MC Labour Park
Encyclopedia
Princes Park is an Australian rules football
ground located at Princes Park
in the inner Melbourne
suburb of Carlton North, Victoria
.
With a capacity of 35,000, the ground is the third largest Australian rules football venue in Melbourne after the Melbourne Cricket Ground
and Docklands Stadium.
It is a historic venue, having been the home ground of the Carlton Football Club
since the formation of the VFL/AFL in 1897. It has the second oldest grandstand associated with the VFL/AFL competition.
The Alderman Gardiner Stand was designed in 1903 and completed in stages between 1909 and 1913. The mostly iron stand with original cast iron columns remains the second oldest to be associated with the VFL/AFL competition.
The Robert Heatley Stand was officially opened by Alderman Sir William Brunton on Saturday, 7 May 1932.
Princes Park was the venue for the second Ashes test of the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour, in which the visitors defeated Australia 33 - 10.
The ground became known as Optus Oval in 1994 due to a naming rights deal with telecommunications company Optus
.
Work on the Legends Stand began in 1995 and was completed for opening on 25 April 1997. The roof, with its curved modern structure, ensured that the oval was now enclosed with a roof all the way around its circumference.
The first naming rights deal lapsed at the end of the 2005 season, and Optus declined to renew, citing the ground's lower profile now that AFL matches were no longer played there. In April 2006, it was announced that the naming rights for the stadium had once again been awarded, this time for a two-year term, during which the stadium was known as MC Labour Park.
In 2005, it was decided to discontinue the use of the ground for AFL home and away games. A farewell AFL game was played at Princes Park on Saturday 21 May 2005. The game was contested between Carlton
and Melbourne
. It was the last of the suburban grounds in Melbourne to be used in the AFL
. The result was an 18 point win to Melbourne.
In 2005, the ground hosted matches from the Australian Football Multicultural Cup
as well as finals for the 2005 Australian Football International Cup
.
In January 2006, Graham Smorgon
, ex-president of the Carlton Football Club, prepared a redevelopment proposal involving the demolition of most of the stands, returning much of the ground to parkland and the establishment of club training facilities and community centre. The proposal was controversial as it was presented to the media before local authorities and was made at a time when the club was struggling under the weight of heavy financial debt. Cynics branded it as an attempt by an arrogant Carlton board to rally member votes. This failed miserably as Smorgon was voted off the board by club members at the very next club election, on 2 February 2007 and his plans were scrapped immediately by the remaining board members.
On 7 June 2006 it was announced that Visy Park would receive a redevelopment to provide the Carlton Football Club
with elite training and administration facilities. The proposed redevelopment will provide state-of-the-art facilities exclusively for Carlton, including:
Although the ground was the permanent home to the Carlton Football Club
from mid-1897 until 2005, Princes Park has hosted several other Australian rules football teams. Most notably, Hawthorn
played its home games there for eighteen years between 1974 and 1991 after leaving Glenferrie Oval
; Fitzroy
spent two short stints at the ground between 1967–1969 and 1987-1993 after leaving Brunswick St Oval; the Western Bulldogs
spent three years there from 1997-1999 after leaving Whitten Oval
, and; South Melbourne
temporarily shared the ground from 1942-1943 when Lake Oval
was used during the second world war. It has also seen service in the final series of several seasons, most notably in 1945, when the VFL Grand Final was played there, creating the record crowd for the ground of 62,986. The ground was also used briefly as a venue for games expecting low crowds in the early 2000s, but this was unpopular and short-lived.
More recently, the ground has hosted Victorian Football League
Grand Finals up to 2007, and was until 2010 the home ground of the newly created VFL side of the Collingwood Football Club
, which is ironic considering that Collingwood and Carlton are bitter rivals in the AFL.
Other sports, including soccer, cricket
, boxing
and rugby
, have also been played there. The ground was also host to a production of the opera
Aida
.
The Carlton Football Club retains the use of the ground for training, administration and social club purposes, and in March 2006, the AFL touted the purchase of Princes Park from the Carlton Football Club to make a return as an AFL venue as an alternative to competitive balance fund payments to the club.
