The Yarraville Oval is an

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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and

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 striki ...

ground located on the corner of Williamstown Road and Anderson Street in

Yarraville, Victoria Yarraville is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Yarraville recorded a population of 15,636 at the . Yarravi ...

. It is currently the home ground of the Yarraville/Seddon Eagles Football Club and the Yarraville Cricket Club. The ground was most notable as the home of the

Yarraville Football Club Yarraville Football Club was an Australian rules football club founded in 1903 and played in the VJFA until 1927. In 1928, the club joined the Victorian Football Association where it played until 1984 when the club went into recess. In 1996 ...

throughout almost its entire existence in both the Victorian Junior Football Association from 1903 until 1927, and then in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

from 1928 until 1982; the club played its games at the

Western Oval Whitten Oval (also known as Victoria University Whitten Oval under a naming rights agreement) is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, West Footscray. It is the training and administra ...

in its final season in 1983. The ground was originally managed by a group of trustees, but management of the ground was transferred to the Footscray Council in 1928 to enable the ground to be upgraded to Association standards. The

City of Maribyrnong The City of Maribyrnong is a local government area within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia. It comprises the inner western suburbs between 5 and 10 kilometres from Melbourne city centre. It was formed in 1994 from the merger of th ...

, which incorporates the former City of Footscray, remains the ground manager. In 1942, Yarraville Oval was the home of the

Footscray Football Club The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

because its normal home ground, the

, was being used as an

army base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and Military operation, operations. A military base always provides ...

, whilst the VFA was in recess until 1945. The

Western Region Football League The Western Region Football League is an Australian rules football semi-professional league, based in the western suburbs of Melbourne, for both seniors and juniors. History The league was formed in 1931 as the "Footscray District Football L ...

had its head office at the Oval until 2010. A ground record crowd estimated to be between 16,000 and 18,000 attended Ron Todd's first VFA match for Williamstown, played against Yarraville on 20 April

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

. The record crowd for a VFL game was set on 25 July

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

when 15,000 fans turned out to see Footscray defeat eventual grand finalist

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

by seven points in a high-scoring game. One of the most noticeable features of the Yarraville Oval is the historic W. Pedley Stand. The

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...

was built in two sections and has a unique V shape: the southern half of the stand was built in 1929, and the northern half was built in 1940. The viewing area of the grandstand was damaged by fire in 2017.

Tenants

References

Sports venues in Melbourne Defunct Australian Football League grounds Sport in the City of Maribyrnong Buildings and structures in the City of Maribyrnong {{VictoriaAU-struct-stub