The old suburban VFL/AFL grounds

[Teagueeee15]

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...legends-depart-windy-hill-20131028-2wbx2.html

Essendon has officially left Windy Hill. The social club and the pokies will remain at Windy Hill permanently, as will the VFL team for next season at least.

 

[Silent Alarm]

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...legends-depart-windy-hill-20131028-2wbx2.html

Essendon has officially left Windy Hill. The social club and the pokies will remain at Windy Hill permanently, as will the VFL team for next season at least.

Well I'm happy I got talked into going there one arvo. I didn't actually know the move was happening this year, figured it'd be the one after. Will they tear down more stands? Will their VFL side end up moving? I lament Hawthorn not being at Glenferrie, or can't imagine the Pies at Vic Park but in a few years I suppose other people will wish the Bombers were still at Windy Hill. The little things like the advertising and signs of life are what makes those expeditions around old grounds charming.

Though I liked this part:

For so many Essendon fans, Windy Hill has remained a significant place. "A few years ago, there were three big trees they wanted to move to shift the practice wickets for the cricketers off the grounds near the croquet club," says Jones. "They came across all these urns. They had to ring up all the families of people who had been buried there, and moved them down to the other end of the ground."

 

[Teagueeee15]

Well I'm happy I got talked into going there one arvo. I didn't actually know the move was happening this year, figured it'd be the one after. Will they tear down more stands? Will their VFL side end up moving? I lament Hawthorn not being at Glenferrie, or can't imagine the Pies at Vic Park but in a few years I suppose other people will wish the Bombers were still at Windy Hill. The little things like the advertising and signs of life are what makes those expeditions around old grounds charming.

Though I liked this part:

For so many Essendon fans, Windy Hill has remained a significant place. "A few years ago, there were three big trees they wanted to move to shift the practice wickets for the cricketers off the grounds near the croquet club," says Jones. "They came across all these urns. They had to ring up all the families of people who had been buried there, and moved them down to the other end of the ground."

Regarding the stands, there aren't plans to knock them down as far as I know. They tore down the Showers Stand back in 2009 only due to it being a safety hazard. The Reynolds and Hird stands house the Social Club/Pokies and the Cookson stand houses the cricket club, so there remains a need for them to be used going forward.

 

[millsy29gopies]

I've heard rumours that Melbourne Heart may be moving into Windy Hill from next season onwards. Probably BS but you never know.

 

[Silent Alarm]

I've heard rumours that Melbourne Heart may be moving into Windy Hill from next season onwards. Probably BS but you never know.

Yeah, I think I might've even posted that in this thread because it was a relatively strong murmur. It'd suit them a lot more than out in no man's land. Plus I'm sure it'd be more convenient for players, not to mention keeping the joint relatively lively.

 

[Michael Riley]

I added a new article to my website on 19th Century Woodblock Prints at Football in the Illustrated Newspapers 1860-1890. There are a number of ground photos of the MCG toward the bottom. My favorites ground photos though are from the Suburban Grounds:

Metropolitan Cricket Grounds 1874
Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Paper 28-Nov-1874 p141
Artist/Engraver Unknown
SLV Link to digitised item: http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/69181

Carlton Cricket Ground 1874 (Princess Park??)

MCG 1874

Junction Oval 1874

Punt Road Oval 1874

Lake Oval (South Melbourne) 1874

 

[Silent Alarm]

Imagine if just one of those stands remained. What an icon it'd be.

 

[Stewies Power]

Lol, was that crow stuck on the barb wire?

 

[Silent Alarm]

Here's a thread I found detailing some unfortunately deserted, and endearingly derelict, grounds of the world. I love seeing old stands left as they were, old signs staying on walls and seats sitting as they should, but nature reclaiming everything else – as it should. Poignant.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1046169

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Here's a thread I found detailing some unfortunately deserted, and endearingly derelict, grounds of the world. I love seeing old stands left as they were, old signs staying on walls and seats sitting as they should, but nature reclaiming everything else – as it should. Poignant.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1046169

this would be one of the spookiest
http://www.footballculture.com/tsjernobyl-pripyat-rip/

 

[bradrowe#32]

Here's a thread I found detailing some unfortunately deserted, and endearingly derelict, grounds of the world. I love seeing old stands left as they were, old signs staying on walls and seats sitting as they should, but nature reclaiming everything else – as it should. Poignant.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1046169

Love that thread. Amazing what happened to the 2008 Athens Olympic venues.

