The Australian Football League has numerous grounds upon which senior VFL/AFL games have been played. This list comprises current grounds in use, former grounds in use (both major and minor), regional pre-season grounds and international grounds.
In accordance with the Laws of Australian football, a ground must be grassed, have a minimum length of 135 metres (443 ft) and a minimum width of 110 metres (360 ft). [1] Most Australian rules football grounds are also used for cricket, which is also played on a grassed, oval-shaped ground, and it is commonplace for a ground to be used for football in winter and cricket in summer.
Due to the popularity of Australian rules football, particularly in southern Australia, most of Australia's largest stadiums by capacity are used for Australian rules football; and it is therefore common to use those stadiums for other high-drawing events, particularly sporting events. Sports such as rugby and soccer can be readily played on an Australian rules football arena, as their rectangular fields are small enough to be set on the larger oval.
The oldest Australian Football League ground is the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The ground was built in 1854 and is still used for hosting AFL matches, including each year's grand final. The ground also has the largest capacity, at 100,024. The ground that made its most recent AFL debut is Summit Sports Park in Mount Barker, South Australia, during the 2023 season. As of November 2023, 50 different venues have hosted VFL/AFL premiership matches since the league was established in 1897.
The following table shows a list of all of grounds that are currently regularly used in the Australian Football League, as of the 2023 AFL season. The table includes grounds where teams have commercial deals in place to transfer home games to these grounds each season but are not full-time tenants of those grounds; in these cases, the club is shown in italics in the current tenants column.
Ground | Image | Other/sponsored names | City | State/territory | Capacity | First used | Games | Current tenant(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Melbourne Cricket Ground | MCG The 'G | Melbourne | Victoria | 100,024 [2] | 1897 | 3050 | Collingwood Hawthorn Melbourne Richmond Essendon Carlton | |
Perth Stadium | Optus Stadium (2018–present) | Perth | Western Australia | 60,000 [3] | 2018 | 135 | West Coast Fremantle | |
Adelaide Oval | Adelaide | South Australia | 53,583 [4] | 1877 [5] [n 1] | 233 | Adelaide Port Adelaide | ||
Docklands Stadium | Colonial Stadium (2000–2002) Telstra Dome (2003–2008) Etihad Stadium (2009–2018) Marvel Stadium (2018–present) | Melbourne | Victoria | 53, 359 [6] | 2000 | 1073 | Essendon North Melbourne St Kilda Western Bulldogs Carlton | |
Sydney Cricket Ground | SCG | Sydney | New South Wales | 48,000 [7] | 1903 [8] | 450 | Sydney | |
The Gabba | Brisbane Cricket Ground | Brisbane | Queensland | 42,000 [9] | 1991 | 397 | Brisbane | |
Kardinia Park | Shell Stadium (1999–2001) Baytec Stadium (2002 pre-season) Skilled Stadium (2002–2011) Simonds Stadium (2012–2017) GMHBA Stadium (2017–present) [10] | Geelong | Victoria | 40,000 [11] | 1941 | 711 | Geelong | |
Carrara Stadium | Metricon Stadium (2011–2022) Heritage Bank Stadium (2023) People First Stadium (2024-present) | Gold Coast | Queensland | 25,000 [n 2] [12] | 1987 | 237 | Gold Coast | |
Sydney Showground Stadium | Škoda Stadium (2012–2013) Spotless Stadium (2014–2018) GIANTS Stadium (2019–2023) [13] ENGIE Stadium (2024-present) | Sydney | New South Wales | 25,000 | 2012 | 93 | Greater Western Sydney [14] | |
York Park | Aurora Stadium (2004–2016) University of Tasmania Stadium (2017–present) | Launceston | Tasmania | 20,000 [15] | 2001 | 88 | Hawthorn [n 3] | |
Bellerive Oval | Blundstone Arena (2012–present) | Hobart | Tasmania | 20,000 | 2012 | 36 | North Melbourne [n 3] [14] | |
Manuka Oval | StarTrack Oval Canberra (2013–2016) UNSW Canberra Oval (2017–present) | Canberra | ACT | 16,000 [16] | 1998 | 59 | Greater Western Sydney | |
Marrara Oval | TIO Stadium (2006–present) | Darwin | Northern Territory | 12,000 [17] | 2004 | 26 | Gold Coast [n 3] | |
Eureka Stadium | Mars Stadium (2017–present) | Ballarat | Victoria | 11,000 | 2017 | 12 | Western Bulldogs [n 3] | |
Traeger Park | TIO Traeger Park | Alice Springs | Northern Territory | 10,000 [18] | 2014 [19] | 9 | Melbourne [n 3] |
The following table comprises a list of former grounds that were at one stage the primary home ground, or a long-term secondary home ground, for a club to play its VFL/AFL matches on.
