In the early years of West Coast rugby's existence, Victoria Park was used as it's home ground, however the West Coast Rugby Football Union (WCRFU) had not been able to agree suitable rental terms with the Greymouth Trotting Club to continue using the venue, which led to the only option available to them being to secure a new home of their own. 

The man instrumental in obtaining a new ground was Tom Ryan, then a member of the Union, and his enthusiasm convinced his fellow union members that this was indeed the way forward. A proposal was then put to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), and when NZRFU official Thomas Fletcher was in Greymouth on Union business in September 1930, he and WCRFU President Alan Adams inspected various sections deemed suitable for a new home ground.

A proposal was then put forward to the NZRFU for financial assistance to purchase an area in the Milton Road-Marlborough Street district, owned by Mr J.McLean. Thomas Fletcher was a strong supporter of the need for the West Coast Union to have its own ground, and his advocacy helped convince the NZRFU to support the proposal. On January 29, 1931, the WCRFU received news from Wellington approving of the purchase of the McLean property. Once purchased, Tom Ryan was again a key figure, especially with the financial aspects, and also in arranging the materials needed for the field's creation.

Steps were immediately taken to prepare the area as a playing field. This required a lot of work, including stumping and draining. To increase the width of the ground, an additional strip of land was purchased from the neighbouring Joyce Estate, this piece of land being covered in native bush.

WCRFU member John Guy took on the responsibility for clearing and leveling the field and also the job of foreman and supervisor, while giving up any spare time including holidays to work on the park, and Tim O'Donnell also gave a great deal of time assisting to prepare the field to be fit for purpose. Once all the hard work was done on preparing the playing surface, work commenced on improving the surroundings, including erecting a temporary stand, banking on the eastern side, and the construction of dressing sheds for the players.

The ground was officially christened later in 1931 when Star played the Rivals club, where the ground was described as a terrible mud bog. It seems the ground was used sparingly, if at all after this match, as available match reports only show games being played at Victoria Park that year. Star player Ernie Fell created history when he grabbed the ball after a scramble near the Rivals line, and dived over to score the first ever try at Rugby Park. Star player Arthur Fong was also recorded as catching first kick off at the Park, in which he duly kicked the ball to touch and over one of the grounds adjoining fences, nose diving into a cabbage patch.

In 1932 the chairman of the NZRFU Stan Dean, inspected the ground, convincing him that the decision of the NZRFU to financially support the formation of the ground was justified.

In 1932 the West Coast team was the first representative team to run onto Rugby Park. They had one of the finest line-ups of all time to grace the Park in the famous red and white hoops, featuring a former All Black Frank Freitas, and two that would go on to become All Blacks, Ron King and Mike Gilbert, as well as Arthur Fong, who despite also being a South Island representative during his career was always considered very unlucky not to have worn the famous black shirt.

A major highlight in the history of Rugby Park would have to be the number of international touring teams that would visit Greymouth and play over the years. The first of those touring sides to visit, was the all-conquering 1937 Springboks, with a huge crowd of 7,000 packing in to the Park to witness the Ron King led West Coast-Buller combined side go down to the powerful Boks, 31-6. The tourists featured twelve players from their earlier first test loss to the All Blacks, a fine compliment to the threat the West Coast-Buller side posed. The attendance at Rugby Park that day was a record for a sporting fixture in Greymouth, which in 1937 only had a population of just over 8,000.

1948 saw the opening of the main grandstand by former NZRFU President and Chairman Stan Dean. Designed to accommodate nearly 600 people at a cost of 2000 pounds, the stand originally housed four dressing rooms, a shower room, a meeting room under the stand, and a press and broadcasting box on top of the stand.

The next international touring side to come to Rugby Park, was the 1949 Wallabies, a side that was to win all bar one of their games on their tour, including winning both tests against the All Blacks. The side to beat them by 17-15 was the West Coast-Buller combined side in a very controversial match, in front of a 5000 strong Rugby Park crowd. The game saw the first ever 'sin binning' in a rugby match, when Buller referee Bob Pratt ordered Wallaby prop Bevan Wilson off the field for an alleged kick to the head to local player, Maxwell Ryan.

Pratt awarded the combined side a penalty, and while Ryan was being attended to by ambulance officers, Pratt summonsed Wilson from the grandstand to resume playing in the fixture after his short break from the game. Eric Walker and Toby Anderson were the try scorers for the combined side that day at Rugby Park, while Jim Lindbom kicked a conversion and two penalties, with Bill Dickson slotting a dropped goal.

