Halliwell Jones Stadium







































































Halliwell Jones Stadium

Halliwell Jones.jpg
Full name
Halliwell Jones Stadium
Location
Mike Gregory Way, Warrington, WA2 7NE , England
Coordinates
53°23′42″N 2°35′44″W / 53.39500°N 2.59556°W / 53.39500; -2.59556Coordinates: 53°23′42″N 2°35′44″W / 53.39500°N 2.59556°W / 53.39500; -2.59556
Public transit
National Rail Warrington Central
Owner
Warrington Wolves
Operator
Warrington Wolves
Capacity
15,200
Record attendance
15,008 (Warrington vs Widnes 25 March 2016)
Field size
120 by 74 yards (110 m × 68 m)
Surface
Grass
Scoreboard
Philips Vidiwall
Construction
Built
2002-2003
Opened
2004
Expanded
2011
Tenants

Warrington Wolves (2003–present)
Liverpool Reserves (2007–2009)

The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day and two games of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.




Contents






  • 1 History


    • 1.1 1990s-2004: Origins and Construction


    • 1.2 2011-present: Expansion




  • 2 Brian Bevan monuments


  • 3 Layout


    • 3.1 North Stand


    • 3.2 East Stand


    • 3.3 South Stand


    • 3.4 West Stand




  • 4 Sponsorship


  • 5 Usage


    • 5.1 Rugby League


    • 5.2 Association football


    • 5.3 Non sporting events




  • 6 References


  • 7 External links





History



1990s-2004: Origins and Construction


By the late 1990s, Warrington's Wilderspool Stadium had become decrepit and unfit for purpose, and so the club looked to move to a new stadium. Before settling on a site just north of the town centre, which had formerly housed the Tetley Walker brewery, a site in Burtonwood was considered but these plans were rejected.


Ground was broke at the new site in 2002 and bucked the common trend of modern stadia by including terracing areas rather than being an all-seater stadium, with the South and West stands both containing terracing It also has enormous pitch dimensions of 120 m x 74 m, as requested by Warrington's head coach of the time, Paul Cullen, due to his desire to play expansive rugby. The stadium officially opened in 2004.



2011-present: Expansion


During the 2010 Championship Grand Final between Featherstone Rovers and Halifax, a fire beneath the terraced West Stand broke out, forcing all of the fans housed in the stand to be evacuated onto the field, holding up the game for around 45 minutes. Following a safety inspection the spectators were eventually allowed back in. However, when the smell of smoke failed to disperse, there was a further hold up as the fans were moved to the East Stand. The game resumed with no further interruptions. The fire is being treated as arson.[1]


On 3 March 2011, the club announced that the corners of the East Stand at the stadium would be filled in to create a further 2,000 spaces made up of seating and terracing for the 2012 season. The stadium capacity, set at 15,000 for the first sell-out home match against St. Helens in 2012, was increased to 15,200 and can grow to 15,693 as the club proves it can handle the bigger crowds and get extra safety certificates. The club has also announced plans to increase the stadium's capacity to around 22,000 should the need arise. The largest ever crowd at the Halliwell Jones was in a 28–10 victory for Warrington Wolves over Widnes Vikings in the Super League on 25 March 2016 when 15,008 were in attendance.



Brian Bevan monuments




Statue of Brian Bevan at the Halliwell Jones Stadium




Brian Bevan commemorative mural


Two monuments to Australian winger and world record try scorer Brian Bevan, who played for Warrington 1945-62 (scoring 740 tries for the Wire), are featured at the stadium. One, a statue of him, had previously been placed in the middle of a roundabout (known as Brian Bevan island) close to Wolves' old Wilderspool ground. This was moved to the Halliwell Jones Stadium with the team. The other, a mural showing Bevan's face made from 'Primrose and Blue' bricks, the traditional Warrington colours was created specifically for the location.


Two other tributes to ex-players at the ground are the naming of the South-East quadrant the Jack Fish corner, and the road the stadium is on Mike Gregory Way.



Layout



North Stand


The North Stand is the main stand of the ground, housing hospitality, changing rooms and dugout.



East Stand




Halliwell Jones Stadium


The East Stand is situated behind the goal posts and is an all seater stand with hospitality boxes. In 2011, the corners next to the stand were filled in to increase the capacity.



South Stand




South Stand


The South Stand runs along the side of the pitch and is terraced. It also houses the scoreboard and TV gauntry.



