The old suburban VFL/AFL grounds

[megadeth86]

Agreed. I was lucky I lived in Parkville at the time, and bought myself a ticket and went along. Still a special experience. I wish I could have been around in Melbourne in a previous era to see more matches at suburban grounds.

All we would need is one stadium with concrete terraces on the scoreboard wing and 25,000 capacity and then at least people could experience what it was like again. It shouldn't be too hard to achieve this if we can send men (sorry I mean people) to the moon.

 

[megadeth86]

Unfortunately that would cost way too much money. Hundreds of millions have been sunk into Kardinia Park over 15 years and it is still only 75% upgraded. Imagine doing that for multiple grounds, for what, a few games a year?

Ground rationalisation has been a big economic success - lots of people enjoying the same modern facilities week after week.

I live overseas now, but seriously don't people get bored going to the same two or three grounds week-in, week-out for a full season?

 

[megadeth86]

Do a trip to Glenferrie Oval. Almost unchanged apart from being overown with vegetation in places. Look at how tiny and compact it is, and then try to imagine how on Earth they used to squeeze average crowds of 15,000 in there ? More unbelievably it actually held a record crowd of over 36,000 back in 1966. They must have spilled over the fences and been allowed to sit on the boundary line, which wasn't uncommon in the 50s and 60s.

People were all skinnier back then (and I'm only half-joking).

 

[Bombermania]

David Glascott did fine at Princes Park, Tim Watson was more than OK at Windy Hill and the early-years West Coast running players on their day were effective anywhere.

There were some great players and it would get exciting if the game was close and if your team was winning but the standard of a lot games wasn't great free flowing footy. In any round there might be a couple of really good matches but there would be others that were not great but often in those matches the crowd would pay just as much attention to the scoreboard and the close one because the scoreboards would show the around ground scores. They should go back to showing the around the ground scores.

 

[mr bagcroft]

I live overseas now, but seriously don't people get bored going to the same two or three grounds week-in, week-out for a full season?

Yep pretty much. For me it was Moorabbin, I miss all the old grounds though.

 

[Bombermania]

Yep pretty much. For me it was Moorabbin, I miss all the old grounds though.

I saw St Kilda beat the Doggies at Moorabbin in 1985. It would be good if Fox Footy showed matches like that because it was a close match, a big upset and had some big names.

Fox Footy replays the Carlton and Collingwood match from the same day.

That was the thing about the local grounds, home ground advantage was something.

 

[MauroFogheri]

Footy was hard for a kid at a suburban ground, especially with a full crowd. My memories are of mainly seeing the backs of people with glimpses of grass in-between But I have vivid memories of traipsing through Collingwood and thinking "what a dirty suburb" even though I barracked for them, coming home by 3 quarter time to Essendon after being belted by Essendon and driving through completely deserted main streets...My old man doing the Clark Griswold at Western Oval "it's better to park far away as you'won't get stuck in traffic" thus a 45 minute walk

 

[The Warlord]

Thread is kind of misleading in that most of these grounds are getting or had major redevelopments and you can now go watch elite level footy at them, men's and women's.

Watched Noth v Essendon at Windy Hill in the VFL this year and it was a great arvo out with a decent enough crowd to give it real atmosphere.

North playing W at Arden Street in front of a capacity crowd of a few thousand is brilliant too.

 

[Rickee]

Thread is kind of misleading in that most of these grounds are getting or had major redevelopments and you can now go watch elite level footy at them, men's and women's.

Watched Noth v Essendon at Windy Hill in the VFL this year and it was a great arvo out with a decent enough crowd to give it real atmosphere.

North playing W at Arden Street in front of a capacity crowd of a few thousand is brilliant too.

Unless you'd like to sit down. Or get a drink/some food. Or use the bathroom.

Then it's wonderful.

 

[Occidental]

Hard to find vision of a game at Brunswick Street Oval, way back in 1960.
Records indicate 19,500 were in attendance that day v St Kilda.
Fitzroy played there 1883-1966 for 85 consecutive seasons.
The vision is shot from the northern Edinburgh Gardens side of the ground where the two main grandstands were. One of those grandstands is still there.

 

[footyfan1978]

Hard to find vision of a game at Brunswick Street Oval, way back in 1960.
Records indicate 19,500 were in attendance that day v St Kilda.
Fitzroy played there 1883-1966 for 85 consecutive seasons.
The vision is shot from the northern Edinburgh Gardens side of the ground where the two main grandstands were. One of those grandstands is still there.