The 1940's and 50's saw the West Coast side have some incredible results at Rugby Park, including a remarkable four victories over Canterbury in the 1940's, while Seddon Shield success drew in huge crowds in the early part of the 1950's, with the likes of Jim and Allan Lindbom, George Nelson, Eric Walker, Francis Gugich, Ray Breeze and Allan McEnaney in their prime. Those with long memories may also recall Ted Richardson's two very popular performing dogs Bob and Guy during this period, who would lead the team out on to the field at Rugby Park for West Coast games while on their hind legs. Bob would have a red and white umbrella in his mouth, while Guy carried a red and white flag in his, during the nearly 20 years one or other of the dogs entertained the Rugby Park faithful. 

In 1950 at Rugby Park, West Coast hosted the British and Irish Lions in front of a crowd of 4000, with the tourists winning 32-3. The Lions including great players such as Irishman Jackie Kyle, and Welshman Bleddyn Willams. Joe Gillan and Jim Lindbom had fine games for the home side, but sadly for West Coast, second five Ray Breeze broke his arm and despite returning to the field shortly after doing so, he wasn't able to see the match out.

The Wallabies returned to Rugby Park in 1955 to play the West Coast-Buller combined side, winning 13-3 in what were described as atrocious conditions, and on a field that was best described as a quagmire.

The 1950's also saw on two occasions the visit to Rugby Park of the NZ Maori side, while the Wellington based invitation side the Centurions also played twice, and included some very famous All Blacks such as Ron Jarden, Bob Scott, Ross Brown and an uncapped Colin Meads. The 1954 fixture featured legendary fullback Bob Scott kicking goals barefoot from halfway for the crowd at halftime.

In 1959 the Lions returned to Rugby Park to play the West Coast-Buller combined team, and the match drew an astonishing 11,000 strong crowd to the park, which was a remarkable attendance considering the population of Greymouth at the time was less than 9,000. The game was sadly the last in the career for West Coast number eight Ron Gardiner, who injured his leg so badly in the match that he was never able to play again. The locals held the visitors to only two points for the first 25 minutes, but once Gardiner went off and was unable to be replaced, the Lions proved too strong winning 58-3. Lions test players Peter Jackson and John Young both scoring four tries a piece.

The late 1950's also saw victories for West Coast at Rugby Park over Southland, 19-14 and Otago, 17-14, to cap off a wonderful decade of success.

In 1960 the Alan Adams grandstand was completed at the northern end of the ground, funded by the West Coast Rugby Referees Association. This was designed by member Bernie Dowrick and entirely built with volunteer labour of the referees, except for the block laying.

Greymouth born Adams was honoured after his very long association with Rugby on the West Coast. Adams was an NZRFU councillor, president of the NZRFU & WCRFU, as well a life member of both. Adam's had also represented the South Island at rugby, as well as Otago at rugby and cricket, and was also capped by England against France in 1910 while studying medicine in London. Adams also served in World War One and survived the Gallipoli campaign.

The 1960's again saw the Seddon Shield back at Rugby Park on three separate occasions, and the emergence in 1961 of an 18 year old Ian MacRae for West Coast, he would later go on to win All Black fame with Hawkes Bay as a second five eight. Lock Tom Rogers was another standout during the decade, and in 1964 he was selected for the NZ Maori side, while first five eight Neil McAra was selected for the South Island team, and many say he was desperately unlucky not to have been an All Black during this era. Barney Ross was another stand out player, whose long West Coast career came to an end in 1968, after debuting 14 years earlier in 1954, and scoring four tries in his 83 caps.

In 1965 the Springboks again returned to heavy underfoot conditions at Rugby Park to play the West Coast-Buller combined side, and the locals put in an incredible performance against their formidable opponents, trailing by only six points at half time before eventually going down by only 11-0. West Coast halfback Barry Johnson had a sublime match for the locals, winning praise from both locals and the visitors alike with his great passing in the trying conditions, while flanker Malcom MacRae stood out in the loose for the home side.

Ken Beams and Barry Johnson played some outstanding rugby for West Coast in the mid part of the 60's at Rugby Park, and into the 70's. Beams was another Coaster whose talents must have been close to earn him an All Black call up.

The greatest Lions touring side of all time to New Zealand returned to Rugby Park in 1971, to play the combined West Coast-Buller side. England and Lions winger David Duckham scored a remarkable five first half tries on the heavy Rugby Park field to help his side to a 31-0 half time lead, but a determined effort in the second half by the combined team held them to only eight further points, with Duckham scoring his 6th try, while the locals scored six points of their own. Second five Bernie Stewart scored a try, while fullback Gerald Hart kicked a penalty, with winger Colin Skates being unlucky not to score a try of his own near the end of the match.

