The Kensington Oval is located on 344 The Parade,

Kensington, South Australia Kensington is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters council area. Unlike the rest of the city, Kensington's streets are laid out diagonally. River Torrens#Tributaries, Second Creek runs through and und ...

. Now used primarily for

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, the venue was once

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

's premier

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

facility and known as Olympic Sports Field.Australian Stadiums - Kensington Oval
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Early history

From an area originally known as Shipsters Paddock, Kensington Oval was officially opened for play on Saturday afternoon, 10 July 1875 by the Hon. L. Glyde, the President of the Kensington Athletic Association. The ground was originally used for a range of sports including

Australian Rules Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

and

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. Annual Athletics Sports Carnivals were also held at the venue. The

Kensington Football Club The Kensington Football Club was one of the first Australian rules football clubs founded in South Australia and played an integral part in the game's development in the state. The early rules used in South Australia were referred to as the "Ke ...

and the

Norwood Football Club The Norwood Football Club, nicknamed the Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club competing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Its home ground is Norwood Oval, Coopers Stadium (Norwood Oval), which is often referred ...

, along with other SAFA teams played regularly at the oval between 1875 and 1897 as an alternate venue to

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

. The Norwood Cycle and Motor Club, now Norwood Cycling Club, the oldest

cycling club A cycling club or cycling organisation is a society for cyclists. Clubs tend to be mostly local, and can be general or specialised. They can focus on cycle racing and/or cycling as a means of transport (utility cycling). In the United Kingdom, ...

in the southern hemisphere, had its opening day celebrations at the oval on 4 February 1884.

Kensington Districts Cricket Club

As the home ground of the Kensington Districts Cricket Club, Sir Donald Bradman played there often after joining the Kensington club upon his move to Adelaide from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1935. In 1937 one district cricket match had three Australian Test cricketers participating - Sir Donald Bradman as Captain and

Clarrie Grimmett Clarence Victor Grimmett (25 December 1891 – 2 May 1980) was a New Zealand-born Australian cricketer. He was one of the finest spin bowlers of his all time and usually credited as the developer of the flipper. Early life in New Zealand Gr ...

a leg spinner for Kensington, two out of the initial ten Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees in 1996, and Clayvel Lindsay "Jack" Badcock a former Tasmanian who opened the batting for Adelaide. In 1939, Bradman scored 303 in 226 minutes (41 fours and 1 six), after being dropped on 7 at first slip, in a district game against Glenelg breaking the club record which was previously 222 by Ross Moyle.

South Australian Football Association Ground (SAFA and SANFL) and Kensington Cricket Club

In addition to the Norwood Football Club the oval was regularly used by all SAFA (now SANFL) clubs for matches up until the 1897 season after which games were played at the newly opened

Jubilee Oval Jubilee Stadium (also known as Kogarah Oval) is a multi-purpose stadium in Carlton, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one of the home grounds of the National Rugby League (NRL) ...

in Adelaide. It was reported in 1922 - The effort of the enthusiasts who are endeavoring to rejuvenate the Kensington Oval was evidenced on Saturday, when the South Adelaides played a practice-game with their B team on the ground. The Souths are therefore the first league team to encourage the resurrection of one of the finest ovals of old times. It was reported in 1925 - Kensington Oval, one of the finest grounds in the State, is practically going to waste. The famous Norwood redlegs played football at Kensington for many years and a great number of historic associations are attached to the ground. About 25 years ago, however, on the contention that Kensington Oval was inaccessible, the red-and-blues transferred to the

Norwood Oval Norwood Oval (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from the Adelaide-based Coopers Brewery) is a suburban oval in the western end of Norwood, South Australia, Norwood, an inner eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The ...