Most of the grounds were the original homes of current teams (for example, Arden Street Oval was North Melbourne's home ground) and have ceased hosting VFL/AFL matches, usually due to location and lack of capacity. Princes Park was the last of the Victorian suburban venues to see an AFL game, with the last match occurring in 2005. These grounds now usually serve as a boutique training oval and administrative base for these AFL clubs, and some are used for under age, VFL, AFL Women's or suburban league matches.
Waverley Park (originally known as VFL Park), located in Mulgrave, Victoria was the first purpose-built stadium for VFL/AFL matches, opening in 1970. Until the 1990s, it did not serve as any team's home ground, but was instead a neutral venue to which each club shifted one or two of its home matches each year; in the 1990s, it was adopted as a home ground by Hawthorn and St Kilda. Original plans called for the grounds capacity to be 155,000, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world. The venue, with its planned higher capacity, was originally to be a replacement for the Melbourne Cricket Ground as host of the VFL's Grand Final. However, in 1982/1983, when the extensions to finish the original plans were due to commence, the Government of Victoria refused to approve the plans for the stadium because the upgrade would have threatened the Melbourne Cricket Ground's right to host the Grand Final. Hence, no further development ever occurred and the capacity was set at 78,000. It was used until 1999, and was replaced by the Docklands Stadium.
Football Park, which was located in West Lakes, Adelaide, had a similar history to Waverley Park; it was purpose built for South Australian National Football League (SANFL) games and opened in 1974, replacing Adelaide Oval as the primary venue for the league. Unlike Waverley Park, it did become the venue for SANFL Grand Finals. It was the primary South Australian venue for VFL/AFL matches from 1991, when the league expanded into Adelaide, until 2013, and it was replaced by the newly refurbished Adelaide Oval.
Ground | Other/sponsored names | City | State | Capacity | Games | First used | Last used | Tenant(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arden Street Oval | North Melbourne Recreation Reserve | North Melbourne | Victoria | 4,000 [20] | 529 | 1925 | 1985 | North Melbourne |
Brunswick Street Oval | Fitzroy Cricket Ground | North Fitzroy | Victoria | 10,000 [21] | 612 | 1897 | 1966 | Fitzroy |
Coburg City Oval | Coburg | Victoria | 12,000 [22] | 9 | 1965 | 1965 | North Melbourne | |
Corio Oval | Geelong | Victoria | 25,000 | 371 | 1897 | 1940 | Geelong | |
East Melbourne Cricket Ground | East Melbourne | Victoria | 20,000 | 225 | 1897 | 1921 | Essendon: 1897–1921 University: 1908–1910 | |
Football Park | AAMI Stadium (2002–2015) | West Lakes | South Australia | 51,240 [23] | 458 | 1991 | 2015 [n 1] | Adelaide Port Adelaide |
Glenferrie Oval | Hawthorn | Victoria | 10,000 [24] | 443 | 1925 | 1973 | Hawthorn | |
Junction Oval | St Kilda Cricket Ground | St Kilda | Victoria | 7,000 [25] | 734 | 1897 | 1984 | St Kilda: 1897–1964 Fitzroy: 1970–1984 |