The 1970's again saw the prized Seddon Shield come back to Rugby Park, albeit briefly, on three separate occasions with players Bob Forsyth, Jon Sullivan, Russell Mitchell, Doug Henham, Ross Dixon, Maurice McQuillan and Gavin Cook shining in the Red and White jerseys on home soil during this time.

In 1982, West Coast stunned high flying Counties at Rugby Park 10-6, after Counties had just missed out on being crowned NPC and Ranfurly Shield champions the previous Saturday, when a last minute 45 metre penalty goal from Robbie Deans robbed them of a rare double in a 15-15 draw against Canterbury at Lancaster Park.

The Counties team would have been expecting an easier match against a West Coast team, who wore white jerseys to avoid a clash with Counties'  similar colours, but were sent packing with Chris Power and Wayne O'Reilly scoring tries, and Wayne Gugich adding a conversion, to give All Black great Bruce Robertson a loss in his final outing for his province.

The Lions returned to Rugby Park in 1983 to play the West Coast side, and the home team put in a great showing in front of a crowd of 5500. The biggest cheer of the day came when West Coast halfback Kevin Ford scored a try after he dived on the ball that had crept over the try line while beneath the feet of the Lions number eight John Beattie, while the ball was at the back of the Lions defensive scrum. West Coast fullback Wayne Gugich also kicked four penalties in the 52-16 loss, in a game where West Coast had fine spells of their own against a Lions team featuring fine players such as Scots Roy Laidlaw and John Rutherford, and Englishmen Clive Woodward and Dusty Hare, with fullback Hare contributing 24 points from his boot.

After the famous win over Counties the previous season, the 1983 West Coast side almost pulled off another quality scalp in Southland at Rugby Park, but a last gasp drop goal denied West Coast a further famous victory, going down in a heart breaker 12-14.

The 1980's, while not the most successful in terms of results for the West Coast side, saw many talented players unearthed that would grace the Rugby Park turf, including Winston Monk, Wayne Gugich, Dennis King, Troy Forsyth, Tony O'Regan and Mark Costello.

The 1990's would be the final time Rugby Park would host an international touring team, and that honour went to the Wallabies, who defeated a courageous West Coast-Buller combined side 62-0, with the combined side restricting the tourists to just six points in the final 30 minutes of the match. The Wallabies had some big guns in Steve Tuynman, Sam Scott-Young, and Ian Williams in the starting XV, with some Wallaby legends on the bench in Phil Kearns, Nick Farr-Jones, David Campese and Peter Fitzsimons, just to name a few.

For the locals, Mark Costello stood out with his tenacious tackling, lowering some imposing Wallaby forwards throughout the match, including Peter Fitzsimons in a great effort in front of the Alan Adams stand, while Andrew Mirfin and captain Winston Monk were others to shine on the Rugby Park turf.

The early 1990's was not a fun time to be a fan of West Coast, as the Rugby Park faithful endured a trying time, before Coast's 44 match losing streak was finally broken in 1994 in a home match against North Otago 24-7, with celebrations going on for days. Michael Foster proved a standout during the decade, setting a point scoring record for the province that still stands at 712 points. He still holds the records for most points in a season of 176, most conversions in a season, 20, and most penalties in a season of 38, and he also equaled the then record of 90 caps that he shared with Ken Beams.

Shaun Fahey was another player to light up Rugby Park with his incredible talents at first and second five eight, and was selected in 1992 for the NZ under 19 side, only being kept out of the starting XV in their test against Australia at Carisbrook by Andrew Merhtens.

1992 also saw an unwanted record at Rugby Park, with Canterbury pummeling the West Coast side 128-0 at Rugby Park, with Canterbury's Jon Preston slotting an incredible 20 out of 22 conversions, the loss being the biggest in West Coast rugby history. Thankfully the game wasn't played several weeks later when five point tries were introduced, as the score would then have been 150-0.

Earlier the same year, Rugby Park was to host the first of four 'Sturgeon Festival Matches', with former All Blacks manager John Sturgeon being the catalyst for the very best of NZ's rugby talent coming to Greymouth to play against and alongside some of West Coast's local heroes.

The festival matches from 1992 to 1995 included local players such Anthony Jones, Mark De Goldi, Ian Richardson, Willie Iafeta, Glen Aitken, and Tony Hourston who got to share the field with some All Black greats, such as John Kirwan, Graeme Bachop, Ian Jones, Richard Loe, Josh Kronfeld, and Mike Brewer, just to name a few, in some wonderful matches that drew some incredible and appreciative crowds to Rugby Park.

