The Wirrina Stadium on Bishops Road opened in 1968 and operated under various guises including a Youth Club, a rollerskating rink, a ballroom, an indoor sports arena and it even laid claim to hosting the city’s first sauna !

From a musical perspective it gained a huge reputation for its Northern Soul all-nighters where several live soul acts were hosted and, in the late 1970s, it offered a much needed Peterborough venue for the punk / new wave explosion as well as several mainstream rock acts.

The Wirrina was lost to the city in October 2010 when the bulldozers and wrecking balls moved in !

The gigs we have recorded for the Wirrina are listed below. If you know of others, please get in touch.

Alvin Stardust – Wirrina Stadium – 31st May 1974
Angelic Upstarts – Wirrina Stadium – 6th October 1979
The Arrows – Wirrina Stadium – 23rd April 1976
Aswad – Wirrina Stadium – 29th September 1984
Billy Bragg & Riff Raff – Wirrina Stadium – 18th September 1978
Billy Butler – Wirrina Stadium – 31st October 1975
Bobby Hebb – Wirrina Stadium – 2nd March 1973
Buzzcocks – Wirrina Stadium – 26th March 1979
Camel – Wirrina Stadium – 20th November 1975
Chuck Berry – Wirrina Stadium – 3rd September 1983
The Clash – Wirrina Stadium – 30th November 1978
The Crunch – Wirrina Stadium – 12th December 1975
The Damned – Wirrina Stadium – 24th November 1979
The Damned – Wirrina Stadium – 4th December 1981
Detroit Emeralds – Wirrina Stadium – 5th March 1976
The Drifters – Wirrina Stadium – 19th April 1974
Eddie Holman – Wirrina Stadium – 12th November 1977
Edwin Starr – Wirrina Stadium – 1976
Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Wirrina Stadium – 7th March 1980
Evelyn Thomas – Wirrina Stadium – 1970s
The Exciters – Wirrina Stadium – 5th September 1975
The Exciters – Wirrina Stadium – 2nd July 1976
Fairport Convention – Wirrina Stadium – 1987
Fields of the Nephilim – Wirrina Stadium (Tropicana ?) – 18th June 1986
FM – Tropicana Room, Wirrina – 27th January 1987
Glitter Band – Wirrina Stadium – 27th September 1974
The Go-Go’s – Wirrina Stadium – 23rd April 1980
Gonzalez – Wirrina Stadium – 7th May 1979
Hawkwind – Wirrina Stadium – 7th November 1980
Hawkwind- Wirrina Stadium – 30th September 1981
Hawkwind- Wirrina Stadium – 6th December 1986
The Heavy Metal Kids – Wirrina Stadium – 29th January 1976
Hi-Tension – Wirrina Stadium – 18th June 1979
James & Bobby Purify – Wirrina Stadium – 11th June 1976
Joe Jackson Band – Wirrina Stadium – 25th August 1980
John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett – Wirrina Stadium – 18th May 1978
Judas Priest – Wirrina Stadium – 22nd April 1976
Judas Priest – Wirrina Stadium – 24th November 1978
Junior Walker & The All Stars – Wirrina Stadium – 12th November 1977
Limmie & The Family Cookin’ – Wirrina Stadium – 1st March 1974
Limmie & The Family Cookin’ – Wirrina Stadium (“Phoenix Soul Club”) – 28th November 1975
Lindisfarne – Wirrina Stadium – 9th March 1984
Loco – Wirrina Stadium – 25th February 1976
Lurkers – Wirrina Stadium – 18th May 1979
Madness – Wirrina Stadium – 23rd April 1980
Major Lance – Wirrina Stadium – 23rd June 1973
Major Lance – Wirrina Stadium – 19th March 1976
Mama’s Boys – Wirrina Stadium – 1989 ?
Men They Couldn’t Hang – Wirrina Stadium (“Peterborough Against Apartheid Festival”) – 4th May 1987
Mental As Anything – Wirrina Stadium – 1980s
Pete Murphy (ex. Bauhaus) – Wirrina Stadium
The Prodigy – Wirrina Stadium – 13th September 1991
Public Enemy – Wirrina Stadium
Purple Hearts – Wirrina Stadium – 1986
The Real Thing – Wirrina Stadium – 18th June 1976
Riff Raff – Wirrina Stadium – 18th September 1978
Saxon – Wirrina Stadium – 22nd December 1980
Saxon – Wirrina Stadium – 9th June 1980
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Wirrina Stadium – 28th August 1981 (CANCELLED)
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Wirrina Stadium – 1st October 1981
The Skids – Wirrina Stadium – 18th September 1978
Slade – Wirrina Stadium – 19th January 1981
The Slits – Wirrina Stadium – 30th November 1978
Squeeze – Wirrina Stadium – 23rd October 1987
Starjets – Wirrina Stadium – 1st June 1979
Stiff Little Fingers – Wirrina Stadium – 1st June 1979
Stiff Little Fingers – Wirrina Stadium – 24th April 1981
Stranglers – Wirrina Stadium – 18th September 1978
Stranglers – Wirrina Stadium – 25th March 1987
Studio Rockers – Wirrina Stadium – 1983?
Suzi Quatro – Wirrina Stadium – 25th January 1974
Then Jerico – Wirrina Stadium – 30th October 1987
Thin Lizzy – Wirrina Stadium – 14th June 1974 [CANCELLED]
Tygers of Pan Tang – Wirrina Stadium – 9th June 1980
The Tymes – Wirrina Stadium – 30th April 1975
UK Subs – Wirrina Stadium – 28th September 1979
Wang Chung – Wirrina Stadium – 1980s
Wild Horses – Wirrina Stadium – 2nd November 1979
XTC – Wirrina Stadium – 14th September 1979

Wirrina Stadium in 1965