Brookvale Oval
Brookvale Oval, currently known as 4 Pines Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Brookvale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League, with a capacity of 18,000. By the end of the 2023 season, Brookvale had hosted 720 first grade premiership games.
History
In the late nineteenth century, the suburb of Brookvale was known as Greendale. The name Brookvale was later adopted as that was the name of the home built by the original grantee of the land, William Francis Parker. It was in this area that Dan Farrell built his stone house called "Inverness" which was later to become Manly Leagues Club.The area known as Lot 47 A was sold to Jane Malcolm in April 1907. Land title records suggest that between 1907 and 1911, Malcolm carried out a subdivision of Lot 47A into four blocks. From Alfred Road in the west to Pine Avenue in the east, these lots respectively measured 2 acres 2 roods 12 perches, 4 acres 1 rood 4 perches, 2 acres 0 roods 22 perches and 2 acres 0 roods & 2 perches. Lot 47A became known in the early 1900s as "Farrell's Paddock", and it was the location of a public gathering in April 1910 to celebrate the extension of the tram line from Manly to the village of Brookvale.
In the following year, the State Government reached agreement with Warringah Shire Council to acquire land for a park near the Shire's Offices. The acquired land plus a smaller parcel of land bought from Miss Jane Malcolm from Brookvale, was officially opened in 1911 as Brookvale Park. "Presumably inspired by local resident action at that time to secure a public park or village green for the suburb, Jane Malcolm presented to the Minister for Lands the largest of the four lots from Lot 47A – under a caveat that it only ever be used for public recreation purposes. Although the ‘dedication’ refers strictly to the first lot of land donated by Jane Try, subsequent acquisitions by Council of the other lots owned by Mr & Mrs Try were described specifically for the purposes of public recreation or for enlarging the Park"
The Park was transformed into a showground within the first decade. In 1921, the Brookvale Show was established with the formation of the Warringah Agricultural, Horticultural, Amateur Sports and Athletic Association. Between 1919 and 1928 children from Brookvale School planted trees to commemorate Arbor Day and it was the setting for school sports days and Empire Day picnics.
During World War II, Brookvale Park was utilised by the Defence Force for training purposes.
Since 1945 onwards
On 25 April 1951, a new attendance record at Brookvale was set at 9,447, with spectators overflowing onto the field for a match between Manly and South Sydney.Over fifty annual shows were held at Brookvale Park before the show was moved to St Ives Showground. Trotting and ring events were features of early shows at Brookvale. The trotting track occupied a substantial area of the Park with lighting of the ring for night entertainment. Substantial improvements were later made to form a sporting oval by the addition of stands. Pavilions were constructed along Alfred Road to house show exhibits. Outside of the annual show period these pavilions were used for local church services and meeting rooms for the local community. They were also used by local bands as a place to practice.
The trotting track was also used for dirt track speedway racing during the warmer months with most of the action coming from the Speedcars.
'With the formation of the Manly-Warringah Rugby Club, known as the Sea Eagles, however, the situation changed. The horse events of the Show had to be transferred to an oval in Frenchs Forest because the horses’ hooves did too much damage to the turf of the rugby ground, and the Show itself ended its long association with the Park in 1992. The growth in popularity of the Rugby League competition led to the re-forming of the oval into a rectangular field in 1970–71, with major earthworks undertaken to form spectator ‘hills’ on the eastern and southern sides of it. Following this came the construction of simple but large concrete grandstands on the western and southern boundaries of the field, and finally the Ken Arthurson Pavilion that linked the two. The construction of these facilities necessitated the removal of the original grandstand and the various exhibition halls and show pavilion, and with that, the termination of their use by community organisations and their hiring out for social functions'.
While Manly Council favoured rugby union and would not permit league to be played at Manly Oval, Warringah Council was more sympathetic to the rugby league cause and encouraged the playing of rugby league matches at Brookvale Park. Thus when the Manly Sea Eagles were granted first grade status in 1947, the team's first match in the big league was a home game at Brookvale Oval against Western Suburbs on 12 April. Manly, captained by Max Whitehead and featuring others such as Johnny Bliss and Mackie Campbell, played well against their more fancied opponents in that historic first match at Brookvale scoring three tries to one but narrowly losing the match 15–13 courtesy of a string of scrum penalties from referee Aub Oxford that allowed Wests fullback Bill Keato to kick six goals.
