Bicentennial Park South

Bicentennial Park South, nicknamed Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre, is a football (soccer) stadium in Rockdale, a suburb of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.

Redevelopment of the venue started in October 2008, and finished in September 2009 to become the new home of New South Wales National Premier League team, the Rockdale Ilinden Football Club.

History

Bicentennial Park was opened in 1988. The football ground was opened to the general public as an idle soccer pitch. The ground was used as a local training ground for football, rugby league and athletics while holding matches by a local soccer team, the Monterey Stingrays. In 2006, redevelopment plans were announced, relocating many sporting teams to Bicentennial Park and Scarborough Park grounds. The Rockdale Ilinden Football Club is a 21-year tenant of the new ground.

Re-Development

Development work begun on Bicentennial Park South in October 2008 as part of the Bicentennial and Scarborough Park Upgrade, including surface reconstruction for buildings to house change rooms and training rooms on the western hill and extended car park spaces. Stage 2 involves the installation of additional floodlights and a new grandstand seating area. The Rockdale Ilinden Football Club had originally announced the completion of the upgrade to be by March 2009 in time for the 2009 NSW Super League season, however various issues caused delays in the completion of the venue.

The stadium was eventually completed in September 2009 and was opened during the month of December, where the first football match was played with the home team Rockdale clashing with Preston Lions FC on 12 December. The first official NSW Premier League match was contested during the second round of the 2010 NSW Premier League season against fellow competition rivals Bankstown City Lions with Rockdale prevailing 1-0.

In 2017 Bayside Council has accepted a $1.5 million tender to install an artificial turf surface at its Bicentenn