Victroria Park

[Alexander323bc]

This might be "flogging a dead horse" but I am interested to know who misses Victoria Park and if we could update and extend the capacity to 60,000 for $100M would want to see it happen?

I am sick and tired of so much of our supporter's money going to the AFL et al.

Are we waisting our time at Lexus Centre? It might be state of the art but my god I can not get myself to identify with it.

If we have Vic Park, we can sell naming right to the ground plus corporate hospitality will go towards the clubs bottom line. I think we are at a point in our clubs history that maybe we can afford to do it and we have the supporters to be able to justify it.

Thoughts?

 

[tess]

This might be "flogging a dead horse" but I am interested to know who misses Victoria Park and if we could update and extend the capacity to 60,000 for $100M would want to see it happen?

We have a very good contract to be the HEAD tenant of the MCG that the Rose admin negotiated. How many games would we play that attracts less than 60,000, even when we are NOT playing at the MCG we make money out of other teams using our Social Club in the Ponsford Stand,

Are we waisting our time at Lexus Centre? It might be state of the art but my god I can not get myself to identify with it.

If we have Vic Park, we can sell naming right to the ground plus corporate hospitality will go towards the clubs bottom line. I think we are at a point in our clubs history that maybe we can afford to do it and we have the supporters to be able to justify it.

Lexus has been a failure for the fans there is NO doubt about that, but everyone says we are successful in making finals 3 years ina row. Selling naming rights.... well Um LEXU$. They pay our rent at Olympic Park in exchange for naming rights.

The word/rumor around is once the new Rectangle stadium is built the VAFA will move into the old ground at Collingwood's expense >http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=499280< there is NO link to any legit news story though. Eddie has been Vague about our move into the extra room at Lexus currently occupied by the VIS as well as whats to happen with the current ground/running track.

Hopefully someone will be game enough to ask the question at the AGM as I wont be there to ask the hard questions

 

[jonny_d4]

I see it everyday on my way to uni. It's a shame because its a reasonable ground just looks like its getting run down to the shit heap at the moment. It would be nice if they fixed it up a little and then used it for special events and family days because realistically the lexus center can't facilitate and gosch's paddock is hardly a stadium.
It's disheartening to see something that was so dear to us just abandoned and almost forgotten by the club, especially if you see it as often as i do.

 

[1970]

The Club has traded away a tangible sense of tradition and, ironically, now has the enough money to buy it back.

Where would we go for a day like Hawthorn had at Glenferrie on Sunday if we won a flag in 2011? Where would your senses guide you on the very night?

Last time I wore a Collingwood jumper in Feb 2006 at Victoria Park Richmond were training there and I got told to piss off! It was a strange experience.

It has a tinge of sadness about it, the whole damn thing!

 

[keen cats fella]

do you guys know if you can just stroll up to the ground and kick the sherrin?

 

[thewhitelama]

My best footy memories are from there when i was a little fella. It was fantastic, and i would love to see it going again. They really should do something with it, its falling apart. the grass is like carpet though, i've been lucky enough to play on it through the VAFA, and wow-eeee!

funnily enough i was chatting about it with a mate the other day, who's doing a uni assignment related to the afl/structures/finance and i couldnt believe the amount of money clubs like the pies, ess, dogs etc were loosing playing home games at there grounds towards the later years. havnt got the figures on me, but it was chunky

 

[tess]

That reminds me..... the turf is being relaid soon, so the whole of the current turf will be "free to new home".... Now when were they doing that again....tic tic tic.

 

[Bloben]

This might be "flogging a dead horse" but I am interested to know who misses Victoria Park and if we could update and extend the capacity to 60,000 for $100M would want to see it happen?

Lets change the player sponsorship thread to become the buy back Vic Park thread... I'll pledge another hundred

 

[Pie eyed]

Does the club actually still own the ground?
Was'nt there some kind of long running dispute with the council over redevelopment approval or such?

 

[Jabso]

Does the club actually still own the ground?
Was'nt there some kind of long running dispute with the council over redevelopment approval or such?

Did the club ever fully own the ground?

 

[Bloben]

Did the club ever fully own the ground?

No the club never did own the ground. City of Yarra Council did and still do own the ground. Collingwood were long term tenants in partnership with the Council.

 

[chappo52]

would like to see it used as our vfl home ground in the coming years

but to have a true home ground advantage, i would imagine to be awesome. a sea of black and white, 50k purely collingwood fans squeezed into the ground, all rising as one to daisy taking mark of the year in the goals square

sadly i have no memories of vic park just before my time i guess

 

[Pie eyed]

Thanks.
The land is probably ear-marked for unit development then.
It would be big, risky purchase in these dark financial days.

 

[Bloben]

Thanks.
The land is probably ear-marked for unit development then.
It would be big, risky purchase in these dark financial days.

That would be a nightmare however I doubt we need to worry too much.

The ground is owned by the Council and is heritage listed. It would be one of the major historical assets of Yarra Council so doubt it would ever be for sale. Even if the pies tried to buy it.