Lake Oval | South Melbourne Cricket Ground | Albert Park | Victoria | 12,000 [26] | 704 | 1897 | 1981 | South Melbourne |
Moorabbin Oval | RSEA Park (2019–present) | Moorabbin | Victoria | 8,000 [27] | 254 | 1965 | 1992 | St Kilda |
Princes Park | Optus Oval (1994–2006) MC Labour Park (2007–2008) Visy Park (2009–2015) Ikon Park (2015–Present) | Carlton | Victoria | 24,568 [28] | 1,277 | 1897 | 2005 | Carlton: 1897–2005 Fitzroy: 1967–1969, 1987–1993 Hawthorn: 1974–1991 South Melbourne: 1942–1943 Western Bulldogs: 1997–1999 |
Punt Road Oval | Richmond Cricket Ground meBank Centre (2011–2016) Swinburne Centre (2017–present) | Richmond | Victoria | 2,000 [29] | 544 | 1908 | 1964 | Richmond: 1908–1964 Melbourne: 1942–1946, 1956 |
Stadium Australia | Telstra Stadium (2002–2007) ANZ Stadium (2008–2016) | Sydney Olympic Park | New South Wales | 82,500 [29] | 56 | 2002 | 2022 | Sydney |
Subiaco Oval | Patersons Stadium (2011–2014) Domain Stadium (2015–2017) | Perth | Western Australia | 42,922 [30] | 545 | 1987 | 2017 | West Coast: 1987–2017 Fremantle: 1995–2017 |
Victoria Park | Abbotsford | Victoria | 10,000 [31] | 880 | 1897 | 1999 | Collingwood: 1897–1999 Fitzroy: 1985–1986 | |
WACA Ground | East Perth | Western Australia | 35,000 [32] | 72 | 1987 | 2000 | West Coast: 1987–2000 Fremantle: 1995–2000 | |
Waverley Park | VFL Park (1970–1991) | Mulgrave | Victoria | 80,000 [33] | 732 | 1970 | 1999 | Central ground: 1970–1991 Hawthorn: 1992–1999 St Kilda: 1993–1999 |
Western Oval | Whitten Oval | West Footscray | Victoria | 10,000 [34] | 665 | 1925 | 1997 | Footscray: 1925, 1941, 1943–1997 Fitzroy: 1994–1996 |
Windy Hill | Essendon Recreation Reserve | Essendon | Victoria | 10,000 [35] | 629 | 1922 | 1991 | Essendon |
Minor grounds have been used in the VFL/AFL, but only sparingly. In addition to former commercial deals to sell home games which are no longer active, there have been two main reasons historically for this:
Number of times used is correct to April 2023.
The following list, is a list of the venues that have been used in AFL pre-season competition.
Many of the grounds were used in the Regional Challenge stage of the AFL pre-season competition, NAB Cup, which was used to bring AFL games to regional centres of South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and Victoria.
The following is a list of all of the international venues where a game of Australian rules football featuring VFL/AFL clubs has been played (in order of year last used). International matches have included pre-season competition matches or postseason exhibition matches. As of the end of 2018, the only international venues to host matches for premiership points are Westpac Stadium, in Wellington, New Zealand; and Adelaide Arena at Jiangwan Stadium, Shanghai, China.
The first international Australian rules football exhibition match was in London in 1916. A team of Australian soldiers stationed in England at the time formed a team to play against a "training group". The game brought a crowd of 3,000 people that even included the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) and King Manuel II of Portugal.
