The best and worst grounds to play footy on

[Footy Warrior]

Best: Adelaide Uni, Henley, Milang

Worst: Bridgewater, North Pines, Kersbrook

[Tiger83]

Since i have played in 3 different leagues now, ill post the best and worst of each.. in no particular order..

S.F.L Best:
Happy Valley - (biased) but now have great facilities and can play night games.
Bice Oval - Always a great surface, but can get quite windy..
Old Noarlunga - great atmosphere and surface usually pretty good.
S.F.L Worst:
Morphettville Park - Worst by far.. Small, uneven, lopsided, trees hanging over ground. Good atmosphere tho i will say..
Lonsdale - Small, High school oval and using the schools changerooms isnt acceptable.
Flagstaff Hill - Small and a terrible surface, Always muddy ( never lost a game there but..)
Cove - Tiny oval and usually very windy.

S.A.N.F.L. Best:
Adelaide Oval by a country mile.. still the BEST oval i have ever played on. Will not be topped..
Alberton - Great surface and i cant fault the steep history there.. was good to beat Port by 10goals one day there!!!
Richmond Oval - Good surface and atmosphere..
S.A.N.F.L. Worst:
Hickinbotham Oval (Sth Adel) - was my home ground and i still didnt like it. Windy and as cold as Hell!!!!! Not fun in winter!!
Glenelg Oval - Terrible in winter ( never played there in good conditions tho...)
Elizabeth Oval - Long drive made even longer by sore legs and feet after gettin belted on a rock hard deck!!

G.S.F.L Best:
Yankalilla -Great surface (until it rains) and great oval for the spectators
Goolwa - Great surface and atmosphere.
Strathalbyn - Again, Great surface and pulls up well in winter usually.
G.S.F.L Worst:
Myponga by a long way... as everyone has mentioned.. ALWAYS a mudbowl. hence their nickname...
Willunga - Oval is on a big slant and i have never won a game there.. (sour grapes perhaps).. HAHA
Enounter Bay - Always seems to be cold and windy when i play there.. Expecting the same this weekend also!!

[ironknob]

I played against Gepps Cross in 95 or 96 at their home ground in July in pouring rain .... after quarter time you couldn't tell one team from the other. And what made it worse was the mud smelled like sewage!!!. (plus we got beaten so not a happy day).
The best oval for atmosphere would be centenary in port Lincoln . When theres' a big crowd the ground is like an amphitheater. (and its always sunny in september)

[Browny25]

I've only played at PNU once and it was in pouring rain, the ground didnt hold up to well.

What is it generally like?

[Keepitreal]

Best = Any ground that you have a win on.

Worst = any that you lose on.

[the tractor]

Best- Milang oval.

Worst- Old Kersbrook oval.

[woodublieve12]

Blackfriars oval.... Shocker....

[human blanket #3]

went to watch a jnrs match at cane reserve yesterday and it is ridiculously small. cane reserve is ovingham's home ground?

[nuggety goodness]

went to watch a jnrs match at cane reserve yesterday and it is ridiculously small. cane reserve is ovingham's home ground?

yeah HB, that's our little baby... it's great for clogging up the defence and getting 40 touches without breaking a sweat...

was very hard on the weekend though, the turf cricket pitch is a killer! although it is much better than a cement alternative

[aceman]

I played against Gepps Cross in 95 or 96 at their home ground in July in pouring rain .... after quarter time you couldn't tell one team from the other. And what made it worse was the mud smelled like sewage!!!. (plus we got beaten so not a happy day).
The best oval for atmosphere would be centenary in port Lincoln . When theres' a big crowd the ground is like an amphitheater. (and its always sunny in september)

She's pretty good now since all the new drainage was put in a couple of years ago, don't have too many issues although when you have a wet week, have 2 senior games on Sat and the juniors all play there on Sunday, she can get a bit ordinary on the pitch areas. What's worse, a good oval with no kids or 300+ kids and an oval that gets a bit chopped up? I'm thinking the latter.
Just an aside, drove past Greenacres oval last week, sh*t their oval was a mess. Maybe their drainage has had the dick and needs replacing but it looked in one a helluva mess.

[human blanket #3]

went to watch a jnrs match at cane reserve yesterday and it is ridiculously small. cane reserve is ovingham's home ground?

yeah HB, that's our little baby... it's great for clogging up the defence and getting 40 touches without breaking a sweat...

was very hard on the weekend though, the turf cricket pitch is a killer! although it is much better than a cement alternative

must say i didnt mind it when i got sucked into boundary umpiring

[hearts on fire]

went to watch a jnrs match at cane reserve yesterday and it is ridiculously small. cane reserve is ovingham's home ground?

yeah HB, that's our little baby... it's great for clogging up the defence and getting 40 touches without breaking a sweat...

was very hard on the weekend though, the turf cricket pitch is a killer! although it is much better than a cement alternative

must say i didnt mind it when i got sucked into boundary umpiring

i played at Cane Reserve yesterday, lucky it will be my last junior game there ever!

