List of Australian Football League grounds

The Australian Football League has numerous grounds upon which senior VFL/AFL games have been played. This list comprises current grounds in use, former grounds in use (both major and minor), regional pre-season grounds and international grounds.

In accordance with the Laws of Australian football, a ground must be grassed, have a minimum length of 135 metres (443 ft) and a minimum width of 110 metres (360 ft).[1] Most Australian rules football grounds are also used for cricket, which is also played on a grassed, oval-shaped ground, and it is commonplace for a ground to be used for football in winter and cricket in summer.

Due to the popularity of Australian rules football, particularly in southern Australia, most of Australia's largest stadiums by capacity are used for Australian rules football; and it is therefore common to use those stadiums for other high-drawing events, particularly sporting events. Sports such as Rugby and soccer can be readily played on an Australian rules football arena, as their rectangular fields are small enough to be set on the larger oval.

The oldest Australian Football League ground is the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The ground was built in 1854 and is still used for hosting AFL matches, including each year's Grand Final. The ground also has the largest capacity, at 100,024. The ground to most recently be used for its first Australian Football League matches is Traeger Park in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, on 31 May 2014.

As of the end of 2016, a total of 44 different venues have hosted VFL/AFL premiership matches since the league was established in 1897. A total of seventeen different venues, including new venues in Ballarat and Shanghai, will hold matches during the 2016 AFL season.

AFL/VFL premiership season venues

Current grounds

The following table shows a list of all of grounds that are currently used in the Australian Football League, as of the 2017 AFL season. The table includes grounds where teams have commercial deals in place to transfer home games to these grounds each season but are not full-time tenants of those grounds; in these cases, the club is shown in italics in the current tenants column.

Current Australian Football League grounds
Ground Image Other/sponsored names City State/territory Capacity First used Current tenant(s)
Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG Melbourne Victoria 100,024[2] 1897
Collingwood
Hawthorn
Melbourne
Richmond
Carlton
Docklands Stadium Colonial Stadium (2000–02)
Telstra Dome (2003–08)
Etihad Stadium (2009–present)		 Melbourne Victoria 56,347[3] 2000 Essendon
North Melbourne
St Kilda
Western Bulldogs
Adelaide Oval Adelaide South Australia 53,583[4] 2011[n 1] Adelaide
Port Adelaide
Sydney Cricket Ground SCG Sydney New South Wales 48,000[5] 1903[6] Sydney
Subiaco Oval Patersons Stadium (2011–2014)
Domain Stadium (2015–present)		 Perth Western Australia 42,922[7] 1987 Fremantle
West Coast
Gabba, TheThe Gabba Brisbane Cricket Ground
BCG		 Brisbane Queensland 42,000[8] 1991 Brisbane
Kardinia Park Shell Stadium (1999–2001)
Baytec Stadium (2002 pre-season)
Skilled Stadium (2002–2011)
Simonds Stadium (2012–present)		 Geelong Victoria 33,000[9] 1941 Geelong
Carrara Stadium Metricon Stadium (2011–present) Gold Coast Queensland 25,000[n 2][10] 1987 Gold Coast
Sydney Showground Stadium Škoda Stadium (2012–2013)
Spotless Stadium (2014-present)		 Sydney New South Wales 25,000 2012 Greater Western Sydney[11]
Jiangwan Stadium
Chinese: 江湾体育场		 Shanghai China 25,000 2017 (future) Port Adelaide[n 3]
York Park Aurora Stadium (2004–2016)
University of Tasmania Stadium (2017-present)		 Launceston Tasmania 20,000[12] 2001 Hawthorn[n 3]
Bellerive Oval Blundstone Arena (2012–present) Hobart Tasmania 20,000 2012 North Melbourne[n 3][11]
Manuka Oval StarTrack Oval Canberra (2013-present) Canberra ACT 15,000[13] 1998 Greater Western Sydney
Marrara Oval TIO Stadium (2006–present) Darwin Northern Territory 12,000[14] 2004 Melbourne[n 3]
Cazaly's Stadium[15][16] Cairns Queensland 12,000[17] 2011 Western Bulldogs[n 3]
Eureka Stadium Wendouree Victoria 11,000 2017 (future) North Melbourne[n 3]
Traeger Park TIO Traeger Park Alice Springs Northern Territory 10,000[18] 2014[19] Melbourne[n 3]
  1. ↑ Adelaide Oval hosted its first AFL match in Round 24 of the 2011 season as a Port Adelaide home game against Melbourne. The ground has been redeveloped and host all Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power home games from the 2014 season onwards, replacing Football Park.
  2. ↑ Redevelopment for the 2018 Commonwealth Games
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The club is not a full-time tenant of the ground, but has a commercial deal in place to play home games at the venue.