The 1995 match was an unofficial All Blacks trial for Laurie Mains and his selectors to pick their Rugby World Cup squad, and the game was played at a frenetic pace with the skill level on show of the highest order, with a number of West Coast and Buller players acting as reserves on the day. Jeff Wilson and Glenn Osbourne scored three tries apiece for the Sturge Steins XV, while Andrew Mehrtens scored two, to go along with eight conversions for a 26 points haul from the match, against their fellow All Blacks in their Air New Zealand XV.

In 1996, John Sturgeon was also behind bringing the Auckland Blues and Otago Highlanders to Rugby Park, to play a pre-season Super Rugby match, giving Rugby Park the honour of being the venue for the world’s first ever match between two professional Rugby teams. The match saw the likes of Jonah Lomu, Sean Fitzpatrick, Zinzan Brooke, Carlos Spencer taking on a Highlanders team featuring Taine Randell, Matthew Cooper, Stephen Bachop and Isitola Maka. Numbering close to 6000, the crowd was the biggest for decades at the Park, with many there being swept up in 'Lomu mania', as the world’s biggest Rugby star was the star attraction that day.

Rugby Park in the 90's also saw two special West Coast reps unearthed who'd go onto glittering professional careers, in halfback Paul Griffin who amassed 42 test caps for Italy in the 2000's, and flanker Craig De Goldi who signed for Bay of Plenty and then Auckland while having a wonderful career in the NZ Sevens team. This was capped off with De Goldi captaining NZ to Sevens gold at the Manchester Commonwealth games in 2002.

De Goldi also starred for West Coast at Rugby Park against Auckland in West Coast's first ever home Ranfurly Shield game in 1997, scoring a stunning solo try, to match Bruce Pearson's earlier effort, that remarkably had the Coast leading 7-5 after 10 minutes, before eventually going down 90-23 to the star-studded Aucklander's.

Action at Rugby Park in 1999 would get underway with the first ever visit to the Park of the Crusaders for a pre-season game, with Crusaders legend Todd Blackadder as captain and Sean Cuttance, (who is the current West Coast coach) on the bench, taking on the Highlanders. But it would be the West Coast side that had the crowds flocking back to Rugby Park that year.  The rep team captained by Michael Foster finished top of the Third Division after round robin play, earning them hosting rights to the semi-final against Poverty Bay. A crowd of around 3000 turned up, but sadly for Coast and the Rugby Park faithful, Poverty Bay won 14-12, dashing Coast's dream of making and hosting the Third Division grand final.

The season saw West Coast winning a remarkable eight games, which (after researching available almanacs and records) makes the team the most successful ever for wins in West Coast's history. The side had the pleasure of playing on a new firm surface after extensive work was done on the field that saw a new drainage system laid, which was the result of some much needed investment by the WCRFU. The field was a vast improvement on the at-times quagmire that teams had to play on in the middle of a wet winter in decades previous.

The year 2000 saw Rugby Park host its second ever Ranfurly Shield challenge and the millennium's first ever, against Waikato, with the Mooloo men being too strong running out 99-3 winners. It was only the third time West Coast had played Waikato, and only the second time at Rugby Park, the first being in 1958.

The 2000's was another lean time results-wise at Rugby Park for the West Coast side, and saw 78 capped Jonson Hauraki hanging up his boots in 2001 after a fine career, while new talent was emerging in Maleli Mudu, Alan Monk, and Brad Houston, all of whom would go on to be capped over 60 times, with Mudu currently fast approaching his 100th cap.

2002 would see the Reuben Thorne captained Crusaders return, again featuring many All Blacks stars including Aaron Mauger, Daryl Gibson, Corey Flynn, Scott Robertson, Andrew Mehrtens and Richie McCaw, this time playing the Queensland Reds, a team that featured many Wallaby players such as Wendall Sailor, Nathan Sharpe, Steve Kefu, and captain Toutai Kefu.

Five years later in 2007, the Crusaders would again play at Rugby Park, this time against a Tasman XV, and the highlight of this match would be the homecoming of former West Coast local and age group player Tim Bateman, who would play at centre for the Crusaders. 

The 2009 Heartland team again had fans pouring through the gates of Rugby Park to watch a highly talented side led by halfback James Ferguson, make it all the way to a home Lochore Cup Final. 

The home semi-final saw West Coast notch up 50 points in a game for the first time in its history, dispatching close rivals Buller 53-22, with hooker Rowan O'Gorman scoring a memorable hatrick of tries in front of an appreciative crowd which numbered close to 2000.

