SANFL Grounds

redandblack wrote:That depends on where the Power Club is to be built.

If a grandstand is to be removed for it to be built, then he is right.

In any event, just move on, ahl.

The key word in your post is IF. original post stated this has already happened. Which is quite wrong.

It's the same as saying that Richmond is poor because the past players building has been knocked down to make way for a new stand. The fact that it hasn't wouldn't matter.

Irrespective of what stands, buildings have come and gone at Alberton, it is the best playing surface of all the suburban grounds. You would expect that with the Power training there.

Whether that advantages the Magpies too is not easy to say.

I don't mind Alberton, but it can get exciting on the outer terraces when wearing other than Black and White.

Alberton has a similar feel to Unley in a way on the western side, with the bowling club in the SW corner and the 2 grandstands (one old one newer). I guess that is about where the similarities end.

My 3 favs (other than Unley) are;
- Richmond (best BBQ & beer prices in the league)
- Alberton
- Woodville

bearcubtwink wrote:maybe those Norwood peeps are very little? lol and those Beethans are all "jolly" from the lolly!!

A fine example of what we are trying to get away from.

One of the usual suspects registering under a 'porn' name and posting the above.

Back to the play pen, children.

Ban time.

(Oh, more to come, you know who you are)

Can I add that I totally understand the passion for Unley Oval, I dont discount that at all and dont mean to suggest that it would be some easy thing to just pack up and shift to the hills.

It would be a good thing if the Unley Council would come right out and actually apologise to the Sturt FC for some of the remarks that have been made to them over the years. Sturt have had various ideas for investment knocked back and its not helping the club one bit.

One would think that it would not be to hard for the council to be at least a little reasonable into allowing some permanant fencing around areas of the ground, begining with around the playground areas on the North Eastern Corner of the ground which is close to the road and makes common sense to comprimise on that corner at least. Heritage style fencing can be done if there is a willingness from the council to accept it and be supportive of the club.

I recall back in the 1990s when Sturt went through a really rough time and were struggling for survival, my memory fades but I dont even think Sturt were at Unley at that time, the club and its members called a public meeting of Sturt and SANFL people in general to Unley Oval, they had a P/A system and various people got up to speak. Jim Derrington was handed a microphone at one point and said something along the lines that he did not know what to say to a crowd of people, he pointed out the area of the oval where he had been knocked out on one occassion and pointed out various areas of Unley Oval where history had been made and things that had happened and so on, at the end of his speech he said it was up to the crowd what became of it all. Sturt went on to win a Premiership then another since then. Something that many clubs like my own can only look through the window at and wonder what it was like to be a part of Sturt and to see them rebuild and make the club a success.

Be it a move or be it to stay at Unley, I have little doubt that Sturt will overcome the obstacles and make it successful as they have done time and time again when challenged. A pity that other sides in the SANFL did not have as hard core group of supporters or things could be very different for several clubs!

Prospect is great. Love the way the Oval runs out of alignment.

They need to demolish the taj though. Way too many bad sessions occurred there...

Ben W wrote:

One would think that it would not be to hard for the council to be at least a little reasonable into allowing some permanant fencing around areas of the ground, begining with around the playground areas on the North Eastern Corner of the ground which is close to the road and makes common sense to comprimise on that corner at least. Heritage style fencing can be done if there is a willingness from the council to accept it and be supportive of the club.

Yes that wouldn't be too much you'd think. The dog walkers only enter the ground from 2 or 3 spots. I don't understand why decent fencing (heritage if necessary) can't go around the western and most of the Northern side of the ground, leaving the logical entry points open. Similarly for the ground itself, most of that could be fenced leaving gaps where necessary.

Similarly with sponsors signs. A few permanent ones won't kill park style ambience.
The doggy-do does more to kill that.

If the Council are fair dinkum in their support then these should be the first concessions.
Did you notice the Council was a jumper sponsor last season? I heard that it was a smallish contribution but I guess a tangible start all the same.

The SFC certainly need to pick up momentum very soon with the Council on these sorts of initiatives.

Captain Jimmy wrote:Prospect is great. Love the way the Oval runs out of alignment.

They need to demolish the taj though. Way too many bad sessions occurred there...

Or improve it

OK, we're going to start rating the grounds as mentioned before.

The final judges are Brucetiki, Ben W, Bobbafet and any other volunteers, if they wish.

The first rating (from 1 to 9 (?) will be one of the easier ones:

Surface:

So discussion starts on that topic now and they'll be rated by the judges after a few days.

Following on from that, my thoughts on each home ground is:

Alberton: Excellent surface,
Glenelg: Looks great now in summer, but usually poor. Patchy, sandy and muddy when it rains.
Noarlunga: Used to be fairly good, now above average.
Unley: Fair, drainage not good.
Norwood: Used to be the worst, lately it's been well above average.
Elizabeth; Good
Prospect: Poor, the cricket pitch gets extremely boggy.
Richmond: Consistently above average.
Woodville: Used to be only average (and smelly), now pretty good.