 

[Teagueeee15]

I made my way out to the Lakeside Oval recently and took the following pictures. It's actually quite a nice ground with good concourses, amenities, ticket windows and a good view of the action from the grand stands. Very little left by way of history.

Rear of ground from Clarendon Street Goals

Rear of old stand

Rear of the first new stand

Concourse of stand

Rear of the Albert Park lake goals

Rear of scoreboard

View of the first stand

Rear of the second stand

Front of Second Stand

Ticket box

Terraces

The old historic stand has now been filled in with corporate boxes/offices and gym below.

 

[Wallaby]

'Twas a lovely football ground and makes a bloody awful aths track.........................

 

[jethro11]

The swimming pool blue of the track really isn't working.

 

[Silent Alarm]

Lakeside is a great example of translating its purposes and still maintaining its integrity and history. It's getting used well by a few sports and they've treated the old grandstand with plenty of respect. The inside was pretty much rotting and so refitting the insides was all you could do. The brick and mortar is beautifully restored as well, they've done it as it should've been.

There are plenty of WAFL grounds in no-man's land at the moment. Between this and Vic Park, you have two templates of how to cater for the community and giving a home to other sports (even if it's something s**t like rugby – at least it isn't a McDonalds) while keeping everything you can from the old football days.

 

[Paul Kersey]

Wish Glenferrie was in Lakeside condition.

 

[finders]

The pics of Moorabbin makes it look very much as it was as the original VFA ground - what comes around goes around.

 

[Silent Alarm]

Wish Glenferrie was in Lakeside condition.

It's kept alright. I don't know why that demountable is even there, it just trashes up the place. I like the overgrown trees on the rail-line terrace, the old stand is in great nick, but it's that old social club that's just decaying a bit.

That and the scungey uni students from across the road who leave their stubbies and kebab wrappers everywhere...

They're planning to knock down the social club, so they say. I'd like to see them turn that area into couch grass, making it more of a park. That's the way forward for relevance and reinvigoration with old footy ovals.

 

[Teagueeee15]

It's kept alright. I don't know why that demountable is even there, it just trashes up the place. I like the overgrown trees on the rail-line terrace, the old stand is in great nick, but it's that old social club that's just decaying a bit.

That and the scungey uni students from across the road who leave their stubbies and kebab wrappers everywhere...

They're planning to knock down the social club, so they say. I'd like to see them turn that area into couch grass, making it more of a park. That's the way forward for relevance and reinvigoration with old footy ovals.

I haven't been out to Glenferrie for almost a year now, is the Tuck Stand still locked up? When I was last there it seemed like it would only require some minor patch up work on some of the old wooden benches for it not to be a safety hazard any more or are the council just not interested in a Victoria Park style restoration of the stand? Unfortunately, restoring these stands tends to make them hubs for anti social behaviour, with the old stand at Brunswick St becoming littered with stubbies and coke bottle bongs.

On another note, have you been out to see Waverly Park? Understandable if you haven't with how difficult it can be to get there.

 

[Silent Alarm]

I haven't been out to Glenferrie for almost a year now, is the Tuck Stand still locked up? When I was last there it seemed like it would only require some minor patch up work on some of the old wooden benches for it not to be a safety hazard any more or are the council just not interested in a Victoria Park style restoration of the stand? Unfortunately, restoring these stands tends to make them hubs for anti social behaviour, with the old stand at Brunswick St becoming littered with stubbies and coke bottle bongs.

On another note, have you been out to see Waverly Park? Understandable if you haven't with how difficult it can be to get there.