Wow, 85 seasons is a long time at the same ground.
Funny how because I grew up when they were playing at Junction Oval I always associate Junction Oval with Fitzroy and probably VFA grand finals but they probably played a Junction Oval in less time than Docklands been around, which only seems like yesterday. So they were not really a Junction Oval a long time in terms of history of the whole club.
Junction Oval was such a charming old ground. Went to it once but wish I'd been a couple of times more before it was off the circuit of footy going grounds.

Brunswick Oval never seen so it interesting to see some old film footage of them playing at their real traditional home ground.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Maybe contact the admin here: Boyles Football Photos

Is this site still around? When I try to access it I get this

 

[willba_victory]

Here is an album of about 240 images I've collated over time:

I should stress that none of these are my own images. They have been sourced from places such as theholybootsfootballemporium.com, www.boylesfootballphotos.net.au, www.scoreboardpressure.com, Flickr, Swinburne Uni, State Library Victoria, the National Library Australia, amongst others. And googling of course.

Enjoy.

It's been a while but here is an updated edition of my 'collection':

• Part 1: imgbox - fast, simple image host
• Part 2: imgbox - fast, simple image host

I have also experimented with using an upscaler (GitHub - upscayl/upscayl: Upscayl - Free and Open Source AI Image Upscaler for Linux, MacOS and Windows built with Linux-First philosophy.). Some look good, some look very weird. You can access the upscaled version here: imgbox - fast, simple image host

 

[Wallaby]

Nice work mate. Some great stuff there.

 

[errant bounce]

There are a couple of little 'easter eggs' around the surviving elements of the old football grounds.

I don't want to post them because some idiot from a local council would grab them and put them in the bin, but if you walk from a particular corner at Windy Hill you'll see some artefacts if you keep your eyes low.

I'd also advocate to grab small souvenirs that haven't been maintained as they're going to be lost or destroyed. it's better in your house than a skip.

There was an old, massive Essendon bomber logo (the one they still have) on the 50 arc of the old stand at Windy Hill that suddenly disappeared overnight. hope a fan grabbed it.

About 12 years ago I went down to Moorabbin during the week when I was a student and there was stuff everywhere: old gates, half-hanging on signs like when you lose a toenail and it's sticking to the last bit of skin, lovely old windows. I imagine old players got a chance to snag some but I never saw it go to auction or anything.

You can also get into the top of the Art Deco Stand at Glenferrie quite easily and there is some unsold mid-2000s Hawthorn merch still in that stand. don't go stealing it though, it's got a rapid response security and it's a straight scummy thing to do.

You can walk through most of the media stand at Princes Park during AFLW/pre-season games and until up until ten years ago, under the Legends Stand, you could find yourself in front of a huge set of boxes of pristine 'Farewell Princes Park/Optus Oval' merch they clearly bought too much of. brand new Nike stuff. it was near some old goal posts and the old padding and signage. no one ever touched it.

Vic Park is done. just a place for yuppies to let their dogs s**t on now.

Richmond seem hellbent on destroying a beautiful old stand. of course...

Get to Brunswick St Oval before its inevitably un or intentionally burnt down by some homeless.

Windy Hill is still the gem and a community hub.

 

[Paul Kersey]

There are a couple of little 'easter eggs' around the surviving elements of the old football grounds.

I don't want to post them because some idiot from a local council would grab them and put them in the bin, but if you walk from a particular corner at Windy Hill you'll see some artefacts if you keep your eyes low.

I'd also advocate to grab small souvenirs that haven't been maintained as they're going to be lost or destroyed. it's better in your house than a skip.

There was an old, massive Essendon bomber logo (the one they still have) on the 50 arc of the old stand at Windy Hill that suddenly disappeared overnight. hope a fan grabbed it.

About 12 years ago I went down to Moorabbin during the week when I was a student and there was stuff everywhere: old gates, half-hanging on signs like when you lose a toenail and it's sticking to the last bit of skin, lovely old windows. I imagine old players got a chance to snag some but I never saw it go to auction or anything.

You can also get into the top of the Art Deco Stand at Glenferrie quite easily and there is some unsold mid-2000s Hawthorn merch still in that stand. don't go stealing it though, it's got a rapid response security and it's a straight scummy thing to do.

