Williamstown Cricket Ground

Williamstown Cricket Ground
Burbank Oval
The Williamstown Cricket Ground in 2014, showing the W. L. Floyd Pavilion
Former names Point Gellibrand Oval
Location Williamstown, Victoria
Coordinates 37°52′16″S 144°54′12″E / 37.87111°S 144.90333°E / -37.87111; 144.90333Coordinates: 37°52′16″S 144°54′12″E / 37.87111°S 144.90333°E / -37.87111; 144.90333
Owner City of Hobsons Bay
Capacity 10,000 (500 seated)[1]
Field size 165m × 135m
Surface Grass
Tenants
South Williamstown Football Club (1886–1887)
Williamstown Football Club (1888–present)
Williamstown Cricket Club (1850s–present)

The Williamstown Cricket Ground, currently known by its sponsored name Burbank Oval, and also informally as Point Gellibrand Oval, is a football and cricket stadium located in Williamstown, Victoria. The ground is located on Point Gellibrand, the southern-most point of Williamstown which juts into Port Phillip Bay. The ground is currently the home of the Williamstown Football Club in the Victorian Football League, and the Williamstown Cricket Club in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association.

History

The ground was established as early as the 1850s as a venue for cricket in Williamstown, and for the Williamstown Cricket Club which formed around the same time.[2]

Senior football was not played regularly at the Williamstown Cricket Ground until 1886. The Williamstown Football Club was unable to agree to terms with the cricket club for use of the ground, forcing the football club to play its matches without charging for admission at the unfenced Gardens Reserve; as a direct result of this dispute, a new senior football club, the South Williamstown Football Club, was established, and received permission to play its matches at the cricket ground.[3] In 1888, the dispute ended; the two football clubs amalgamated, and began playing all of its home games at the ground with the agreement of the cricket club.[4]

One major grandstand, the W. L. Floyd Pavilion, was built during the 20th century, and is located on the south-western flank. It was initially opened in 1930, and in 1963 it was named after Larry Floyd,[5] who served as club secretary in the 1930s and 1940s.[6] The ground's location at Point Gellibrand, jutting slightly out into Port Phillip Bay, makes the seaside ground picturesque, but also heavily windswept, often affecting play during football games and making for cold conditions during winter.[7]

The venue was redeveloped between 2010 and 2012, which included refurbishing the Floyd Pavilion.[7] A Crimean War era military bunker was unexpectedly uncovered beneath the outer during the redevelopment work.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Burbank Oval". austadiums.com. Austadiums. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "14. Sports and pastimes (sic)". Hobsons Bay City Council. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "The Football Season". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 30 April 1886. p. 6.
  4. ↑ "Football – the amalgamation of the Williamstown and South Williamstown clubs". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 10 February 1888. p. 5.
  5. ↑ Fiddian, Marc (2003), Seagulls over Williamstown, Williamstown, VIC: Williamstown Football Club, p. 46
  6. ↑ "Cr. Larry Floyd's career". Williamstown Chronicle. Williamstown, VIC. 13 December 1946. p. 1.
  7. 1 2 "Burbank Oval". Austadiums. 21 May 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Goya Bennett (3 February 2011). "Bunker find a window into history of the bay". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
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