1.
Norwood Football Club
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Norwood Football Club, nicknamed, Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club competing in the South Australian National Football League in the state of South Australia. Its home ground is Coopers Stadium, which referred to as The Parade. It is one of the two traditional powerhouse clubs of the SANFL, the other being Port Adelaide, who together have won half of all SANFL premierships. The Norwood Football Club was formed at a meeting held at the Norfolk Arms Hotel in Rundle Street, Norwoods first home ground was in the east Park Lands near the tramway and opposite the Kent Town Brewery. Norwood played their first match at Adelaide Oval on 16 May 1878 against South Adelaide, Norwood went on to win the match 1 goal to nil, with Test cricketer George Giffen kicking Norwoods goal. During this match the players donned distinctive red stockings which gave rise to the nickname Redlegs, Norwood won a premiership in its first year of existence and then followed with five more in a row. Only Port Adelaide in the 1950s has managed to repeat the feat of winning 6 premierships in a row, Norwood eventually won 11 pennants between 1878 and 1899 and was the most successful team of the 1800s. In 1883, after winning the pennant for the successive year, Norwood became the first South Australian club to record a win over a Victorian team. In 1888, Norwood were proclaimed Premiers of Australia when they defeated South Melbourne in three matches at Kensington Oval, Norwood and Port Adelaide became famous rivals after a particularly tough qualifying finals match in 1894. Dalys goal tally would not be surpassed for another 37 years and his tally of 23 goals in one match has ever been equalled by the great North Adelaide goal shooter. Daly was widely regarded as the greatest South Australian footballer from 1877 to the close of the nineteenth century, the 1904 Grand Final was a memorable one for Norwood who were down by 35 points at three-quarter time against traditional rival Port Adelaide. Norwood was only two points down with a minute remaining, tommy Gibbons held a mark on a seemingly impossible angle. His kick sailed through the posts to give Norwood a four-point victory 9.8 to 8.10. Norwood would beat Carlton again in 1921, but on this occasion both clubs were runners up in their respective competitions. For his brief coaching stint, Thomas Leahy proved remarkably successful, leading the Redlegs to back to back premierships in 1922 and 1923, a feat that would not be repeated for 90 years. Walter Scott was captain-coach of the Norwood Football Club for five years, over a coaching stint of 12 years, Jack Oatey led the Redlegs to three premierships in 1946,1948,1950. The period spanning the 1951 and 1973 seasons, totalling twenty three years, was the clubs longest without a premiership, robert Hammond would lead the Redlegs to two premierships, one in 1975 and the other in 1978. In 1977, Norwood defeated East Perth for the NFL night series premiership, both of these clubs would later make bids to enter the VFL, East Perth in 1980 and Norwood in 1986
2.
Port Adelaide Football Club
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The Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, Port Adelaide, South Australia. The clubs senior team plays in the Australian Football League whilst its reserves, Port Adelaide is the oldest professional football club in South Australia and the fifth-oldest club in the AFL. Since the clubs first game on 24 May 1870, it has won 36 South Australian league premierships, the club also won the Champions of Australia competition on a record four occasions. In 1997, the joined the Australian Football League as the only pre-existing non-Victorian club—and subsequently added the 2004 AFL Premiership to its achievements. By the late 1860s Port Adelaides river traffic was growing significantly causing John Rann, Mr. Leicester, the Port Adelaide Football Club was established on 12 May 1870 as part of a joint Australian football and cricket club with the first training session taking place two days later. It played its first match against a team called the Young Australians on 24 May 1870 at inaugural club president John Harts family property in Glanville. Football in South Australia at this stage was yet to be organised by a single body, in 1877 Port Adelaide joined seven other clubs to form the South Australian Football Association, the first league of its type in Australia. It competed its first few seasons wearing magenta guernseys and white shorts, in 1878 the club hosted its first game against the recently established Norwood Football Club with the visitors winning 1-0. A rivalry between these clubs would soon develop into one of the fiercest in Australian sport, in 1880 the club moved to Alberton Oval. In 1881 the club played a team for the first time against Carlton at Adelaide Oval. Later that year the club travelled to Victoria and played its first game outside South Australia against Sale, during the 1882 season Port Adelaide overcame Norwood for the first time after nine previous attempts winning by 1 goal at Adelaide Oval. In 1884 Port Adelaide won its first SAFA premiership, ending Norwoods run of six premierships, on 25 May 1885, Port Adelaide played its first game at the MCG against South Melbourne, drawing with the eventual VFA premiers in front of 10,000 spectators. In 1887 immense interest led into the Round 8 meeting against Norwood as the two matches between the clubs resulted in draws. Norwood won in front of a then-record 11,000 spectators at Adelaide Oval, during 1889 the club played against the Richmond at Punt Road, with Port prevailing by a goal. The 1889 SAFA season ended with Port Adelaide and Norwood equal top, Norwood went on to defeat Port Adelaide by two goals. In 1890 Port Adelaide won its second SAFA premiership and would go on to be crowned Champions of Australia for the first time after defeating VFA premiers South Melbourne. During the 1890s Australia was affected by a depression and many players were forced to move interstate to find work translating into poor on field results. By 1896, the club was in crisis and finished last causing the clubs committee to meet with the aim of revitalising the club
3.
