Unley Oval (also known as Wigan Oval under a

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

agreement), is a multi-use

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 either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Unley Unley is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, within the City of Unley. The suburb is the home of the Sturt Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Unley neighbours Adelaide Park Lands, Fullar ...

, an inner southern suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It is used for lower-grade

South Australian Grade Cricket League South Australian Premier Cricket (previously known as South Australian District Cricket and South Australian Grade Cricket) is the semi-professional State league based in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. It is currently the highest level o ...

matches, but its main use is as the home ground for the

Sturt Football Club The Sturt Football Club, nicknamed The Double Blues, is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Unley, South Australia, which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Founded in 1901 by the Stur ...

in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL).

Overview

The stadium has a capacity of 15,000 people, with seating for up to 2,000. Its record crowd is 24,000 (estimated) attending a SANFL match between Sturt and Norwood on 9 June 1924 – at the time the highest for any suburban oval in Adelaide. The highest verified attendance was 22,015 for a league game against

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

during the 1968 season. This would stand as the record SANFL attendance at a suburban ground until 22,738 saw

play Norwood at Port's home ground

Alberton Oval Alberton Oval is located in Alberton, a north-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The ground is a public park and is exclusively leased to the Port Adelaide Football Club for Australian rules football. History With the nearby Queens ...

in 1977. Unley Oval was the venue of one first-class match between

and Lord Hawke's XI in 1903; until 2013, it was the only first class match that South Australia had ever hosted away from

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...

until selected

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

games were played at

Glenelg Oval Glenelg Oval (currently ACH Group Stadium and formerly Gliderol Stadium @ Glenelg) is located on Brighton Road, Glenelg East, South Australia. The ground is primarily used for Australian rules football and cricket and is the home ground for the ...

from 2014. The match itself was remarkable: South Australia won by 97 runs after

following on In the game of cricket, a team who batted second and scored significantly fewer runs than the team who batted first may be forced to follow-on: to take their second innings immediately after their first. The follow-on can be enforced by the team ...

, and two different bowlers ( George Thompson and Henry Hay) took nine-wicket innings hauls.

Dimensions

The dimensions of the playing surface for football are 160m × 115m. The oval is egg-shaped, such that the northern end is more narrow and has shallower pockets than the southern end. Unley Oval has two main grandstands located on the western side of the ground; the newer of the two stands, "The

Jack Oatey Jack Oatey (29 August 1920 – 26 February 1994) was an Australian rules football player and coach. Playing career Oatey played 181 games for the Norwood Football Club between 1940 and 1952 and acted as playing-coach from 1945 to 1952. Whil ...

Stand", is open to the public and seats 1,500, and the Members Stand which seats 500 people. As the ground is also a public park, the perimeter of the venue is currently unfenced, forcing the Sturt Football Club to erect temporary fencing on match days in order to charge admission, which is a large financial burden for the club.

Name

The stadium has previously been known as "Envestra Park", "House Brothers Oval" (from 2008 to 2010), and "Commander Centre Oval" (in 2011 and 2012), under various sponsorship deals. In 2015 Unley Oval was renamed Peter Motley Oval in honour of former Sturt champion and club #1 ticket holder

Peter Motley Peter Motley (born 24 September 1964 in Adelaide, South Australia) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, representing Sturt Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and Carlton Football Club in the ...

References

External links

* Cricket grounds in Australia Sports venues in Adelaide Australian rules football grounds AFL Women's grounds {{SouthAustralia-struct-stub