The Gabba

History

Foundation

The land on which the ground sits was set aside for use as a cricket ground in 1895 and the first match was held on the site on 19 December 1896, between Parliament and The Press. Prior to this, cricket was played at a ground in the area then known as Green Hills (beside Countess Street Petrie Terrace opposite the Victoria Barracks – now occupied by the Northern Busway), since at least the early 1860s.

Greyhound racing meetings were held during 1928 at the ground.

The Gabba shared first-class cricket matches with the Exhibition Ground until 1931. The first Sheffield Shield match at the Gabba was scheduled to be played between 31 January 1931 and 4 February 1931, but it was washed out without a ball being bowled. The first Test match at the Gabba was played between Australia and South Africa between 27 November and 3 December 1931.

In 1972, a greyhound track was installed at The Gabba with night meetings held weekly at the ground for 21 years.

Expansion

From February 1993, work commenced on turning The Gabba into an all-seater stadium. The last greyhound meeting was held at The Gabba on 5 February 1993, with work commencing shortly after to remove the greyhound track around the ground to accommodate the relocation of the Brisbane Bears from Carrara (on the Gold Coast) to The Gabba, renovating the Sir Gordon Chalk Building to house the Bears Social Club and change rooms, refurbishing the Clem Jones stand (named for the long-standing Mayor of Brisbane, Clem Jones), the construction of a new Western grandstand, and extending the playing surface to cater for Australian rules football.The work was largely completed by 11 April when the Bears hosted their first AFL game at the renovated venue against Melbourne in front of 12,821 spectators.

Subsequent further renovations at the ground commencing in 1995 saw the current two tier stands constructed in stages with the last stage completed in 2005 when the Brisbane Lions Social Club (formerly the Brisbane Bears Social Club) was demolished and replaced with a 24 bay grandstand spread over 3 levels of seating with the entire redevelopment costing $AU128 million. Also as part of the redevelopment, five light towers were installed to allow for night football and cricket matches to take place, a light tower at the school end was removed in the late 90s to make way for the expanded grandstands.

The development also resulted in the grandstand structure overhanging Vulture and Stanley streets which tightly constrain the stadium to the north and the south, as well as overhanging the East Brisbane State School in the east. This overhang complicated redevelopment plans and led to speculation that the streets would need to become tunnels in order to facilitate a larger stadium above.

In 2017, the two video screens at the ground were replaced with the new screen at the eastern end in June of that year, followed by the screen at the western end in time for the 2017-18 Ashes series. In mid-2020 the Gabba received a $35 million refurbishment of the stadium's media and corporate facilities, as well as entrances and spectator amenities. The work was completed in October that year, shortly before the venue hosted the 2020 AFL Grand Final.

2032 Summer Olympics and cancelled reconstruction

In 2021, when Brisbane was named preferred host of the 2032 Summer Olympics, plans were initially announced for a $1 billion reconstruction of the Gabba to serve as the main stadium. The foundations would have been demolished and rebuilt with new grandstands, expanding it to a capacity of 50,000. By 2023, the projected cost was $2.7 billion, which would be paid entirely by the state. Parallel plans for a 20,000-seat stadium at the Brisbane Showgrounds at a cost of $137 million to be used a temporary venue for the Gabba's tenants during construction were also announced. The cost of the project became controversial.

In March 2024, following an independent review led by former Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, the rebuild project was cancelled, with the Gabba instead slated to undergo a refurbishment ahead of its role in the games, and to no longer serve as the venue for the ceremonies or athletics – with Lang Park and the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre serving those functions respectively.

In March 2025, after further review and a change of government, it was announced that a new $3.8 billion, 63,000-seat stadium would be constructed in Victoria Park for the Games. Following the conclusion of the Games, the stadium will replace the Gabba as Brisbane's main football and cricket venue. The Gabba will then be demolished, with plans for its site to be redeveloped as a residential development.

Sports played at the ground

Cricket

The Gabba's amenities were greatly improved in the 1980s from a very basic standard, especially in comparison with other Australian cricket grounds. Test cricket was first played at the ground in November 1931, when the first test of the series between Australia and South Africa was held there. In December 1960, Cricket's first-ever tied test took place at the ground, when Richie Benaud's Australian team tied with Frank Worrell's West Indian side. Queensland clinched its first-ever Sheffield Shield title with victory over South Australia in the final at the ground in March 1995.

The Gabba was the first Australian venue to host an international Twenty20 cricket match.