South Australian National Football League
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The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL, is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the body for the sport of Australian rules football in South Australia. Consisting of a single competition, the season is an 18-round home-and-away season from April to September. The top five teams play-off in a final series culminating in the final for the Thomas Seymour Hill Premiership Trophy. The league is responsible for the management of all levels of football in the state. This includes junior football, country football, amateur football and specific programs rolled out across schools, indigenous communities, the SANFL owns the 51,240 seat AAMI Stadium, formerly the largest stadium in South Australia. The stadium, which opened in 1974, was used for Australian Football League matches up until 2013. The stadium was the headquarters for the league from 1974–2013, the SANFL competition is the second highest attended Australian rules football league behind the AFL. The earliest recorded football club in South Australia was Adelaide Football Club, the early years of football were poorly organised and dogged by argument over which set of rules to adopt. In fact, after a match between Port Adelaide and Kensington in 1873, it was remarked that neither side understood the rules clearly, however, as the years progressed, there became a growing push for uniformity and structure in South Australian football. In 1877,12 of South Australias football clubs met to develop a set of rules. The inaugural 1877 season was contested by 8 clubs, South Park, Willunga, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, North Adelaide, Gawler, Bankers, Woodville, South Adelaide, Norwood joined the Association the following season in 1878, and went on to win the next six premierships. Norwood, South Adelaide and Port Adelaide together won 23 of the first 24 premierships, South Park, Willunga, North Adelaide, Prince Alfred College, Gawler, Kapunda, Bankers, Woodville, and Victorian all left the Association within the first 10 years. By 1886, the Association had been reduced from 12 to four clubs, the Association experienced a resurgence in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The addition of North Adelaide, West Adelaide and West Torrens and only the demise of Adelaide, in 1898, the Magarey Medal was awarded to the fairest and most brilliant player for the first time. Sturt joined the Association in 1901, but performed poorly initially, in 1902, Port Adelaide adopted its now famous black and white colours. In 1907, the Association changed its name to the South Australian Football League, Norwood and Port Adelaide continued their domination of the league, and were joined by West Adelaide and North Adelaide, between them, the four clubs won all premierships between 1901 and 1913. West Adelaide followed three straight wooden spoons from 1904–06 with four out of the five premierships from 1908–1912, the most successful period in West Adelaides history, Sturt won the first premiership of the post-World War I era, beating North Adelaide in the Challenge Final replay
4.
