Fixture Gather Round - SA announced as host for next 3 years 2024-2026

[Festerz]

16.04.23

GATHER ROUND SOUTH AUSTRALIA
AFL LOCKS IN SA FOR NEXT THREE SEASONS

The AFL in partnership with the SA Government is pleased to announce ‘Gather Round…. A Festival of Footy’ will be hosted in South Australia for the next three seasons.

The inaugural ‘Gather Round’ has been an overwhelming success, with all nine games sold out, more than 220,000 fans attending matches across the Adelaide Oval, Norwood Oval and Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills and tens of thousands of fans attending the footy festival on the banks of Torrens.

More than 60,000 fans purchased tickets from interstate.

Across 2024, 2025 and 2026, Gather Round …. A festival of footy will be hosted exclusively in South Australia, with Adelaide Oval to be the central venue, with the intent from both the AFL and the SA Government to take regional matches in 2024 to the Barossa / McClaren Vale region.

As part of the three-year term, both the AFL and SA Government have also committed to establishing a community football legacy fund, that will benefit local footy clubs in the state beyond the weekend of matches.

The AFL will lock in the fixture dates of the round in the coming weeks to give fans as much lead time as possible to book travel and accommodation.

Ticketing information will be release later in the year.

“South Australia really turned it on. Gather Round and all the activity across the state, the nine matches, the footy festival and the community football engagement has been some of the best days and events the AFL has ever delivered,” AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan said.

“It has been a success because everyone in football got behind the idea, clubs, players, corporate partners and most importantly our fans, to deliver an extraordinary few days,

“While the concept has real momentum, and we plan on taking it to other states around the country, we also feel in order for it to be as successful in the other states we need to continue to build out the concept in South Australia,

“The reality is we only had a few months to pull this together, and we hope by locking it in now we are giving everyone a longer runway to put together a bigger and even better event, and our fans certainty around booking travel and accommodation.

“The match at Mount Barker was a special afternoon on Saturday and an important part of recommitting to South Australia was to establish the community legacy fund, ensuring local footy clubs’ benefit from bringing the Gather Round to town.”

During the round the AFL has facilitated dozens of community club and school visits, held seminars for community club volunteers and delivered more than 10,000 footballs to regional community clubs.

Details on the Community legacy fund will be communicated at a later date.

“On behalf of the AFL I want to thank to Premier Malinauskas and his team in the SA Government who in partnership, delivered an unbelievable few days for footy and the state of South Australia.”

The AFL will also work with the AFLPA on the commitments to the players.

“The players have been strong partners in the Gather Round concept and have embraced wholeheartedly the round. We will now work with the AFLPA on the commitments to the players in the coming years.”

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said “The inaugural Gather Round has been a stunning success, in no small part thanks to the willingness of South Australians, and our interstate visitors, to show up.
“We know that this has delivered huge benefits for our state, and that is why I’m so pleased to see it return for the next three years.”

“With more time to plan, we know we can make Gather Round even bigger and better than what it has already become.”

“I want to thank Gillon McLachlan, the AFL, wider footballing community, public servants, councils and others who’ve all worked so hard to deliver such an amazing event in just a few months.”

“But most of all, I want to thank each and every person who showed up.”

“This agreement is because of you.”

-ends-

 

[PenfoldsFan]

What do people make of this fixture for next year

Gather Round 2025 Fixture


Thu night

Port v saints


Fri night

Crows v hawks


Sat day

Suns v giants (Barossa)

Lions v dockers (Mt barker)


Sat arvo

Richmond v dogs


Sat night

Ess v swans


Sun day

North v eagles (norwood)


Sun arvo

Carl v demons


Sun night

Coll v geelong

Not a fan of 4 games on Saturday, should keep a Friday arvo game at Norwood.
My Brother worked in Centre Point Tower in the 90's and said it was awesome to finish work early and walk down to the SCG for the test match.
Watching the crowds walking up Bartels rd through the parklands to the Parade yesterday and Friday reminded me of that and being a ground that only holds 5k it suits that scenario where die hards knock off early and head out.