[aceman]

went to watch a jnrs match at cane reserve yesterday and it is ridiculously small. cane reserve is ovingham's home ground?

yeah HB, that's our little baby... it's great for clogging up the defence and getting 40 touches without breaking a sweat...

was very hard on the weekend though, the turf cricket pitch is a killer! although it is much better than a cement alternative

must say i didnt mind it when i got sucked into boundary umpiring

i played at Cane Reserve yesterday, lucky it will be my last junior game there ever!

A very good ground for kids up to around U/13 to play footy on and a beauty for junior cricket providing you don't develope the "Cane Shuffle" which is going back & across in front of your stumps to a good length ball. She tends to keep a bit low and LBW is common place there even with good umpires.

[The BulldogLover]

Read here that uni oval is regarded as "good". Geez, in early 80's it was a bog - 4 goals could win you the game. Played vs St Dominics at their home ground once - rock hard and so small that one of the opposition was always running into you. Played at Glenunga once when the visitors changeroom had 3 inches of water in it - only place it was dry (well at least pre-game) was the showers! Always blowing a gale at Henley so hated it. Apart from the supporters, another reason I hated broadview was kicking for goal at the non-clubhouse end. In the depths of winter the sun was right over the goal umps head and one had to "use the force" when taking a set shot. Any ground after a muddy period - the centre patch dries to that crusty uneven surface which loves twisting ankles and rasping off skin.

I really enjoyed playing at Rivvies. A typical port side. The communal shower always brought up some great comments and seemed to promote some camradarie for later beers in the club. Also played in the coldest game ever there - frozen stumps for hands, trainers running out hot water, and the green ginger came out at 1/4 time instead of 3/4! Also loved it at Rosewater - all my spooner team-mates hated it, but i just loved the "real battlers footy club" feel and the comments from the crowd were always priceless. Always good for a beer & a chat post game too.

I agree, the old communal showers at Rivvies were great. Long gone though, a victim of the clubroom renovation a few years back.

Felch it used to be funny training nites,we all used to rush to get i the showers b4 Mark Taylor got in there. When he arrived there was a mass exodus. lmao
I played there when peter whoite was coaching the A,s and Simmo was coaching the B,s

Good old Tails, first time i saw that thing i was in shock !!!
Rod Burton was A grade in my first year there, Ivan Coles was B grade coach.

I drink with Rod ova ther bartley... It was so funny watching everyone rush out, there was just me and luke hosie the little boys soapin it up tryin to get a 1/4 of the size....Didnt happen...

[damian]

Goolwa oval is again a treat with the water finally available! An extended lake to the town end (with water feature) and having a few trees cleared and visitor changerooms renovated, the whole complex is outstanding!

[The Note Book]

Since i have played in 3 different leagues now, ill post the best and worst of each.. in no particular order..

S.F.L Best:
Happy Valley - (biased) but now have great facilities and can play night games.
Bice Oval - Always a great surface, but can get quite windy..
Old Noarlunga - great atmosphere and surface usually pretty good.
S.F.L Worst:
Morphettville Park - Worst by far.. Small, uneven, lopsided, trees hanging over ground. Good atmosphere tho i will say..
Lonsdale - Small, High school oval and using the schools changerooms isnt acceptable.
Flagstaff Hill - Small and a terrible surface, Always muddy ( never lost a game there but..)
Cove - Tiny oval and usually very windy.

S.A.N.F.L. Best:
Adelaide Oval by a country mile.. still the BEST oval i have ever played on. Will not be topped..
Alberton - Great surface and i cant fault the steep history there.. was good to beat Port by 10goals one day there!!!
Richmond Oval - Good surface and atmosphere..
S.A.N.F.L. Worst:
Hickinbotham Oval (Sth Adel) - was my home ground and i still didnt like it. Windy and as cold as Hell!!!!! Not fun in winter!!
Glenelg Oval - Terrible in winter ( never played there in good conditions tho...)
Elizabeth Oval - Long drive made even longer by sore legs and feet after gettin belted on a rock hard deck!!

G.S.F.L Best:
Yankalilla -Great surface (until it rains) and great oval for the spectators
Goolwa - Great surface and atmosphere.
Strathalbyn - Again, Great surface and pulls up well in winter usually.
G.S.F.L Worst:
Myponga by a long way... as everyone has mentioned.. ALWAYS a mudbowl. hence their nickname...
Willunga - Oval is on a big slant and i have never won a game there.. (sour grapes perhaps).. HAHA
Enounter Bay - Always seems to be cold and windy when i play there.. Expecting the same this weekend also!!

If you heading to mid-murray league this year give us an update

[Tiger83]

HAHA im not... bit out of my way.. Im not good enuff to get paid to play up that way, so ill just wallow in the GSFL for now...

[fisho mcspaz]

Greenacres oval is a shocker to play on. Full of holes, thick mud, smells like the zoo out in the centre.

[Swamp Donkey]

Best two ovals to play footy on in the Adelaide Plains are Mallala and Balaklava, and the worst ovals to play on would have to be Port Wakefield

[boot camp]

as far as Riverland ovals the best would be Berri for playing (although a tad small). Classical oval also for watching GF's - its brings the crowds in real close to the action. the atmosphere at the Waikerie - Renmark GF in 2008 was brilliant

The Riverland worst - any independant ground - dont think the councils care about them really!!!