Yeah, I think you're right on the second case – the council don't see Glenferrie as being worth opening. I went to uni across the road last year so I'd always sit there for lunch. Some days it was pristine, others there'd be flotsam strewn everywhere. The stand was always looking nice. The insides were left exactly as the Hawkers deserted them. I'd love to go in there and see if any old merch is lying around, it'd be very interesting.

Vic Park must be cleaned up on the regular because the Sherrin Stand's always in good nick, and the ground isn't trashed. But as you said, Brunswick street is unfortunately trashed continuously – considering they're both in the Yarra Council, I doubt they can see it worth cleaning up both consistently. I think it'd be worth closing off Brunswick street and opening it when the Roys are using it; people can still suss it out then without the homeless and hipsters ******* it up.


And nah, never been to Waverley. Even if a train line went straight through it, it's probably too much of an effort to get to. Then again Moorabbin was worth sussing out. But yeah, a bit too difficult for me I think – especially considering the upper deck is never open.

 

[mianfei]

I made my way out to the Lakeside Oval recently and took the following pictures. It's actually quite a nice ground with good concourses, amenities, ticket windows and a good view of the action from the grand stands. Very little left by way of history.

Having recently been reading about football during World War II, I might note that the Lake Oval was commandeered by the military for a full five years during and immediately after that war, and the grandstand had to be completely rebuilt before South Melbourne could play there again for 1947.

I don’t imagine anything remains as a legacy of the Lake Oval’s use as a military base during the war – but does anything with the MCG, Junction Oval or Western Oval??

Something little-known is that before 1942 when the VFL was unsure as to whether it would play at all (the VFA and TANFL did go into recess and the SANFL and WANFL had to completely modify their competition to play any football) all grounds in use for 1941 except the Brunswick Street Oval and Windy Hill were potentially unavailable for football due to the demands of the military for camps. Collingwood had indeed to train at Northcote in the days before the season started, and Carlton were unsure where they would play.

 

[millsy29gopies]

Went for a tour of the VIS back in July which included walking through the old stand. They have really made the best of it, there isn't much free space inside with all of the gym equipment being so large.

 

[Teagueeee15]

It looks like they may be doing something similar to the Gardiner Stand at Princes Park which is of a similar vintage to the old South Melbourne stand at Lake oval. I took these pictures as I went past and there is a non profit organization called Serco moving into the stand. I can only get a glimpse of the scaffolding from behind, couldn't grab a picture from front on unfortunately. For those who don't know, this is where the umpire change rooms were in the AFL days and were the away rooms in the VFL last season.

I also went past Victoria Park recently from the opposite end to the train station and noticed that part of the exterior perimeter and gates of the now demolished Rush stand are still standing.

The bar looks like something from a country footy ground.

I got some close ups of the Scoreboard mural while I was there

 

[Silent Alarm]

It looks like they may be doing something similar to the Gardiner Stand at Princes Park which is of a similar vintage to the old South Melbourne stand at Lake oval. I took these pictures as I went past and there is a non profit organization called Serco moving into the stand. I can only get a glimpse of the scaffolding from behind, couldn't grab a picture from front on unfortunately. For those who don't know, this is where the umpire change rooms were in the AFL days and were the away rooms in the VFL last season.

Oh wow, very interesting. So this is the really old stand? The one with the big Coke and Optus logos you'd see on tele? That's a massive shame. I loved those stands.

The bar looks like something from a country footy ground.

The main bar was in the Sherrin Stand. A few old beer signs are still up, which I still really love about the joint. Also good fun taking mates from WA through there at 4am on a Sunday morning. They can never quite 'get' that the biggest club in the country was playing proper games there 15 years ago.

I was there yesterday having a kick actually. Sussed out the coaches boxes after a good run around. There's actually granite benches and brand new floors in there. It is pretty impressive considering it's VFL standard – I don't think Subi could even rival how well kept those bits are.

 

[Doss]

I work a few times every year at the current Lake Oval.

I think they've preserved/imitated the look of the original stand pretty well.

The lack of any stand on the western flank of the ground now, though, means it is very prone to windy conditions, what with the prevalence of westerly winds.