I'd have gone..

Port V Saints AO 7.10pm Thurs

GWS V GC Norwood 2pm Fri

Crows V Hawks AO 7.10pm Fri

Tigers V Dogs AO 11.30am Sat

Lions V Dockers Norwood 3.30pm Sat

Bombers V Swans AO 7.40pm Sat

Roo's V Eagles Lyndoch 11am Sun

Carl V Demons AO 3.30pm Sun

Cats V Pies AO 7.00pm Sun

Having an early game Saturday at AO followed by a game at Norwood would see people flock through the East end filling pubs etc like the old GP/Clipsal days and back again post game whilst also allowing AO to be prepped for the night game.
Then another early game Sunday in Lyndoch with trains running to Gawler Central and shuttles out, an easy 15m run up Lyndoch rd from GC station or if theyre really serious, fix up the old barossa line and run all the way to Lyndoch and back for the AO double header.

Do away with Mt Barker, its just too far and requires too much chartered transport in the absence of a close rail line to the oval.

 

[Jeremias]

Great weekend.

Was skeptical last year but made the trip over this season.

Highly recommend for anyone who loves footy and wants to experience SA.

Hope they keep it long-term and the league doesn't dillute the experience by introducing multiple 'gather rounds'.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Who in their right mind is walking to the AO from Prospect oval!?!

Norwood oval I've done.
Wouldn't be opposed to Unley or Richmond either depending where I'm staying.
But Prospect? Yeah, nah.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Now I've finally broken my Adelaide Oval virginity I can finally confirm my suspicions that it's the best venue in Australia.

The amazing seats helped. About ten rows back to the right behind the interchange bench. The view of Dylan Moore

13

Dylan Moore

Age

25

Ht

177cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.9

3star

K

5.1

2star

HB

6.7

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

2.9

4star

G

0.3

3star

No current season stats available

D

12.2

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

6.2

4star

M

5.4

5star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

's mark was stunning. From where we were it felt as though he got as high as Gary Morcroft.

Would like to see how brave the SA government is and see if they try to outbid WA for the next WWE event. A big Adelaide Oval wrestling show would have an incredible atmosphere.

 

[Jibroni]

Not a fan of 4 games on Saturday, should keep a Friday arvo game at Norwood.
My Brother worked in Centre Point Tower in the 90's and said it was awesome to finish work early and walk down to the SCG for the test match.
Watching the crowds walking up Bartels rd through the parklands to the Parade yesterday and Friday reminded me of that and being a ground that only holds 5k it suits that scenario where die hards knock off early and head out.

I'd have gone..

Port V Saints AO 7.10pm Thurs

GWS V GC Norwood 2pm Fri

Crows V Hawks AO 7.10pm Fri

Tigers V Dogs AO 11.30am Sat

Lions V Dockers Norwood 3.30pm Sat

Bombers V Swans AO 7.40pm Sat

Roo's V Eagles Lyndoch 11am Sun

Carl V Demons AO 3.30pm Sun

Cats V Pies AO 7.00pm Sun

Having an early game Saturday at AO followed by a game at Norwood would see people flock through the East end filling pubs etc like the old GP/Clipsal days and back again post game whilst also allowing AO to be prepped for the night game.
Then another early game Sunday in Lyndoch with trains running to Gawler Central and shuttles out, an easy 15m run up Lyndoch rd from GC station or if theyre really serious, fix up the old barossa line and run all the way to Lyndoch and back for the AO double header.

Do away with Mt Barker, its just too far and requires too much chartered transport in the absence of a close rail line to the oval.

I like the idea of another poster of the Crows opening and Port closing gather round.