You can walk through most of the media stand at Princes Park during AFLW/pre-season games and until up until ten years ago, under the Legends Stand, you could find yourself in front of a huge set of boxes of pristine 'Farewell Princes Park/Optus Oval' merch they clearly bought too much of. brand new Nike stuff. it was near some old goal posts and the old padding and signage. no one ever touched it.

Vic Park is done. just a place for yuppies to let their dogs s**t on now.

Richmond seem hellbent on destroying a beautiful old stand. of course...

Get to Brunswick St Oval before its inevitably un or intentionally burnt down by some homeless.

Windy Hill is still the gem and a community hub.

Security at Hawthorn didn't prevent some crooks cutting down the original HFC signage from the Linda Crescent entry about a year back. A real disgrace.

 

[errant bounce]

Security at Hawthorn didn't prevent some crooks cutting down the original HFC signage from the Linda Crescent entry about a year back. A real disgrace.

Are you talking about the big 'HAWTHORN' where the club shop was?

The local council there but they treated Glenferrie with contempt. the old stand in the corner was put into intentional disrepair. it wasn't a pretty stand but these things need to be retained.

They should have integrated a lot more into that space and the new swimming pool and gym at the Glenferrie Road end was half smart but the whole area needed reinvigoration.

 

[Paul Kersey]

Are you talking about the big 'HAWTHORN' where the club shop was?

The local council there but they treated Glenferrie with contempt. the old stand in the corner was put into intentional disrepair. it wasn't a pretty stand but these things need to be retained.

They should have integrated a lot more into that space and the new swimming pool and gym at the Glenferrie Road end was half smart but the whole area needed reinvigoration.

Yep. I asked Peter Haby once I noticed it missing and he said stolen. Was hoping the club had taken it.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

There are a couple of little 'easter eggs' around the surviving elements of the old football grounds.

I don't want to post them because some idiot from a local council would grab them and put them in the bin, but if you walk from a particular corner at Windy Hill you'll see some artefacts if you keep your eyes low.

I'd also advocate to grab small souvenirs that haven't been maintained as they're going to be lost or destroyed. it's better in your house than a skip.

There was an old, massive Essendon bomber logo (the one they still have) on the 50 arc of the old stand at Windy Hill that suddenly disappeared overnight. hope a fan grabbed it.

About 12 years ago I went down to Moorabbin during the week when I was a student and there was stuff everywhere: old gates, half-hanging on signs like when you lose a toenail and it's sticking to the last bit of skin, lovely old windows. I imagine old players got a chance to snag some but I never saw it go to auction or anything.

You can also get into the top of the Art Deco Stand at Glenferrie quite easily and there is some unsold mid-2000s Hawthorn merch still in that stand. don't go stealing it though, it's got a rapid response security and it's a straight scummy thing to do.

You can walk through most of the media stand at Princes Park during AFLW/pre-season games and until up until ten years ago, under the Legends Stand, you could find yourself in front of a huge set of boxes of pristine 'Farewell Princes Park/Optus Oval' merch they clearly bought too much of. brand new Nike stuff. it was near some old goal posts and the old padding and signage. no one ever touched it.

Vic Park is done. just a place for yuppies to let their dogs s**t on now.

Richmond seem hellbent on destroying a beautiful old stand. of course...

Get to Brunswick St Oval before its inevitably un or intentionally burnt down by some homeless.

Windy Hill is still the gem and a community hub.

I last went to a real footy game at Moorabbin in the 1980s. When i went back there to watch training in 2008 or 2009, it was like a time warp.
The carpark for example. NOTHING had changed, nothing.
Part of me had this nice feeling of nostalgia, while part of me was..".jesus, can't they find someone with a bobcat to clean this up ".

 

[errant bounce]

Still happens down at Geelong.

Old post but I genuinely loved the old Ablett Terrace at Geelong when there were basically troughs for the toilets. not the wall hung stainless steel things, just troughs in the concrete. it was rough and cold and the seats were thin as all heck and most of the terrace was exactly that but far out it was good fun.

Loved the old stand at the other end with the big pillars and huge Shell signs but don't think I saw that in person.

It's great for Geelong but it's a real shame to see how modern the stadium looks now.

They were good times, you'd be a little bit scared walking back to the station when the Dockers got up.