed by the end of 1995.
Stage 4 consists of Eastern Stand and 5 bays of the Western Stand. The Eastern Stand opened on 27 March 1999 bringing capacity to 23,000 and the 5 bay Western Stand opened on 1 May 1999, bringing capacity to over 26,000.
Stage 5 (the 15 bay Southern Stand) was completed in December 1999, bringing ground capacity to 37,600.
The playing field was totally replaced with a USGA sand profile stabilised turf field in a 12 week period after the One Day International cricket matches in January 2000.
Stage 6 has seen the replacement of the Brisbane Lions Social Club with a new $40 million fully seated grandstand increasing The Gabba's capacity to 42,000. Stage 6 'the final link' was opened by Premier Peter Beattie on 25 September 2005.
The dimensions of the playing field are 170.6 metres (east-west) by 149.9 metres (north-south) when measured fence-to-fence. The Gabba is slightly larger than the MCG, which is 172.9m by 147.3m.
Official Gabba Attendance Records
47,096 Second Rugby League Test
Australia v Great Britain
3 July 1954
Records since Redevelopment commenced in 1993 and the Gabba became an "all seated" stadium:
164,727
1st Ashes Test
Australia v England
23 - 27 November 2006
39,874 One Day International
Australia v South Africa
15 January 2006
38,894 20/20 International
Australia v South Africa
9 January 2006
37,460 First Rugby Union Test
Australia v British Lions
30 June 2001
37,332 Olympic Games Soccer Quarter-final
Brazil v Cameroon
23 September 2000
37,224 AFL Round 15
Brisbane Lions v Collingwood Magpies
9 July 2005
27,653 Domestic Twenty/20
QLD V NSW
5 January 2007
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