Standardised playing field size

[The King!]

I just think people should check the size of a ground in comparison to others before they whinge their **** off

 

[Billy ray]

Yes 100%. This is why the suns are getting flogged atm

 

[DrEvil_]

TBH I thought the old suburban grounds added a lot of character to the game. I wish there are more variations between grounds than less.

 

[Anderson Brown]

The fact our grounds are different sizes just proves how amateurish AFL is as a sport.

Here's a list of 20 different pitches used in the English Premier league from 2007:

1. Manchester City, City of Manchester Stadium, 116 x 77 yards, 8932
2. Manchester United, Old Trafford, 116 x 76 yards, 8816
3. Southampton, St Mary’s Stadium, 115 x 74.5, 8740
4. Stoke City, Britannia Stadium, 115 x 75 yards, 8625
5. Aston Villa, Villa Park, 114 x 75 yards, 8550
6. Swansea, Liberty Stadium, 115 x 74 yards, 8510
7. Arsenal, Emirates Stadium, 114 x 74 yards, 8436
8. Cardiff City, Cardiff City Stadium, 114 x 74 yards, 8436
9. Norwich, Carrow Road, 114 x 74 yards, 8436
10. Sunderland, Stadium of Light, 114 x 74 yards, 8436
11. West Bromwich, The Hawthorns, 114 x 74 yards, 8436
12. Chelsea, Stamford Bridge, 110 x 75 yards, 8250
13. Fulham, Craven Cottage, 110 x 75 yards, 8250
14. Liverpool, Anfield, 110 x 75 yards, 8250
15. Everton, Goodison Park, 109 x 74 yards, 8066
16. Hull City, KC Stadium, 109 x 74 yards, 8066
17. Newcastle United, St. James’s Park, 110 x 73 yards, 8030
18. Tottenham Hotspur, White Hart Lane, 110 x 73 yards, 8030
19. Crystal Palace, Selhurst Park, 109 x 72 yards, 7848
20. West Ham United, Boleyn Ground, 110 x 70 yards, 7700

Bloody amateurs!!!

 

[McCrann]

I know this would never happen, for obvious reasons, but hypothetically, would you support a standard sized playing field? Like a standard size oval with standardised dimensions, so every ground would be the same size and shape? As we know AFL is unusual among team sports in that there is no standard size, grounds vary in size and shape, sometimes significantly (like it's well known Subiaco/Domain is a lot longer and narrower than the MCG, as is Kardinia park in Geelong), and this is part of the home ground advantage for many teams (and can also backfire when a team plays away). It's sort of part of the game.

Personally, if hypothetically this was an option, I'd actually support it. I used to think the different grounds made things more interesting, still sorta do, but I think it would make it a bit more even.

I do think with the new stadium in WA this could become more the case though, I think Skilled Stadium/Kardinia Park is a similar size to Subi from memory, since someone said it'll be the same size as the MCG. I think Etihad and the Gabba are pretty similar to the MCG? The SCG seems even shorter/smaller.

How is the AFL unusual in not having uniform playing surfaces.

Cricket DOES NOT have uniform playing surface size.

Soccer DOES NOT have uniform playing surface size.

Rugby League DOES NOT have uniform playing surface size.

Rugby Union DOES NOT have uniform playing surface size.

Which team sports are you referring to? I presume American team sports. So what?

In terms of popular international sports, most don't have a Uniform playing area, so why should Australian Football? To be honest, I'm pretty confused by your statement "As we know AFL is unusual among team sports in that there is no standard size".

 

[McCrann]

Nope.

Rugby and Soccer teams have home ground advantages and the grounds are the same size everywhere. You would be putting a lot of effort and it wouldn't change anything.

If you use the average size (160m) the SCG is 10m shorter, you would have to remove 5m of stand each side and in the end for no real advantage.

No they don't. In Rugby the in-goal area varies among grounds all over the world - it is not standardised like you seem to think. Same with Soccer.

 

[McCrann]

The fact our grounds are different sizes just proves how amateurish AFL is as a sport.

Why are you so ignorant? I feel you have a massive case of CULTURAL CRINGE. Get over it.

 

[McCrann]

How the hell can you run a fair and even competition if the grounds vary in size all over the country? Now I get there are historical reasons for this but with all the stadium redevelopment which has happened around the country in the last two decades, the AFL could have pure more effort into making sure grounds we're at least the same ******* shape.

You think the English Premier League is a joke? WOW.

I think they do pretty well for themselves considering the fact their grounds are all different sizes.

Did you see the size of the EPL's recent TV deal???

 

[juss]

In an ideal world yes, they should be stanardised.

 

[Mancey]

Absolutely baffling that Etihad wasn't built to the exact field size as the MCG a stones throw away

Yep they should have built it in stilts over the water and railway line

Its squeezed in at its current width as it is

 

[Nutsngum]

Everyone knows the best grounds are the locals that have an obvious slope down one wing and no fence so every boundary results in you running 15 meters to collect the ball.

