Former names | Lake Oval, South Melbourne Cricket Ground, Bob Jane Stadium |
---|---|
Location | Aughtie Drive, Albert Park, Victoria |
Coordinates | 37°50′25″S144°57′54″E / 37.84028°S 144.96500°E |
Operator | State Sports Centre Trust |
Capacity | 12,000 (7,400 seated) [1] |
Surface | Grass (soccer stadium), blue synthetic (athletics track) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1876 |
Opened | 1878 |
Renovated | 1995, 2011, 2019 |
Tenants | |
Athletics Australian Little Athletics Contents
Soccer South Melbourne FC other tenants Albert-park Football Club (Challenge Cup/VFA, 1878-1879) | |
Ground information | |
International information | |
Only WODI | 31 January 1985: Australia v England |
As of 8 September 2020 Source: CricketArchive |
Lakeside Stadium is an Australian sports arena in the South Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for association football club South Melbourne FC, Athletics Victoria, Athletics Australia, Victorian Institute of Sport and Australian Little Athletics.
The venue was built on the site of a former Australian rules football and cricket ground, the Lakeside Oval (also called the Lake Oval and the South Melbourne Cricket Ground), which served for more than a century as the home ground of the South Melbourne Cricket Club, and most notably as the home ground of the South Melbourne Football Club from 1879-1915, 1917-1941 and 1947-1981, [2] though Australian rules football had been played at the site since 1869. The ground has also been used for soccer from at least 1883. [3] [4]
It is one of four sporting facilities in Melbourne organised under the banner of publicly funded organisation Melbourne Sports Centres - the others being the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC), the MSAC Institute of Training (MIT) and the State Netball and Hockey Centre (SNHC). [5]
The South Melbourne Cricket Club was formed as early as 1862. The oval remained home to the South Melbourne Cricket Club until 1994. [4]
The South Melbourne Football Club was formed in 1874. [4] [6]
With the formation of Albert Park from a low lying swamp, a growing population and the popularity of football in the 1870s, an oval was established at the South Melbourne end of the park by the late 1870s, and both clubs soon adopted it as their home ground.
What came to be known as the Lake Oval or Lakeside Oval served most prominently as the home ground for Australian rules football club South Melbourne, in both the Victorian Football Association and the Victorian Football League.
In 1887 an elaborate new grandstand was constructed, it opened in time to host Tasmania vs Essendon match which held a capacity crowd of 10,000 spectators. [7]
In its early days, the ground was considered one of the best in the league and was the venue for the 1901 VFL Grand Final. [4] [8]
Following the destruction of the previous grandstand by fire, a new grandstand was built in 1926 designed by Clegg & Morrow and featuring a non-symmetrical layout, ornamental gables and prominent vents in the form of ridge lanterns. [9] [4]
When electric floodlighting was installed at the venue during the 1950s, it became one of the first venues in Melbourne to regularly host night football matches, including the night premiership series between 1956 and 1971. Night premiership matches in the Victorian Football Association in 1957 and 1958 [10] and night interstate matches, [11] including many matches at the 1958 Interstate Carnival [12] were also held at the Lake Oval. [4]
The ground record crowd for Lake Oval was set on 30 July 1932, when 41,000 turned out to see Carlton defeat South Melbourne by nine points. [13]
South Melbourne used the ground for home games until the end of the 1981 VFL season, when the club relocated to Sydney and became the Sydney Swans. [14] The last senior VFL match played at Lake Oval was on Saturday, 29 August 1981, when South Melbourne were defeated by 33 points against North Melbourne in front of 8,484 fans. [15]
The ground hosted 892 senior matches in the recognized top level of Victorian football - 188 in the VFA and 704 in the VFL/AFL - in 98 seasons of competition, with another 26 matches - 24 in the unaffiliated era and two in the VFA - being played on the site in the eight seasons prior to the ground's construction.
The Lake Oval was used for VFL/AFL reserves matches after South Melbourne's relocation in 1981 until 1993. [4]
For a time during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the struggling Fitzroy Football Club used the ground as a training and administrative base. [16] [17] The Old Xaverians Football Club of the Victorian Amateur Football Association were based there in 1993 and 1994. [4]
Redevelopment of the venue from an oval football/cricket stadium to the rectangular soccer stadium which became known as the Lakeside Stadium took place in 1995, when South Melbourne FC was forced out of its old home at Middle Park. [18] The stadium was built with a capacity of 14,000 people, [4] which was achieved or approached several times in South Melbourne's history at the ground. A grandstand with an approximate capacity of 3,000 people was situated on one side, with a social club, reception centre and administrative facilities built in, while the other three sides of the ground consisted of open terraces with wooden seats. At one stage, a second two tiered stand for the outer side was proposed, but only preliminary plans were produced. [19] [4]
As well as being the home of South Melbourne FC, the venue also hosted games by the Socceroos, [20] Young Socceroos, Australia's national women's team the Matildas, [21] and grand finals and finals matches of the Victorian Premier League (now National Premier Leagues Victoria). [22] [4]
The old grandstand remained unused and decaying in this period; at one stage the Sydney Swans football club showed interest in repurchasing it to be used as a museum and administrative building, while there were also calls from others to demolish the building because of its derelict state.