The ground was the setting for the NRL match between the Sea Eagles and Melbourne Storm which informally became known as the "Battle of Brookvale" after two players got sent off following an all-in brawl which occurred in the first half. Players and officials from both clubs copped the brunt of the National Rugby League for their roles in the match.
In September 2019, before the finals series, Manly's elimination home final against Cronulla was almost moved after traces of asbestos were reportedly found at the ground. The game went ahead after inspectors gave it the all clear.
Layout and use
Brookvale has three grandstands stretching the western and southern sides of the ground. The Jane Try Stand, running along the western side is the biggest of the three. It is also one of the few grandstands of major Australian stadiums to be named after a woman. The Ken Arthurson stand in the south west corner, was constructed in 1995. It is named after the long serving Manly, NSWRL and ARL administrator who is known as the "Godfather of Manly". The Lyons-Menzies Stand, formerly known as the Fulton-Menzies Stand, is located at the southern end of the ground is elevated with standing room underneath. Originally just referred to as the Southern Stand, it was renamed after two Sea Eagles club legends, Bob "Bozo" Fulton and Steve "Beaver" Menzies. At the time of the stands renaming, Menzies and Fulton held the club try scoring records with 180 and 129 respectively, though Fulton's record was surpassed by fullback Brett Stewart in 2013, before being renamed in 2022. The Fulton name was transferred to the new Bob Fulton stand, which opened in 2022 with a capacity of 3,000, and is situated at the front of the club's Centre of Excellence. A large hill runs along the eastern side.From the grounds re-configuration into a rectangle shape in 1970-71 until the end of the 1992 NSWRL season, the outer hill at Brookvale included a berm in the south-eastern corner which took the hill around next to the then Southern Stand. After the 1992 season, the berm was removed and a much larger exit to Pittwater Road was made. At the same time the old tunnel when ran under the hill near to the south-eastern corner, was removed and the area becoming part of the hill. As a result of the earthworks and changes, the grounds capacity was reduced from approximately 28,000 to around 26,000.
As of the 2025 NRL season, the ground's capacity is listed as 18,000.
Funding
As the major stakeholder and lessee of the park, Manly-Warringah Football Club launched a "Save Brookie" campaign, aimed at government funding for improvement to the facilities including seating, accessibility, improved safety, corporate boxes and construction of another stand, likely behind the Eastern Hill. The Warringah Council initially pledged funding of $4 million dependent on further grants from State and Federal Governments. The NSW State Government provided a further grant of $6 million in June 2008, and the club has restated its aim for a further $6 to $10 million from the Federal Government.On 6 August 2013, the Federal Government announced a grant of $10 million regardless of the outcome of the 2013 federal election. This money is part of a planned $30 million upgrade of the oval which will include a new 4,350 seat grandstand complete with corporate facilities on the eastern hill, as well as upgrades to the Fulton-Menzies Stand. Family Hill is expected to remain as it is and the grounds capacity is expected to remain at around 23,000 when the planned re-development is finished.
In February 2017 a 3-year $1 million naming rights deal with Lottoland, renamed Brookvale Oval to "Lottoland". In August 2019 Lottoland group exercised its option to extend the sponsorship contract, worth $500,000 for another year to the end of the 2020 season. The final game to be played under the name "Lottoland" was in Round 9, 2021 of the NRL between the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and New Zealand Warriors.
A 4-year deal was signed with 4 Pines Brewing Company to be named "4 Pines Park".
In January 2025, before the start of the new season, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and 4 Pines Brewing Co. announced the renewal of the stadium naming rights partnership, extending the agreement for 4 Pines Park to the end of the 2027 season.
4 Pines has proudly held the naming rights to the Northern Beaches local iconic Brookvale Oval, now known as 4 Pines Park, since 2021.