unley oval

[Dog_ger]

We all like to grizzle and pick fault with other club ovals. We all should respect what sturt went through, and nearly lost the lot...! Parking is crap, facilities arn't that good, but they are improving each year. The club has it's ups and downs, sure. We gotta respect it's Sturts home ground and the ghost of Jack walks the shadows......... Sturt without Unley....... It nearly happened....!

[Wedgie]

People talk about clubs having to stay at their home ground as a matter of historical importance.

Fact is clubs historically change grounds.
Besides Centrals and Woodville who were the babies of the league every club has had at least 2 different home grounds in their history:

Glenelg: 2
North: 4
Norwood: 4
Port: 3
South: 4
Sturt: 2
West: 5
Torrens: 5
Eagles: 2

PS Jack was a Norwood lad, Sturt were his 3rd club.

[spell_check]

This would be a good time to ask this: What did the outer side look like at Unley Oval pre-1986?
I know the Tennis Courts were as close to the goals as they are now, but I haven't really seen any other pictures.

[am Bays]

This would be a good time to ask this: What did the outer side look like at Unley Oval pre-1986?
I know the Tennis Courts were as close to the goals as they are now, but I haven't really seen any other pictures.

The Jack Oatey Story has some pictures in it where you can see how the "outer side now" (back in your box D Cometti) looked at Unley oval. Sort of cross between Woodville oval terraces and the size of the Glenelg "dry area' between the oval fence and perimeter fence....

not that I ever went there to watch, I'll hand over to posters better qualified than me.....

[giffo]

The only thing wrong with Unley is the placement of the bar behind the Goals. I know its close to the barbie but if the lads had to go for a walk occasionally, it might help control things a bit better. It would also free up a bit more space so that the squads are a bit more seperated.

[uptownboi2006]

Do you think they should build in an "up in the air" type scoreboard so that the ground can be fully opened?? Like in the Tennis Club corner like it used to be.........

[therisingblues]

Not just the ghost of Jack there Dogger, Vic Yorke Richardson walks that ground as well as other greats that helped make the club what it is.
Sturt's attachment to Unley (the old billabong) has been underestimated in the past. In hindsight it is no surprise to me that the worst period in our club's rich history occurred when we foolishly moved away from our hallowed turf to Adelaide Oval.
The spirits of the past were unable to watch over us as we recorded the history of our darkest days, and our mighty club almost disappeared, or worse; amalgamated with North Adelaide.
In our absence the ground was transformed, the only ground in South Australia apart from Adelaide oval to host a first class cricket game was all but forgotten as a sports stadium.
But it was from the old stands that Sandy Nelson rallied us and the true supporters played their finest hour, once again flanked by those proud ghosts that founded and made the club great. Once more we were destined to rise.
And our finest is yet to come, with our continued existence the ground will become more like a stadium again. The fences will one day become permanent, the outer will become open to spectators, and the fertile soil of Unley Oval will harvest another crop of premierships the like of which we have never tasted before.

P.S Spelly, the old outer was all cement along the wing, with about five rows of terracing, much like Norwood oval's outer flank. The Northern pocket (where the playground is now) rose up to form a little hill, and had a snack shop on top of it, behind the Northern goals the terracing was about ten to fifteen rows, with a sheer drop at the back, forming the perimeter. The Northern pocket on the grandstand side went back to about seventeen rows of terracing or more, the bar was at the top and there were stairs leading to the street outside from the top of it. This hill had a mess of Australian native shrubs on its rear side for a bit, but finished in a vertical drop for the most part. At the Southern pocket there was a very small grassy hill that sat on the five rows of terracing which extended down from the wing. This was the area where the opposition cheersquad stood if they were large in numbers. The scoreboard dominated the hill. The area behind the Southern goals was the same as it is now; flat grassy area, with a red brick building in the corner (behind the scoreboard in the old days). From the area behind the goals to the Southern pocket on the grandstand side there was a thin walkway between the oval and the bowling club. When the ground was at capacity the crowds could squeeze in two deep in that narrow passage, and then there would be a row of people perched a bit higher on the fence which formed the perimeter of the bowling club and the oval. Smaller cheer squads used this area, we used to walk past and laugh at the fact that they could all fit in there, but I think the majority of today's cheersquads would easily fit in that old walkway.
On the outer side the ground was fenced in by the famous old hedge, which extended from the Northern end to the scoreboard. When they cut that hedge down they found about 50 footballs so the story goes. I imagine that hedge was bl#*dy old, who knows which champions kicked about the footys they found in there. It rose about 8 foot above the terracing, and they sometimes hung the sponsor's banner on it. From behind the hedge there were seven flag poles. On top of each flagpole flew a red, gold and blue flag, each bearing the number of a different year, but all bearing numbers between 1966 and 1976. ( I guess the other 5 flags were a little old to be fluttering around in the wind every footy season) The only other thing of note on the outer wide was a little brick shed used to store training equipment. I used to think it would be good if they could put a little grandstand on top of it, like the little one they had at Woodville, I figured they could fit 20 people in if they had done it.
I got carried away a bit, but I hope that's what you were looking for Spelly.