For the 2006 NRL season onwards, Visy Park is also the administrative headquarters for the Melbourne Storm
rugby league club. The club relocated to the temporary home while plans were being made for the construction of a new purpose-built rectangular stadium next to the then-current Melbourne Storm home ground, Olympic Park Stadium
.
The appointment of Richard Pratt
as President had renewed speculation that it may again be used by the Carlton Football Club
as a home ground in the future. This is unlikely to happen as Pratt stood down as President in June 2008 and died in April 2009, and two of the six stands have been demolished to make way for a $15.7m elite training venue. In 2009 Carlton CEO Greg Swann
publicly declared Carlton's intention to play home games at Visy Park again in the wake of poor financial returns at Etihad Stadium
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
ground located at Princes Park
Princes Park, Carlton
Princes Park is a 38.6 hectare park in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Carlton North, Victoria. It is located directly north of the University of Melbourne and bounded on its eastern and western sides by Melbourne General Cemetery and Royal Parade respectively...
in the inner Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
suburb of Carlton North, Victoria
Carlton North, Victoria
Carlton North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Melbourne and Yarra...
.
With a capacity of 35,000, the ground is the third largest Australian rules football venue in Melbourne after the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
and Docklands Stadium.
It is a historic venue, having been the home ground of the Carlton Football Club
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
since the formation of the VFL/AFL in 1897. It has the second oldest grandstand associated with the VFL/AFL competition.
History
Princes Park was first used in 1897 by the Carlton Football Club, during the inaugural season of the AFL/VFL. The club went on to win 673 of its 971 VFL/AFL games at the venue.The Alderman Gardiner Stand was designed in 1903 and completed in stages between 1909 and 1913. The mostly iron stand with original cast iron columns remains the second oldest to be associated with the VFL/AFL competition.
The Robert Heatley Stand was officially opened by Alderman Sir William Brunton on Saturday, 7 May 1932.
Princes Park was the venue for the second Ashes test of the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour, in which the visitors defeated Australia 33 - 10.
The ground became known as Optus Oval in 1994 due to a naming rights deal with telecommunications company Optus
Optus
SingTel Optus Pty Limited is the second largest telecommunications company in Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications...
.
Work on the Legends Stand began in 1995 and was completed for opening on 25 April 1997. The roof, with its curved modern structure, ensured that the oval was now enclosed with a roof all the way around its circumference.
The first naming rights deal lapsed at the end of the 2005 season, and Optus declined to renew, citing the ground's lower profile now that AFL matches were no longer played there. In April 2006, it was announced that the naming rights for the stadium had once again been awarded, this time for a two-year term, during which the stadium was known as MC Labour Park.
In 2005, it was decided to discontinue the use of the ground for AFL home and away games. A farewell AFL game was played at Princes Park on Saturday 21 May 2005. The game was contested between Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
and Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
. It was the last of the suburban grounds in Melbourne to be used in the AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
. The result was an 18 point win to Melbourne.
In 2005, the ground hosted matches from the Australian Football Multicultural Cup
Australian Football Multicultural Cup
The Australian Football Multicultural Cup was an amateur Australian rules football competition featuring teams drawn from melbourne's migrant communities...
as well as finals for the 2005 Australian Football International Cup
2005 Australian Football International Cup
The 2005 Australian Football International Cup was the second time that the Australian Football International Cup tournament, an international Australian rules football competition was held....
.
In January 2006, Graham Smorgon
Graham Smorgon
Graham Smorgon is a prominent Australian businessman and a member of the Smorgon family – one of Australia's wealthiest and most powerful and influential families...
, ex-president of the Carlton Football Club, prepared a redevelopment proposal involving the demolition of most of the stands, returning much of the ground to parkland and the establishment of club training facilities and community centre. The proposal was controversial as it was presented to the media before local authorities and was made at a time when the club was struggling under the weight of heavy financial debt. Cynics branded it as an attempt by an arrogant Carlton board to rally member votes. This failed miserably as Smorgon was voted off the board by club members at the very next club election, on 2 February 2007 and his plans were scrapped immediately by the remaining board members.