In May 2008, the state government announced that Lakeside Stadium would undergo a major redevelopment, in order to accommodate an athletics track, as part of moving Athletics Victoria from Olympic Park. The Victorian Institute of Sport, Athletics Victoria and South Melbourne FC would share tenancy of the venue. Major Projects Victoria committed $60 million to the project. South Melbourne played its final match under Lakeside Stadium's previous configuration in April 2010, and construction work on the remodelled venue began in June 2010. Under the remodelling, the old grandstand stand was refurbished to house the VIS. [23]
The synthetic 8-lane athletics track was constructed to international IAAF standards. A 6-lane 60 metre warm-up track was also constructed. The remodelling also saw a FIFA-sized natural grass soccer pitch, a new electronic scoreboard, upgraded lighting, a new northern stand and new spectator amenities. The old grandstand was also renovated to accommodate offices. [24] In March 2012, the stadium hosted the Melbourne Track Classic.
Despite often providing windy conditions for athletes, some world class performances have been recorded at the venue, including a 12.49 second run by Sally Pearson over the 100m hurdles. [25]
The venue is operated by the State Sports Centre Trust, the operators of the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre and the State Netball and Hockey Centre. [4]
Windy Hill is an Australian rules football and cricket ground located in Napier Street, Essendon, a northwestern suburb of the Melbourne metropolitan area.
Junction Oval is a historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Glenferrie Oval is an Australian rules football stadium located in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The WT Peterson Community Oval, best known as the Brunswick Street Oval and also as the Fitzroy Cricket Ground, is a cricket and Australian rules football ground located in Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North, Victoria, Australia.
Corio Oval was an Australian rules football ground, located in Geelong, Victoria, and used by the Geelong Football Club in the VFA and the VFL from 1878 to 1915, and 1917 to 1940. Sited in Eastern Park, the oval was served by trams from 1930 when the line was extended along Ryrie Street to the football ground.
The East Melbourne Cricket Ground was a grass oval sports venue located at the corner of Wellington Parade and Jolimont Parade, in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Now part of Yarra Park and being adjacent to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the site is best known for playing host to many sporting events during the city of Melbourne's early existence, consisting mainly of cricket and Australian rules football, although the ground occasionally hosted soccer matches.
Punt Road Oval, also known by naming rights sponsorship as the Swinburne Centre, is an Australian rules football ground and former cricket oval located within the Yarra Park precinct of East Melbourne, Victoria, situated a few hundred metres to the east of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Olympic Park Stadium was a multi-purpose outdoor stadium located on Olympic Boulevard in inner Melbourne, Australia. The stadium was built as an athletics training venue for the 1956 Olympics, a short distance from the MCG, which served as the Olympic Stadium. Over the years it was the home of rugby league side, Melbourne Storm and the A-League team, Melbourne Victory; throughout its life the stadium played host to athletics. Olympic Park Stadium was located in Olympic Park, which is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct.
North Hobart Oval is a sports venue in North Hobart, Tasmania. Formerly used primarily for Australian rules football widely regarded as the traditional home of Australian football in Tasmania. However since the 1950s it has also become one of the main soccer venues in Tasmania.
Coburg City Oval is an Australian rules football and cricket stadium located in Coburg, Australia. It is home to the Coburg Football Club in the Victorian Football League, and the Coburg Cricket Club.
Toorak Park is a cricket and Australian rules football arena in the Melbourne suburb of Armadale, Victoria, Australia. It is the home ground of the Prahran Football Club and Old Xaverians Football Club of the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) and Prahran Cricket Club, which plays in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. The current capacity of the venue is 7,000.
North Port Oval, also known as the Port Melbourne Cricket Ground or by the sponsored name ETU Stadium, is an Australian rules football and cricket stadium located in Port Melbourne, Australia. The capacity of the venue is 6,000 people. It is home to both the Port Melbourne Cricket Club and the Port Melbourne Football Club.
Middle Park was a soccer venue located in Middle Park, Victoria, Australia. Built in 1959, it was used by South Melbourne FC as a home ground from their inception in 1959, as well as by Melbourne Hakoah until their demise in the 1980s. The ground was demolished in 1994 as part of works for the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. The ground held approximately 18,000 people, and consisted of a main stand with a capacity of 2,000, with open terracing around the rest of the ground.
The 1956 VFL season was the 60th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 14 April until 15 September, and comprised an 18-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
Box Hill City Oval is an Australian rules football and cricket stadium located in Box Hill, Victoria, Australia. It is the home ground of the Box Hill Hawks Football Club which plays in the Victorian Football League, and the Box Hill Cricket Club which plays in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association.
Casey Fields is a $30 million, 70 hectare multi-sports complex in the City of Casey at Cranbourne East a southeastern suburb of Melbourne. The complex is home to Australian rules football, cricket, netball, soccer, tennis, cycling, golf, and rugby football.
Eureka Stadium, known commercially as Mars Stadium, is an oval-shaped sports stadium located in the Eureka Sports Precinct of Wendouree, 2.9 km (1.8 mi) north of the CBD of the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
The Motordrome, also known as the Olympic Park Speedway, the Melbourne Speedway or the Victorian Speedway, was a former speedway and Australian rules football ground located approximately on the site of the present day Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Olympic Park in Melbourne, Victoria. The ground was primarily a speedway track, but also hosted football matches.
Skinner Reserve is an Australian rules football stadium located on Churchill Avenue, Braybrook, Victoria. It is most notable as the former home ground of the Sunshine Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).