Criteria: Surface

Top 3
Hickenbotham Oval:
Despite the weather that Noarlunga is notorious for, I don't think I've ever seen the ground turn into a bog. In fact, in times I've been there during it's infamous torrential rainstorms, the ground holds up very well. Given it's the youngest ground in the competition, you'd expect that though.

Alberton Oval:
It's an AFL training ground, so it has to be in excellent condition, and rain, hail or shine, you'll get a good surface at Alberton. Call this nit-picking if you want, but the extra line markings on the ground from Port Power training is what has costed Alberton top spot for me. Ideally, the SANFL would ask that the markings be removed for Magpies homes games so you don't have 25m lines, 75m lines and random centre circles across the ground, however, it's the only fault I can find with Alberton's surface.

City Mazda Stadium:
Consistently good. Holds up well, like the other top 3, not much to complain about here.


Mid-Table
Playford Alive Oval:
Good surface when it's dry, but can become somewhat choppy in wet weather. The lack of a cricket wicket though helps keep the centre of the ground consistent with the rest of the ground though. All up, it's a constant surface with little variation in condition across the ground regardless of weather.

Unleash Solar Oval:
The centre square can get a bit suspect after some bad weather but the rest of the ground remains pretty good regardless of weather.

Coopers Stadium:
In dry weather, it can be an outstanding surface. In wet weather, it can become a complete bog. Can be one of the best surfaces and one of the worst surfaces...


Bottom 3
Gliderol Stadium:
Centre wicket area will always cause grief after some wet weather. The rest of the ground is quite inconsistent. Even in the middle of winter you'll see dead spots around the ground, particularly on the wings.

Commander Centre Oval:
Has the two biggest obstacles a football surface can have - a cricket pitch and the fact it's a public reserve outside of game days. Has improved since the infamous period of the mid 2000's when it was a dog poo infested heap which was very close to being unfit for league football, but still one of the poorest surfaces in the competition.

Prospect Oval:
A complete mess. At best, it's patchy. At worst, it's a mud bowl. Takes last place quite comfortably for me.

I think for all season consistency Alberton wins. Lines or no lines.

Most grounds are good until the end of May - Unley included.
After that the drainage generally east of the city is not good.
Soil has too much clay.


Middle to late in the season, there isn't a lot of grass on the ground.

For mine second best is Woodville.
That does seem to keep the grass.
I am no soil doctor but I wonder if it is more sandy loam around the western suburbs.

IE Richmond, Woodville, Alberton and I reckon Thebarton is pretty good but I suppose doesn't get th ework of other grounds.

As for Glenelg, the closest to the sea - who knows but it does seem more like the eastern suburbs grounds.

It seems a hard ask financially to improve the grounds with poor drainage / soil. That would be prohibitive I think.

redandblack wrote:Fantastic work, BT, great pictures, too.

Well done, much appreciated.

(I think Richmond Oval was opened more like 1958, although it was started in 1954, I suppose)

I think you might have started a lively debate about ovals.

I am not a West Adelaide supporter as you are about to find out but for the record Richmond Oval was officially opened on 26/4/58 when West 12-11 defeated Torrens 10-13. I assume the grandstand named after him was officially opened that day but Brian Faehse played a major role in the acquisition and development of Richmond Oval(I wish it was still called that but that is a different story). He was a member of the West sub-committee which negotiated the lease of the ground from the West Torrens Council.Cliff Semmler,Cliff Todd and Roy Charles were the other sub-committee members. He then organized the plan of the oval(size,shape,etc.) and arranged the original earth moving,clearing and levelling at the site.

I have never forgiven Faehse however,because three years earlier he was awarded a free kick against my beloved Blues at Unley and calmly slotted a goal after the final siren to give Westies a three point win 13-13 to 11-22. He only kicked eleven goals that year and that was one of them. Then again perhaps my wrath should have been directed at the field umpire(only one in those days).[b]

If I see him, I'll ask him if he remembers that goal as well as you do, rover.

One of my very prized possessions is a photo taken about 2 years ago.

3 legends: Brian Faehse, Ken Eustice, Neil Kerley.

and me

Brucetiki, do you want to come up with a list of criteria to be judged?

One that may not be in the criteria (?), but might interest some, is ranking the visitors' facilities.

85 Was A Good Year and I (and others(?) might be able to give good info on that.

I'll start:

Visitors' Rooms.

Noarlunga - pretty good.

Glenelg - pretty bad

Unley - improved, but average,

Alberton - reasonable.

Elizabeth - poor.

Prospect, formerly poor, now quite OK.

Norwood - formerly disgraceful, now just poor.

