Victoria Park recent pics

easystreet · Post by **easystreet** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 12:07 pm

On the weekend i thought i would go and check out Victoria Park,and i was surprised when i got there the gates were open and you could just walk into the stadium,then onto the field.Here are a few of the pics that i took,other than a little wear and tear,it doesnt look much different than it did when Collingwood last used it in 1999.

the crow · Post by **the crow** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 3:07 pm

you shoould use it as the tennants couldnt give a F@#K....

try selling it see what you get for it..collingwood wouldnt even know

stadiumking · Post by **stadiumking** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 8:15 pm

Great pictures mate.
I couldn't get in when I went a few years ago to take some pictures.

The tenants are the AFL (or maybe VFL) umpires, are they not?

sandyhill · Post by **sandyhill** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 10:12 pm

Yes, thanks, easystreet.
Ah the memories. I was at the last ever match (when the Lions slaughtered us) and haven't been back since. I think I just want to keep my memories the way it was.
I was surprised at the lack of major changes since then - other than it appears some seating has been removed, making it appear more as it might have back in the 1970's - when it still got up to 40,000.

As announced on 7/6/06, here are the present plans -

VICTORIA PARK
Total Project Value: Approx $10M

Funding Contributions:

State Government: $1.00m
City of Yarra: Up to $7m (over four stages)
Collingwood Football Club: $1.25m
Australian Football League: $0.75m

Proposed Redevelopment / Works details:

Stage 1 (Underway)
- Refurbishment of the Social Club and sections of the Sherrin and Ryder Stands;
- Retention and restoration of some ticket boxes and turnstiles;
- Upgrade works to the Oval; and
- Football Victoria Change Rooms.

Stage 2
- The demolition of the upper sections of the Rush Stand and the retention of the lower seating near the perimeter of the oval fence.

Stage 3
- Works to the perimeter fence/wall including the removal of sections in strategic locations and the strengthen of other sections.

Stage 4
- The development of a public plaza and café area;
- The development of walking and jogging tracks;
- The development of various minor recreation facilities; and
- Landscape works to the precinct including: Improved grassed areas; Tree planting; Sculptures; Formal gardens; Shaded areas; and Water features.

Tigers 1945 · Post by **Tigers 1945** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 11:42 pm

Great photos man
I like Vic Park, it's got that gritty urban look to it that I like about grounds.
That bottom pic, with the superboxes, taken in the back of the Sherrin Stand reminds me of Ted Parker storming down to give coach Laurie Holden a bake about dragging Geoff Hayward in 'The Club'

easystreet · Post by **easystreet** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 12:19 pm

Thanks guys.Do Collingwood still train at Victoria Park?.If they dont,it would seem a waste of a great old ground.

Egan · Post by **Egan** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 12:24 pm

Nah Eddiewood have moved to the city and are causing World War 3 in the meantime

Trying to destroy Olympic Park while they are at it...

easystreet · Post by **easystreet** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 12:45 pm

I was at Olympic Park last Saturday night,its not a very fan-friendly stadium is it,the crowd is so far away from the action.

quidgybo · Post by **quidgybo** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:00 pm

easystreet wrote:I was at Olympic Park last Saturday night,its not a very fan-friendly stadium is it,the crowd is so far away from the action.

Then you should try Telstra Dome for rectangular sports.

Leigh.

Piefan39 · Post by **Piefan39** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 2:35 pm

Have been there many times & loved the history of the place but obviously the Glasshouse or Lexus Centre as it's know called is streets ahead of the archaic Vic Park.

