Sporting Venue
The stadium is home to Huddersfield Giants RLFC and Huddersfield Town Football Club.
It hosted its first match in August 1994 when Huddersfield Town lost 1–0 to Wycombe Wanderers in Football League Division 2. Former Blackburn Rovers player Simon Garner scored the goal for the visitors.
Other important matches in Rugby League and Rugby Union have been held here. Rugby League World Cup matches were held at the stadium in 1995 and 2000.
| Date | Competition | team | team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 October 1995 | 1995 Rugby League World Cup,Group 1 | Australia | 66 | Fiji | 0 |
| 22 October 1995 | 1995 Rugby League World Cup, Semi Final | Australia | 30 | New Zealand | 20 |
| 19 November 2000 | 2000 Rugby League World Cup, Semi Final | Australia | 46 | Wales | 12 |
The stadium has held World Club Challenge matches and semi-finals of the Challenge Cup. The finals of the now defunct Regal Trophy competition were held there in 1995 and 1996. Wigan Warriors won on both occasions.
On Saturday 2 November 2013, the stadium will host England's first home game of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup: a Group A match against Ireland.
Despite Huddersfield not being a strong rugby union area, the stadium has been used for four full cap international rugby union matches. It hosted three qualifying matches for the 1999 Rugby World Cup and one pool match in the group. Half the matches have seen century scores; by England against Netherlands (110–0) and by the All Blacks versus Italy (101–3).
| Date | Competition | Home team | Away team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 November 1998 | 1999 Rugby World Cup qualifying Europe Round C Pool 2 | England | 110 | Netherlands | 0 |
| 18 November 1998 | 1999 Rugby World Cup qualifying Europe Round C Pool 2 | Italy | 67 | Netherlands | 7 |
| 22 November 1998 | 1999 Rugby World Cup qualifying Europe Round C Pool 2 | England | 23 | Italy | 15 |
| 14 October 1999 | 1999 Rugby World Cup, Pool 2 | Italy | 3 | New Zealand | 101 |
Read more about this topic: John Smith's Stadium
Famous quotes containing the word sporting:
“The Boston papers had never told me that there were seals in the harbor. I had always associated these with the Esquimaux and other outlandish people. Yet from the parlor windows all along the coast you may see families of them sporting on the flats. They were as strange to me as the merman would be. Ladies who never walk in the woods, sail over the sea. To go to sea! Why, it is to have the experience of Noah,—to realize the deluge. Every vessel is an ark.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)