Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) was an Australian rules football stadium in

Mulgrave, Victoria Mulgrave is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 21 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District,Australia. For most of its history, its purpose was as a neutral venue and used by all Victorian-based Victorian Football League/Australian Football League clubs. However, during the 1990s it became the home ground of both the

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

and St Kilda football clubs. It ceased to be used for AFL games from the 2000 season following the opening of

Docklands Stadium Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

. It is currently used as a training venue by Hawthorn. The main grandstand and oval are listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

. The

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

is now 6,000, down from a peak of 72,000–90,000.

Origins

Waverley Park (then VFL Park) was first conceived in 1959 when delegates from the 12 VFL clubs asked the league to find land that was suitable for the building of a new stadium. In September 1962, the VFL secured a block of grazing and market garden land in Mulgrave. The area was chosen because it was believed that, with the effects of

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

and the proposed building of the South-Eastern (later called Monash) freeway, the area would become the demographic centre of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

The VFL reportedly lobbied the state government to construct a rail connection to the stadium, but that never occurred. The original plans were for a stadium catering for up to 157,000 patrons, which would have made it one of the biggest in the world. To accommodate the large number of patrons, the members' stand was to be extended around the whole ground. However, in 1982-1983, when the extensions were due to commence, the Government of Victoria, led by Premier John Cain, who was a member of the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, ...

, refused to approve the plans for the upgrade because it would have threatened the Melbourne Cricket Ground's (MCG) right to host the

VFL Grand Final The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victori ...

. The league-owned VFL Park had originally been built with the intent of replacing the MCG as the permanent home of the grand final, but the Victorian government, with interests in the MCG, refused to allow its capacity upgrade. Hence, no further development occurred and the ground capacity was set at just over 100,000 patrons, later reduced to 72,000. The playing surface, being 200 metres long and 160 metres wide, was the biggest in the league. That caused some controversy, and the boundary lines and goals were relocated to make the playing area a similar size to the that of the MCG. Waverley allowed Gippsland-based football patrons to attend VFL games, given the shorter travelling distance. Although its relative remoteness was irritating for some, it was a significant multi-purpose venue not based in the environs of the Melbourne CBD. However, in contrast with more central venues, its reliance on car transport to get spectators to the venue became an obvious weakness. The legacy of Waverley Park remains controversial.

Construction

Under the direction of architect Reginald E. Padey of Meldrum and Partners, work started at the site on 5 January 1966 when the VFL President Sir

Kenneth Luke Sir Kenneth George Luke (11 November 1896 – 13 June 1971) was a self-made millionaire manufacturer and a leading Australian rules football administrator in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He was president of the VFL between 1956 and 1971 a ...

turned the first sod. Construction of the stadium involved the excavation of of topsoil, and the surface of the oval was lowered to a depth of from the surrounding area. The spoil was used to form the banks for some sections of the stadium. The foundations of the K.G. Luke stand were laid in 1969 and more than of concrete terracing was laid around the ground. On 18 April 1970,

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

and Geelong played the first game at Waverley Park, in front of a crowd of 25,887. However, the stadium was far from completed, with only the first level of the K.G. Luke Stand having been finished. The rest of the stadium had only been constructed to ground level. The Public Reserve Stands encircling the rest of the stadium were finished in 1974, at a cost of $4.5 million, and the car park was extended to fit a total of 25,000 cars. Lighting was added in May 1977, at a cost of $1.2 million, in time for the first of the 1977 night-series televised matches. In 1982, a monochrome video matrix scoreboard was installed, for the first time in VFL history, displaying instant replay highlights. In 1984, the arena was re-turfed and the drainage system upgraded. Two years later a mosaic mural, commemorating many great names of VFL football, was installed on the grandstand façade above the members' entrance. During the 1988 season, automatic turnstiles were introduced at the members' entrance.

