Whitten Oval

Whitten Oval (also known as Victoria University Whitten Oval[2] under a naming rights agreement) 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 (AFL), and the home ground of its women's and reserves teams which compete in AFL Women's (AFLW) and the Victorian Football League (VFL) respectively.

Whitten Oval
Former namesWestern Oval
LocationBarkly Street, West Footscray, Victoria
Coordinates37.799166°S 144.886748°E / -37.799166; 144.886748
Capacity10,000[1]
Record attendance42,354 (1955 VFL season)
SurfaceGrass
Tenants
Western Bulldogs (admin + training) (VFL/AFL)
Western Bulldogs (AFLW) (2017-present)
The E.J. Whitten Stand
E.J Whitten statue which stands outside of the Whitten Oval
The E.J. Whitten Stand in February 2017

Formerly known as the Western Oval, it was renamed in honour of Ted Whitten, a former player, captain and coach for the club. A statue of Whitten was also erected at the entrance of the oval.

Background

The Whitten Oval is the centrepiece of a reserve that, from 1860, was a stone quarry used by the railways. In 1866, the quarry was turned into a reserve that included botanical gardens. Other former quarries within the City of Footscray that were turned into public gardens in this era include the Yarraville Reserve, which is the site of the current Yarraville Oval, off Williamstown Road; the Yarraville Gardens, off Hyde Street; and Footscray Park, which fronts the Maribyrnong River.[3]

History

In 1879, after moving from ground to ground, the local council granted the local football club permission to use the Western Reserve as their home ground.[4] In 1883, the Footscray Football Club was formed. A year later, the club began hosting games in the botanical gardens. While the gardens became known as the David Spurling Reserve, the oval within the gardens became the Western Oval.

Footscray used Western Oval as its home ground almost continuously until 1997. It was absent from the ground only in 1942, when it was commandeered by military personnel during World War II; during that season, Footscray played its home games at the nearby Yarraville Oval, which was vacant because the VFA, in which the regular tenant Yarraville Football Club competed, was in recess. In 1943, the club returned to Western Oval.[4]

In 1955, the ground record attendance was set for the oval when 42,354 turned out on 9 July to see then-defending premiers Footscray defeat Collingwood by six points in Round 12, 1955.[5]

In 1965, Footscray considered leaving Western Oval, and made an application to the City of Sunshine for a lease at the new football ground it was developing at Skinner Reserve, approximately 3 km west in Braybrook; the Sunshine Council ultimately rejected the application, as it would have required the breaking of an agreement it already had with the VFA's Sunshine Football Club.[6]

In 1983, struggling VFA Division 2 club Yarraville played its home games at Western Oval on Sundays.[7] This was the only season of the arrangement, as the club folded before the 1984 season.

In 1994, the struggling Fitzroy Football Club began playing its home matches at the Western Oval, sharing the venue with Footscray, as it sought a better financial arrangement than it had received at its previous home Princes Park.[8]

In 1995, the oval was renamed the Whitten Oval, after the death of the football club's favourite son, Ted Whitten. The driveway leading from Barkly Street to the car park behind the oval was named Whitten Avenue.

In 1996, the Footscray Football Club attempted to get an injunction against the Fitzroy Football Club merging with any other club in the AFL, claiming such a move would break Fitzroy's 20 year lease to play their home games at Whitten Oval. The court dismissed the claim, saying damages rather than an injunction should have been sought.

Following Fitzroy's merger with Brisbane after the 1996 AFL season, the Western Bulldogs moved their primary home ground for matches from Whitten Oval to Optus Oval in Carlton, with the club still scheduled to play two home matches at Whitten Oval.[9] However, prior to their Round 1 encounter with Fremantle, the ground was condemned and the Fremantle match was moved to Optus Oval.[10] Eventually the Western Bulldogs announced their intention to no longer play AFL matches at Whitten Oval, instead playing home games at Optus Oval until moving to Docklands stadium from the 2000 season. A farewell premiership match was staged at the venue in Round 21, 1997 before a crowd of 26,704; the Bulldogs 12.14 (86) defeated West Coast 10.8 (68). After moving home matches away from the venue, the Bulldogs retain a training and administrative base at the venue.

The ground also ceased to be a used as a regular cricket venue at the end of 1996. Until December 1996, it was the home of the Footscray Cricket Club, which played in the Victorian district/premier cricket competition; from 1997, the club moved to the Mervyn G. Hughes Oval in northern Footscray.[11]

After the appointment of Campbell Rose as Chief Executive of the football club in 2002, discussions commenced on a redevelopment of Whitten Oval. In September 2004, the club secured a deal for a $19.5m redevelopment, with contributions from the Federal Government ($8.0m),[12][13] Western Bulldogs Forever Foundation ($5.5m), State Government ($3.0m),[14][15] AFL ($1.5m) and the City of Maribyrnong ($1.0m).[16] Construction commenced in 2005,[17] and was completed in 2009. The renovated ground includes a 120 place childcare centre, a conference and convention centre and a state-of-the-art sports, medical, and health care centre for the Bulldogs to use as a training base.[18]

In 2014, the ground started hosting home matches for the Western Bulldogs' reserves team, known as Footscray, which competes in the Victorian Football League.[19] The ground has hosted matches for the club's AFL Women's team since 2017.