 

[Inferno]

Standard size? Let's go for a standard shape first, the boundary line along the Reg Hickey Stand (non-telecast wing) at Kardinia Park is pretty much a straight line

(I know there's a better image of it floating around but this is the best I could find)

 

[gavaniacono]

TBH I thought the old suburban grounds added a lot of character to the game. I wish there are more variations between grounds than less.

Diversity is the stuff of life. Monochromism is the stuff of the entropic start and end states.

 

[Spirit Level]

Different sized grounds are one of the little quirks that make our game great, and gives each ground it's own distinct feel.

Same with cricket as every pitch is different, meaning you need to adapt to the specifics of the ground you're playing on

 

[footyfan1978]

Should standardise the size of straight jacket we put on posters that start dopey threads like this and other posts like lets have a top ten finals series.

 

[Hobbes]

The fact our grounds are different sizes just proves how amateurish AFL is as a sport.

Doesn't seem to be a problem in cricket.

 

[kranky al]

West coast and freo were fn ret4rded for not ensuring that the new stadium was the same dimensions as the mcg.

Absolute piss poor foresight


The fact that teams have to travel on a huge flight to face a parochial crowd is the home ground advantage - having a different dimension to the g is stupidity - we should be basing our week to week tactics on the ground where the gf is played.

 

[Xenthor]

Nope.

Rugby and Soccer teams have home ground advantages and the grounds are the same size everywhere. You would be putting a lot of effort and it wouldn't change anything.

If you use the average size (160m) the SCG is 10m shorter, you would have to remove 5m of stand each side and in the end for no real advantage.

Incorrect

 

[Wallaby]

Not fussed either way. In one sense, I like the fact there is a slight quirk for discussion (and you can moan about it in the pub after the Swans beat you in Sydney again) - but overall, I really don't think it makes much difference to the game - and almost none from the spectators point of view.

It's certainly nothing like baseball, where certain ballparks suit certain players' abilities better or worse than others, and players have actively campaigned to get traded to or from clubs due to their ballpark idiosyncrasies.

 

[Stopher]

It's a good challenge for teams to overcome when setting zones etc. it adds something to the game, no reason to change it at all.

I miss the square pockets of Waverley

 

[PerthBoy86]

I had no idea soccer and rugby pitches varied. I assumed they were all exactly the same dimensions. But by the looks of things, the variations are pretty minor, and they're still basically the same shape, so I don't think it's comparable to just how much an AFL oval varies. I think the nature of Rules also makes these variations more important.

I wonder if most of those against standardisation are Vics haha. It kinda hurts West Coast more than most, I admit. The new stadium should help even things out more.

 

[PerthBoy86]

It's weird. Baseball has a similar thing. But I like it. More strategy the better.

People just have to plan for grounds. Everyone I've seen have been playing the SCG wrong. Both the Eagles and North tried to play their pretty pick em apart style, trying to get short marks 35-50m out from goals. You need to beat them at their own game. They play that ground to perfection, by flooding the back half, and playing rebound paddock footy. It's just too small/narrow a ground to play possession slice and dice football. Meters gained Pagan's paddock flooding style is how you approach the SCG. Not surpising that pretty much every Swans team have historically been defensive juggernauts.

Now the MCG, that's a possession football ground. Just like Subi.

Isn't the SCG more like the MCG?

It always struck me how short the SCG seems to be. Was watching the Swans vs Roos game it really did seem it was often a couple of kicks from centre square to goal square.

I think that is one reason why we haven't won at the SCG in 17 years. It's more than an away crowd.

 

[hitthepost]

My main frustration is with the MCG being a much rounder ground than those found interstate. I mean yeah obviously it's a cricket ground so it's going to be round. I may as well complain about the sky being blue. It would be nice if every footy ground in the country had the same dimensions as the ground where the Grand Final is played for the sake of fairness but it will never happen.

Adelaide Oval is a cricket ground and that's not round by any stretch of the imagination
If you want total fairness for the GF the home team should get the game, or it should be played at a stadium specially constructed at the exact midpoint between the two teams' home grounds...

General contribution:
Look at it this way - is it UNFAIR that Sydney host teams on a short fat ground while WCE/Fremantle/Adelaide/Port/Geelong host teams on long thin grounds, and the rest are somewhere in between? No, because both teams play on the same ground at the same time and have to play to all conditions present - the size of the ground, the wet surface, the soggy cricket pitch block, the rain, the blinding sun, the howling 5-goal gale, the heat...You're not playing Sydney v WCE with Sydney at the SCG and WCE at Domain. All grounds fit certain parameters - at least 150m long and 120 (130?) wide. 4 sticks at each end.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Field sizes are standarised.

There's certain minimum and maximum widths and lengths that all AFL stadiums have to adhere to.

I wouldn't be able to build a 100m x 50m oval in Sydney holding 150,000 and try to get that to host the next grand final.

 

[Monkey King]

No please. Not interested in what others sports do.