I really hope the MFC expresses an interest in the Barossa as you would see plenty come over and for something different Glenelg should be used as well. Just a moc version but I have gone with:


Thursday
Crows V Carlton AO

Friday
North Melb v GC Glenelg
Saints v Geelong AO

Saturday
Melbourne v Sydney Barossa
GWS v Essendon AO
Pies V Western Bulldogs AO

Sunday
Richmond V Dockers Glenelg
Hawthorn V Eagles Norwood
Port v Brisbane AO as the finale

 

[PenfoldsFan]

I like the idea of another poster of the Crows opening and Port closing gather round.

I really hope the MFC expresses an interest in the Barossa as you would see plenty come over and for something different Glenelg should be used as well. Just a moc version but I have gone with:


Thursday
Crows V Carlton AO

Friday
North Melb v GC Glenelg
Saints v Geelong AO

Saturday
Melbourne v Sydney Barossa
GWS v Essendon AO
Pies V Western Bulldogs AO

Sunday
Richmond V Dockers Glenelg
Hawthorn V Eagles Norwood
Port v Brisbane AO as the finale

Agreed, Port V another non Vic to close would be sensible as it allows Vic fans travelling by road an opportunity to get going a bit earlier if they choose to.

 

[Cuzz09]

Not sure what context your reply is based on. My comment was based on pairing up teams of similar performances based on the previous years finishing order.

I've got nothing against smaller venues hosting the games but AO should still host the higher ranked games. At the moment 5 games are assigned to AO & 4 to smaller venues which is about right.

In regards to wriggly kids, 7 hours at AO for a double header is going to be a long day regardless. The point of splitting the games is to give other fans a chance to attend 1 of the games who missed out on a double header ticket. If you are a fan attending both matches, then you will have 3 hours in between matches to enjoy the outside festivities at Elder Park or the CBD.

I quoted the wrong thing soz

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[JimmyBC]

Norwood oval I've done.
Wouldn't be opposed to Unley or Richmond either depending where I'm staying.
But Prospect? Yeah, nah.

Unley is a dog park with the outer side completely unusable for a crowd & tennis courts behind one end it's a joke of a ground.

 

[Drummond]

Unley is a dog park with the outer side completely unusable for a crowd & tennis courts behind one end it's a joke of a ground.

I’m with you. Unley is a joke.

Always thought Woodville was underrated, love the grass areas. Obviously no chance of hosting. Prospect is okay. Glenelg seems like the other obvious choice.

 

[PowerBaz]

You keep telling yourself that.

Port could leave the league now and nothing much is lost.

Ken?

 

[Bjo187]

Dillon said today he isn't sure where the hell the 3 gather rounds suggestion came from, it has never been discussed at afl hq. As my mate said last week, he thought Tom Morris got it off Bigfooty, this might confirm it.

 

[glengowan]

Thu Night - Adelaide vs Richmond (Adelaide Oval)
Fri Afternoon - Fremantle vs North Melbourne (Port Lincoln) in future years (Mount Gambier / Clare / Loxton / Murray Bridge / Port Augusta)
Fri Night - Port Adelaide vs Western Bulldogs (Adelaide Oval)
Sat Afternoon - SANFL vs VFL (Norwood Oval) in future years alternate with Glenelg Oval
Sat Afternoon - Melbourne vs Brisbane Lions (Barossa) in future years (McLaren Vale / Victor Harbour / Mount Barker)
Sat Twilight/Night Double Header - St Kilda vs Essendon then Collingwood vs GWS Giants (Adelaide Oval)
Sun Afternoon - Hawthorn vs West Coast (Norwood Oval) in future years alternate with Glenelg Oval
Sun Afternoon - Gold Coast vs Geelong (Barossa) in future years (McLaren Vale / Victor Harbour / Mount Barker)
Sun Twilight - Carlton vs Sydney (Adelaide Oval)

 

[jdeezy]

They got the whole package pretty well organised this year.