Woodville - OK.

Richmond - others can judge.

None of the rooms, bar Noarlunga, are at all great, and several have been improved, so we're judging against a low standard.

Grandstand facilities are next, but I'll wait for 85 to hopefully give an opinion.



Elizabeth -

redandblack wrote:Brucetiki, do you want to come up with a list of criteria to be judged?

One that may not be in the criteria (?), but might interest some, is ranking the visitors' facilities.

85 Was A Good Year and I (and others(?) might be able to give good info on that.

I'll start:

Visitors' Rooms.

Noarlunga - pretty good.

Glenelg - pretty bad

Unley - improved, but average,

Alberton - reasonable.

Elizabeth - poor.

Prospect, formerly poor, now quite OK.

Norwood - formerly disgraceful, now just poor.

Woodville - OK.

Richmond - others can judge.

None of the rooms, bar Noarlunga, are at all great, and several have been improved, so we're judging against a low standard.

Grandstand facilities are next, but I'll wait for 85 to hopefully give an opinion.



Elizabeth -

I have a slightly different opinion on some visitors rooms. I'l give them a score out of 10.

Visitors' Rooms.

Noarlunga - Smallish but not the worst. 7 /10

Glenelg - pretty bad, very small. 3 /10

Unley - improved and are ok. 6 /10

Alberton - a little better than Glenelg. 4 / 10

Elizabeth - location of room is poor, but similar to the Panthers visitors room in size (taking off 2 points for location). 5 /10

Prospect, very good, now that the renovations are complete in the grandstand. 8 /10

Norwood - formerly disgraceful, now just poor, by far the worst of them all, far too small. 2 /10

Woodville - very good, large room. 9 /10

Richmond - Along with Woodville/ Prospect, the largest room for visitors. 8 /10

redandblack wrote:Brucetiki, do you want to come up with a list of criteria to be judged?

One that may not be in the criteria (?), but might interest some, is ranking the visitors' facilities.

Yeah I can do that. I'll come up with a list later today and should have it up tonight. If I miss a criteria, feel free to let me know and I'll add it in.

I will then tally up the overall scores for each criteria 'Eurovision style' with the following scoring

12 points
10 points
8 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

Once we've discussed all criteria we can then provide an overall score for each ground.

all grounds have their special unique characteristics & atmosphere, whether that is the smell of the bbq or liniment, the raffle & budget sellers etc

personally i don't like going to prospect, nothing to do with the oval i just find it hard to get a park there

you also have a choice whether & where to stand, sit, take your own chairs & even sit in a car & watch (at 1 oval anyway) & can usually get your food & drinks without having to wait 15 minutes to get served

basically every oval & facilities is as good as each others & i enjoy each grounds separate characteristics & atmosphere

rover wrote:

redandblack wrote:Fantastic work, BT, great pictures, too.

Well done, much appreciated.

(I think Richmond Oval was opened more like 1958, although it was started in 1954, I suppose)

I think you might have started a lively debate about ovals.

I am not a West Adelaide supporter as you are about to find out but for the record Richmond Oval was officially opened on 26/4/58 when West 12-11 defeated Torrens 10-13. I assume the grandstand named after him was officially opened that day but Brian Faehse played a major role in the acquisition and development of Richmond Oval(I wish it was still called that but that is a different story). He was a member of the West sub-committee which negotiated the lease of the ground from the West Torrens Council.Cliff Semmler,Cliff Todd and Roy Charles were the other sub-committee members. He then organized the plan of the oval(size,shape,etc.) and arranged the original earth moving,clearing and levelling at the site.

I have never forgiven Faehse however,because three years earlier he was awarded a free kick against my beloved Blues at Unley and calmly slotted a goal after the final siren to give Westies a three point win 13-13 to 11-22. He only kicked eleven goals that year and that was one of them. Then again perhaps my wrath should have been directed at the field umpire(only one in those days).[b]

Maybe you should have had a look at your sides goalkicking.

It's the longest journey by far for me - around 150km round trip - but Elizabeth would be close to my favorite ground to watch SANFL at. Easy to get a park (provided there early enough - I'm usually at a game around 11am); excellent ground condition, great viewing spots, good catering - very few negatives.

Visitors' Rooms.

