The Showgrounds | |
Former names | Wangaratta Showgrounds |
---|---|
Location | Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia |
Coordinates | 36°20′47.12″S146°18′53.98″E / 36.3464222°S 146.3149944°E Coordinates: 36°20′47.12″S146°18′53.98″E / 36.3464222°S 146.3149944°E |
Owner | Rural City of Wangaratta |
Capacity | 15,000 approx. [1] |
Record attendance | 11,000 (2 March 2013: AFL Pre-Season: Essendon vs. Richmond) |
Surface | Santa Ana couch grass (Oval) |
Scoreboard | Digital |
Opened | 1855 |
Tenants | |
Wangaratta Magpies F.N.C. (OMFNL) Wangaratta Magpies C.C. (WDCA) | |
Ground information | |
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.
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.
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] 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. [6] A List A match was played there in the 2005/06 ING Cup between Victoria and New South Wales. [7] [8]
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. [9]
The venue secured the rights to host five Australian Football League pre-season games between 2012 and 2021; [9] 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. [10] The venue also hosted two matches in the 2005 Australian Football International Cup. [11]
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. [12]
Junction Oval is a historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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.
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.
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.
William Stephen was an Australian rules footballer with Fitzroy Football Club. He also coached Fitzroy and Essendon.
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.
The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (O&MFNL) 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.
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.
Percival Henry Rowe was a player and coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Victorian Football Association (VFA).
Lance Gibson Mann was a professional footrunner and a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
George William "Tich" Shorten was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the VFL during the 1920s.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Graham William Leydin is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Nicknamed Yabbie, Leydin won a best and fairest at the Essendon Under-19s in 1958.