The big danger would be for the Council to keep the heritage stands however turn them into a museum telling a pictorial story of every mayor of the Council.

 

[mattys123]

I used to love the place too, grew up out there sitting in the Rush stand and then the Ryder Stand for the last 10 years or so.

But facts are, like a lot of surburban grounds, we out grew it, and it would have cost us too much to fix up.

You can see the trouble Carlton got into with the legends stand, a big fat waste of money. We did the right thing leaving when we did.

I do believe though Collingwood has a responsibility to its past and traditions to at least maintain the ground as some kind of existence, just in case we win a flag.

I can still remember GF night 1990, 25K of us back at the ground, singing all night, then the crush when the team came through.

Surely if we win another, we have to go back there at night, and I think it would be fitting for the new Collingwood to put some money into it to retain it as fitting for such a purpose, or as some have suggested, a VFL venue.

I hated having Cheaters Park as our home ground this year, would rather play at a junior footy ground then there again, please Pies, make Vic Park our VFL home.

 

[Pie eyed]

I used to love the place too, grew up out there sitting in the Rush stand and then the Ryder Stand for the last 10 years or so.

But facts are, like a lot of surburban grounds, we out grew it, and it would have cost us too much to fix up.

You can see the trouble Carlton got into with the legends stand, a big fat waste of money. We did the right thing leaving when we did.

I do believe though Collingwood has a responsibility to its past and traditions to at least maintain the ground as some kind of existence, just in case we win a flag.

I can still remember GF night 1990, 25K of us back at the ground, singing all night, then the crush when the team came through.

Surely if we win another, we have to go back there at night, and I think it would be fitting for the new Collingwood to put some money into it to retain it as fitting for such a purpose, or as some have suggested, a VFL venue.

I hated having Cheaters Park as our home ground this year, would rather play at a junior footy ground then there again, please Pies, make Vic Park our VFL home.

I am all for the VFL home ground idea.

 

[mattys123]

Cmon, Vic Park is in no worse state currently then Princes Park.

The last few times I saw the VFL play out there this year, they had to run out the back of the ground to use one of the outside buildings, surely if they are doing this at those cheaters ground, cant we do that at Vic Park.

VFL side back to Victoria Park please Eddie and Gary.

 

[tess]

The Vic Park Gym was so in such an inhabitable state the AFL Umps had to spend a whole $300,000 to bring it up to 2008 state of the art standards. Just imagine what a few million would have done for it.

 

[Smoky]

 

[mattys123]

Looks good, good enough for our VFL side anyway, make it happen please Collingwood board.

 

[Gymnorhina tibic]

Cheers for those pics, I have a bit of a tear in my eye. Memories of sitting on my dad's shoulder as a toddler right through to that last game against brissy as a 20 something - pissed under the scoreboard. As for the night of Oct 6 1990............a whole generation of pies supporters have come since then, a shame if they don't get to experience that.

 

[ozasismick]

Cmon, Vic Park is in no worse state currently then Princes Park.

The last few times I saw the VFL play out there this year, they had to run out the back of the ground to use one of the outside buildings, surely if they are doing this at those cheaters ground, cant we do that at Vic Park.

VFL side back to Victoria Park please Eddie and Gary.

I'd hazard a guess they were using outside facilities as the stands they would normally enter were being gutted ready to be demolished.

The stands have now been pulled down, except for Legends. Looks like it will be alright there actually.

 

[tess]

The thing that gets me is we have The Olympic Park Trust over a barrel, who else would be able to A, afford the rent at Lexus and B, what other orgainisation could utilise it. We need to start negotioting harder than this board has ever done before, not just over a drink at some high end cocktail party but tell em we Need to Brand Lexus as the Home Of Collingwood. So that everyone who drives/walks past will know this is NOT a Car Show Room, But the HOME of The Collingwood Football Club just like people did and do know Victoria Park as.

 

[Alexander323bc]

I don't like Lexus Centre period. It is not a football ground. And if we are going to play all of our VFL games at Vic Park then we should be playing all of our home games at Vic Park.
I do not know why, but I do not like teams playing home games at the MCG. Its like Arsenal or Chelsea playing all of their home games at Wembley. Just does not sit right with me. Every team should have their own stadium and the G should be used as the Grand Final venue.
I doubt that we will be loosing money at Vic Park if we get our fair share of the TV rights deal. That is our proportion based on the number of people that watch Collingwood games.

 

[ozasismick]

The thing that gets me is we have The Olympic Park Trust over a barrel, who else would be able to A, afford the rent at Lexus and B, what other orgainisation could utilise it. We need to start negotioting harder than this board has ever done before, not just over a drink at some high end cocktail party but tell em we Need to Brand Lexus as the Home Of Collingwood. So that everyone who drives/walks past will know this is NOT a Car Show Room, But the HOME of The Collingwood Football Club just like people did and do know Victoria Park as.

Yeah that's a fair comment.

With Eddie on the Athletics Australia Board, does that mean he has himself over a barrel then?