Former major grounds

Current and former VFL/AFL venues in metropolitan Melbourne. Current venues shown in red; former major venues shown in blue; other venues shown in yellow

The following table comprises a list of former grounds that were at one stage the primary home ground for a club to play its VFL/AFL matches on.

Most of the grounds were the original home of current teams (for example, Arden Street Oval was North Melbourne's home ground) and have ceased hosting VFL/AFL matches, usually due to location and lack of capacity. Princes Park was the last of the suburban venues to see an AFL game, with the last match occurring in 2005. These grounds now usually serve as a boutique training oval and administrative base for these AFL clubs, and some are used for TAC Cup, VFL or suburban league matches.

Waverley Park (originally known as VFL Park), located in Mulgrave, Victoria was the first purpose-built stadium for VFL/AFL matches, opening in 1970. Until the 1990s, it did not serve as any team's home ground, but was instead a neutral venue to which each club shifted one or two of its home matches each year; in the 1990s, it was adopted as a home ground by Hawthorn and St Kilda. Original plans called for the grounds capacity to be 155,000, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world. The full plans were never built, however due to objections from the MCG trust, and its capacity was set at 78,000. The venue, with its planned higher capacity, was originally to be a replacement for the Melbourne Cricket Ground as host of the VFL's Grand Final. However, in 1982/1983, when the extensions to finish the original plans were due to commence, the Government of Victoria refused to approve the plans for the stadium because the upgrade would have threatened the Melbourne Cricket Ground's right to host the Grand Final. Hence, no further development ever occurred and the capacity was set at 78,000. It was used until 1999, and was replaced by the Docklands Stadium.

Football Park, located in West Lakes, Adelaide, had a similar history to Waverley Park; it was purpose built for South Australian National Football League games and opened in 1974, replacing Adelaide Oval as the primary venue for the league. Unlike Waverley Park, it did become the venue for SANFL Grand Finals. It was the primary South Australian venue for VFL/AFL matches from 1991, when the league expanded into Adelaide, until 2013, and it was replaced by the newly refurbished Adelaide Oval.