A-League soccer team Western United held a match at the venue against Adelaide United on 26 January 2020. Adelaide won the match 4–3 in front of a crowd of 5,988.

Canary Island palms

Fifteen Canary Island date palm trees line the footpath north of the oval, facing Barkly Street. Three Canary Island pine trees are behind these palms. To the west of the oval, between the car park and Hocking Street, there are two more palms.

Of the 15 palms that line the reserve's northern border, 10 are south of the entrance to Whitten Avenue and five are north of the entrance. Behind the palms, to the north of the entrance, is the Lions Club of Footscray Memorial Playground.

Stadium

The stadium had a crowd capacity of up to 25,000.

The ground was known for being particularly long and narrow with deep squarish pockets, and for the wild wind which often bellowed over the ground, particularly at the Geelong Road end. These reasons, most specifically the wind, meant that the Western Oval was the site of many abnormally low scoring games, inaccurate scoring tallies and games in which more than 80% of all scoring was kicked to one end. The ground developed a demographic of the "ground visiting sides hated to play at", with passionate Bulldog supporters and its distinctive playing conditions making it an arduous task to leave with a win.

In a game illustrating the worst that the Western Oval wind could offer, Footscray defeated Fitzroy in a close game, 14.9 (93) to 13.7 (85), in Round 10, 1964 – of the total of 178 points scored in the game, only 7 were scored against the wind. When Footscray played Fitzroy in Round 17, 1927, only 6 of 173 points were kicked against the wind. In 1948's Footscray versus Geelong game, only 2 of the 58 scoring shots were made into the wind. The wind was so fierce that when the Geelong full-back, Bruce Morrison, kicked the ball off after Footscray had scored a behind, the ball floated back over his head and went through the goals. The goal umpire signalled a "forced behind". While these are extreme examples, it was common to see no more than two or three goals kicked into the wind, while 14 or 15 would be scored at the other end.

Current activities

Post-use as a VFL/AFL stadium, the Whitten Oval is now primarily used as the training ground for the Western Bulldogs.

A number of local community groups, schools and sporting organisations utilise the ground; particularly because of its close proximity to the Melbourne CBD and local transport. The ground also plays host to a variety of commercially-oriented tenancies, including retail (The Western Bulldogs merchandise shop, Bulldogs Central) and health (Physioplus Footscray). It also headquarters the WMR (Western Metropolitan Region) division of DEECD, which oversees all government schools in Melbourne's West.

The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) utilises the ground for games and finals. A local Rec Footy competition, the Western Bulldogs Family Day and a host of other community activities throughout the year mean the oval is constantly used.

A-League side Western United play some home matches at the ground.[20]

The oval is serviced by West Footscray railway station and local bus lines.

See also

References
  1. "Whitten Oval". austadiums.com. Austadiums. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  2. "VU Whitten Oval | Western Bulldogs". westernbulldogs.com.au. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. Ruban, L. (2013, May 11). Club History Page - West Footscray Football Club. WRFL Footy Record, 5, 47.
  4. Potted History - Official AFL Website
  5. "Western Oval – Attendances (1925–1997)". AFL Tables. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  6. "Oval for Sunshine". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne, VIC. 28 September 1965.
  7. Marc Fiddian (26 March 1983). "Dullard, Towns join Seagulls". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 27.
  8. "1993 review". Footystats. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  9. http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=age&kw=whitten+oval&pb=all_ffx&dt=enterRange&dr=1month&sd=01%2F01%2F1996&ed=31%2F12%2F1997&so=date&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=news970323_0139_8023
  10. http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=age&kw=whitten+oval&pb=all_ffx&dt=enterRange&dr=1month&sd=01%2F01%2F1996&ed=31%2F12%2F1997&so=date&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=news970709_0183_1711
  11. Vin Maskell (21 January 2013). "The Mervyn G Hughes Oval, Footscray, Victoria". Scoreboard Pressure. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  12. "Re-Development Of Whitten Oval – A Community Partnership" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007.
  13. "Re-Development Of Whitten Oval – A Community Partnership" (PDF). p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007.
  14. Media Release: Whitten Oval Rebuild On Track To Deliver The Goods
  15. http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/39125/0706-56AFLVenues.pdf
  16. http://www.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au/Files/Draft_Special_Minutes_050808.pdf
  17. Johnson, Lyall (19 November 2005). "Hawk's wing clipped". The Age. p. 4.
  18. Whitten Oval - Official AFL Website of the Western Bulldogs Football Club
  19. Jon Pierik (10 December 2013). "Footscray Bulldogs return to Whitten Oval". The Age. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  20. "VU Whitten Oval to host A-League football". westernbulldogs.com.au. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
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