Magazine - Local Footy, Home is where the Oval is.

By Editor in A.F.L on 1st Apr 2010 8:00

Country and suburban footy clubs have good, solid homes, in many cases ovals at which they've been based for more than a century. In the Amateurs competition, district clubs and university clubs also have their own distinct patches of turf.

Not so some of the old boys' clubs, which are based on former students of a particular school. Some of these clubs are lucky. A-section club Marcellin Old Collegians, for example, plays on one of the many ovals on the grounds of Marcellin College in Bulleen, while B-section club St Bernard's Old Collegians has one of the strongest home-ground advantages in the Ammos with its oval that nestles in the valley below the school buildings in West Essendon. But many old boys' clubs are based on schools that are unable to share their school oval. The most notable case is St Kevin's.

ST Kevin's College in Toorak is one of the most prestigious schools in Melbourne but it has only one oval, known as the Main Oval. The premier use of the oval is for the schoolboy teams that play in the Associated Public Schools competition on Saturdays. The St Kevin's Old Boys Football Club has used the oval periodically over the years, usually during the school holidays or in late August, when the APS competition is over, but in the main, SKOBs have had a peripatetic existence. Since being formed in 1947, the club has played at grounds ranging from a former VFL venue, Glenferrie Oval, to a ground that has become a circus venue, Burnley Park, off Swan Street in Richmond. In one season in the '70s, they shared Como Park in South Yarra with two other clubs, Old Geelong and Old Xaverians.

The only ground at which SKOBs has ever established any sort of permanency has been the Righetti Oval in Kooyong, but it's a ground that's small and poky, and mostly unloved. SKOBs were at Righetti Oval from the early '80s to the late '90s and again in recent years. Now they're moving to the T.H. King Oval in Glen Iris (where De La Salle played a season in the '90s). The King Oval has a pleasant setting and plenty of parking space. SKOBs secretary David White said yesterday that the club hoped to begin renovations on the change-rooms before too long.

SKOBs' King Oval era begins with the season opener against arch-rival St Bernard's on April 10. Excitement over the venue might even eclipse the SKOBs debut of Mark Coughlan, who has joined a Richmond posse at the B-section club. Former Richmond wingman Damian Ryan is SKOBs president, while 1980 premiership defender Emmett Dunne is an assistant coach.

Old Melburnians.,OMs president Andrew Ristrom said he was grateful to cricket authorities that his club could play on at the ground at least until July, when a decision will be made on whether to dig up the surface. "They're not sure whether they'll do it this year or next year," Ristrom said. If OMs do have to move late in the season, they're likely to play at Melbourne Grammar's Flack Oval in Port Melbourne. OMs played a practice match against Balwyn at the Flack Oval on Saturday. ''They thumped us," Ristrom said. "But the ground's in bloody good nick." Old Melburnians continue their search for a ground in the inner-east, within 15 kilometres of the city.

Despite Hawthorn's hopes that Glenferrie Oval would remain a footy venue when the Hawks moved base to Waverley Park, the ground is now a footy wilderness. Old Xaverians have tried more than once in recent years to gain permission to play junior matches there, only to be knocked back. The City of Boroondara says that, under VAFA guidelines that are based on AFL ground guidelines, the ground is too small for football. Grounds should be from 185 to 135 metres long. (Glenferrie, at 169 metres long, a good 10 metres longer than the MCG, fulfils that criteria.) Grounds should be from 155 to 110 metres wide. (Glenferrie is only 105 metres wide.) The Glenferrie surface is being relaid and, according to a Boroondara spokeswoman, refurbishment is to begin on the heritage-listed Michael Tuck Stand later in the year. This season's Hawthorn Auskick program starts at Glenferrie on May 1. The sight of small boys chasing a ball is the only footy you'll see at Glenferrie this year, or in the foreseeable future.

Source & More: www.theage.com.au

Read more articles in A.F.L, by Editor or from April 2010.