I hope they redevelop it into a VFL ground, dont the Umpires still train there or something like that, what about the Northern Knights TAC club do they still play there?

sandyhill · Post by **sandyhill** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:23 pm

No, the Knights now play and train at - Australian Motor Finance Oval

better known as Preston City Oval.
I umpires use Victoria Park, also Vic Metro Under 18 squad training, and also visiting Under18 teams from Qld, NT, NSW and Tasmania for TAC Cup games.
That's all I know of.

hot_dogma · Post by **hot_dogma** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:39 pm

Tigers 1945 wrote:Great photos man
I like Vic Park, it's got that gritty urban look to it that I like about grounds.
That bottom pic, with the superboxes, taken in the back of the Sherrin Stand reminds me of Ted Parker storming down to give coach Laurie Holden a bake about dragging Geoff Hayward in 'The Club'

TP: (exhausted) "What's the meaning of taking Geoff Hayward off!"
LH: "What's the meaning of you telling me how to run the game?"
TP: "I'm the President of this club Laurie and if I have a meaning to express (deep breath) I'll express it!!"
LH: "Not to me, not during a game, now get out of here and let me get on with my job!" (door slams in face of Ted)

sandyhill · Post by **sandyhill** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:34 pm

This was also on the TV news tonight. Some fans turned up at Vic Park today, protesting (tears and all) the planned demolition of the Rush Stand. However, I think the plan is better than allowing the sacred site to slowly decay -

Pie home the people's park
Liam Houlihan (HUN)
August 05, 2007

VICTORIA Park will become a people's venue under a multi-million dollar plan to open it up to the public. Victorians will be able to kick a football at the historic former home of the Collingwood Football Club.

The ground -- home to the Magpies for more than a century -- will get an initial $3 million revamp under a City of Yarra master plan. The ground has the highest level of heritage protection, but Planning Minister and former Carlton ruckman Justin Madden supports the makeover. Under the blueprint, the Ryder and Sherrin stands and the old social club would be refurbished. A 100-seat auditorium with meeting and function spaces would be built and rainwater tanks installed. A walking track would also link the ground with popular nearby sites, such as Collingwood Children's Farm and Abbotsford Convent. The Rush stand would be removed to open the ground for public access.

Yesterday Mr Madden had a kick at the ground with former rival and Collingwood star Peter Daicos, who praised the plan. "It's great that it's going to get a spit and polish and be used by the public," Daicos said. "Hopefully my kids and their kids will be able to come here and kick a ball and say, 'Pop played here'."

Mr Madden said the ground was used by several community and school groups, but he welcomed plans to open it to the public outside game times. "Many Victorians would love to kick a football on this historic turf," Mr Madden said. "Victoria Park holds treasured memories for many Victorians, particularly Collingwood fans. "Finding a new purpose for our heritage places while preserving their essential character is the best way of securing their future."

Victoria Park was Collingwood's home ground from 1892 until 1999.

Cheesie-the-Pirate · Post by **Cheesie-the-Pirate** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:15 pm

This news is a good excuse for me to post some of my Victoria Park photographs from my Victorian stadium gunzelling earlier in the year.

Unfortunately they're rather underwhelming so I have decided to substitute quantity for quality. It's the Australian way!

As you can tell Victoria Park was locked up when I visited and not being a fan of trespass I stuck to exterior shots (plus a couple of the surrounding scenery). Those in the know would probably also realise that I started at Victoria Park railway station and made my way around the ground in an anti-clockwise direction.

Enjoy.

sandyhill · Post by **sandyhill** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 8:54 pm

THANK YOU CHEESIE.

Real glad of that excuse you got to post those. To me, they were all top quality pics - even the barbed wire topped old corrugated iron perimeter fence, and the developing jungle outside the toilet block. I've always loved those black'n'white stripes on the back of the Rush and Sherrin Stands - they really marked whose home it was. It was a hostile place for visitors.

Exterior shots can often tell more of a story than interior shots. In this case, the one of the old textile factory now converted into modern offices is in a way symbolic of the whole suburb. Once heavily industrialised, and also having the worse, poorest slums in Melbourne, but now long since gentrified - the vast bulk of barrackers commmuted in on the Hustbridge and Epping Lines (in fact they still do - just have go a little bit further to the 'G). The now Green dominated local council gave the Collingwood FC little choice but to leave, as they basically weren't allowed to upgrade or modernise anything due to its heritage classification - hence the move to the Lexus Centre.