The old suburban VFL/AFL grounds

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Jesus, how hard is it to integrate at least half of these things? Especially things like gates. Although it'd be great if they ended up at someone's house who was chuffed to own them, there's a big chance this stuff'll all just go to the tip. You can just tell this redevelopment will end up looking like any stock, local leisure centre but in club colours. Teams and councils really need to embrace how rare and unique – and lucky – they are to have these stadiums.

But maybe there's hope – why would they tear down the old socia-I mean-pokies entry, and erect a new one, if it was all going to be torn down?

Maybe the shell of the current grandstand will still exist and be the skeleton of the membership centre and front desk? You'd hope so. They have a ludicrous amount of space to put in gyms and pools in the pockets and behind the goals. I don't even think the Olympic precinct would have that much space.
 
Silent Alarm said:
Jesus, how hard is it to integrate at least half of these things? Especially things like gates. Although it'd be great if they ended up at someone's house who was chuffed to own them, there's a big chance this stuff'll all just go to the tip. You can just tell this redevelopment will end up looking like any stock, local leisure centre but in club colours. Teams and councils really need to embrace how rare and unique – and lucky – they are to have these stadiums.

But maybe there's hope – why would they tear down the old socia-I mean-pokies entry, and erect a new one, if it was all going to be torn down?

Maybe the shell of the current grandstand will still exist and be the skeleton of the membership centre and front desk? You'd hope so. They have a ludicrous amount of space to put in gyms and pools in the pockets and behind the goals. I don't even think the Olympic precinct would have that much space.
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Imagine having your front gates at your house from your old teams home ground :)
 

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SJ said:
Is there still anything interesting to see at Princes Park? Have some time off and might duck in next week during training.
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Carlton should make an annual fixture to play a home pre-season game there on a Saturday at 2:10pm against another Vic side. This year's game vs Essendon got 18k. The place still gives punters nostalgia glasses.
 
EDFL seem to have moved their administration into Windy Hill now. When Essendon moved out, the Bombershop was replaced by one of those 'Footy Fan Outlets' but that didn't last long.

Still a great place to watch the reserves at.
 
I always thought it was negligent the Bombers never kept a team store there. Why not? It's a nice token link to an old ground and the suburb bearing their name. I'm sure it would be patronised well and would go well on VFL days too.

I like the ground and how close it is to the station. My girlfriend lives around the area and I love being on the tram, seeing the top of the ground slightly above all the ugly 80s shopfronts. Great stuff. The ground still has a lot remaining from its big days so it's a quick and close, but interesting, little jaunt for footy ground nerds.
 
It was kept as a Bombershop at first, but I'd say within a year it had become the fan outlet.

I can only surmise that it didn't do well economically once the club moved out, they probably had got a lot of their business because people were already visiting the club for other reasons.

As it turns out it didn't last long as fan outlet either. I dunno, maybe it's too far from the station and the junction (not that it's far by any means) to do well commercially unless there's an underlying reason to go there; which there wasn't once the club left.

I'd be annoyed if the VFL side ever stopped playing there; it's still a great place to watch footy.
 
PertRoosOsborne said:
One positive of Fitzroy's itinerant history was that as a supporter I got to enjoy the Junction Oval, Whitten Oval, Princes Park and Victoria Park as a home member.

Junction Oval was by far my favourite ground to watch footy....I am bloody lucky to have spent so much time watching footy there.
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Victoria Park was basically a public urinal.
Western Oval very windy, long and not ideal for good games of football. It really did feel like another part of Melbourne that rarely seen. Romper Stomper like.. he he.
Windy Hill was a serious journey to get to on other side of Melbourne.
Arden Street I think I went to once. For some reason cannot remember much about it in my mind.
Junction Oval was charming.
Moorabin was anything but charming. Had less history about it compared to the inner suburban grounds as no league club really originated there.
Kardinia Park seemed windy up northern end of ground. A little like Western Oval but worse.

What stands out to me was each ground had something unique about it. Especially the directions of wind draughts the were part of local landscape. You played out in the real elements of weather each time and all slightly different dimensions. Not always comfortable but variety of venues added something that been lost in the league's heartland. The local teams really did have home ground advantages that were more than just home crowd factor. It also lent itself to each supporter group being a little bit different. Now that is less and less obvious.
Sadly never got to see Lakeside Oval as Swans had moved to SCG by the time I started going to the footy.

Feel blessed to experience many of these grounds before everything got centralised during the 1990's.
Only place I now get a sense of rich history connected with origins of the league and game are the MCG and it's surrounds.
 
FootyJunkie said:
Carlton should make an annual fixture to play a home pre-season game there on a Saturday at 2:10pm against another Vic side. This year's game vs Essendon got 18k. The place still gives punters nostalgia glasses.
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they should. i tend to think for what princess park is, the ground is next to a complete waste, it is highly under used & its facilities aret that bad. it should be used to hose more preseason games instead of etihad or the MCG. nearly all of those preseason games will not attract more than the 20k capacity of princess park.

its a shame that all of the other former club grounds, the victoria parks, windy hills, morabbin are in the state that they are in
 
bombersfan4000 said:
they should. i tend to think for what princess park is, the ground is next to a complete waste, it is highly under used & its facilities aret that bad. it should be used to hose more preseason games instead of etihad or the MCG. nearly all of those preseason games will not attract more than the 20k capacity of princess park.