Memorable events

* The first-ever final played at the ground was also the first ever elimination final played in AFL history, played between St Kilda and Essendon in 1972. * During the 1973 season, 42,610 attended the first interstate match at the ground (between

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

) and a record 60,072 attended the second semi-final between Carlton and Collingwood. * Essendon and Carlton contested a once-off match on Anzac Day in 1975 (which Essendon won) in front of a crowd of 77,770. * The record attendance was 92,935 for Collingwood versus Hawthorn in 1981. * In 1977 Fitzroy played

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

in the first night match at the stadium in the Amco-Herald Cup. The game started 55 minutes late after the State Electricity Commission's supply to the $1 million lighting system failed just ten minutes before the game was due to begin. A fuse was thought to have blown in the feeder pole to the ground. All power to the ground was turned off for 18 minutes while it was repaired. * In 1977 VFL Park played host to the first 'Supertest' of Kerry Packer's

World Series Cricket World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to establish ...

. It was also host to the first-ever

day-night cricket Day/night cricket, also known as floodlit cricket, is a cricket match that is played either totally or partially under floodlights in the evening. The first regular cricket to be played under floodlights occurred during World Series Cricket, un ...

game. * In 1978

defeated

to win the Night series premiership. * On 15 November 1980 the band

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

played for a crowd of over 40,000 on their first tour of Australia. * In 1987

played

in the first night match at the stadium for premiership points in the major competition. A total of 183,383 people watched the three finals games at VFL Park and the preliminary final attendance of 71,298 was the largest since 1984. The game was between

and Hawthorn, and Hawthorn won from a goal kicked after the siren, by Gary Buckenara after a 15-metre penalty was awarded against

Jim Stynes James Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish-born footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), he went on to become ...

. * In 1989 a match was played for premiership points on a Sunday at VFL Park for the first time. * The ground hosted its first and only

AFL Grand Final The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victori ...

in 1991, which was contested by Hawthorn and the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

because the Melbourne Cricket Ground at the time was undergoing construction of the Great Southern Stand. In front of a crowd of 75,230, Hawthorn defeated West Coast by 53 points in the seniors grand final. The same day saw history in the making with Brisbane defeating Melbourne by 34 points in the reserves grand final, and with North Melbourne defeating Collingwood by 38 points in the very last under 19s grand final. * In 1996 an unexpected

pitch invasion A pitch invasion (known in North America as field storming or rushing the field) occurs when a person or a crowd of people spectating a sporting event run onto the competition area, usually to celebrate or protest an incident, or sometimes as ...

occurred when the lights went out at the stadium in a night game between Essendon and St Kilda, during the third quarter due to a car hitting a transmission tower nearby. After declaring the match finished for the evening the AFL commission held an emergency meeting to decide what should happen as there was no provision in the official rules for an event like this. They decided to continue the match three days later. Essendon kept their winning position comfortably, starting with a 20-point lead and winning with a 22-point margin. Controversially, the Bombers made five changes to their line-up between the two parts of the match. One of Essendon players,

James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but ...

, managed to pick up match votes in some of the media awards. Prior to the match, St Kilda coach Stan Alves complained about the situation and stated that his team is "not going to go kamikaze" and risk an injury when they did not have much chance of winning. The AFL subsequently decided on a set of rules to be applied for incidents of this kind, those being that if a game is not started the league in control of the match shall determine the result. Games that start but are interrupted prior to half-time are deemed to be drawn if the game can not recommence within 30 minutes, while if the game is interrupted after half-time the scores at the time are deemed to be final.

Football records

In its history, 732 AFL/VFL matches were played at Waverley Park, 70 of which were finals and one a grand final. * Highest score:

: 36.22 (238) v Melbourne: 6.12 (48) in round 17, 1979 * Largest crowd: 92,935,

Queen's Birthday The King's Official Birthday (alternatively the Queen's Official Birthday when the monarch is female) is the selected day in the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those ...

(6 June) 1981, Hawthorn v Collingwood * Most goals scored in one game:

Jason Dunstall Jason Hadfield Dunstall (born 14 August 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Dunstall is arguably the greatest Australian rules footballer to come from ...

, 17 goals, Round 7, 1992, Hawthorn v Richmond

Special events

Waverley Park hosted many special events other than Australian rules football. These included: * Rock concerts: Rod Stewart (1979),

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

(1980),

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

(1983), U2 (1998) and Simon & Garfunkel (1983). A 6 December 1993 concert for

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's Dangerous Tour was cancelled after the tour was cut short. *

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

games between 1977 and 1979. *

International rules football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed ...

