Royal Athletic Park - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - FIFA World Cup Venues on Waymarking.com

On March 26, 1908, British Columbia Premier Richard McBride formed the Royal Victoria Athletic Association, which consisted of supporters of Canada's national game, lacrosse. The group, later shortened in name to the Royal Athletic Association, issued shares to raise money for a new recreation ground, and a lease was soon signed for 5 acres at the corner of Cook and Pembroke Streets. By May 1908, Royal Athletic Park had opened and was hosting lacrosse matches. Other sports began to be played here later in the year, with the first baseball game occurring on June 27 and the first soccer match on September 12. Also played at the park were cricket, football (Canadian, Rugby, and Association codes), field sports, and boxing. Other events were also held here, including the circus, fireworks, and the theatre.

In 1925, the City of Victoria purchased the park from the Royal Athletic Association. A fire in 1964 destroyed the main grandstands and the park underwent a major restoration, reopening on May 30, 1967. The park has been home to many sports teams over the years, most recently the Victoria Rebels (football, 1985-2008), Victoria United (soccer, 1995-2012), Victoria Highlanders (soccer, 2011–present), and Victoria HarbourCats (baseball, 2013–present).

In the summer of 2007, Royal Athletic Park hosted seven matches of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. These included one Group E match on July 7, five Group F matches between July 1 and 7, and the Round of 16 match between Japan and the Czech Republic on July 11. The park has 3800 permanent seats and can temporarily be expanded to 5700 using temporary bleachers, but even higher capacity was required for the World Cup matches. A capacity of 14500 was originally announced, but temporary grandstands were not erected on the east side, leading to a final capacity of 10500 for the World Cup.

Two decades earlier, in April 1985, Royal Athletic Park also acted as the venue for two FIFA World Cup Qualifiers with Canada playing (and winning) against Haiti and Guatemala. These matches heralded less fanfare than the 2007 event, with attendance of 2886 and 5000, respectively.

Which World Cup: 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup Documentation that the stadium was used in a tournament: [Web Link] Famous matches (optional): Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/04/2015 The GO! Team visited it