Perry Park, Bowen Hills
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[edit] Perry Park
Perry Park is a football (soccer) ground located in the Brisbane suburb of Bowen Hills. It is home to the Brisbane Strikers football club, which plays in the Brisbane Premier League (BPL). Perry Park is widely regarded as the spiritual home of football in Queensland.
Scotsman William Raff was granted ownership of the land in 1857. He then subdivided the land in 1875, and the lot where Perry Park is now situated was sold to William Perry, among three other lots. Mr. Perry was a prominent Brisbane ironmonger. He used the land essentially as his family cattle and horse paddock.
The ground also hosted sporting events including Australian Rules Football games until the 1940s when it was used as a base for the Z Special Unit of the Australian, British and New Zealand armed forces for their 1943 raid on Japanese occupied Singapore harbour.
In 1977, Perry Park hosted its first National Soccer League game between Brisbane City and Sydney club Marconi Fairfield
In recent times the ground has been home to the Brisbane Strikers; however the Strikers did not play all of its home games there during its reign in the National Soccer League (alternating between Suncorp Stadium, Ballymore and Perry Park). The club now plays all of its home games there in the BPL.