, and the Kensington arena was almost untouched for many years. Despite an offer from the South Australian Soccer authorities, the Kensington Club, being supporters of the Australian game of football, gave to the Football League the right to play football at Kensington for the next 20 years. This season South B have made the oval their headquarters, and B grade matches have been played there. Five years ago when the Kensington Cricket Club came into existence in B grade an energetic committee, at first consisting of Messrs. J. N. Jackson, S. Williams (a former Norwood footballer), A. Ballans, J.Keogh (secretary), and J. A. Bahr (the well-known former Norwood captain), secured a five years' lease of the oval from the Burnside Council with the right of renewal for a further 20 years. Mr. Keogh was stated that a large sum had been spent by the Kensington Cricket Club on improving the ground. Some of the main items of expense are new water service, £100; new fence round the playing area, £280; purchase of old smokers' pavilion front Cricket Association and removal and re-erection at Kensington, £250; laying on of deep drainage, £500 (of which the Burnside Council paid about £200); ploughing and rolling playing area, £100; building up mounds, £250.

SANFL returns to Kensington Oval (1945)

SANFL matches returned to Kensington Oval in the 1945 Season when the SANFL signed a five year lease with Burnside City Council and Norwood playing 3 of their home games at the oval. The ground and facilities had been upgraded by Burnside City Council for the upcoming season. The ground was described as better than any suburban ground in Victoria or Western Australia by Haydn Bunton Sr. The first senior football game for 47 years was played on 12 May 1945 when Kensington Oval was declared re-opened by the Governor Sir Willoughby Norrie, who bounced the ball before the start of the Norwood-Port game. His, Excellency passed through an avenue of honor formed by children from Burnside and Marryatville Schools. From the 1946 Season various fixtures involving all clubs played at Kensington until the 1963 season. The last game being

Glenelg Football Club The Glenelg Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or the Bays, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Their home ground is Stratarama Stadium (formerly Glenelg Oval), located in the so ...

North Adelaide Football Club The North Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Roosters, is an Australian rules football club affiliated with the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and SANFL Women's League (SANFLW). The club plays its home games at Prospect ...

in Round 19 on 31 August 1963. The highest SAFA Score at Kensington was achieved by

South Adelaide Football Club The South Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Panthers, is an Australian rules football club based in the Adelaide suburb of Noarlunga Downs, South Australia, Noarlunga Downs. The club competes in the South Australian National Football Leagu ...

who scored 25 goals and 31 Behinds (181 Points) defeating

West Torrens Football Club West Torrens Football Club was an Australian rules football club that competed in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) from 1895 to 1990. In 1991, the club merged with neighbouring Woodville Football Club to form the Woodville- ...

who scored a single Behind (1 point) in Round 4 of the 1897 SAFA season.

Olympic Sports Field

From 1963, the ground was converted into an

athletics stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

, featuring a rubber-bitumen track. In 1975, the track was upgraded to

tartan track Tartan track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. The original production was in 1967, and the product was later reformulated to eliminate the u ...

. As Olympic Sports Field, the ground was home to

Athletics South Australia Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

's interclub athletics competition from October to March and the South Australian Championships. A number of

Australian Championships The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events every year, held be ...

; in 1967, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1981, 1986 and 1992, were also held at the venue.Athletics Australia - National Championships
The ground was also home to the

Adelaide City Adelaide City Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakden, a north-eastern suburb of Adelaide. The club was a founding member of the now-defunct National Soccer League (NSL) and currently competes in the National Premier ...

soccer club and, in 1977, a game against Sydney Marconi saw a record crowd of 13,132.

Redevelopment as Kensington Oval

In the 1990s, a new home for South Australian athletics,

Santos Stadium SA Athletics Stadium is an athletics stadium located in Adelaide. Located in the Adelaide Parklands, the stadium includes a running track and field complex. The stadium was formerly known as Santos Stadium under a sponsorship arrangement wit ...

, was built and the oval was returned to a sports playing field, which is held in trust by the City of Burnside and is currently leased for specific hours of (school term) use by the nearby Pembroke School. The running track was removed in 1997 and the ground was redeveloped as a cricket ground. Its original name of Kensington Oval was revived and the ground now plays host to grade and women's cricket matches.

References

{{coord, 34, 55, 18, S, 138, 39, 10, E, display=title Athletics (track and field) venues in Australia 1875 establishments in Australia Sports venues in Adelaide Sports venues completed in 1875 Cricket grounds in South Australia South Australian National Football League grounds Norwood Football Club