Ground was for many years a stopover on the tour itinerary for many visiting teams as they faced the Northern New South Wales XI.

In 1981/82 the ground was allocated a Sheffield Shield match when the SCG was unavailable, and healthy crowds saw No.1 then become host to at least one first-class fixture per year.

The upgrade will consist of new concrete seating to be added to increase the seating capacity of the ground from 400 to 790 along the Parry St side of the ground, new lighting, drainage, a new fence and sightscreens, resurfacing and a new cricket square with the size of the playing field increased to cater for pre-season Australian Football League games.

The stadium has also been used for three international friendly matches across three different decades all of which featured the Australia men's national soccer team.

From 2018 onwards, concerts associated with the Supercars Championship motor racing event, the Newcastle 500, have been held at the venue.