Ground Other/sponsored names City State Capacity Year First Used Year Last Used Tenants
Arden Street Oval North Melbourne Recreation Reserve North Melbourne Victoria 15,000[20] 1925 1985 North Melbourne
Brunswick Street Oval Fitzroy Cricket Ground North Fitzroy Victoria 15,000[21] 1897 1966 Fitzroy
Coburg City Oval Coburg Victoria 25,000[22] 1965 1965 North Melbourne
Corio Oval Geelong Victoria ? 1897 1940 Geelong
East Melbourne Cricket Ground East Melbourne Victoria 10,000 1897 1921 Essendon: 1897–1921
University: 1908–1910
Football Park AAMI Stadium (2003–2013) West Lakes South Australia 51,240[23] 1991 2013 Adelaide
Port Adelaide
Glenferrie Oval Hawthorn Victoria 10,000[24] 1925 1973 Hawthorn
Junction Oval St Kilda Cricket Ground St Kilda Victoria 8,000[25] 1897 1984 St Kilda: 1897–1964
Fitzroy: 1970–1984
Lake Oval South Melbourne Cricket Ground Albert Park Victoria 14,000[26] 1897 1981 South Melbourne
Moorabbin Oval Moorabbin Victoria 27,000[27] 1965 1992 St Kilda
Princes Park Optus Oval (1994–2006) Carlton Victoria 35,000[28] 1897 2005 Carlton: 1897–2005
Fitzroy: 1967–1969, 1987–1993
Hawthorn: 1974–1991
South Melbourne: 1942–1943
Western Bulldogs: 1997–1999
Punt Road Oval Richmond Cricket Ground Richmond Victoria 15,000[29] 1908 1964 Richmond: 1908–1964
Melbourne: 1942–1946, 1956
Stadium Australia Telstra Stadium (2002–2007)
ANZ Stadium (2008–2016)		 Sydney Olympic Park New South Wales 82,500[30] 2002 2016 Sydney Swans
Victoria Park Abbotsford Victoria 27,000[31] 1897 1999 Collingwood: 1897–1999
Fitzroy: 1985–1986
WACA Ground East Perth Western Australia 35,000[32] 1987 2000 West Coast: 1987–2000
Fremantle: 1995–2000
Waverley Park VFL Park (1970–1991) Mulgrave Victoria 72,000[33] 1970 1999 Central ground: 1970 – 1991
Hawthorn – 1992–1999
St Kilda:1993–1999
Western Oval Whitten Oval West Footscray Victoria 25,000[34] 1925 1997 Footscray: 1925, 1941, 1943–1997
Fitzroy: 1994–1996
Windy Hill Essendon Recreation Reserve Essendon Victoria 15,000[35] 1922 1991 Essendon

Former minor grounds

Minor grounds have been used in the VFL/AFL, but only sparingly. There have been two main reasons historically for this:

Ground City State Capacity Times Used Year Last Used Match Played
Albury Oval Albury New South Wales 15,000 1 1952 South Melbourne vs North Melbourne: Round 8, 1952
Blacktown International Sportspark Sydney New South Wales 10,000 1 2012 Greater Western Sydney vs West Coast}: Round 3, 2012[11]
Brisbane Exhibition Ground Bowen Hills Queensland 25,490[36] 1 1952 Essendon vs. Geelong: Round 8, 1952
Bruce Stadium Canberra Australian Capital Territory 25,000[37] 1 1995 Fitzroy vs. West Coast: Round 9, 1995
Euroa Oval Euroa, Victoria Victoria 7,500[38] 1 1952 Carlton vs. Hawthorn: Round 8, 1952
North Hobart Oval Hobart Tasmania 18,000[39] 5 1992 Fitzroy vs Melbourne: Round 8, 1952
Fitzroy: two home games in each of 1991 and 1992
Motordrome Melbourne Victoria 30 000 3 1932 Melbourne: three home games in early 1932 when MCG was being resurfaced.
Toorak Park Prahran Victoria 15,000[40] 13 1942–43 St Kilda: home games for the 1942 and 1943 seasons
South Melbourne: occasional home games during World War II
Westpac Stadium Wellington New Zealand 36,000[41] 3 2013–15 St Kilda: one home game each year from 2013 to 2015

[42]

Yarraville Oval Yarraville Victoria 10,000 7 1942 Footscray home games for the 1942 VFL season.
Yallourn Oval Yallourn Victoria 3,500[43] 1 1952 St Kilda vs. Footscray: Round 8, 1952

Pre-season venues

The following list, is a list of the venues that have been used in AFL Pre-season competition.

Many of the grounds were used in the Regional Challenge stage of the AFL Pre-season competition, NAB Cup, which was used to bring AFL games to regional centres of South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and Victoria.