In November 1968 Colin Milburn scored 243, including 181 in the two-hour afternoon session, in a Sheffield Shield match for Western Australia vs. Queensland.

As of June 2023, Australia's Michael Clarke holds the record for the highest number of runs scored in one test innings at the Gabba with 259 not out, breaking the previous record set by Alastair Cook.

Australia has a formidable test match record at the ground. As of 2024, in the 66 test matches played there, Australia has won 42, drawn 13, tied 1 and lost 10. Their last loss came in January 2024 against West Indies in the 2nd test of the 2023–24 Frank Worrell trophy. In 2021, India became the first Asian team to win a Test match at the Gabba, after handing Australia their first loss at the Gabba in 29 matches, and 32 years.

On 15 December 2016, Australia hosted Pakistan for the first day-night Test at the Gabba, and the first Australian day-night Test hosted outside the Adelaide Oval.

After Cricket Australia's announcement of test cricket not being played at the ground in the 2026–27 summer of cricket, a deal was landed to hold cricket at the ground 5 years post this break, in the lead up to Brisbane's new cricket venue opening post the 2032 Olympics, Brisbane Olympic Stadium, where it will hold the first test of the 2033–34 Ashes series.

Australian rules football

The first VFL/AFL game at the Gabba was held on June 28, 1981, with hosting in front of 20,351 spectators. Six years later, the Brisbane Bears were admitted into the VFL, but initially play their home games at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast. The Brisbane Bears experimented with playing four matches at the Gabba in Brisbane in 1991, before moving all home matches to the venue ahead of the 1993 season. The Gabba was then the official home ground for the Brisbane Bears from 1993 to 1996 and since 1997 has been the home of the Brisbane Lions after the Bears merged with Fitzroy. The record crowd for an Australian rules football match is 37,473 between the Brisbane Lions and Richmond in the 2019 second qualifying final.

The Gold Coast Suns hosted games at the Gabba in 2011 and in 2018 due to the unavailability of their home ground Carrara Stadium because of redevelopment and the 2018 Commonwealth Games respectively. In addition, Melbourne played an annual home game against Brisbane at The Gabba between 2001 and 2007.

During the 2020 AFL season, the Gabba hosted a greater number of home and away matches than usual, due to the temporary relocation of Victorian and other clubs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The venue was also selected to host the 2020 AFL Grand Final, with the Melbourne Cricket Ground not capable of hosting any spectators at the match. The Gabba thus became the first stadium outside the state of Victoria to host a VFL/AFL Grand Final, which Richmond won against Geelong by 12.9 (81) to 7.8 (50) in front of 29,707 people – just under the venue's temporary maximum capacity due to the pandemic.

Soccer

In the early 1900s, the Gabba hosted numerous matches between Australia and various touring nations. During the 1950s and 1960s the Gabba hosted soccer matches for English first division and Scottish clubs including Blackpool FC, Everton FC, Manchester United and Heart of Midlothian F.C. The Chinese and South African national teams also played at the ground. During the 2000 Summer Olympics, the Gabba hosted association football group games.

Rugby league

On 8 May 1909, the first match of rugby league was played in Brisbane at the Gabba. Norths played against Souths before a handful of spectators at the ground.{{cite news |access-date = 29 April 2010 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120206141415/http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/leo-leads-100-year-party/story-e6frep5o-1225705952744 |archive-date = 6 February 2012

The Gabba hosted its first rugby league Test match on 26 June 1909, when Australia defeated New Zealand Māori 16–13.

Rugby league test matches

The Gabba hosted 11 rugby league test matches between 1912 and 1956.

Rugby union

The Gabba has hosted six rugby union Test matches.

2000 Olympic Games

The Gabba hosted seven games of the 2000 Olympic Games Men's Football tournament including a quarter final match.

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing was also conducted at the Gabba prior to the redevelopment. Meetings were held during 1928 and again from 1972 until 1993.

Awards

In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Gabba was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "structure and engineering feat".

Largest crowds at the Gabba

The largest crowds ast the Gabba were:

Test cricket records

Batting

Bowling

Team records

Partnership records

All records correct as of 11 January 2026.

VFL/AFL records

Player records

Team records

• Highest score: 33.21 (219) defeated 8.9 (57), 16 May 1993
• Lowest score: 3.8 (26) defeated by 4.10 (34), 12 July 2020
• Biggest margin: defeated , 162 points, 16 May 1993

Last updated: 1 October 2022.

References

• History of the Gabba
• AFL Capacity
• Overview of Information about the Gabba
• Brisbane Lions information

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