The Showgrounds, Wangaratta

Last updated

Wangaratta Showgrounds, incorporating the Norm Minns Oval
The Showgrounds
The Showgrounds, Wangaratta
Full nameNorm Minns Oval
Former namesWangaratta Showgrounds
Location Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates 36°20′47.12″S146°18′53.98″E / 36.3464222°S 146.3149944°E / -36.3464222; 146.3149944
Owner Rural City of Wangaratta
Capacity 15,000 approx. [1]
Record attendance11,000 (2 March 2013: AFL Pre-Season: Essendon vs. Richmond)
SurfaceSanta Ana couch grass/turf cricket wicket(Oval)
ScoreboardDigital
Construction
Opened1855
Renovated1991 (oval)
Tenants
Wangaratta Magpies F.N.C. (OMFNL)
Wangaratta Magpies C.C. (WDCA)
Wangaratta Lions Club Swap Meet Drone photos Showgrounds layout 02.JPG
Ground information
OwnerRural City of Wangaratta
End names
"Northern End"
"Southern End" / "City End"
International information
Source: Ground profile

The Wangaratta Showgrounds is situated on the banks of the Ovens River, close to central Wangaratta and provides a large venue for a host of local sports and community clubs.

Contents

It has hosted the Wangaratta Agricultural Show since 1860 and the annual Wangaratta Athletic Carnival since 1917.

The sports oval is a major North Eastern cricket and football venue in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia and is known as the Norm Minns Oval.

History

The first annual exhibition (Wangaratta Show) was hosted in 1860 [2] by the Ovens and Murray Agricultural and Horticultural Association on land near the Ovens River, Wangaratta. [3]

The Boxing Day Wangaratta Hospital Fete was first held at The Showgrounds in 1882, which also included an athletic program. [4]

The first recorded international cricket match hosted on the ground came when Wangaratta played the touring Fijians in 1908. [5]

In February 1933 at the Wangaratta Sports Carnival, at The Showgrounds, Wangaratta, Austin Robertson Sr. broke the world record for 140 yards in a time of 13.1&1/2 / 16 seconds. [6] [7]

In 1950, American Olympic sprinter, Barney Ewell, ran the fastest ever 100 yards in Australia at the Wangaratta Carnival in a time of 9.5 seconds [8] and several weeks later won the World Professional Sprint Championships in Wangaratta. [9]

The ground held its first first-class match in 1986 when Victoria played Queensland in the Sheffield Shield.

Ten years later a second first-class match was played there between Victoria and the West Indians. [10]

A List A / 50 over, limited over match was played there in the 2005/06 ING Cup between Victoria and New South Wales. [11] [12]

The Showgrounds Oval serves as a football ground in the winter. It is the home ground of the Wangaratta Football Club, Junior Magpies Football Club and the Murray Bushrangers Football Club and is one of the Ovens & Murray Football League's main two venues, alongside Lavington Sports Ground, Albury. [13]

The venue secured the rights to host five Australian Football League pre-season games between 2012 and 2021; [13] however, the first of those matches, to have been played between St Kilda and Essendon in 2012, was cancelled after Essendon's chartered flights were unable to land in or near Wangaratta due to the very heavy afternoon rain throughout northern Victoria. [14] The venue also hosted two matches in the 2005 Australian Football International Cup. [15]

The venue also has a bicycle track, and floodlighting suitable for night matches. The oval was renamed the Norm Minns Oval in honour of Norm Minns, who played in four consecutive O&MFL premierships with Wangaratta from 1949 to 1952, won another O&MFL flag as captain-coach of Benalla in 1953, and went on to the committees and selection boards for both the Wangaratta and the O&MFL interleague teams. [16]

See also

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hume Dam</span> Dam in Riverina, New South Wales

Hume Dam, formerly the Hume Weir, is a major dam across the Murray River downstream of its junction with the Mitta River in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's purpose includes flood mitigation, hydro-power, irrigation, water supply and conservation. The impounded reservoir is called Lake Hume, formerly the Hume Reservoir. It is a gated concrete gravity dam with four earth embankments and twenty-nine vertical undershot gated concrete overflow spillways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haydn Bunton Sr.</span> Australian rules footballer

Haydn William Bunton was an Australian rules footballer who represented Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL), Subiaco in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), and Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) during the 1930s and 1940s.

The Wangaratta Rovers, officially known as the Wangaratta Rovers Football & Netball Club, is an Australian rules football club based in Wangaratta, Victoria and play in the Ovens & Murray Football League. Their nickname is the Hawks. Their home ground is W.J. Findlay Oval in Wangaratta. Their playing guernsey consists of gold and brown stripes on the front and gold on the back.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Bushrangers</span> Australian rules football club

The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the Talent League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavington Sports Ground</span> Mixed-use venue in Albury, Australia

Lavington Sports Ground is a sports ground located in the suburb of Hamilton Valley near Lavington on the north-west fringe of the city of Albury, Australia. The oval is nestled in the side of a hill, with concrete terraces cut into the southern side of the oval below a grass embankment and the grandstand and changing rooms located on the north-west flank. The venue also incorporates a 4 table cricket wicket, a velodrome for track cycling and two netball courts. The Lavington Panthers Sports Club licensed club was formerly located next to the ground, across Hanna Street.