On 7 June 2006 it was announced that Visy Park would receive a redevelopment to provide the Carlton Football Club
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
with elite training and administration facilities. The proposed redevelopment will provide state-of-the-art facilities exclusively for Carlton, including:
- Gymnasium, weights and stretch areas
- 4 lane, 25 metre indoor heated pool
- Medical offices and rehabilitation/treatment areas
- Football Administration offices
- Lecture theatre and meeting rooms
- Change room facilities
Tenants
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
from mid-1897 until 2005, Princes Park has hosted several other Australian rules football teams. Most notably, Hawthorn
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
played its home games there for eighteen years between 1974 and 1991 after leaving Glenferrie Oval
Glenferrie Oval
Glenferrie Oval is an Australian rules football stadium located in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.It is the historic home of and is synonymous with the Hawthorn Football Club, who played there from 1903 and as a VFL/AFL club from 1925–1973, and retained the ground as an...
; Fitzroy
Fitzroy Football Club
The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
spent two short stints at the ground between 1967–1969 and 1987-1993 after leaving Brunswick St Oval; the Western Bulldogs
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
spent three years there from 1997-1999 after leaving Whitten Oval
Whitten Oval
Whitten Oval is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located at 417 Barkly Street, West Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquarters of the Western Bulldogs Football Club, which competes in the Australian Football League.Formerly known as the...
, and; South Melbourne
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
temporarily shared the ground from 1942-1943 when Lake Oval
Lake Oval
The Lake Oval was an Australian rules football and cricket stadium located in Albert Park, Victoria. It was the home of the South Melbourne Football Club from 1878 until their relocation to Sydney in 1982 , and also of the South Melbourne Cricket Club...
was used during the second world war. It has also seen service in the final series of several seasons, most notably in 1945, when the VFL Grand Final was played there, creating the record crowd for the ground of 62,986. The ground was also used briefly as a venue for games expecting low crowds in the early 2000s, but this was unpopular and short-lived.
More recently, the ground has hosted Victorian Football League
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...
Grand Finals up to 2007, and was until 2010 the home ground of the newly created VFL side of the Collingwood Football Club
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
, which is ironic considering that Collingwood and Carlton are bitter rivals in the AFL.
Other sports, including soccer, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, have also been played there. The ground was also host to a production of the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Aida
Aida (musical)
Aida is a musical with music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang, and produced by Walt Disney Theatrical....
.
The Carlton Football Club retains the use of the ground for training, administration and social club purposes, and in March 2006, the AFL touted the purchase of Princes Park from the Carlton Football Club to make a return as an AFL venue as an alternative to competitive balance fund payments to the club.
For the 2006 NRL season onwards, Visy Park is also the administrative headquarters for the Melbourne Storm
Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria....
rugby league club. The club relocated to the temporary home while plans were being made for the construction of a new purpose-built rectangular stadium next to the then-current Melbourne Storm home ground, Olympic Park Stadium
Olympic Park Stadium
Olympic Park Stadium was a multi-purpose outdoor stadium located on Olympic Boulevard in inner Melbourne. The stadium was built as an athletics training venue for the 1956 Olympics, a short distance from the MCG, which served as the Olympic Stadium...
.
The appointment of Richard Pratt
Richard Pratt (Australian businessman)
Richard J. Pratt was a prominent Australian businessman, chairman of the privately-owned company Visy Industries, and a leading figure of Melbourne society. In the year before his death Pratt was Australia's fourth-richest person, with a personal fortune valued at billion...
as President had renewed speculation that it may again be used by the Carlton Football Club
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
as a home ground in the future. This is unlikely to happen as Pratt stood down as President in June 2008 and died in April 2009, and two of the six stands have been demolished to make way for a $15.7m elite training venue. In 2009 Carlton CEO Greg Swann
Greg Swann
Greg Swann b. 1962 is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Carlton Football Club, an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne competing in the Australian Football League...
publicly declared Carlton's intention to play home games at Visy Park again in the wake of poor financial returns at Etihad Stadium