 Located within the Melbourne & Olympic Parks Precinct, Olympic Park Stadium is an important feature of Melbourne's sporting culture. The venue was originally built as a warm-up track for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and now plays host to Football, Rugby League and Athletics. The stadium has a capacity of 18,500 including seating for 11,000.
Olympic Park Stadium has been Melbourne's main rectangular sports stadium for many years however this will come to an end in a few years time when a new state-of-the-art Melbourne Rectangular Stadium opens next door on the current Edwin Flack Field in 2009. Melbourne Victory Football Club (A-League) and the Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club (NRL) both call the stadium home and will move to the new stadium once complete. It also plays host to the annual Telstra A-Series Athletics meet as well as many school athletics carnivals and has hosted concerts in the past.
Football (Soccer) has been a big part of Olympic Park Stadium. As well as being the current home of the Melbourne Victory, the stadium has hosted many internationals, domestic games including NSL Grand Finals and has been home to many clubs including Carlton and the Melbourne Knights.
 When the Olympic Park precinct was originally constructed in 1956, it also consisted of a Velodrome and a second sports ground. Later, a second stadium 'Olympic Park No.2' was constructed, as can be seen in this picture (bottom-right). The venue played host to grayhound racing and soccer before it was demolished in the late 1990's to make way for the CityLink road tunnels.
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Location: |
Melbourne, Victoria |
Address: |
Swan St Melbourne 3000
Phone: (03) 9286 1600 |
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Capacity: |
18,500 |
Seats: |
11,086 (60% of capacity) |
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Record Crowd: |
3/7/1991 - 26,900
RL Test Match: AUS v NZ |
Highest Crowd since 1/1/2003: |
18,206 - 16/10/05: A-League: MELB v SYD
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Lights: |
Yes |
Arena Roof: |
No |
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Video Screen: |
Temporary |
Arena Dimensions: |
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Built: |
1956 |
Redeveloped: |
1998 |
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Former/Other Names: |
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Ticketing: |
Ticketek |
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Sports Played: |
Football
Rugby League
Rugby Union
Athletics |
Home Teams: |
Melbourne Storm (NRL) |
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Annual Events: |
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Historic Events: |
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Last Event: |
29/08/09: NRL: Storm v Roosters
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Next Event: |
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Directions: |
Transport: |
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Flinders Street, Richmond and Jolimont train stations are all within walking distance of Olympic Park. Tram services from Flinders Street and Richmond Stations stop at Melbourne Park and Vodafone Arena. Water Taxi's also operate to the venue. |
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Parking: |
Accommodation: |
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Public parking throughout the Melbourne & Olympic Parks precinct is limited, but can be accessed from Swan Street. |
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