Australian rules football
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The main way to score points is by kicking the oval-shaped ball between the two tall goal posts. The team with the score by the end of the match wins unless a draw is declared. During general play, players may position themselves anywhere on the field, the primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. There are rules on how the ball can be handled, for example, throwing the ball is not allowed and players must not get caught holding the ball. A distinctive feature of the game is the mark, where players anywhere on the field who catch a ball from a kick are awarded possession, possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a free kick or mark is paid. Players can tackle using their hands or use their body to obstruct opponents. The game features frequent physical contests, spectacular marking, fast movement of players and the ball and high scoring. The sports origins can be traced to matches played in Melbourne, Victoria in 1858. Its annual Grand Final is the highest attended club championship event in the world, the sport is also played at amateur level in many countries and in several variations. The games rules are governed by the AFL Commission with the advice of the AFLs Laws of the Game Committee, there is evidence of football being played sporadically in the Australian colonies in the first half of the 19th century. The earliest such match, held in St Kilda on 15 June, was between Melbourne Grammar and St Kilda Grammar. Born in Australia, Wills played a nascent form of rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School in England and his letter is regarded by many historians as giving impetus for the development of a new code of football today known as Australian football. Two weeks later, Wills friend, cricketer Jerry Bryant, posted an advertisement for a match at the Richmond Paddock adjoining the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This was the first of several kickabouts held that year involving members of the Melbourne Cricket Club, including Wills, Bryant, W. J. Hammersley, trees were used as goalposts and play typically lasted an entire afternoon. Without an agreed code of laws, some players were guided by rules they had learned in the British Isles. Another significant milestone in 1858 was a match played under experimental rules between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College, held at the Richmond Paddock. This 40-a-side contest, umpired by Wills and Scotch College teacher John Macadam, began on 7 August and it is commemorated with a statue outside the MCG, and the two schools have competed annually ever since in the Cordner-Eggleston Cup, the worlds oldest continuous football competition. Since the early 20th century, it has suggested that Australian football was derived from the Irish sport of Gaelic football
5.
South Australia
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South Australia is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country, with a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres, it is the fourth-largest of Australias states and territories. Other population centres in the state are relatively small, the state comprises less than 8 percent of the Australian population and ranks fifth in population among the six states and two territories. The majority of its people reside in Adelaide, most of the remainder are settled in fertile areas along the south-eastern coast and River Murray. The states colonial origins are unique in Australia as a settled, planned British province. Official settlement began on 28 December 1836, when the colony was proclaimed at the Old Gum Tree by Governor John Hindmarsh, as with the rest of the continent, the region had been long occupied by Aboriginal peoples, who were organised into numerous tribes and languages. The first British settlement to be established was Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, on 26 July 1836, the guiding principle behind settlement was that of systematic colonisation, a theory espoused by Edward Gibbon Wakefield that was later employed by the New Zealand Company. The goal was to establish the province as a centre of civilisation for free immigrants, promising civil liberties, although its history is marked by economic hardship, South Australia has remained politically innovative and culturally vibrant. Today, it is known for its wine and numerous cultural festivals. The states economy is dominated by the agricultural, manufacturing and mining industries, the state has an increasingly significant finance sector as well. Evidence of human activity in South Australia dates back as far as 20,000 years, with flint mining activity, in addition wooden spears and tools were made in an area now covered in peat bog in the South East. Kangaroo Island was inhabited long before the island was cut off by rising sea levels, thijssen named his discovery Pieter Nuyts Land, after the highest ranking individual on board. The complete coastline of South Australia was first mapped by Matthew Flinders, the land which now forms the state of South Australia was claimed for Britain in 1788 as part of the colony of New South Wales. Although the new colony included almost two-thirds of the continent, early settlements were all on the eastern coast and it took more than forty years before any serious proposal to establish settlements in the south-western portion of New South Wales were put forward. In 1834, the British Parliament passed the South Australia Act 1834, the act stated that 802,511 square kilometres would be allotted to the colony and it would be convict-free. In contrast to the rest of Australia, terra nullius did not apply to the new province, although the patent guaranteed land rights under force of law for the indigenous inhabitants it was ignored by the South Australian Company authorities and squatters. Settlement of seven vessels and 636 people was made at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island. The first immigrants arrived at Holdfast Bay in November 1836, the Colonisation Commissioners intended to establish a police service as soon as misconduct within the increasing population warranted it
6.
