Whitten Oval
Whitten Oval, Western Oval | |
Former names | Western Oval (1883–1995) Whitten Oval (1995–2013) VU Whitten Oval (2013–2024) |
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Location | 417 Barkly Street, West Footscray, Victoria |
Coordinates | 37°47′57″S 144°53′12″E / 37.799166°S 144.886748°E |
Capacity | 10,000[1] |
Record attendance | 42,354 (1955 VFL season) |
Surface | Grass |
Tenants | |
Administration & Training (1883–present)
Footscray JUST (National Soccer League) (1980) Yarraville Football Club (VFA) (1983) Brunswick United (National Soccer League) (1993-1994) Fitzroy Football Club (AFL) (1994–1996) Western United FC (A-League Men) (2020) |
Whitten Oval (also known as Mission Whitten Oval under a
Formerly known as the Western Oval, the venue was renamed in honour of Ted Whitten in 1995, a former player, captain and coach for the club. A statue of Whitten is located at the entrance of the oval.
History
The Whitten Oval is the centrepiece of a reserve that, from 1860, was a stone quarry used by the railways. In 1866, the quarry was turned into a reserve that included botanical gardens. Other former quarries within the City of Footscray that were turned into public gardens in this era include the Yarraville Reserve, which is the site of the current Yarraville Oval, off Williamstown Road; the Yarraville Gardens, off Hyde Street; and Footscray Park, which fronts the Maribyrnong River.[5]
In 1886, after moving from ground to ground, the local council granted the local football club permission to use the Western Reserve as its home ground.[6] In 1883, the Prince Imperial Football Club reverted to its original name from its formation in the mid-1870s and Footscray Football Club was reformed. The club had to turn the gardens into a football field, building a railing system to surround the playing and dragging the pavilion from the Barkly Street end to the other.[7]
While the gardens became known as the David Spurling Reserve, the oval within the gardens became the Western Oval.
Footscray used Western Oval as its home ground almost continuously until 1997. It was absent from the ground only in 1942, when it was commandeered by military personnel during
In 1955, the ground record attendance was set for the oval when 42,354 turned out on 9 July to see then-defending premiers Footscray defeat
National Soccer League, Fitzroy, renaming, and the end of AFL matches
In 1983, struggling VFA Division 2 club Yarraville played its home games at Western Oval on Sundays.[10] This was the only season of the arrangement, as the club folded before the 1984 season.
In addition to its use as a VFL/AFL ground, the Western Oval also hosted 9 National Soccer League matches during the 1980s and 1990s:[11] Footscray JUST played 5 matches at the ground during the 1980 National Soccer League,[12] with an average attendance of 3,398, while Brunswick United played 4 matches at the ground during the 1993–94 National Soccer League season, with an average attendance of 1,306.[13][14][15][16] The highest attended National Soccer League match played at Western Oval was Footscray JUST's match against Heidelberg United on Sunday 17 August 1980, which drew a crowd of 6,734, while the lowest attended National Soccer League match played at Western Oval was Brunswick United's match against Brisbane Strikers on Sunday 7 March 1994, which drew a crowd of 773.
In 1994, the struggling Fitzroy Football Club began playing its home matches at the Western Oval, sharing the venue with Footscray, as it sought a better financial arrangement than it had received at its previous home Princes Park.[17] During this time Whitten Oval had a crowd capacity of 25,000.
In 1995, the oval was renamed the Whitten Oval, after the death of the football club's most prominent player, Ted Whitten. The driveway leading from Barkly Street to the car park behind the oval was named Whitten Avenue.
In 1996, the Footscray Football Club attempted to get an injunction against the Fitzroy Football Club merging with any other club in the AFL, claiming such a move would break Fitzroy's 20 year lease to play their home games at Whitten Oval. The court dismissed the claim, saying damages rather than an injunction should have been sought. Following Fitzroy's merger with Brisbane after the 1996 AFL season, the Western Bulldogs moved their primary home ground for matches from Whitten Oval to Princes Park in Carlton, with the club still scheduled to play two home matches at Whitten Oval.[18] However, prior to their Round 1 encounter with Fremantle, the ground was condemned and the Fremantle match was moved to Optus Oval.[19] Eventually the Bulldogs announced their intention to no longer play AFL matches at Whitten Oval, instead playing home games at Princes Park, until moving to Docklands Stadium in the 2000 season. A farewell premiership match was staged at the venue in Round 21, 1997 before a crowd of 26,704; the Bulldogs 12.14 (86) defeated West Coast 10.8 (68). After moving home matches away from the venue, the Bulldogs retain a training and administrative base at the venue.
Current use and growth of VFL/AFLW football
After the appointment of
In 2014, the ground started hosting home matches for the Western Bulldogs men's reserves team, known as Footscray, which competes in the Victorian Football League.[27] Since the Bulldogs received a license to field a team in the inaugural season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition in 2017, the club has played home matches for its women's teams at Whitten Oval.
2020, with Adelaide winning the match 4–3 in front of a crowd of 5,988. This was the first association football match to be played at the ground since 1994, with the crowd of 5,988 being the largest association football crowd at the ground since 1980.2022/23 redevelopments
In May 2019 the
In February 2024, Mission Foods, a long-term partner of the Bulldogs, was announced as the new naming rights sponsor of Whitten Oval.[2]
Past characteristics
During its VFL/AFL playing days, Whitten Oval was known for being particularly long and narrow with deep squarish pockets, and for the wild wind which often bellowed over the ground, particularly at the Geelong Road end. These reasons, most specifically the wind, meant that the oval was the site of many abnormally low scoring games, inaccurate scoring tallies and games in which more than 80% of all scoring was kicked to one end. The ground developed a demographic of the "ground visiting sides hated to play at", with passionate Bulldog supporters and its distinctive playing conditions making it an arduous task to leave with a win.