Noarlunga - Good set up for trainers & Doc, but overall was better before they did some "improvements" a couple of years ago. 7/10

Glenelg - Embarrassing - way too small, plus have to venture to Bays home room to get access to fill water containers. Because it's under the grandstand it's almost impossible to renovate or/and expand unless moved into a new building 2 /10

Unley - Very small and bad set up for Trainers & Doc. Some areas are made unavailable on matchday as are used as storage areas. 4/10

Alberton - Difficult for Trainers & Doc, smaller since home rooms were expanded 2 yrs ago, but yes are a little better than Glenelg. 4 / 10

Elizabeth - Rooms set up good, but location of room from oval is poor. Difficult for stretcher use. 7 /10

Prospect - very good. 8 /10

Norwood - On par with Glenelg. Hate playing there as pre-game preparation is a nightmare. Can barely fit a strapping bench in there. 2/10

Woodville - Best by far. Can't complain at all. 9 /10

Richmond - Trainers room is small and narrow, but rooms and set up pretty good overall. 7 /10

I love this discussion about the various ovals but just have a concern about rating how good parking is at each one. Surely this would depend on what time you arrive.
If you are going to show up at any oval at say 2pm, getting a park is going to be difficult, whereas if you arrive at say 12-12.30 you will obviously get a lot closer. Just a minor thought.

Maybe the sanfl should ask the club trainers and match day staff how to design a changeroom. Seriously!

I never go in the changrooms much, so don't realy know what makes a good one from a bad one.

But have they essentially remained the same all these years, given that most of the stands are more than 40 years old?

What sort of 'upgrades' have taken place in that time too?

Maybe it was because of that culture of making the opposition's visit to your home ground as miserable as possible that it's been this way for so long. The cliche about the hot water not working in the visitors' rooms is a cliche for a good reason: it happened so often. Hopefully our attitudes to the players are changing a bit now.

Brucetiki wrote:

redandblack wrote:Brucetiki, do you want to come up with a list of criteria to be judged?

One that may not be in the criteria (?), but might interest some, is ranking the visitors' facilities.

Yeah I can do that. I'll come up with a list later today and should have it up tonight. If I miss a criteria, feel free to let me know and I'll add it in.

I will then tally up the overall scores for each criteria 'Eurovision style' with the following scoring

12 points
10 points
8 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

Once we've discussed all criteria we can then provide an overall score for each ground.

Due to the technical issues with this thread last night, I obviously couldn't get the criteria up. It was also the only free night I have this week, but will endeavour to get the criteria up and running by the end of the week.

Not sure if this will get included but here is my rating of radio broadcast facilities. ..... Happy for CK or Big Phil to compare for a more balance score.

Elizabeth 9.5/10 - If getting there is half the fun then a trip north is great as my radio crew usually goes as a group, making for some great prematch and post match discussion. Position is high up (slight blind spot with corporate facility) and lots of space to work in. Car parking in ground always provided and Ladies Auxillary always look after us with some cakes.

Norwood 9/10 - Best broadcasting spot in the SANFL right on top of the action with a big wide desk to work from. Also we occassionally receive something to eat at half time. Only issue is parking

Woodville 9/10 - **beware Eagles bias note* - Broadcasting booth is right on centre wing with a large enclosed space to work from. Line did not work once last year and phone connection is a distance away. Pass will get you a free car park but is quite a walk with gear to broadcast spot. Eagles always ensure broadcast teams are invited to a lunch during the year.

Alberton 8/10 - Not sure why the low score, maybe being forced with the radio gear to park on the opposite side of the oval rather than accross the road gets me in a bad mood before I get started. Location is central, space is excellent.

Glenelg 7/10 - Only suburban ground where we call from an enclosed box, a blessing or curse depending on weather. Extra poles makes calling shots at Northern end tricky at times. Phone socket behind stats team which means we can only connect at breaks. No longer receive a reserved car park for the radio gear.

Noarlunga 7/10 - The Panthers do their best to really look after the radio broadcasters. They always get a lunch invite during the year and have a big (if not crowded) desk to work from plus free car access into the ground.
Only issue is location at one end of the ground making calling the action at the Colonades end impossible without binoculars.

Unley 6/10 - Broadcast conditions are weather dependent, on a sunny day it's a superb location in the front of the grandstand right in the thick of the crowd. On a rainy day it gets very tricky to keep the electrical gear from getting wet. Phone line used to be dodgy but has worked well in recent years. Parking is fun, usually we travel in a group drop someone off with gear by the gate then go and park many blocks away.

Richmond 4/10 - Has to be downgraded last year with many technical issues leading to calls via mobile and the visiting stats teams now taking over traditional radio spot in front of the phone socket giving minimal space to broadcast from.
A wider & longer desk and a working phone line would lift this to one of the best. Car parking is provided and to their credit we always received some BBQ items before half time, the only clubs to do this every time.

Prospect 2/10 ... alas the worst by a fair way. Phone line breaks down more times that all other grounds combined. Actually had a few broadcasts cancelled last year as phone line not working. Broadcast position keeps getting moved with radio last on list for allocation last two spots have only had room for two people let along four with gear. Broadcasting with a lap top or radio gear on your lap is not advised. Phone outlet is in back of timekeepers box meaning we only have access to set up at the end of a quarter. Only gets 2 pts because they allow a car park close to the grandstand.