by therisingblues » Sat Oct 31, 2015 11:05 pm
Dutchy wrote:I understand playing these games at Elizabeth and Noarlunga but makes no sense playing them at an inner city venue like Unley or Norwood, I thought the idea of playing these games was to put them into new markets that don't get regular AFL footy.
The only AFL game I went to last year was the Power/ Eagles pre season game at Norwood. There were about 7,000-8,000 odd there which gave it the feel of an 80's style SANFL game. That sized crowd fits the ground very well, and brings out its character more so than the 2,000-3,000 size crowds we get these days. The fact that it was at a suburban ground also lent a sense of occasion, it's hard to explain but the act of travelling to Norwood for a game of AFL was so much more meaningful than doing the same at Adelaide Oval, with it's AFL-sanitized brand spanking new stands capable of seating 50,000 + spectators, by contrast climbing into the rickety old wooden stand behind the goals at Norwood, with its pillars that sometimes block your view, and with the smaller overall ground dimensions was strangely very satisfying. Maybe I am just getting old, I don't know, but it was also reminiscent of the big games played there when the SANFL meant so much more. You weren't travelling to a stadium "for all South Australians" you travelled to the warts-and-all version of whatever the home team produced, at Norwood it was the rickety old stand behind the goals, the architectural vomit that looked as though it was built by volunteers on the western wing, with its made-to-splat walls meters from the boundary, the underground toilet in the outer, the tin shed that served beer, the medium to small hill at the southern end that could pack thousands. The imperfections were the charm, we packed into such places because we loved the game so much, and each club had its own cobbled together group of mounds, stands and buildings reflective of what assets that club could utilize to accommodate a game day crowd.
Apart from the nostalgia and atmosphere, I didn't have to worry about car parking or the hassle of going into the city. Norwood is very convenient in that it is central but without the headaches of being too central. You step out the ground and you are right in suburbia. I would not have gone if the fixture had been at Adelaide Oval, and going to an outer suburbs ground would have been too much of an inconvenience.
I'm gonna sit back, crack the top off a Pale Ale, and watch the Double Blues prevail
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