Arden Street Oval
Arden Street Oval is an inner-suburban sporting facility and sports oval in North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is currently the training base of the North Melbourne Football Club, an Australian rules football club.
Arden Street Oval has a long association with the football club, which moved to the ground in 1882 and for 60 years between 1925 and the 1985 season it was used as the team's home ground for Australian Football League matches, known at the time as the Victorian Football League.
The oval is now the site of the club's home AFL Women's, Victorian Football League and VFL Women's home matches.
History
Arden Street Oval was officially secured from the Hotham/North Melbourne Cricket Club from the Government who handed over the parcel of land to the Hotham Cricket Club in 1873 or 1874. The Hotham Cricket Club was the only club to use the ground until 1882, when it amalgamated with the Hotham Football Club to effect improvements to the ground.Before then, the Hotham Football Club had been playing home matches at Royal Park, near the present site of the Melbourne Zoo, as early as 1859 in the form of the embryonic Hothamites football playing club. The first game of Australian football ever played at the Arden Street ground took place on 29 April 1882, when Hotham defeated Royal Park. Three years later, the ground became permanently reserved to the Crown.
The Hotham Football Club changed its name back to North Melbourne on the 31st March 1888 after the Town of Hotham reverted to the name of North Melbourne in August 1887. The cricket club followed suit.
The playing surface, notorious for becoming a gluepot in inclement weather, was upgraded during the winter of 1897, so no football was played there during that season. 1906 saw the construction of the ground's first grandstand. By mid-1909, the control of the Recreation Reserve had shifted to the Parks and Gardens Committee of the Melbourne City Council, meaning that the State Minister for Lands had final say over the use of the reserve. In 1921, the Essendon Football Club attempted to move to the ground after its home ground, the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, was closed, and the North Melbourne Football Club disbanded as it sought to amalgamate with Essendon; but the State Minister for Lands vetoed Essendon's move. This prompted Essendon to move to the Essendon Recreation Reserve, and the re-formed North Melbourne returned the following season to Arden Street.
In 1922, management of the ground was transferred from the Melbourne City Council to the North Melbourne Football and Cricket Clubs. Improvements to the ground that year, made in an attempt to increase revenue, included the installation of hot showers in the change rooms.
In early 1925, North Melbourne was admitted to the Victorian Football League. The invitation to join the VFL came at a time when local support for the club was at an all-time high, prompting further upgrading of facilities. This included the construction of the main grandstand in 1928, with seating for 2,000 spectators.
In 1965, North Melbourne moved its playing and training base from the Arden Street Oval to Coburg Oval. The move was intended to be permanent, with some initial negotiations seeking long-term leases for up to 40 years, but it was ultimately cancelled after only eight months, and North Melbourne returned to the Arden Street Oval in 1966.
Until the late 1960s, the 1906 and 1928 grandstands were the only major structures associated with the Recreation Reserve. The new administration building and Social Club were built after 1966.
The North Melbourne Football Club continued to use the site as its home ground until 1985, when the club began using the Melbourne Cricket Ground for its home matches. The last VFL match was played there on 17 August 1985 when North Melbourne defeated Richmond by 50 points. The record attendance at the ground is 35,116 in 1949. The highest score was North Melbourne's 29.19 in 1983 versus Carlton.
The club continued to maintain the Arden Street Oval as a training and administrative base after shifting home games away. From 2002 until 2010, the club based its administration in offices at Docklands Stadium, before returning to upgraded Arden Street Oval offices in early 2010; but it has maintained Arden Street as its training base continuously throughout that time.
In 2006 the ground became the subject of an arson attack, with several portable buildings including the gymnasium, coaches' offices and players' lounge destroyed by fire in the early hours of 22 July, the morning after the Kangaroos suffered a 72-point loss to the Adelaide Crows at Football Park. Links between the attack, the team's loss and speculation surrounding its future were quickly dismissed.