Ground City State Capacity Pre-season series
Richmond Oval Richmond South Australia 16,500 2014
Narrandera Sports Ground Narrandera New South Wales — 2007, 2008
Noarlunga Oval Noarlunga Downs South Australia 12,000[44] 2008
Collingwood Park Albany Western Australia — 2008
Deakin Reserve Shepparton Victoria — 2004, 2008
Casey Fields Cranbourne Victoria 4,000 2008
Blue Lake Sports Park Mount Gambier South Australia — 2007
Quandong Park Red Cliffs Victoria — 2006, 2007
Queen Elizabeth Oval Bendigo Victoria 18,000[45] 2005, 2006, 2008
Falcons Park Morwell Victoria 12,000[46] 2005
Arena Joondalup Joondalup Western Australia 16,000[47] 2005, 2014
Fremantle Oval Fremantle Western Australia 17,500[48] 2006, 2015
Rushton Park Mandurah Western Australia 10,000[49] 2005, 2014, 2015
Leederville Oval Leederville Western Australia 15,000[50] 2006
Lavington Sports Ground Albury New South Wales 25,000[51] 2005, 2006
Newcastle Number 1 Sports Ground Newcastle New South Wales 20,000[52] 2004
North Sydney Oval North Sydney New South Wales 20,000[53] 2004
Giffin Park Coorparoo Queensland — 2004
Coffs Harbour International Stadium Coffs Harbour New South Wales 20,000[54] 2003, 2015
Nuriootpa Oval Nuriootpa South Australia — 2003
Beachlands Oval Geraldton Western Australia — 2003
Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex Burpengary Queensland — 2015, 2016

International exhibition / pre-season venues

The following is a list of all of the international venues where a game of Australian rules football featuring VFL/AFL clubs has been played (in order of year last used). International matches have included pre-season competition matches or postseason exhibition matches. As of the end of 2016, the only international venue to host a premiership match is Westpac Stadium, in Wellington, New Zealand; a premiership match is scheduled for Jiangwan Stadium, Shanghai, China in 2017.

The first international Australian rules football exhibition match was in London in 1916. A team of Australian soldiers stationed in England at the time formed a team to play against a "training group". The game brought a crowd of 3,000 people that even included the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) and King Manuel II of Portugal.

The more recent AFL international matches have been part of the pre-season competition format and been highly successful. Countries that have hosted such matches include: United Arab Emirates, South Africa and United Kingdom. There are also plans to expand the game further into countries such as India[55] and Japan.[56]