The more recent AFL international matches have been part of the pre-season competition format and been highly successful. Countries that have hosted such matches include: United Arab Emirates, South Africa and the United Kingdom. There are also plans to expand the game further into countries such as India [57] and Japan. [58]
Name of Ground | City | Country | Match Played | Date | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ghantoot Polo and Racing Club | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | Collingwood vs. Adelaide | 9 February 2008 | 6,102 [59] |
SuperSport Park | Centurion | South Africa | Carlton vs. Fremantle | 2 February 2008 | 3,500 [60] – 5,222 [61] (reports vary) |
The Oval | London | United Kingdom | Various matches | ||
Intramural Field at UCLA | Los Angeles | United States | Sydney vs. North Melbourne | 15 January 2006 | 3,200 [62] |
Westpac Stadium | Wellington | New Zealand | Brisbane vs. Adelaide | 17 February 2001 | 7,500 |
Western Bulldogs vs. Hawthorn | 29 January 2000 | 11,666 | |||
Newlands Cricket Ground | Cape Town | South Africa | Brisbane vs. Fremantle | 22 February 1998 | 10,123 |
Basin Reserve | Wellington | New Zealand | Sydney vs. Melbourne | 3 January 1998 | 7,820 |
Eden Park | Auckland | New Zealand | St Kilda vs. Geelong | 5 October 1991 | 8,500 |
Civic Stadium | Portland, Oregon | United States | Melbourne vs. West Coast | 12 October 1990 | 14,787 |
Joe Robbie Stadium | Miami | United States | Essendon vs. Hawthorn | 14 October 1989 | 10,069 |
Collingwood vs. Geelong | 8 October 1988 | 7,500 | |||
SkyDome | Toronto | Canada | Melbourne vs. Geelong | 12 October 1989 | 24,639 |
Varsity Stadium | Toronto | Canada | Collingwood vs. Hawthorn | 16 October 1988 | 18,500 |
Yokohama Stadium | Yokohama | Japan | Carlton vs. Hawthorn | 3 November 1987 | 13,000 |
Essendon vs. Hawthorn | 25 October 1987 | 25,000 | |||
BC Place | Vancouver | Canada | Melbourne vs. North Melbourne | 18 October 1987 | 7,980 |
Melbourne vs. Sydney | 9 October 1987 | 32,789 | |||
Sir Hubert Murray Stadium | Port Moresby | Papua New Guinea | North Melbourne vs. Papua New Guinea | 11 October 1976 | 8,000 [63] |
Athens | Greece | Carlton vs. All Stars | 5 November 1972 | 3,000 | |
Singapore | Singapore | Carlton vs. All Stars | 12 November 1972 | 8,500 | |
South Pacific Oval | Port Moresby | Papua New Guinea | St Kilda vs. Papua New Guinea | 8 October 1969 | 5,000 [64] |
Crystal Palace National Sports Centre | London | England | Australia vs. Britain | ?, 1967 | ? |
Big Rec Stadium | Los Angeles | United States | Geelong vs. Melbourne | 26 October 1963 | 3,500 |
Honolulu | United States | Geelong vs. Melbourne | 20 October 1963 | 1,500 | |
Queen's Club | London | England | Australian Division vs. Training Groups | 28 October 1916 | 3,000 [65] |
Below are the venues that have been used since the commencement of the AFL Women's competition in 2017.
The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league.
Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 1973 by the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and opened in 1974. Until the end of the 2013 AFL season, it served as the home ground of South Australia's AFL clubs, the Adelaide Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club. It also hosted all SANFL finals from 1974 to 2013. Demolition of the stadium's grandstands began in August 2018, and finished in March 2019.
Docklands Stadium, known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the suburb of Docklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was completed in 2000 at a cost of A$460 million. The stadium features a retractable roof and the ground level seating can be converted from oval to rectangular configuration.
Bellerive Oval is a cricket and an Australian rules football ground located in Bellerive, a suburb on the eastern shore of Hobart, Australia, holding 20,000 people it is the largest capacity stadium in Tasmania. It is the only venue in Tasmania which hosts international cricket matches.
Waverley Park was an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. For most of its history, its purpose was as a neutral venue and used by all Victorian-based Victorian Football League/Australian Football League clubs. During the 1990s it became the home ground of both the Hawthorn and St Kilda football clubs.