[Jimmy]

cheers rising...great post...dad would tell me about the crowds they got there...one game in the early 80's they had 22000 there in a win over port...not sure if it was a close game or a flogging but they were packed in like sardines...keith conlon would be seen regularly ontop of the hill where the scoreboard is now, with his tweed on

unley will be back to its glory soon enough

[Ian]

and the fertile soil of Unley Oval will harvest another crop of premierships the like of which we have never tasted before.

mmmmm, very fertile since they let every man and his dog walk on it.

Seriously though, I'd love to see the ground returned to something simillar to what it was pre '86

[oldfella]

therisingblues - sensational post - read your words & closed my eyes and could see old ground layout, many memories of my youth seeing Robert Day V Bob Shearman, worth entry fee.

I doubt if Council will ever support perm fencing or restoration as full time footy oval rather than primarily local park - bit sad

[Punk Rooster]

P.S Spelly, the old outer was all cement along the wing, with about five rows of terracing, much like Norwood oval's outer flank. The Northern pocket (where the playground is now) rose up to form a little hill, and had a snack shop on top of it, behind the Northern goals the terracing was about ten to fifteen rows, with a sheer drop at the back, forming the perimeter. The Northern pocket on the grandstand side went back to about seventeen rows of terracing or more, the bar was at the top and there were stairs leading to the street outside from the top of it.

I recall going to Unley Oval, after the Victoria Park races (with my Dad), in about 1980-82 (I would've been 5-7 yo). I can't recall going to Unley again after this, as they moved to Adelaide Oval (people have said '86?). But I do remember the the conrete outer, & the snack bar- I remember this, as this is the only time I ever went to see a game of footy not involving North- it was Sturt v Woodville, & I remember thinking it strange that we were witnessing a non-North game.

[Ronnie]

It's true to say that once club's find a home they tend to stick to them. I don't think too many club's have switched home grounds in the past 50 years. Also, the longer a club spends at a venue and builds up the tradition, the less likely they are to move.
The Sturt attachment to Unley Oval is immense, but the Board in the mid 80's decided that a business decision had to be made and home matches were moved to Adelaide Oval. that was very much in keeping with the ground rationalisation thinking at the time, but as it turned out the move did nothing for the club and the league quietly ditched it's rationalisation
plans as they were pushed by Port into the AFL.
In the meantime the Unley Council redeveloped the Oval and surrounds, but under the terms of the Trimmer Trust, the Oval surface itself had to be kept. The Jack Oatey grandstand was almost sold to the West Adelaide Football Club, as the fences and terracing were bulldozed down in 1999.
Realising that the club had to re establish itself in the Unley area in order to survive, Sturt FC attempted through Council in 1993 to return, only to be rejected at the first hurdle. They tried again in 1996, when the Council was evenly split on whether to allow league matches back or not. A noisy and influential minority of local residents, who thought the sky would fall in if matches returned, poured the pressure on as well. In the end, in December 1996, the Council narrowly voted to begin negotiations with the SANFL. In true political style, these negotiations stalled, as a Council election in 97 was looming and the minority of residents put up their own candidates, in the hope that the new council would cut off negotiations with the SANFL. In the end the Council elections turned out well for Sturt (it should be said Sturt also publicly backed it's list of favoured candidates) and in mid 1997, in one of the most important dates in the history of Sturt, the Council finally voted to allow the return of league matches to Unley. But those that were involved at the time will tell you it was a very difficult time, as the club became embroiled in council politics.
Whether the oval and surrounds will be altered again to take more account of footballing requirements is a little doubtful, and certainly a long way off. But the crucial thing is that league matches are back there, after an almighty fight.

