History
West Oval was used for local Australian rules football matches in the 1900s and the 1910s, including the 1913 grand final in the Geelong District Football Association (GDFA). [10] In 1926, VFA club Geelong Association moved from Kardinia Park – which it had been sharing with Victorian Football League (VFL) club Geelong – to West Oval. [11] The VFA club struggled, with its final home match attracting a recorded crowd of only 150 people, and it folded at the end of the 1927 season. [12]
The Geelong West Football Club (nicknamed the "Roosters") played at West Oval from its earliest seasons in local competitions, remaining at the ground when it joined the VFA in 1963. [13] A record crowd was achieved at the ground in round 9 of the 1972 Division 2 season, with around 12,000 people watching the Roosters defeat Caulfield by four points. [14] During the 1975 season, the Roosters – who won their only VFA Division 1 premiership the same year – again attracted crowds of 12,000, rivalling VFL club Geelong's crowds of 13,000 at some matches. [15] The ground also hosted some Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) finals matches during the 1970s. [16] [17]
In January 2016, a deliberately-lit fire damaged the heritage-listed Flowers Family Stand and timekeepers' box. [18] [19]
Because of a lack of available change rooms at Kardinia Park during its redevelopment, West Oval was chosen to host the Geelong Football Netball League (GFNL) finals in 2021. [20] [21] This ultimately did not occur because the season was curtailed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. [22] [23]
Redevelopment
By 2015, West Oval was regarded as having some of the worst facilities of all football venues in the Geelong region, and coaches of several clubs considered the surface of the oval "too hard". [5] [24] In June 2017, the Greater Geelong City Council commissioned a master plan to examine developing and improving the venue, which was released in November 2018. [25] [26]
During the 2018 Victorian state election campaign, the Labor Party committed to funding which would assist in the redevelopment of West Oval. [27] Construction works began during the cancelled 2020 season with the support of the Greater Geelong City Council and the Victorian Government. [28] [29] The upgrades included a new two-storey pavilion, resurfacing of the existing netball courts, a new scoreboard, formalised car parking, and the refurbishment of the Flowers Family Stand. [30] [31]
The redevelopment was completed in 2021, making West Oval capable of hosting AFL Women's (AFLW), Victorian Football League (VFL) and VFL Women's (VFLW) matches. [32] [33]
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