In a game illustrating the worst that the Western Oval wind could offer, Footscray defeated Fitzroy in a close game, 14.9 (93) to 13.7 (85), in Round 10, 1964 – of the total of 178 points scored in the game, only 7 were scored against the wind. When Footscray played Fitzroy in Round 17, 1927, only 6 of 173 points were kicked against the wind. In 1948's Footscray versus Geelong game, only 2 of the 58 scoring shots were made into the wind. The wind was so fierce that when the Geelong full-back, Bruce Morrison, kicked the ball off after Footscray had scored a behind, the ball floated back over his head and went through the goals. The goal umpire signalled a "forced behind". While these are extreme examples, it was common to see no more than two or three goals kicked into the wind, while 14 or 15 would be scored at the other end.
Community use
Post-use as a VFL/AFL stadium, the Whitten Oval is now primarily used as the training ground for the Western Bulldogs.
A number of local community groups, schools and sporting organisations utilise the ground; particularly because of its close proximity to the Melbourne CBD and local transport. The ground also plays host to a variety of commercially-oriented tenancies, including retail (The
The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) utilised the ground for games and finals until its demise as a competition in 2015. Other local groups have utilised the facility on numerous occasions, including the Rec Footy competition and the Bulldogs Family Day.
Footscray Cricket Club
The ground ceased to be a used as a regular cricket venue at the end of 1996. From 1893 until December 1996, it was the home of the
Transport
Whitten Oval is serviced by
Trivia
- Fifteen Canary Island date palmtrees line the footpath north of the oval, facing Barkly Street.
- Of the 15 palms that line the reserve's northern border, 10 are south of the entrance to Whitten Avenue and five are north of the entrance.
- Behind the palms, to the north of the entrance, is the Lions Club of Footscray Memorial Playground.
- In 1937 the oval was used to host the first interclub Trugo match with Yarraville coming out victors over Footscray by 7 goals.[35][36]
- The Western Oval was the home ground of the Footscray Trugo Club from 1937 until 1940 when the club moved to purpose built facilities in Buckly Street.[37]
See also
Notes
- ^ Not including 1942 when the oval was being utilised by military personnel and the club played home matches at Yarraville Oval.
References
- ^ "Whitten Oval". austadiums.com. Austadiums. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ a b "Mission Whitten Oval: Home of the Western Bulldogs". Western Bulldogs. Telstra. 23 February 2024.
- ^ "VU Whitten Oval". Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ "VU Whitten Oval | Western Bulldogs". westernbulldogs.com.au. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Ruban, L. (2013, May 11). Club History Page - West Footscray Football Club. WRFL Footy Record, 5, 47.
- ^ a b Potted History - Official AFL Website
- ISBN 0646262157.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link - ^ "Western Oval – Attendances (1925–1997)". AFL Tables. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ^ "Oval for Sunshine". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne, VIC. 28 September 1965.
- ^ Marc Fiddian (26 March 1983). "Dullard, Towns join Seagulls". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 27.
- ^ Lynch, Joey. "WESTERN UNITED ON THE MOVE AGAIN". FTBL. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ "1980 National Soccer League Results". OzFootball. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ "1993/94 season - round 2 results". OzFootball. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ "1993/94 season - round 4 results". OzFootball. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ "1993/94 season - round 5 results". OzFootball. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ "1993/94 season - round 25 results". OzFootball. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ "1993 review". Footystats. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ^ "Fairfax Syndication Photo Print Sales and Content Licensing".
- ^ "Fairfax Syndication Photo Print Sales and Content Licensing".
- ^ "Re-Development Of Whitten Oval – A Community Partnership" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007.
- ^ "Re-Development Of Whitten Oval – A Community Partnership" (PDF). p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007.
- ^ Media Release: Whitten Oval Rebuild On Track To Deliver The Goods
- ^ "FORMER AFL VENUES" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ "SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING - MINUTES" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2012.
- ^ Johnson, Lyall (19 November 2005). "Hawk's wing clipped". The Age. p. 4.
- ^ Whitten Oval - Official AFL Website of the Western Bulldogs Football Club
- ^ Jon Pierik (10 December 2013). "Footscray Bulldogs return to Whitten Oval". The Age. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ^ "Bulldogs bold plan to return AFL to Whitten Oval". Austadiums. 2 May 2019.
- ^ a b c "$58 million revamp for Whitten Oval". Austadiums. 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Whitten Oval redevelopment". Maribyrnong City Council. 17 December 2020.
- ^ "VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT FUNDING SECURES REDEVELOPMENT OF BULLDOGS' WHITTEN OVAL". Australasian Leisure Management. 15 November 2020.
- ^ "AFLW Bulldogs to play home games away from VU Whitten Oval". Western Bulldogs. 30 June 2022.
- ^ "State Government continues its support as demolition begins". Western Bulldogs. 16 July 2022.
- ^ Vin Maskell (21 January 2013). "The Mervyn G Hughes Oval, Footscray, Victoria". Scoreboard Pressure. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
- ^ "True-go Clubs Meet". The Age. 16 June 1937.
- ^ "Essendon Debutantes, Skin of Sheep Marauder, Show Arena to be Floodlit". The Age. 11 June 1937.
- ^ "Williamstown Chronicle". Tru-go Club. 17 February 1940.
External links
- Whitten Oval at Austadiums
- "Around the Grounds" - Web Documentary - Western Oval
- Whitten Oval "From Vision to Reality" - documentation of the redevelopment by the Western Bulldogs
- Bulldogs Central - the Western Bulldogs Merchandise Outlet
- Physioplus Footscray - a physiotherapy and massage therapist practice operating at the Whitten Oval