[Ronnie]

actually, i think the bulldozers moved into Unley Oval in 1989, not 1999!.

[doggies4eva]

For a thread that everyone said was crap there has been an awful lot of debate Must be the off season.

I'll have to think of something contriversial for a new thread. I know:

Port should be made to move from Alberton

[Booney]

For a thread that everyone said was crap there has been an awful lot of debate Must be the off season.

I'll have to think of something contriversial for a new thread. I know:

Port should be made to move from Alberton

I know,they can train at Ethelton for a couple of years.

[spell_check]

I'll put a spin on an old saying : A thousand words tells a great picture! A fantastic post, TRB, thank you!

A couple of memorable games mentioned are:

Crowd of 22015 at Unley:
Round 9 1968
Sturt 4.3 5.5 5.8 6.9 (45)
Port 1.2 4.10 5.13 5.14 (44)

There has been a bigger estimated crowd, though:
Round 6 1924
Sturt 1.5 4.9 7.14 12.18 (90)
Norwood 1.3 4.9 8.11 10.11 (71)
Crowd: 24000

Last game at Unley before 1998:
Round 22 1985
Sturt 7.3 12.9 16.12 21.14 (140)
Glenelg 3.9 7.13 10.20 14.22 (106)
Crowd: 11562

First game back at Unley in 1998:
Round 3 1998
Sturt 3.3 5.6 7.11 8.12 (60)
South 3.5 3.8 5.10 6.11 (47)
Crowd: 5296

Biggest crowd from 1998:
Round 22 1999
Sturt 7.2 11.3 11.6 13.13 (91)
Glenelg 1.4 7.6 9.11 10.13 (73)
Crowd: 5758

[MST]

I'll put a spin on an old saying : A thousand words tells a great picture! A fantastic post, TRB, thank you!

A couple of memeorable games mentioned are:

Crowd of 22015 at Unley:
Round 9 1968
Sturt 4.3 5.5 5.8 6.9 (45)
Port 1.2 4.10 5.13 5.14 (44)

There has been a bigger estimated crowd, though:
Round 6 1924
Sturt 1.5 4.9 7.14 12.18 (90)
Norwood 1.3 4.9 8.11 10.11 (71)
Crowd: 24000

Last game at Unley before 1998:
Round 22 1985
Sturt 7.3 12.9 16.12 21.14 (140)
Glenelg 3.9 7.13 10.20 14.22 (106)
Crowd: 11562

First game back at Unley in 1998:
Round 3 1998
Sturt 3.3 5.6 7.11 8.12 (60)
South 3.5 3.8 5.10 6.11 (47)
Crowd: 5296

Biggest crowd from 1998:
Round 22 1999
Sturt 7.2 11.3 11.6 13.13 (91)
Glenelg 1.4 7.6 9.11 10.13 (73)
Crowd: 5758

Excellent work Spelly.

I was at three of the aforementioned games(85/98/99). I was only 9 when we played the Bays so my recollection of the game is scratchy but I do remember going over to the Club after the game as we did every game and the place being jam packed. Thanks must go to the 96 brave souls who made the trip from down South for our first game back in 1998. It was a miserable day, cold and rainy, but we got the desired result.

The Glenelg game in '99 was quite the opposite in terms of weather. It was a warm day and the Bays were making a charge to the finals double chance under 'Freddy'. The atmosphere was great and there were quite a few black and gold scarfs there. Our first quarter was scintillating and it looked as though we would walk all over the Glenelg side but to their credit they hung in all day. A couple of memories I have are a massive screamer from McEntee in front of the grandstands....it had everyone applauding, some serious injuries to our players and a real competitive tussle all day.

Spelly, perhaps you can help me out with this but we had two or three season ending injuries that ultimately cost us any chance of a decent finals campaign(beaten comfortably by Norwood in the Elimination Final). I seem to recall Weatherald breaking a hand but the othres escape me.

[Ronnie]

I should congratulate therisingblues on his post, I can imagine it being the most informative and detailed that has been posted on this site.
As far as quality and attention to detail goes, it is way above anything that regularly gets on a site like this.
Well done again

[Dog_ger]

Well said "Rising".......!

[am Bays]

Rising, the best post on here ever, I could feel the passion