West Adelaide Football Club
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West Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the South Australian National Football League. Commonly known as The Bloods and Westies, the home base is Richmond Oval. The Oval is located in Richmond, an suburb of Adelaide. The club has won nine SANFL premierships, the most recent coming in 2015 – breaking a thirty-two year premiership drought dating back to 1983, the second longest in the SANFL. West Adelaide was formed in 1892, adopting Magenta and White as their colours, the SAFA would subsequently become the SANFL. The club often struggled to field a team in its early years as clubs were then controlled by wealthy businessmen. West Adelaide was one of the clubs and consequently won only one of its first 31 matches. From the 1899 season the SAFA introduced district football in which players had to play for the club in the district where they lived, West Adelaide immediately gained the services of one of the best players of the time, Bunny Daly who threw himself into developing the club. Nonetheless, the club struggled and had won only twenty. James Sorry Tierney was the clubs first ever winner of the Magarey Medal in 1908, West Adelaide repeated as SANFL premiers in 1909 after defeating Port Adelaide by a goal in the Grand Final while Dick Head won the clubs second Magarey Medal. The club won its fourth premiership in five years in 1912 after again defeating Port Adelaide in the final before finishing their Golden Era with a third placing in 1913. After the SANFL resumed competition following World War I, West Adelaide would finish second in 1922, captain-Coach Bruce McGregor would not only lead his team to the premiership in 1927 but became the first West Adelaide player to win back to back Magarey Madals. Robert Snell, Jack Sexton and Ray McArthur also won the Magarey Medal while playing for the West Adelaide Football Club, an unexpected 112-point thrashing of North Adelaide in their last game of 1940, however, proved a true omen of what was to come in 1941. The Bloods carried all before them early in the season and after ten games had suffered only a draw, a slump ensued before the club required to finish third and beat Port Adelaide in the first semi before Sturt knocked the inexperienced Bloods out in the preliminary. Between 1942 and 1945 West Adelaide joined forced with Glenelg in a competition, finishing second, third. West Adelaide became one of the teams in the SANFL following the resumption of full-scale competition in 1945. The club finished third in 1946 before winning its sixth premiership in 1947 defeating Norwood 10.15 to 8.15. This was a reaction to a heavy but legal clash prior to the end of the half between Wests captain Brian Faehse and Ports Dave Boyd in which Boyd had come off second best
7.
Adelaide Football Club (SAFA)
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The club bears no relation to the present Adelaide Football Club playing in the Australian Football League. The Adelaide Football Club was formed on Thursday 26 April 1860 at the Globe Inn Hotel and it was the first in South Australia, and initially only played matches internally, North v. South. J. B. Spence led one side and John Acraman the other, the first such match was played on the North Parklands on Saturday 28 April 1860. The club had its own game rules, the first recorded match against a rival club was played in 1862 against the Modbury Football Club on a strip of grass near the Modbury Hotel. Adelaide won the two goals to nil. The two teams met again the year, and the game was kept up with the greatest spirit and good feeling. In 1877 Adelaide captain Nowell Twopenney was influential in establishing the South Australian Football Association, in the SAFAs original season, Adelaide finished third, winning ten, losing three and drawing three of its 16 matches, and finishing with a goal differential of 18. Adelaide finished fifth out of seven teams in each of the two seasons, and last in 1880. The teams poor performances on and off-field forced the club to merge with Kensington for the 1881 season due to a lack of players. These problems continued, forcing the team to resign from the competition on June 1st 1881 after playing four matches. During the years 1882 to 1884, the club did not play in the SAFA, the club was re-formed before the 1885 season, combining with Adelaide and Suburban Football Association club North Park to again field a team in the SAFA. The new team finished last out of four teams in 1885, Adelaide was involved in an experimental night game played under electric lights at Adelaide Oval on 1 July 1885. It beat South Adelaide 1 goal 8 behinds to 8 behinds, after the triumphs of 1886 and 1887, very poor management led to the defection of many of the key members of the 1886 premiership team. These on-field performances and the clubs insolvency meant that Adelaide dropped out of the SAFA,18861877, John Young 1886, Richard Stephens
8.
