Junction Oval (also known as the St Kilda Cricket Ground, or the CitiPower Centre due to

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

reasons) is a historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The oval's location near the St Kilda Junction gave rise to its name. It is located approximately five kilometres south from the centre of Melbourne and is in the southernmost part of the large Albert Park sporting precinct. The oval is the administrative headquarters of Cricket Victoria, and was redeveloped between 2015 and 2018 for that purpose.

History and description

The St Kilda Cricket Ground was established on its present site in 1856. The first

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

at the ground was purchased from the old Elsternwick racecourse and erected in 1892 at the southern end of the ground. A new grandstand was built in 1925–26 at a cost of £7000, designed by the architect E J Clark and built by H H Eilenberg. It was originally called the G P Newman Stand but has been renamed the Kevin Murray Stand after one of the

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of City of Fitzroy, Fitzroy, the club is base ...

's most famous footballers before being renamed as the

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batter for Victoria, Hampshire ...

stand in 2024. A second brick stand designed by E J Clark to complement the Murray Stand was built by H H Eilenberg in 1933–34 at a cost of £7500. It was named the Don Blackie–

Bert Ironmonger Herbert Ironmonger (7 April 1882 – 31 May 1971) was an Australian cricketer. He played Test cricket from 1928 to 1933, playing his last Test at the age of 50. He is the second-oldest Test cricketer. Life and career Before World War I Ironmon ...

Stand in honour of the St Kilda Cricket Club and Test cricketers. Both grandstands still stand today and have been restored and are in use. A new £6000 manual scoreboard and kiosk at the northern end of the ground was built in 1956–57, the cricket club's centenary year. The scoreboard is a landmark of the St Kilda Junction area. The remainder of the ground is grass embankments, other than the southern practice wicket area. Older structures were demolished during a rationalisation of the ground, after they were declared a fire hazard by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in 1988. It is a very picturesque venue, with a top-quality turf playing area and a modern backdrop of tall buildings and parkland. The current capacity of the ground is 7,000. Cricket great

had a long association with the St Kilda Cricket Ground. He made his first class debut at the ground for Victoria in 1991, and played there on numerous occasions between 1989 and 2006 for his club side, St Kilda. In 2010, the club proposed renaming the ground the Shane Warne Oval, but the change never occurred. In 2013, Warne spoke on behalf of the campaign to preserve the ground's suitability as a venue for first-class cricket. In December 2014, the

Victorian government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

announced it would contribute $25 million to the Oval's redevelopment to allow it to become the administrative and training headquarters of Cricket Victoria. By the end of 2015, Cricket Victoria and

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

, in combination with the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Groun ...

, contributed the extra $15 million necessary to allow the redevelopment to proceed. The redevelopment of the venue incorporated several new features such as a national centre for cricket training and programs, on-site accommodation for visiting teams and officials, medical and training facilities including an extensive outdoor turf training area and 10-lane indoor centre and administrative facilities and offices to house Cricket Victoria and be rented to external parties. The redevelopment allowed the oval to become a boutique-size alternative venue for first-class cricket with a capacity for up to 7,000 spectators. The upgraded venue was unveiled ahead of the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

match between Victoria and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

on 3 March 2018. The

Melbourne Stars Melbourne Stars are an Australian Twenty20 franchise cricket team, based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in Australia's Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League. The Stars wear a green uniform and play their home matches at the Melbou ...

played the first men's

Big Bash League The Big Bash League (BBL), also known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Australia. Established in 2011 by Cricket Australia, the Big Bash League replaced the previous competitio ...

match at the venue against the Perth Scorchers on 2 January 2022 as part of their BBL11 Campaign.

Cricket

Junction Oval was founded in tandem with the St Kilda Cricket Club, who have called the ground home since its opening in 1856. The club plays in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition and has a rich history of success at the venue. Prior to the redevelopment in 2015–18, the venue had hosted 28

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

matches, including 25

games. The lack of upgrades to the oval meant that by 2005 the venue failed to meet first-class standards, though in retaining its charm it was compared to the

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve, also known as the Cello Basin Reserve for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the Basin, is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It is used for Test cricket, Test matches, and is the main home ground of t ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

The need for a first-class standard cricket ground in Victoria, in addition to the 100,000 seat capacity

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

(MCG), became increasingly apparent as the state team was forced to host Sheffield Shield finals in interstate locations. Consequently, the redevelopment of the ground in the mid-2010s allowed Victoria and other teams to host matches at an appropriately-sized venue, relieving pressure on the MCG and enabling the oval to become capable of hosting Women's Big Bash League matches and other cricket competitions where necessary, as well as being the administrative headquarters of Cricket Victoria. The venue is referred to as the ''CitiPower Centre''. Prior to redevelopment, Victoria utilised the oval during the 2005–06 season when the

(MCG) was being prepared for the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

. In the early 1990s it was used regularly because of the construction of the Great Southern Stand at the MCG. It also played host to the 2008/09 Sheffield Shield final, won by the Bushrangers, due to the unavailability of the MCG, because of the Bushfire relief concert. The Junction Oval was converted into a full-time cricket venue as of 2015 as part of the redevelopment in 2015 until 2018. As a result of the redevelopment, the Victorian state team plays many home games in the domestic One-Day Cup and

competitions at the oval. Success at the redeveloped ground came quickly for the Victorians, who won their sixth One-Day Cup and 32nd Sheffield Shield at the Junction Oval during the 2018–19 season.

