Toowoomba Sports Ground
Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
Toowoomba Sports Ground, Toowoomba, Australia — opened 1919, 285 rugby league games hosted, home of Toowoomba Clydesdales (Queensland Cup, 1919-2006 and since 2023).
Ground facts
| Opened | 1919 (Rugby League Project's earliest recorded fixture at the ground is a 12 July 1919 New Zealand touring-side match, under the historic name "Athletic Ground (Toowoomba)"; an exact opening date for the ground itself was not identified in sources found.) |
| Home club | Toowoomba Clydesdales (Queensland Cup, 1919-2006 and since 2023) |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 285 |
| Top recorded crowd | 13,310 |
| Capacity | 9,000 (4,500 seated, including a 2,300-seat covered grandstand) |
| Test matches hosted | 2 |
| Floodlights installed | Lights rated to National Rugby League standard (installation year not identified in sources found) |
| First rugby league match | 12 July 1919 — New Zealand touring-side match at the ground (score not identified in sources found) |
| Years used | 1919–2026 |
| Location | Toowoomba, Queensland |
Name history
- Athletic Oval / Athletic Ground (Toowoomba) — original name
- Toowoomba Sports Ground — official name, still in generic use
- Clive Berghofer Stadium — current sponsorship/naming-rights name, honouring Toowoomba businessman and philanthropist Clive Berghofer
Rugby league history
Toowoomba Sports Ground has been the home of representative and club rugby league in the Darling Downs region since 1919, hosting decades of Bulimba Cup fixtures (Toowoomba's long-running representative rivalry with other Queensland regional and Brisbane sides) as well as international touring-team matches against New Zealand, Great Britain, France and the USA through the mid-20th century. The Toowoomba Clydesdales have used the ground as their Queensland Cup home since the competition's early days, with a gap before returning in 2023 after a pitch and grandstand upgrade. Since 2014 the Gold Coast Titans have staged NRL pre-season trial matches there, including the first-ever NRL premiership match played in Toowoomba in 2018, and the ground has also hosted South West Queensland Thunder FC (soccer) and Queensland Country rugby union.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 4 July 1954 — Great Britain Lions tour match, attendance 13,310 (the ground's largest recorded rugby league crowd)
- 25 June 1952 — New Zealand Kiwis tour match, attendance 5,901
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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