Adelaide Oval
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Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The stadium is used for cricket and Australian rules football, but also plays host to rugby league, rugby union, soccer. The Oval has been headquarters to the South Australian Cricket Association since 1871, the stadium is managed by the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority. Redevelopments between 2008 and 2014, costing $575 million, increased the seating capacity from 34,000 to 53,583. The Adelaide and Port Adelaide Football Clubs also returned to the stadium, in 2010, Austadiums. com called the Adelaide Oval one of the most picturesque Test cricket grounds in Australia, if not the world. In December 2009 South Australian Premier Mike Rann announced a $450 million government commitment to redevelop Adelaide Oval to enable AFL Football to be played there, in May 2011 Treasurer Kevin Foley announced an increase in government funding to $535 million. 1871 - The ground was established in 1871 after the formation of SACA, among those responsible for the original construction were John Pickering and Henry Sparks. 1877 - The first South Australian Football Association match that took place on the ground was between Adelaide Football Club and the Bankers, Adelaide won the match 4 goals to 1. 1877 – The first first-class cricket match played at the ground between South Australia and Tasmania on 10 and 12 November 1877, South Australia was victorious, winning by an innings and 13 runs. 1878 – The first century was scored by John Hill on 30 January 1878, John was the father of the great Clem Hill. 1884 – The first Test match played at the Oval was held from 12–16 December 1884, England beat Australia by eight wickets. 1885 – The first football game lit by light was conducted on the evening of 1 July 1885. 1889 – The first Grand Final in a major Australian rules football competition was played between Norwood and Port Adelaide, Norwood won the game 7.4 to 5.9. 1894 – In 1894–95 Albert Trott collected 8/43 on debut against England,1900 – The picket fence was put up surrounding the Oval in 1900. 1911 – From 5–12 August 1911 the Australian Football Council Carnival was played at the ground, the competing sides were SA, VFL, VFA, Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales. 1911 – The Adelaide Oval scoreboard, designed by architect Kenneth Milne, the clock was added in 1912 and the windvane in the 1930s. 1914 - The Port Adelaide Football Club defeated the Carlton Football Club for their fourth Championship of Australia title defeating the Victorian side by 34 points,9.16 to 5.6. 1931 – In 1931–32 Donald Bradman scored the highest score ever at the ground in Test Cricket, in the same game, Clarrie Grimmett collected fourteen wickets, the most ever taken in a Test match at the ground by a bowler
9.
Alberton Oval
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Alberton Oval is located in Alberton, a north-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The ground is a park and exclusively leased to the Port Adelaide Football Club for Australian rules football. With the nearby Queenstown Oval built upon in 1876, the Alberton, the land was donated by the former Mayor of Port Adelaide, John Formby. The Queen and Albert Oval was officially opened on 8 November 1877 for a game between the touring Tasmanian cricket team and a selected eleven of the Queen and Albert Cricket Association. Port Adelaide still plays its SANFL games at the ground, although AFL games are played at Adelaide Oval and, all of the clubs teams, including its AFL team and its SANFL League and Academy teams, conduct their principal trainings at the ground. The Allan Scott Power Headquarters stands adjacent to the oval, so too does The Port Club, a social venue for the clubs supporters and players, which was opened on 14 November 1954. Alberton is regarded as the home of Port Adelaide due to the club playing almost all of their homes games there since commencing its tenancy. The clubs AFL team usually plays one or two games at the ground during the pre-season. Alberton Oval was used as a ground during summer between 1877 and 1996. In the early years attention needed to be paid to the state of the outfield, an example of this need was when Port Adelaide batsman G. S. P. Jones was able to run 8 while making 143 not out against West Torrens in 1904-05 because the fieldsman could not find the ball amongst the weeds. Cricket and football shared the use of the oval for a century, until the Port Adelaide Football Club was elevated into the AFL in 1997, the cricket club now plays games at the Port Reserve in Port Adelaide. The grounds main stands and features are, Fos Williams Family Stand, the oldest remaining structure at Alberton Oval, the Fos Williams stand houses the SANFL change rooms, coaching and media boxes. It also is the location of plaques commemorating members of the Williams family, opened in 1964, the grandstand houses the Port Club bistro, Bob McLean sportsbar, Port Store and upstairs function room. Built with donations provided by businessman Allan Scott, the Headquarters house the administration of the Port Adelaide Football Club along with the AFL training facilities, the Headquarters also have a balcony that overlooks the ground. Named after Port Adelaide and South Australian cricketer Norman Williams, the scoreboard is located on the South East pocket, official website of the Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Cricket Club Alberton Oval at Austadiums
10.
