- Moorabbin Oval
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Moorabbin Oval Linen House Oval 
St Kilda Football Club take part in a training drill in front of the G. G. Huggins Stand and social club facilities at Moorabbin Oval prior to the 2009 AFL Grand Final
Former names Moorabbin Oval Location 32-60 Linton Street, Moorabbin, Victoria Coordinates 37°56′15″S 145°02′38″E / 37.9375°S 145.0439°ECoordinates: 37°56′15″S 145°02′38″E / 37.9375°S 145.0439°E Opened 1952 Operator St Kilda Football Club Ltd Surface Grass Tenants St Kilda Football Club (1965-) VFL/AFL (1965-1992).
Melbourne Reds, ABL (1994-1999).Moorabbin Oval, also known by its sponsorship name of Linen House Oval, is an Australian Rules Football ground in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia at Linton Street in the suburb of Moorabbin.
The ground is notable for being the home of the St Kilda Football Club and a former VFL/AFL match venue when it hosted St Kilda home games.
Contents
History
The oval was first used by the Moorabbin Football Club which moved to the new ground from nearby Cheltenham in the 1950s.
In 1963 the ground was sold to VFL/AFL club St Kilda Football Club who relocated their training and administration headquarters from the Junction Oval to the facility in 1965.
The ground was subsequently redeveloped with a large grandstand and standing areas to facilitate VFL/AFL matches.
St Kilda Football Club
St Kilda Football Club's move to Moorabbin Oval was seen as highly successful. In its first season at the new ground the club played in front of capacity crowds. The Saints first ever home game at Moorabbin attracted a record crowd of 51,370 against Collingwood in Round 1, 1965 - a record that was never broken. St Kilda won its first premiership a year later in 1966.
Moorabbin Oval was the fourth largest ground in metropolitan Melbourne after the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Waverley Park and Princes Park Football Ground.
St Kilda ceased playing home games at Moorabbin Oval in 1992 and began playing home fixtures at Waverley Park. The final AFL match for premiership points was in Round 20 of the 1992 AFL Premiership Season between St Kilda Football Club and the Fitzroy Lions. The most recent practice match was played in 2005 between St Kilda and North Melbourne Kangaroos which attracted 4,500 spectators.[1] The ground is used for occasional St Kilda Football Club training matches.
The St Kilda Football Club played 254 matches for premiership points at Moorabbin Oval between 1964 and 1992. The Saints drew a total attendance of more than 5.39 million people to those matches at Moorabbin at an average attendance of 21,232.
St Kilda Football Club Match Record at Moorabbin Oval Venue Played Won Lost Drawn Most Recent Match Moorabbin Oval 254
~134
(52.76%)118
(46.46%)2
(0.78%)1992 AFL Premiership Season Round 20 1965 to 1992 After home games ceased being played at Moorabbin Oval, the ground was extensively renovated to provide training, administration and entertainment facilities within the Huggins Stand and a heritage museum. Moorabbin Oval remains the club's training, administration and entertainment base. The G.G. Huggins Stand has three internal floors that contain player rooms, a fully equipped player gymnasium, football department meeting rooms, administration offices, a membership department, gaming room and bar, the Trevor Barker Room (a function room with a bar), club shop, trophy and memorabilia display areas and other facilities.
A new additional training and administration facility for the Saints, Linen House Centre in Seaford near Frankston, approximately 21 kilometers from Moorabbin, is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in 2010 at a cost of approximately 10.45 million dollars. The development is a St Kilda Football Club development in conjunction with the Frankston City Council, the State Government Of Victoria and the AFL.
The St Kilda Football Club will retain Moorabbin Oval as a training, retail, museum and entertainment venue.
Melbourne Reds
Moorabbin Oval was the home of the Melbourne Reds in the former Australian Baseball League from 1994 to 1999.
Records
An estimated crowd of 10,000[2] packed into Moorabbin Oval to watch St Kilda Football Club train prior to the 2009 AFL Grand Final
Memories of the old days - some of the estimated 10,000 strong crowd[2] on the site of the former stands watching St Kilda train prior to the 2009 AFL Grand Final- Highest attendance: 51,370 - St Kilda Football Club vs Collingwood - 1965
- Highest winning margin: 140 points - Carlton Blues vs St Kilda - 1985
- Most goals: 323 - Tony Lockett St Kilda Football Club - 1983 to 1992
- Most goals in a game: 15 - Tony Lockett St Kilda Football Club vs Sydney - 1992
- Most games at Moorabbin: 128 - Barry Breen - 1965 to 1982
- Highest Score: 26.20 (176) - Sydney Swans vs St Kilda - 1985
- Best Defensive Score: St Kilda Football Club kept Geelong Cats to 3.3 (21) - 1971
Grandstands
- G. G. Huggins Stand (1965 – present)
Naming rights
- Linen House Oval (2007–present)[3]
In popular culture
An abandoned Moorabbin Oval was the site of a police targeting sniper in Season 1 Episode 3 of the Melbourne-based police drama Rush.
References
- ^ http://www.austadiums.com/sport/event.php?eventid=3719
- ^ a b "Huge crowds flock to training". St Kilda Football Club Official Site. saints.com.au. 2009-09-22. http://www.saints.com.au/season2009/news/newsarticle/tabid/5315/newsid/85174/default.aspx. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
- ^ http://www.saints.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/5315/Default.aspx?newsId=39760
External links
- Scoring records
- Attendance records
- Moorabbin Oval at Austadiums
Australian Football League grounds Main grounds: Neutral grounds: Future grounds: Defunct and
disused grounds:Arden Street Oval · Brunswick Street Oval · Coburg Oval · Corio Oval · East Melbourne Cricket Ground · Glenferrie Oval · Junction Oval · Lake Oval · Moorabbin Oval · Motordrome · Princes Park · Punt Road Oval · Toorak Park · Victoria Park · WACA Ground · Waverley Park · Whitten Oval · Windy Hill · Yarraville OvalAustralian Baseball Stadia Current Stadiums Baseball Park • Baxter Field • Blacktown Olympic Park • Geelong Baseball Park • Holloway Field • John Murray Field • Melbourne Ballpark • Narrabundah Ballpark • Norwood Oval • Palm Meadows • Traeger ParkFormer Stadiums ABL Stadiums Belmore Oval • Canberra Stadium • Carrara Oval • Moorabbin Oval • Parramatta Stadium • Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre • RNA Showgrounds • Old Sydney Showground • New Sydney Showground • WACA Ground • Waverley ParkCategories:- St Kilda Football Club
- Football League grounds
- Sports venues in Melbourne
- World Series Cricket venues
- Australian rules football stubs
- Australian sports venue stubs
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