Albury Sports Ground is a sporting ground located close to the central business district of Albury, Australia. The oval is near the NSW bank of the Murray River, with a historic grandstand on the north-western flank, and a members' club with a grandstand and changing rooms on the eastern wing. The venue also incorporates a netball court in the north-eastern corner, while the Albury Swim Centre is adjacent to the west. The ground is part of a string of parks and gardens between the Murray River and Wodonga Place that include the Albury Botanic Gardens, Hovell Tree Park, Noreuil Park, Australia Park, and Oddies Creek Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovens & Murray Football Netball League</span> Australian rules football and netball competition

The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales and the Ovens and Murray area. The name comes from the Ovens River, the river in the part of north-eastern Victoria covered by the league, and the Murray River, which separates Victoria and New South Wales.

AFL Victoria Country is an Australian rules football governing body with jurisdiction over the state of Victoria outside metropolitan Melbourne on behalf of AFL Victoria. As well as administering and promoting the code in the regions, it often arbitrates disputes in areas such as player clearances and club movements between country leagues, and may also be called upon as a higher authority of appeal. The organisation was formed as a result of a merger between Victorian Country Football League (VCFL) and AFL Victoria in November 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrtleford Alpine Saints Football Netball Club</span> Australian rules football club

The Myrtleford Alpine Saints Football Netball Club, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the town of Myrtleford, in north east Victoria on the Ovens River. The football and netball squads play in the Ovens & Murray Football League (OMFL).

The Wangaratta Magpies Football Club, officially known as the Wangaratta Magpies Football & Netball Club, is an Australian rules football club, which first played in the Ovens and Murray Football League in 1893 and is based in Wangaratta, Victoria at the Wangaratta Showgrounds and play on the Norm Minns Oval.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percy Rowe</span> Australian rules footballer and coach

Percival Henry Rowe was a player and coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Victorian Football Association (VFA).

Norman 'Norm' Bussell is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the VFL.

William Herbert King was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne in the VFL during the 1940s. King, who started his career at South Melbourne in 1940, was recruited from Ascot Vale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springhurst, Victoria</span> Town in Victoria, Australia

Springhurst is a town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. It is in the Rural City of Wangaratta local government area, 280 kilometres (170 mi) north east of the state capital and 16 km from the city of Wangaratta. At the 2016 census, Springhurst and the surrounding area had a population of 348.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benalla Football Club</span> Australian rules football club

The Benalla Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Saints, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in Benalla, Victoria. Its football and netball teams currently compete in the Goulburn Valley Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albury Football Club</span> Australian rules football club

The Albury Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in Albury, a major regional city in New South Wales. Albury football and netball squads compete in the Ovens & Murray Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wodonga Football Club</span> Australian rules football and netball club

The Wodonga Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the city of Wodonga, Victoria.

The Corowa Football Club, nicknamed the Spiders, was an Australian rules football club based in Corowa, New South Wales, that competed in the Ovens & Murray Football League.

Clarence Joseph Nolan was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Percy Alan Jones was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

References

  1. ↑ - Norm Minns Oval – AuStadiums
  2. ↑ "1860 - 1st Wangaratta Show". Ovens and Murray Advertiser. Beechworth, Vic. 22 March 1860. p. 2. Retrieved 16 April 2020– via Trove Newspapers.
  3. ↑ "1860 - 2nd Wangaratta Show". The Victorian Farmers Journal and Gardeners Chronicle. 2 March 1861. p. 18. Retrieved 16 April 2020– via Trove Newspapers.
  4. ↑ "1882 - Boxing Day Fete". Ovens and Murray Advertiser. 25 November 1882. p. 8. Retrieved 16 April 2020– via Trove Newspapers.
  5. ↑ "Other matches played on Showgrounds Oval, Wangaratta". CricketArchive. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  6. ↑ "1933 - World Record". Flickr. Tweed Daily (Murwillumbah, NSW : 1914 - 1949). 18 August 1933. p. 4. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  7. ↑ "1933 - The 140 Yards Record". Wangaratta Chronicle newspaper. 8 February 1933. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "1950 - BARNEY EWELL BROKE RECORD AT WANGARATTA". Trove. The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 30 January 1950. p. 16. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  9. ↑ "1950 - EWELL TAKES TITLE: STONEY 2ND". The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 15 February 1950. p. 32. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  10. ↑ "First-Class Matches played on Showgrounds Oval, Wangaratta". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "List A Matches played on Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  12. ↑ "Scorecard: New South Wales v Victoria, ING Cup, at Wangaratta, 2 January 2006". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  13. 1 2 Johnstone, David (26 October 2011). "AFL footy feast for border fans". The Border Mail. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  14. ↑ Lowther, Andrew (3 March 2012). "Dons, Saints game cancelled". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  15. ↑ "2005 International Cup - Fixtures/Results". The Footy Record. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  16. ↑ "2005 O&MFNL Inductees". Sporting Pulse. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.