South Adelaide Football Club
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The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League. Known as the Panthers, their ground is Hickinbotham Oval. The South Adelaide Football Club is the second oldest football club in South Australia, South Adelaide was formed in 1875 and played their first game in June 1876, wearing blue caps and long white trousers. In 1896 they won sixteen and drew two of eighteen games, district football was introduced optionally in 1897 and became compulsory in 1899. With the loss of Reedman and Jones to North Adelaide, and after one season goalsneak Bos Daly to West Torrens in 1900 and this was exacerbated by the admission of Sturt in 1901. In 1915, South improved to second before lack of experience took its toll in the semi-final. It was generally known that South had a small share of the area zoned between eight league clubs, but the league committee refused to alter the status quo. In response to South Adelaide’s limited metropolitan recruiting resources, the club began a concerted country recruiting campaign during the 1930s and this bore spectacular fruit between 1935 and 1940. Under coach Vic Johnson, South Adelaide after a slow start played impressive football throughout 1935, jack Cockburn at centre half-back was the team’s star and won the Magarey Medal. After two more seasons in the finals, South Adelaide reached a point in 1938, losing only two games and swamping Port Adelaide with a 13-goal third quarter in the Grand Final. The blue and whites failed badly in the 1939 finals,1941 saw South slip to fifth with only six wins, but that could hardly have prepared them for the experiences of the following two decades after full-scale football resumed after World War II. Between 1947 and 1951 South won only seven out of eighty-six. Other clubs with greater financial resources duplicated South’s 1930s country recruiting campaigns, South Adelaide rose rapidly in 1964, losing only three minor round games before defeating Port Adelaide by 27 points in the Grand Final. It remained prominent for the two years of Kerley’s stint but failed to make the grand final. Took over the reins in 1975, however, on an appallingly windy day and muddy ground the experienced Port Adelaide, aided by winning the toss, were too good, winning 9-9 to 3-14. The Panthers fluctuated in yo-yo fashion under Bunton, never playing in two finals series before he departed to return to Subiaco after a sabbatical at the end of 1982. Under John Reid, South developed rapidly after a season and twenty-six successive losses during 1988. After this, the Panthers won only four games in the 2009 and 2010 seasons for their worst two-season record since the days of 1950 and 1951
11.
Melbourne Cricket Ground
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The Melbourne Cricket Ground, also known simply as The G, is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. The MCG is within walking distance of the city centre and is served by the Richmond railway station, Richmond, and it is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct. Since it was built in 1853, the MCG has been in a state of almost constant renewal and it served as the centrepiece stadium of the 1956 Summer Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and two Cricket World Cups,1992 and 2015. The annual Boxing Day Test is one of the MCGs most popular events, the stadium fills to capacity for the AFL Grand Final. Concerts and other events are also held at the venue. The MCG is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and was included on the Australian National Heritage List in 2005, journalist Greg Baum called it a shrine, a citadel, a landmark, a totem that symbolises Melbourne to the world. Founded in November 1838 the Melbourne Cricket Club selected the current MCG site in 1853 after previously playing at several grounds around Melbourne, the club’s first game was against a military team at the Old Mint site, at the corner of William and Latrobe Streets. The area was subject to flooding, forcing the club to move again and it was not long before the club was forced out again, this time because of the expansion of the railway. The South Melbourne ground was in the path of Victoria’s first steam railway line from Melbourne to Sandridge and this last option, which is now Yarra Park, had been used by Aborigines until 1835. Between 1835 and 1853 it was an agistment area for colonial troopers’ horses, in 1850 it was part of a 200-acre stretch set aside for public recreation extending from Governor La Trobe’s Jolimont Estate to the Yarra River. By 1853 it had become a busy promenade for Melbourne residents, an MCC sub-committee chose the Richmond Park option because it was level enough for cricket but sloped enough to prevent inundation. That ground was located where the Richmond, or outer, end of the current MCG is now, at the same time the Richmond Cricket Club was given occupancy rights to six acres for another cricket ground on the eastern side of the Government Paddock. At the time of the grant the Government stipulated that the ground was to be used for cricket and cricket only. This condition remained until 1933 when the State Government allowed the MCG’s uses to be broadened to other purposes when not being used for cricket. In 1863 a corridor of land running diagonally across Yarra Park was granted to the Hobson’s Bay Railway, the area closest to the river was also developed for sporting purposes in later years including Olympic venues in 1956. The first grandstand at the MCG was the original wooden stand built in 1854. It was during this tour that the MCG hosted the worlds first Test match, in 1881 the original members stand was sold to the Richmond Cricket Club for £55. A new brick stand, considered at the time to be the world’s finest cricket facility, was built in its place, the foundation stone was laid by Prince George of Wales and Prince Albert Victor on 4 July and the stand opened in December that year
