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Trumper Park Oval is a sporting oval in
Originally named Hampden Park Oval, the ground was built on a reclaimed swamp (Glenmore Brook runs down and under its middle), an old quarry and a garbage dump. It had to be built up by as much as 13 feet in some places in order to turn it into a cricket oval. It was named in honour of Viscount Hampden, Governor of New South Wales (1895–99) - Hampden Street alongside the park was originally named Ebenezer Street.
According to Rob Hillier's 1970 book the three first inhabitants of Paddington: Underwood, Forbes and Cooper - built a Gin Distillery just next to today's Trumper Park. According to Hillier, the teams who had to transport the gin back into the colony along Oxford Street (formerly South Head Road) were "winding between trees and outcrops of sandstone, between swamp and firm ground, found the easiest way for the footslogger was through land not yet parcelled out. But any track that opened up the bush was welcome, and once it was established it acted as a frontage for later grants of all sizes and the most incredible shapes. This track was named Glenmore Road and it is still the winding link between Oxford Street and the New South Head Road built in the 1830s along the harbour foreshores."
At the opening of the oval there was a great demonstration of community feeling - the owners of produce stores gave bags of potatoes, butchers in the district gave a sheep each, bakers gave bread and grocers gave jams and tea. A bullock was roasted whole and various games were held, including a fancy dress cricket match in which Trumper played.
The name of park, and the oval, was changed in 1931 to honour one of Paddington's cricketing heroes,
Woollahra Municipal Council - Trumper Park Oval
Google Maps satellite image of Trumper Park
Paddington, New South Wales
Paddington is an upscale inner-city area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located east of the Sydney central business district, Paddington lies across two local government areas. The portion south of Oxford Street lie ...
.
The oval is located at the corner of Glenmore Road & Hampden Street, Paddington and is named in honour of Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...
. The oval has a long history of catering for Australian Football in the form of NSWFL foundation club, East Sydney, as well as catering for 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 ...
and athletics. A series of walking trails connect surrounding streets.
Australian football has been played at this oval since at least 1903. To put this date of 1903 in perspective, Australian football was played on Trumper Oval five years prior to the establishment of the first rugby league competition in Australia and only one year after the establishment of the Hawthorn football club. All the Sydney FL grand finals (bar one) between 1952 and 1977 were played at this venue.
Some of the biggest names in Australian football history have played on this oval including Jack Dyer (Richmond vs NSW 1946), Keith Miller (Sydney Naval), Bill Morris (Richmond), Kevin Murray (Fitzroy/East Perth) and John Pitura (North Shore) amongst many others.
History
Originally named Hampden Park Oval, the ground was built on a reclaimed swamp (Glenmore Brook runs down and under its middle), an old quarry and a garbage dump. It had to be built up by as much as 13 feet in some places in order to turn it into a cricket oval. It was named in honour of Viscount Hampden, Governor of New South Wales (1895–99) - Hampden Street alongside the park was originally named Ebenezer Street.
According to Rob Hillier's 1970 book the three first inhabitants of Paddington: Underwood, Forbes and Cooper - built a Gin Distillery just next to today's Trumper Park. According to Hillier, the teams who had to transport the gin back into the colony along Oxford Street (formerly South Head Road) were "winding between trees and outcrops of sandstone, between swamp and firm ground, found the easiest way for the footslogger was through land not yet parcelled out. But any track that opened up the bush was welcome, and once it was established it acted as a frontage for later grants of all sizes and the most incredible shapes. This track was named Glenmore Road and it is still the winding link between Oxford Street and the New South Head Road built in the 1830s along the harbour foreshores."
At the opening of the oval there was a great demonstration of community feeling - the owners of produce stores gave bags of potatoes, butchers in the district gave a sheep each, bakers gave bread and grocers gave jams and tea. A bullock was roasted whole and various games were held, including a fancy dress cricket match in which Trumper played.
The name of park, and the oval, was changed in 1931 to honour one of Paddington's cricketing heroes, Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...
(1877-1915).
The Eastern Suburbs Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen ...
played a total of 10 first grade NSWRL
The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...
games at Trumper Oval with 4 games in 1915, another 5 in 1934 and one game against North Sydney in 1941.
Current Sporting Teams
The oval is currently home to the following sporting groups; *UTS Australian Football Club
The University of Technology Australian Football Club (mostly known as the UTS Australian Football Club), nicknamed as ''The Bats'', is an Australian rules football club based in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. It competes in various Sydney AFL c ...
* Eastern Suburbs Juniors
* Eastern Suburbs Little Athletics
* Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club
* Wentworth Tennis
Stands
In its present configuration the Frank Dixon grandstand is a single, ground-level grandstand. Originally constructed in 1936, the grandstand was reduced in size in the mid-1980s to reflect the current usage.External links
Woollahra Municipal Council - Trumper Park Oval
Google Maps satellite image of Trumper Park
References
{{NRL Grounds Cricket grounds in Australia Sports venues completed in 1903 Paddington, New South Wales