its a shame that all of the other former club grounds, the victoria parks, windy hills, morabbin are in the state that they are in
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Its why I'm happy with the progressive improvements at PRO. Love rocking up to the g and seeing the vfl side doing their thing there before the game
 
rfctiger74 said:
Its why I'm happy with the progressive improvements at PRO. Love rocking up to the g and seeing the vfl side doing their thing there before the game
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i havent been to any games this year in Vic as ii live in another state, but thats another thing i do miss from the older days, watching the second half of the VFL game, playing before the main game
 

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bombersfan4000 said:
i havent been to any games this year in Vic as ii live in another state, but thats another thing i do miss from the older days, watching the second half of the VFL game, playing before the main game
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Its one reason I'd like to see pro used more. Allows pregame footy for the old school types without churning up the MCG unnecessarily
 
bombersfan4000 said:
they should. i tend to think for what princess park is, the ground is next to a complete waste, it is highly under used & its facilities aret that bad. it should be used to hose more preseason games instead of etihad or the MCG. nearly all of those preseason games will not attract more than the 20k capacity of princess park.

its a shame that all of the other former club grounds, the victoria parks, windy hills, morabbin are in the state that they are in
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Victoria Park is in a very good state since the renovation and opening up as a public reserve. Great place to watch footy.

Punt Road wasn't bad the one time I went, either.
 
Doss said:
Victoria Park is in a very good state since the renovation and opening up as a public reserve. Great place to watch footy.

Punt Road wasn't bad the one time I went, either.
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true i havent seen the updates to Victoria park but it has had some government funding to turn it in to a community hub
 
I think VP has been done very well. It's kept just enough Collingwood flavour about it too, what with a couple of the murals and those ticket boxes on the train station side.
 
Having not grown up with these grounds i would be interested to catch a VFL game at one of them sometime
 
footyfan78 said:
Victoria Park was basically a public urinal.
Western Oval very windy, long and not ideal for good games of football. It really did feel like another part of Melbourne that rarely seen. Romper Stomper like.. he he.
Windy Hill was a serious journey to get to on other side of Melbourne.
Arden Street I think I went to once. For some reason cannot remember much about it in my mind.
Junction Oval was charming.
Moorabin was anything but charming. Had less history about it compared to the inner suburban grounds as no league club really originated there.
Kardinia Park seemed windy up northern end of ground. A little like Western Oval but worse.

What stands out to me was each ground had something unique about it. Especially the directions of wind draughts the were part of local landscape. You played out in the real elements of weather each time and all slightly different dimensions. Not always comfortable but variety of venues added something that been lost in the league's heartland. The local teams really did have home ground advantages that were more than just home crowd factor. It also lent itself to each supporter group being a little bit different. Now that is less and less obvious.
Sadly never got to see Lakeside Oval as Swans had moved to SCG by the time I started going to the footy.

Feel blessed to experience many of these grounds before everything got centralised during the 1990's.
Only place I now get a sense of rich history connected with origins of the league and game are the MCG and it's surrounds.
Click to expand...

Sadly, in Melbourne that's a part of footy that we have lost playing indoors. "Kicking with the wind" at Western oval and wondering at 3/4 time whether 20 points up was enough? Stacking the backline against the wind and heading for the boundary line (pre-deliberate days) to waste time.

Uncomfortable in the weather and having to stand? Yes, but in a strange way I miss it. Probably glorifying it a bit though....................
 
Dogs till i die said:
Sadly, in Melbourne that's a part of footy that we have lost playing indoors. "Kicking with the wind" at Western oval and wondering at 3/4 time whether 20 points up was enough? Stacking the backline against the wind and heading for the boundary line (pre-deliberate days) to waste time.

Uncomfortable in the weather and having to stand? Yes, but in a strange way I miss it. Probably glorifying it a bit though....................
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It's what we've lost in the change from footy going from being a game to an entertainment spectacle.
 
darthsidusfan said:
Having not grown up with these grounds i would be interested to catch a VFL game at one of them sometime
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I'd pick going to Western Oval simply because it is probably the ground closest to what it looked like when it was last used.

I'm not even sure what state Windy Hill is in. Last time I went there bloody hell, Jimmy Buckley was playing for Carlton and remember getting up in a thriller over the Dons. His son Dylan plays for us now. Shows how long ago that is now. Essendon moved to the MCG about 1992 I think when the Great Southern Stand was built for the cricket world cup. I'd imagine there is a a few things changed with it since then.

Our Carlton ground might be in good condition as a playing surface but the Robert Heatley Stand there is no more which for me means it has lost the feel it once had. I went to ground some time in summer and did not feel the same.

I'd imagine though with Western Oval not much has changed.
 
Doss said:
I think VP has been done very well. It's kept just enough Collingwood flavour about it too, what with a couple of the murals and those ticket boxes on the train station side.
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Don't think I been there since 1984...lol
Geoff Southby was still playing for us in the game I remember playing Collingwood there. I remember it as coldest day I ever been to the footy. The weather and wind chill factor in Melbourne tonight was what it was like on the day.

A lot of Carlton and Collingwood games against each other by mid 1980's were already being moved to MCG or Waverley Park.
Remember many more games against each other at Waverley Park than our own traditional grounds.
I think we played Collingwood at our own ground around season 2000. Can't remember why we were playing there but remember Collingwood getting a mother of a hiding.
 
footyfan78 said:
I'd pick going to Western Oval simply because it is probably the ground closest to what it looked like when it was last used.

I'd imagine though with Western Oval not much has changed.
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The stands are still there but the Dougie Hawkins wing and it's tin shed are no more, same with the vast terracing.
 
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