Australian rules football

While the redevelopment of Junction Oval ended the 145-year association of

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

with the ground, the venue has a rich football history. On 28 May 1870, the first ever football match with historical senior premiership status was played at the oval between South Yarra and Albert Park, with Albert Park winning by three goals to one. After entering senior competition, the

St Kilda Football Club 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. The club's name originates fro ...

played its home matches there in 1874 and in 1875, when the club merged with University for one season to form a combined team, ''St Kilda cum University'', due to a lack of players. As St Kilda moved to Alpaca Paddock in 1876 after returning as a standalone team, and a lack of players and financial problems meant that St Kilda went into recess during 1879, no further matches would be played there until St Kilda returned to senior competition in 1886. St Kilda subsequently played their home games at the venue until 1964 (except for in 1916–17, when the club was in recess due to World War I, and 1942–43, when the military occupied the ground during World War II). Before the 1944 season, the military vacated the Junction Oval, and because it was closer to South Melbourne's still-occupied home ground, the Lake Oval, than Princes Park was, the Swans started playing their home games at the venue: South Melbourne played 29 home matches for premiership points at the ground between 1944 and 1946. Other clubs who used the venue as a home ground included

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

(1944–1946) and Fitzroy (1970–1984), while the first ever

women's footy Women's Australian rules football (in areas where it is popular, known simply as women's football or women's footy or women's AFL), is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the Laws of Australian ...

match was played there in 1921. St Kilda Football Club played 564 home matches for premiership points at the ground between 1897 and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

. The Saints' final home game at the venue was on 22 August 1964, a 12-point win against

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, 12.18 (90) to 11.12 (78), in front of 37,100 fans. The club also played 16 away games at the venue: 13 against the Fitzroy and three against South Melbourne. The St Kilda Football Club left the venue after the 1964 season and moved to Moorabbin Oval, motivated by the desire to operate its own venue. In 1970, the

relocated to the venue and stayed until the end of 1984. Fitzroy played 135 home matches for premiership points at the ground between 1970 and 1984. Fitzroy were evicted from the venue at the end of 1984 after a fifteen-year tenure, and moved their primary training and administrative base to Northcote Park and their home games to Victoria Park, sharing the venue with

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

. The final VFL game to be played at the Junction Oval was between

and

in front of a crowd attendance of 15,156 on 1 September 1984 in Round 22 of

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

: Fitzroy defeated St Kilda by 57 points, 24.20 (164) to St Kilda 15.17 (107). The ground also hosted six VFL finals matches, including three Grand Finals (in

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

–

1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

, all three being won by Fitzroy). Between 1870 and 1984, 845 senior matches in the recognised top level of Victorian football – 12 in the unaffiliated era, 99 in the VFA and 734 in the

VFL/AFL The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

– were played at the ground over 93 seasons of competition. Junction Oval was also a regular venue for

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

finals following the Second World War: it staged every top division VFA finals series, including Grand Finals, from

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

until

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, and then again from

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

until

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

. The

Sandringham Football Club The Sandringham Football Club, nicknamed the Zebras, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Sandringham, Victoria, Sandringham. It currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the VFL Women's (VF ...

played home games at the ground during the 1966 season. The

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

used the venue as a training ground and administrative base between 1985 and 2010, having previously trained at the

, and the annual 3RRR Community Cup football match was played there until 2007. The last football tenant was the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded in 1892, it consists of six senior divisions, ranging from Premier to Division 3 i ...

's Old Melburnians Football Club from 1992 to 2015, and they took on Old Caulfield Grammarians in the final Australian rules football match to be played at the Junction Oval on 22 July 2015.

Record attendances

The record attendance at the ground is 46,973 on 20 May 1950 to watch St Kilda play Carlton in a VFL match, a bigger crowd than any of the three Grand Finals played at the venue. The record attendance for a South Melbourne home game at the Junction Oval was 38,000 against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

in 1946. The record attendance for a Fitzroy home game was 27,202 versus Collingwood in the opening round of 1981.

Other sports

On 3 March 1975, one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, "Smokin"

Joe Frazier Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944November 7, 2011) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. Nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He was known for ...

, defeated Jimmy Ellis via technical knockout in the 9th round of their scheduled 12 round fight at the Junction Oval, "to barge squarely back into contention for

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

's world heavyweight title." It was the second time Ellis had fought Frazier; Frazier had won their first fight. Other major events that have been held at the ground include the 1898/99 Victorian athletics titles, numerous bicycle meets and two inter-colonial

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

matches between Victoria and New South Wales. A pre-season rugby league trial match between Western Suburbs and Manly Warringah was staged at the oval in 1978 notable for being the start of the infamous Fibros vs Silvertails rivalry shared between the two sides.

References

External links

About the Junction Oval – Cricket Victoria
*
St Kilda Football Club's reason for moving from Junction Oval
{{Fitzroy Football Club Cricket grounds in Victoria (state) Former Australian Football League grounds Sports venues in Melbourne Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Sports venues completed in 1856 Sydney Swans Women's Big Bash League 1856 establishments in Australia St Kilda, Victoria Sport in the City of Port Phillip Buildings and structures in the City of Port Phillip St Kilda Football Club Melbourne Renegades (WBBL)