Ground improvements
First grandstand
The first grandstand was built in 1906 on the Fogarty Street side of the ground, at a reputed cost of £850. It helped to grow North Melbourne Football Club supporter base, whereby a record crowd for the club was reached in 1910, when 28,000 people watched North Melbourne play Brunswick in a VFA final held at Arden Street Oval. Remnants of this stand, the concrete players’ race and the base of one of the external staircases, remain in the terraced area. The players’ race still connects the players’ dressing rooms in the Football Club administration building with the oval. In 1909, plans for a new grandstand, to cost £1,000, were drawn up by local councillor and a leading figure as one the clubs leaders in its founding years, J H Gardiner, born John Gardiner, but not built until 1928 and at a cost of £11,000.1928 grandstand
North Melbourne's move to the VFL in 1925 prompted significant upgrading of the club's facilities. Symbolic of the club's new status as a member of the VFL was the construction of the brick grandstand in 1928, with seating for 2,000 spectators. Located to the south-east of the existing 1906 stand, it was built on the site of the small timber pavilion, which was demolished, and another even smaller structure to the south-east which was apparently re-located elsewhere. The designer was H E Morton and the builder was J E Morison.The foundation stone reads as follows:
NORTH MELBOURNE RECREATION RESERVE
THIS TABLET WAS UNVEILED BY THE
RIGHT HONORABLE THE LORD MAYOR OF MELBOURNE
ALDERMAN SIR STEPHEN MORELL
ON SATURDAY 24TH MARCH 1928
COMMITTEE 1927–28
COUNCILLOR DR KENT HUGHES, CHAIRMAN
L. W. ABLEY REV. D. DALEY
A. J. HARFORD J. T. EDMONDS
C. W. LETTEY J. P. T. MORAN
G. P. RUSSELL W. J. WOODBRIDGE
R. ROUTLEY, J. C. CONNOLEY,
SECRETARY TREASURER
H. E. MORTON, J. C. MORISON,
ENGINEER BUILDER
The main grandstand seated prominent members and administrators of the football club up until the club stopped playing games there in 1984. From then on, it fell into disrepair and was eventually closed off to the public in 1991. It housed the club gym for a few years before bird droppings inside the roof began to present a safety hazard. The grandstand was eventually demolished in 2006 after failed attempts to find funds to repair the structure, much to the disappointment of the . A new administration and football facility was built in its place.
Harold R. Henderson Pavilion
The Harold R. Henderson Pavilion was the latest stand to be built. It was constructed in the late '60s following the club's disastrous move to the Coburg City Oval. Led by Allen Aylett and Harold R. Henderson, a committee was formed that aimed to redevelop the ground so that there would never be a repeat of the club's relocation to Coburg. Along with new administration facilities, a new first rate social club was built that became the envy of other VFL clubs during the 70s.The pavilion itself set a new benchmark in football standards, with the introduction of corporate hospitality where clients could enjoy the football in comfort. These improvements were responsible for the great success North achieved during the 70s.
After 1985, the Pavilion was converted into the 'Kanga Kasino' that housed the clubs pokie machines. In 2002, North Melbourne acquired the Captain's Bar at the newly constructed Docklands Stadium, and the pokies were moved there. From 2002 until 2009, the Pavilion held the club gym and North Melbourne's official merchandise store, the 'Roo Shop'.
The Pavilion was demolished in 2009 as part of the development of the oval.
Betting ring
The betting ring was a concreted area beneath a roof, behind the 1928 grandstand, on the corner of Arden and Fogarty streets. The betting ring was built for greyhound racing meetings that were held at Arden St from 1957 to 1962. The dogs ran on a track that formed a perimeter around the cricket oval. While the betting ring was alive with punters and bookmakers, only those in the ring's top corner, at the northern end, had a view past the grandstand and across the terraces to the finishing line. After the demise of greyhound racing at Arden Street, the betting ring served as a car park and equipment shelter. Much of the area was taken up by the Bob Dempster Memorial Nets, which were built on the oval in 1975, before being shifted to the corner of the betting ring closest to the intersection of Arden and Fogarty streets.In 2006, the betting ring was destroyed in an arson attack.
Outer shed
At the eastern goals, and along the Macaulay Street boundary, stood small shelters for the spectators. These shelters were demolished in the aftermath of the 1985 Bradford City stadium fire in England, when the Metropolitan Fire Brigade declared them a fire hazard.The Gasometer
One of the iconic features of VFL football at Arden Street was the gigantic gasometer that towered over the ground. The giant gas works structure was located along Macaulay Road and became synonymous with North Melbourne in the football world.The gasometer was so well known that Mick Nolan was affectionately labelled the "Galloping Gasometer" by footy fans due to his large size and apparent resemblance to the structure.