Name of Ground City Country Match Played Date Attendance
Ghantoot Polo and Racing Club Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates Collingwood vs. Adelaide 9 February 2008 6,102 [57]
SuperSport Park Centurion South Africa Carlton vs. Fremantle 2 February 2008 3,500[58] – 5,222[59]
(reports vary)
The Oval London United Kingdom Various matches
Intramural Field at UCLA Los Angeles United States Sydney vs. North Melbourne 15 January 2006 3,200[60]
Westpac Stadium Wellington New Zealand Brisbane vs. Adelaide 17 February 2001 7,500
Western Bulldogs vs. Hawthorn 29 January 2000 11,666
Newlands Cricket Ground Cape Town South Africa Brisbane vs. Fremantle 22 February 1998 10,123
Basin Reserve Wellington New Zealand Sydney vs. Melbourne 3 January 1998 7,820
Auckland New Zealand St Kilda vs. Geelong 5 October 1991 8,500
Civic Stadium Portland, Oregon United States Melbourne vs. West Coast 12 October 1990 14,787
Joe Robbie Stadium Miami United States Essendon vs. Hawthorn 14 October 1989 10,069
Collingwood vs. Geelong 8 October 1988 7,500
SkyDome Toronto Canada Melbourne vs. Geelong 12 October 1989 24,639
Varsity Stadium Toronto Canada Collingwood vs. Hawthorn 16 October 1988 18,500
Yokohama Stadium Yokohama Japan Carlton vs. Hawthorn 3 November 1987 13,000
Essendon vs. Hawthorn 25 October 1987 25,000
BC Place Vancouver Canada Melbourne vs. North Melbourne 18 October 1987 7,980
Melbourne vs. Sydney 9 October 1987 32,789
Athens Greece Carlton vs. All Stars 5 November 1972 3000
Singapore Singapore Carlton vs. All Stars 12 November 1972 8,500
Crystal Palace National Sports Centre London England Australia vs. Britain ?, 1967 ?
Big Rec Stadium Los Angeles United States Geelong vs. Melbourne 26 October 1963 3,500
Honolulu United States Geelong vs. Melbourne 20 October 1963 1,500
Queen's Club London England Australian Division vs. Training Groups 28 October 1916 3,000[61]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Laws of Australian Football"
  2. ↑ "Melbourne Cricket Ground". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  3. ↑ "Etihad Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  4. ↑ "Adelaide Oval". Austadiums. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  5. ↑ "Sydney Cricket Ground". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  6. ↑ All venues – AFLTables. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  7. ↑ "Subiaco Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  8. ↑ "Gabba". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  9. ↑ "Skilled Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  10. ↑ "Carrara Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  11. 1 2 3 "2012 AFL Fixture" (PDF). AFL. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  12. ↑ "Aurora Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  13. ↑ "Manuka Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  14. ↑ "Big Crowd For Darwin's Demons Dockers' Clash". Hot 100 FM. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  15. ↑ AFL's Tigers to take on Suns in 2011 ABC Far North Qld. 19 September 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  16. ↑ Tigers set to play a home game in Cairns The Age. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  17. ↑ "Cazaly's Stadium". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  18. ↑ "Traeger Park". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  19. ↑ "Alice Springs to host Melbourne Demons' clash with Port Adelaide next AFL season". ABC News. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  20. ↑ "Arden Street Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  21. ↑ "Brunswick Street Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  22. ↑ "Coburg City Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  23. ↑ "AAMI Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  24. ↑ "Glenferrie Street Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  25. ↑ "Junction Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  26. ↑ "Bob Jane Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  27. ↑ "Moorabbin Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  28. ↑ "Princes Park". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  29. ↑ "Punt Road Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  30. ↑ "Punt Road Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  31. ↑ "Victoria Park". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  32. ↑ "WACA Ground". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  33. ↑ "Waverley Park". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  34. ↑ "Whitten Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  35. ↑ "Windy Hill". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  36. ↑ "Brisbane Exhibition Ground". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  37. ↑ "Canberra Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  38. ↑ "Match Stats – Carlton v Hawthorn, 14-Jun-1952". AFL Tables. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  39. ↑ "North Hobart Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  40. ↑ "Toorak Park". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  41. ↑ "Westpac Stadium". Austadiums. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  42. ↑ Lienert, Sam (12 September 2012). "NZ just step one for expansion-keen AFL". Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  43. ↑ "Match Details – Footscray v St Kilda – 14-Jun-1952". AFL Tables. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  44. ↑ "Noarlunga Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  45. ↑ "Queen Elizabeth Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  46. ↑ "LaTrobe City Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  47. ↑ "Arena Joondalup". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  48. ↑ "Fremantle Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  49. ↑ "Rushton Park". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  50. ↑ "Medibank Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  51. ↑ "Lavington Sports Ground". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  52. ↑ "Newcastle No. 1 Sports Ground". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  53. ↑ "North Sydney Oval". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  54. ↑ "Coffs Harbour International Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  55. ↑ Barrett, Sheahan (18 June 2008). "India mooted as new NAB Cup venue". Herald Sun. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  56. ↑ Stephen Rielly (14 February 2006). "The Japanese Expansion". Melbourne: Herald Sun. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  57. ↑ Damian Barrett (24 January 2008). "Footy facelift for polo complex". Herald Sun.
  58. ↑ Barrett, Damian (4 February 2008). "Kepler's badge of courage". Herald Sun. p. 38.
  59. ↑ "Dockers down Blues in Pretoria". World Footy News. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  60. ↑ "Kangaroos Dominate Swans". AFANA Footy News. 16 January 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  61. ↑ Anon, 30 October 1916.

External links

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