West Stand


The West Stand is terraced and houses the away fans. Unlike the East Stand at the opposite end of the ground, the corners are not filled in but there are future plans to do so if there is demand for the capacity to be increased.



Sponsorship


Halliwell Jones, which holds the naming rights for the stadium, is a large BMW and MINI motor group owned by Phillip Jones, a businessman from the North West.













Years Sponsor Name
2004- Halliwell Jones
Halliwell Jones Stadium


Usage



Rugby League


The stadium was primarily built as a rugby league venue and to be home of Warrington Wolves.
It has also been used as a neutral venue on multiple occasions, the first being the Challenge Cup Semi Finals since it opened in 2004:




















































Year Winners Score Runners up Attendance
2004
Saintscolours.svg St. Helens
46-6
Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield
13,134
2007
Catalanscolours.svg Catalans
37-24
Wigancolours.svg Wigan
10,218
2009
Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield
24-14
Saintscolours.svg Saint Helens
10,638
2011
Wigancolours.svg Wigan
18-12
Saintscolours.svg St Helens
12,713
2015
Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds
24-14
Saintscolours.svg St Helens
11,107
2017
Wigancolours.svg Wigan
27-14
Redscolours.svg Salford
10,796

After successfully hosting its first Challenge Cup semi final in 2004, the ground was also selected to hold the Championship Grand Final on five separate occasions between 2006 and 2011.



















































































































Year League Winners Score Runners up Attendance
2006 National League 1
HKRcolours.svg Hull Kingston Rovers
29-16
Widnes colours.svg Widnes

National League 2
Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield
35-10
Swintoncolours.svg Swinton

National League 3 Bramley 29-16
Hemelcolours.png Hemel Stags

2008 National League 1
Cruscolours.svg Celtic Crusaders
18-36
Redscolours.svg Salford

National League 2
Barrowcolours.svg Barrow Raiders
?-?
Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham

National League 3 Crusaders Colts ?-? Bramley
2009 Championship
Barrowcolours.svg Barrow
26-18
Faxcolours.svg Halifax
11,398
League 1
Cougscolours.svg Keighley
28-26
Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham
Conference Bramley ?-?
Giantscolours.svg Underbank Rangers
2010 Championship
Faxcolours.svg Halifax
23-22
AET

Fevcolours.svg Featherstone
9,443
League 1
Yorkcolours.svg York
25-4
Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham
Conference Warrington Wizards ?-?
Giantscolours.svg Underbank Rangers
2011 Championship
Fevcolours.svg Featherstone
40-4
Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield
7,263
League 1
Cougscolours.svg Keighley
?-?
Workingtoncolours.svg Workington
Conference
Giantscolours.svg Underbank Rangers
?-?
Kippax Knights

It 2015, Warrington were chosen to play in the inaugural World Club Series. The club chose to host the game at the Halliwell Jones rather than move it to a bigger venue.
























Year Winners Score Runners up Attendance
2015
St. George colours.svg St George-Illawarra
18-12
Wolvescolours.svg Warrington
13,080
2017
Wolvescolours.svg Warrington
27-18
Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane
12,082

The Halliwell Jones has also been a venue for international rugby league, hosting a European Cup and World Cup.[2]



















































Date Winners Score Runners up Competition Attendance
7 November 2004
 England
36-12
 Ireland
2004 European Cup 3,582
28 October 2011
 Australia
26-12
 New Zealand
2011 Four Nations 12,491
2013
 England
42-24 Exiles 2013 International Origin 14,965
27 October 2013
 New Zealand
42-24
 Samoa
2013 World Cup 14,965
17 November 2013
 Fiji
22-4
 Samoa
2013 World Cup 12,766


Association football


The Halliwell Jones was chosen as one of the venues to host the Women's 2005 Euro Championship. In 2007, Liverpool chose the stadium to host their reserve team, who played there until 2009.




  • Liverpool Reserves (2007–09)

  • Women's 2005 Euro Championship



Non sporting events


The Halliwell Jones held the Autumn Pops Concert with Three Sporting Tenors. In 2010, the ground was used to film an episode of Candy Cabs which aired in April 2011 on BBC One.



References





  1. ^ "UPDATED: Fire hits Halliwell Jones". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2016..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ Shawn Dollin and Andrew Ferguson (9 February 2016). "Custom Match List". Retrieved 9 February 2016.




External links



  • Halliwell Jones on Worldstadia.com









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