Carrara Stadium is a stadium on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara.
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gabba has hosted athletics, Australian rules football, baseball, concerts, cricket, cycling, rugby league, rugby union, Association football and pony and greyhound racing. At present, it serves as the home ground for the Queensland Bulls in domestic cricket, the Brisbane Heat of the Big Bash League and Women's Big Bash League, and the Brisbane Lions of the Australian Football League. It is also the secondary home of the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League. The stadium will receive an upgrade for the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
Junction Oval is a historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Marrara Oval is a sports ground in Darwin, the capital of Australia's Northern Territory. The ground primarily hosts Australian rules football, cricket, and rugby league.
Traeger Park is a sports complex located in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, and is named after Alfred Hermann Traeger. The park was officially opened by Anne Catherine Smallwood Alfred's younger daughter. The primary stadium in the complex caters for Australian rules football and cricket and has a capacity of 7200. The complex also has a small baseball stadium.
Moorabbin Oval is an Australian rules football ground in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia at Linton Street in the suburb of Moorabbin.
Punt Road Oval, also known as the Richmond Cricket Ground or known by naming rights sponsorship as the Swinburne Centre, is an Australian rules football ground and former cricket oval located within the Yarra Park precinct of East Melbourne, Victoria, situated a few hundred metres to the east of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent and only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season in 1897. It changed its name to Australian Football League in 1990 after expanding its competition to other Australian states in the 1980s. The AFL publishes its Laws of Australian football, which are used, with variations, by other Australian football organisations.
Lavington Sports Ground is a sports ground located in the suburb of Hamilton Valley near Lavington on the north-west fringe of the city of Albury, Australia. The oval is nestled in the side of a hill, with concrete terraces cut into the southern side of the oval below a grass embankment and the grandstand and changing rooms located on the north-west flank. The venue also incorporates a 4 table cricket wicket, a velodrome for track cycling and two netball courts. The Lavington Panthers Sports Club licensed club was formerly located next to the ground, across Hanna Street.
Albury Sports Ground is a sporting ground located close to the central business district of Albury, Australia. The oval is near the NSW bank of the Murray River, with a historic grandstand on the north-western flank, and a members' club with a grandstand and changing rooms on the eastern wing. The venue also incorporates a netball court in the north-eastern corner, while the Albury Swim Centre is adjacent to the west. The ground is part of a string of parks and gardens between the Murray River and Wodonga Place that include the Albury Botanic Gardens, Hovell Tree Park, Noreuil Park, Australia Park, and Oddies Creek Park.
Princes Park is an Australian rules football ground located inside the Princes Park precinct in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton North. Officially the Carlton Recreation Ground, it is a historic venue, having been Carlton Football Club's VFL/AFL home ground from 1897.
The 1991 AFL season was the 95th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), which was known previously as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season ran from 22 March until 28 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top six clubs, an increase from the top five clubs which had contested the finals since 1972.
Lakeside Stadium is an Australian sports arena in the South Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for association football club South Melbourne FC, Athletics Victoria, Athletics Australia, Victorian Institute of Sport and Australian Little Athletics.
The AFL Grand Final, which is the final premiership deciding match each season in the Australian Football League (AFL), has been played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Victoria, every year since 1902, except on seven occasions when the ground was unavailable or because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the case of the 2020 AFL Grand Final; and it is presently contracted to be played there until 2059. Despite the long-term stability in its location, and its natural fit as the largest capacity stadium in both Melbourne and Australia, the ongoing use of the Melbourne Cricket Ground has been controversial throughout its history.
Relocation of professional sports teams occurs when a team owner moves a team, generally from one metropolitan area to another, but occasionally between municipalities in the same conurbation. Australia and New Zealand uses a North American-style league franchise system which means the teams are overwhelmingly privately owned and therefore favours relocation practices. Owners who move a team generally do so seeking better profits, facilities, fan support, or a combination of these.