A West Coast Rugby Union record for its ever highest crowd attendance for a representative rugby match set over 60 years ago in Greymouth, has finally been officially recognised as such, with its inclusion in the 2020 New Zealand Rugby Almanack.

The 1959 West Coast - Buller combined match against the touring British and Irish Lions, attracted a massive crowd of 10,000 people to the then named Rugby Park, but despite the attendance being widely publicized in the Greymouth Evening Star and Grey River Argus, the figure was overlooked in previous New Zealand Rugby Almanack publications until now. Press Association reports, the Weekly News and books on the tour by T.P McLean & Vivian Jenkins, even recorded the crowd size at being as big as 11,000 strong.

In 1980, the Chester & McMillan publication, 'The Encyclopedia of New Zealand Rugby', listed the ground attendance record for Rugby Park as 5,500, although it did not attribute a match to the figure. Coincidentally, the New Zealand Rugby Almanacks had previously stated the 1983 West Coast v British and Irish Lions match as having the highest ever attendance, also of 5,500. 

Chester & McMillan's 1990 publication, 'The Visitors', recorded the 1959 West Coast - Buller v British and Irish Lions crowd figure as 11,000, but the same authors who were also editors of the almanacks at the time, seemingly overlooked that figure, persisting with 5,500 as the record attendance from the 1983 West Coast v British and Irish Lions match. 

The day after the match, the Greymouth Evening Star and Grey River Argus both reported the then treasurer of the West Coast Rugby Football Union, Bernie Guerin, as estimating the gate takings to be more than 1,900 pounds, indicating to him that the crowd figure would be between 10,000 and 11,000, including the several thousand school children that also attended for free. The match was also said to have been a record for any sporting function on the West Coast, with the population of Greymouth at the time around the 9,000 mark, incredibly, 1,000 less than actually attended the match. 

Adrian Hill who currently co-authors the New Zealand Rugby Almanack alongside Clive Akers & Campbell Burnes, said regarding the 1959 figure being included in this years edition, “It is always good to correct a record. Verification, of course, was sought from official sources like the West Coast RU Annual Report and the New Zealand RU Annual report, but it was The Greymouth Evening Star, the day after the match, which quoted details by then West Coast RU Treasurer Bernie Guerin, which provided the answer and we have accepted it. And to keep things official, West Coast CEO Mike Connors was apprised of the finding", Hill said. 

Such was the interest in the match, the then Greymouth mayor Fred Ballie, advertised in the Greymouth Evening Star in the days leading up to the match, stating "It would be appreciated if employers can arrange for employees interested in football to be given the opportunity to see the game on Wednesday, July 22, 1959".

Special trains were put on to get fans to Greymouth, with one from Reefton bringing 200 to the match, while 180 came up on the train from Hokitika, and one from Reefton carried 50. Traffic Officer H.G Fantham said that cars were packed into the adjoining streets and while an impossibility to calculate, "the number was tremendous”.

The flow of traffic into Greymouth was reported as being constant from 11.00am onwards, with the seven traffic officers on the job until well after 5.30pm. Traffic was very heavy in central Greymouth after the match, with the flow also very heavy on both the Coast road and to Hokitika during the day.

The match itself was played in fine weather, with the park in good condition, and the West Coast - Buller side put up a great showing for the first 25 minutes, holding the Lions to only 2 points, but at that mark, an injury to the home sides number eight Ron Gardiner, gave the Lions an extra man advantage for the remainder of the game, as Gardiner was unable to be replaced.

The Lions made the most of being up a man for such a long period, running out winners by 58-3, with Lions test wingers Peter Jackson and John Young both scoring four tries a piece, while R.D.E 'Wit' Alexander kicked a first half penalty goal for the combined side. 

Sadly, the injury to Gardiner was the last in his career, as he injured his leg so badly in the match that he was never able to play again.