Spicer Park
Parkes, New South Wales, Australia
Spicer Park, Parkes, Australia — opened not confirmed, 7 rugby league games hosted, home of no single club tenant — every recorded fixture is a Western NSW/Western Division representative match against a touring international side, or a country-vs-city knockout fixture; the area's actual club tenant, the Parkes Spacemen, plays at the neighbouring Pioneer Oval.
Sourcing caveat: Local history sources narrate the 1955 France match and 1966 Great Britain match as part of the neighbouring Pioneer Oval's story without clearly distinguishing the two adjacent grounds, while Rugby League Project's structured match database attributes them specifically to Spicer Park — a genuine, unresolved source conflict over which of the two grounds physically hosted these matches. The 1928 match's attendance is also reported inconsistently (7,000 vs 9,000) between sources. Capacity and floodlight details were not found for this venue specifically.
Ground facts
| Opened | not confirmed (Part of the same historic Parkes sporting precinct as the neighbouring Pioneer Oval, whose parkland origins date to 1892, but no standalone opening date for Spicer Park itself was found.) |
| Home club | no single club tenant — every recorded fixture is a Western NSW/Western Division representative match against a touring international side, or a country-vs-city knockout fixture; the area's actual club tenant, the Parkes Spacemen, plays at the neighbouring Pioneer Oval |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 7 |
| Top recorded crowd | 8,306 |
| Test matches hosted | 5 |
| Challenge Cup Finals hosted | 2 |
| Surface | grass (implied by all match reports; no specific turf type documented) |
| First rugby league match | 18 July 1928 — Western NSW 9-22 England, Lions tour 1928 (attendance 7,000 per Rugby League Project; a Wikipedia source gives 9,000 for the same match, an unresolved discrepancy) |
| Years used | 1928–1966 |
| Location | Parkes, New South Wales |
Name history
- Spicer Park — the only name found — plausibly, but not confirmed as, named for Frank Spicer (1893-1977), a long-serving Parkes alderman, mayor, and NSW Legislative Councillor
Rugby league history
Spicer Park's rugby league identity is essentially as Parkes and Western NSW's representative touring-team venue across five decades (1928-1966) — hosting every major international rugby league touring side (Great Britain twice, France, New Zealand) as they passed through the Central West, played by a composite Western NSW/Western Division representative side rather than the full Australia team, plus two NSWRL "State Championship" country-vs-city knockout fixtures against the Sydney club Newtown. It functioned as a secondary ground within the wider Pioneer Oval precinct rather than a stand-alone club home. Its last recorded rugby league use was 1966; the precinct's rugby league focus subsequently shifted fully to Pioneer Oval, where the Parkes Spacemen play today.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 20 August 1939 — State Championship, NSW Group 11 2-7 Newtown (1,000)
- 17 August 1941 — State Championship, NSW Group 11 12-16 Newtown (attendance not recorded)
- 18 Jul 1928 — Western NSW 9-22 England, Lions tour (7,000, or 9,000 per a conflicting source)
- 10 Jun 1936 — Western Division 16-33 England, Lions tour (7,000)
- 20 Jul 1955 — Western NSW 8-11 France, Chanticleers tour (8,306, our recorded top crowd)
- 22 May 1963 — Western Division 11-36 New Zealand, Kiwis tour (3,400)
- 17 Jul 1966 — Western Division 11-38 Great Britain, Lions tour (8,000)
Pre-dates the site's structured match-by-match records for these competitions, so listed here as sourced facts rather than linked match pages.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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