: Matches between Australia and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

: Home of the

Waverley Reds The Melbourne Reds were a Victorian-based baseball team in the Australian Baseball League. They were the only team to win the championship 3 times. The Reds originally played at the home of VFL/AFL football, Waverley Park from 1989 until the 19 ...

from 1989 until 1994.

Closure

In 1988 concrete cancer was discovered in the Southern Stand at the MCG. This provided the impetus to replace the 50-year-old stand with a state-of-the-art facility that was completed in 1992 at a cost of $150 million, subsequently named the Great Southern Stand. The new stand was jointly funded by the AFL, allowing the AFL the opportunity to negotiate a better commercial arrangement with the Melbourne Cricket Club. This reduced the AFL's incentive to drive finals and blockbuster games to Waverley Park. The old practice of scheduling 'match of the round' at the ground ended quickly, and by 1993 it was used as a home ground by and . In 1999 the Australian Football League announced that it would not schedule any further matches at Waverley Park. Instead it would aim to sell the ground and its surrounding land, hoping to raise a sum of $30 million to $80 million to go towards the construction of a new stadium under construction at Docklands at the western end of the

Melbourne central business district The Melbourne central business district (also known colloquially as simply "The City" or "The CBD") is the city centre and main urban area of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, centred on the Hoddle Grid, the oldest part of the city la ...

.Hay, R., Lazenby, C., Haig-Muir, M. and Mewett, P. (2002
'Whither Sporting Heritage: reflections on debates in Victoria about Waverley Park and the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, in Dr David S Jones (ed.), 20th Century Heritage – Our Recent Cultural Legacy: Proceedings of the

Australia ICOMOS Australia ICOMOS is a peak cultural heritage conservation body in Australia. It is a branch of the United Nations-sponsored International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a non-government professional organisation promoting expertise in ...

National Conference 2001, pp. 367–370, University of Adelaide, Adelaide. Later the League would also argue that a portion of the income from the sale of Waverley would provide further finance for the development of AFL football as a national code in Australia. The last official AFL game was played in 1999 between

and Sydney in front of a sell-out crowd of 72,130. After the decision to close the venue was made by the AFL, the ground's fundamental flaws were highlighted. Despite an excellent playing surface and its own water storage, focus shifted to its unfavourable position, and its antiquated corporate and spectator facilities available, such as the originally high tech but now ageing sepia-toned video screen. Waverley Park was only 20 minutes from the Melbourne CBD and was serviced by the

Monash Freeway The Monash Freeway is a major urban freeway in Victoria, Australia, linking Melbourne's CBD to its south-eastern suburbs and beyond to the Gippsland region. It carries up to 180,000 vehicles per day and is one of Australia's busiest freeways ...

, It was primarily easy to access by car only as successive governments had failed to provide adequate public transport to the venue. The stadium's car park was large enough to service its crowds, but the access roads were incapable of dispersing them, and long delays for driving spectators were common. Spectators felt distanced from the game in the huge arena, and seating was only partly undercover giving it the unflattering nickname "Arctic Park" which was due to its location on an exposed site, with the prevailing south-westerly winds bringing rain to Melbourne's eastern suburbs directly from

Port Phillip Bay Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is compl ...

. Although despite all these little inconveniences the stadium itself had a special place in the hearts of many AFL fans and players. Especially Hawthorn's. In 2000, AFL pre-season cup matches were played at the venue, and Victorian Football League games also took place there, including finals and the grand final. Melbourne's Eastern Football League also played division 1 and division 2 Grand Finals at the venue at the conclusion of the 2000 season. The 2000 VFL Grand Final was the last official game of football played at the venue. After that game, Waverley Park was not maintained and vandals eventually broke into the site and damaged the facilities. The playing surface, once one of the best in Australia, was reduced to a field of weeds. Victorian MP