The Lochore Cup final against North Otago a week later would provide one of the most controversial games in Rugby Park's and West Coast's history, with the home team going down 21-13. The match being televised live on Sky Sports, saw the use of video technology to help the match officials make decisions they were unsure of.

Sadly for the 3000 plus West Coast fans in attendance, winger Luke Hughes saw two of his 'tries' being ruled out, one despite the touch judge in the score board corner giving the thumbs up to the unsighted ref to award the try, with Hughes being at least half a meter over the try line. While stories of the TMO being told to get in his car and leave town for his own safety straight after full time are not verified, such was the anger and anguish of the crowd, that was probably in everyone's best interests if true.

There were many players to stand out that season including backs Josh Cornish, Luke Hughes, James Ward, Robert Thomson, while in the forward pack, veteran's Mark De Goldi, Tere Wycliff, Blair Mirfin all had memorable seasons. Crowd favourite Gordon Iaefeta was another to shine when on the Park.

2012 began with the Crusaders returning to play the Highlanders at Rugby Park, with Wyatt Crockett leading his side that also featured Ryan Crotty, Joe Moody, Codie Taylor and Matt Todd, with the Highlanders having talent aplenty in Ben Smith, Andrew Hore, Lima Sopoaga, Elliot Dixon and Adam Thomson.

The same year saw the WCRFU sign former Canterbury, Crusader and All Black Nathan Mauger as West Coast head coach, with the now Crusaders assistant forward coach and former West Coast player Jason Ryan as his assistant. While the results weren't favourable to the local side, the new learning's taken on board by the team were a valuable experience for all. 2012 also saw former West Coast and NZ Sevens rep Craig De Goldi make a return to Rugby Park, although his return to the West Coast team was short lived due to injury.

The following 2013 season saw a new head coach in former Canterbury and West Coast rep Allan Lindsay being named, assisted by former Otago, Canterbury and Crusaders rep Sean Cuttance. The season got off to a flyer with the team defeating Nelson Bays away, to bring the prized Seddon Shield back to Rugby Park for the first time since 1980. The home team put in some phenomenal performances only to have their hopes dashed in the dying seconds of the Meads Cup semi-final away, losing to Mid Canterbury 28-25.

Again, there were many players to shine at Rugby Park during the season, with backs Tim Priest, Nick Makea, Kevin Moore, Andrew Connors and Maleli Mudu excelling, while forwards Alan Monk, Suamalie Tuiletufuga, J.J Manning, Kalave Auali’itia, Troy Tauwhare and former Western Samoan international prop Heroshi Tea, all had strong seasons.

2017 again saw some fine results for West Coast at Rugby Park, and saw it hosting its first home Lochore Cup semi-final in eight years, with a bumper crowd flocking to see the side defeat North Otago 24-14, before going down in the final in Methven a week later to Mid Canterbury 47-15.

2017 also saw veteran hooker/number eight Rowan O'Gorman collect his 50th cap for West Coast, and also equal the long held West Coast try scoring record of Ken Beams of 27 tries, while Maleli Mudu overtook Ken Beam's record of 90 caps, to end the year as outright holder on 92 caps.

And finally to 2018, where the champion Crusaders again returned to Rugby Park for a pre-season match against the Hurricanes, before going on to be crowned Super Rugby champions for the ninth time, and win back to back championships later in the season. The Crusaders side on the day were to be captained by local product Tim Bateman, before a late injury ruled him out, but again a wonderful spectacle was put on for the Rugby Park crowd.

The West Coast team led by hooker Troy Tauwhare, gave the crowd a thrilling final match under its Rugby Park name, by defeating Poverty Bay 31-30 in a Heartland Championship match. Fullback Nik Cumming scored a 77th minute try to give the West Coast side the lead, with Poverty Bay missing a kick-able penalty right at the death that would have clinched them the game. The Rugby Park crowd breathing a huge sigh of relief after a nail biting end to the game. 

So now Rugby Park, a venue that has been home to so many incredible matches from 1931-2018; a place that has seen untold drama, excitement, victory and heartbreak, a ground that has hosted the world’s best players over many eras, and holds some incredible history for West Coast, undergoes a name change to be called, John Sturgeon Park. 

The change honours John Sturgeon, who has been one of West Coast's and New Zealand Rugby's finest servants, a man who has given so much of his life for the advancement of Rugby in this region and beyond. While the name of the Park changes, the history, ghosts, legends and memories of what's gone before will remain, and be added to by players of this generation and beyond.