Mary Delahunty Mary Elizabeth Delahunty (born 7 June 1951) is an Australian journalist and politician with the Labor Party. Early life Delahunty was born in the Victorian town of Murtoa and educated at Loreto College in Ballarat.''Who's Who in Australia ...

called on the AFL to mow the dilapidated stadium, as it was still under their control. On 10 December 2001 the AFL confirmed that the land was sold to housing developer

Mirvac Mirvac is an Australian property group with operations across property investment, development, and retail services. This entity now broadens their clientele and shareholder return on investment by venturing across multiple development sectors, ...

to assist in financing the construction of the

. The ground was demolished starting on 11 December 2002. Waverley Park served an important strategic purpose for the VFL/AFL as viable alternative venue for the Grand Final and other events, the AFL possessed a critical bargaining chip in negotiations with the

over MCG access.

Current status

Following its cessation as a venue for AFL football, the stadium fell into a state of disrepair, and anticipating complete demolition, the City of Greater Dandenong, on behalf of football patrons in southeast Victoria, moved quickly to nominate the whole of the facility and its grounds for heritage listing. The basis for the nomination is that the stadium was the first major stadium purpose built for Australian rules football, that its construction and ownership by the VFL provided the basis on which the league built its power base and eventual evolution to become the AFL, that it hosted the 1991 AFL Grand Final, that night-time cricket games were first held at the ground, and that the members' (or K.G. Luke) stand features a mural of football legends by noted artist Harold Freedman. The state-level heritage listing of Waverley Park has been cited by the executive director of

Heritage Victoria Heritage Victoria is a Victorian State Government agency responsible for administering the ''Heritage Act 1995'' and supporting the work of the Heritage Council of Victoria. Heritage Victoria was formed from the earlier Historic Buildings Pres ...

as the seminal case for an understanding of the cultural heritage significance of 20th-century places. Successful lobbying saw Heritage Victoria grant legislative protection to the site and, beginning in December 2002, portions of the stadium were demolished except for the members' stand and the members' stand mural. The surrounding car park has been replaced by suburban housing, including 1,400 new dwellings for 3,500 people. In homage to the original place and its purpose, the street layout mirrors the original car park and street names honour Waverley's patron Sir

, architect Reginald Padey and other associations with football and cricket. The members' stand is visible from the nearby

; however, due to new noise walls being installed on the freeway alignment, the stand's visibility from the freeway has been significantly reduced. The oval itself and the eight bays of the Sir Kenneth Luke Stand have been retained with the remaining section of the members stand, which have been redeveloped into a state-of-the-art training and administrative facility for the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

and the local community. The Hawthorn Football Club moved its administrative and training facilities from

Glenferrie Oval Glenferrie Oval is an Australian rules football stadium located in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the historic home of, and is synonymous with, the Hawthorn Football Club, who played there from 1903 and as a VFL/AFL ...

to a redeveloped Waverley Park early in 2006 in preparation for the 2006 season. The facility incorporates an MCG-dimension oval, the size of the playing arena having been reduced from its original size, and includes a 25-metre heated indoor swimming pool, four refrigerated ice tanks, a gymnasium with a 60-metre running track and a warm-up area with projection and screen facilities to simulate match-day conditions. The grandstand has seating for around 2,000 patrons with the seating in the top level of the grandstand having been retained. In 2018, the Hawthorn Football Club announced plans to build a new training and administration facility named the Kennedy Community Centre in Dingley to replace Waverley Park. It is currently unknown what the future is for Waverley Park once Hawthorn move to their new facility in Dingley.

References

External links

Waverley Park Housing Estate official website
*

Sources

* Greg Hobbs, "A Restless Birth," ''AFL Football Record'', Vol 80, No 28, 28 September 1991, pp. 10–11. {{Authority control 1970 establishments in Australia 1999 disestablishments in Australia Defunct Australian Football League grounds Sports venues in Melbourne World Series Cricket venues Baseball venues in Australia Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Defunct cricket grounds in Australia Music venues in Melbourne Sports venues completed in 1970 Sports venues demolished in 2002 Demolished buildings and structures in Melbourne Defunct baseball venues History of baseball in Australia Sport in the City of Monash Buildings and structures in the City of Monash Hawthorn Football Club