The Norwood Food and Wine festival on Sunday was great - vibes were great, plenty of vendors, enough screens to watch the footy, all very well organised. Close enough to the city and central enough that tourists could get in there from wherever. Worth maintaining the Norwood game for this alone.

The post game concert on Sunday with Baker Boy and Jet was really good too - was expecting something a bit more haphazard but felt like a proper festival set up in terms of audio visuals. Really good for a free "value add" sort of addition to the weekend. Another concept with keeping but probably needed to be advertised more because I only stumbled upon it and the crowd was reasonable but not massive.

Didn't get to Mt Barker for their games so can't comment on how those went.

You would imagine the idea of the Barossa game(s?) would be to do something similar to the Norwood Food and Wine fest with tons of local produce, I believe the plan is for the complex to have two occasions so maybe you can set that up on the second one?

I'd suggest a Maclaren Vale game at some point in the future too - maybe you rotate the regional venue between Mt Barker, Barossa and Maclaren, a couple of years at each, keeps a bit of freshness to the whole thing and spreads out the tourism benefits across the state a bit.

 

[Doggy Dan]

What happens to gather round when Tassie comes in? Could one of the home teams play a Thursday night home game, then their gather round match-up as Monday night footy? 10 games over 5 days incorporating all 19 clubs?

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Thu Night - Adelaide vs Richmond (Adelaide Oval)
Fri Afternoon - Fremantle vs North Melbourne (Port Lincoln) in future years (Mount Gambier / Clare / Loxton / Murray Bridge / Port Augusta)
Fri Night - Port Adelaide vs Western Bulldogs (Adelaide Oval)
Sat Afternoon - SANFL vs VFL (Norwood Oval) in future years alternate with Glenelg Oval
Sat Afternoon - Melbourne vs Brisbane Lions (Barossa) in future years (McLaren Vale / Victor Harbour / Mount Barker)
Sat Twilight/Night Double Header - St Kilda vs Essendon then Collingwood vs GWS Giants (Adelaide Oval)
Sun Afternoon - Hawthorn vs West Coast (Norwood Oval) in future years alternate with Glenelg Oval
Sun Afternoon - Gold Coast vs Geelong (Barossa) in future years (McLaren Vale / Victor Harbour / Mount Barker)
Sun Twilight - Carlton vs Sydney (Adelaide Oval)

The whole idea of a gather round is to have a footy festival within the city and an hour radius. Mount Gambier, Port Lincoln and the Riverland wouldn't work for that reason, and who the hell would go to Port Augusta anyway? There is absolutely nothing there for tourists. Even Clare is pushing it and that's just under two hours (would be great though with the newly renovated oval but I just don't see it happening).

I would like to see more regional SANFL games though.

The Hills, Barossa and McLaren Vale are all within an hour of the CBD and are viable for that reason.

 

[Walshawk]

Just returned from GR. The whole thing was a little more flat than I expected. The town was reasonable busy, but not quite buzzing.

Hawks Pies games had about 15k each of Pies/Hawks/neutrals and the atmosphere was nothing like a normal game. It was quiet (until the last 15 mins anyway). I was on the hill and it was full of 20 year olds chatting and half watching the game.

GR needs to be rotated, not expanded.

Three and a half stars, Margaret.

 

[revo333]

Great weekend.

Was skeptical last year but made the trip over this season.

Highly recommend for anyone who loves footy and wants to experience SA.

Hope they keep it long-term and the league doesn't dillute the experience by introducing multiple 'gather rounds'.

The AFL said it wants 3 gather rounds a season once the Tasmanian team come in.

 

[Jeremias]

The AFL said it wants 3 gather rounds a season once the Tasmanian team come in.

Have they?

Thought this was a rumour rather than something official.

 

[windyhill]

Not sure what was drunk more at “gather round”, wine or Kool aid.

 

[ibd77]

Not sure what was drunk more at “gather round”, wine or Kool aid.

I guess you had your fill of bath water

 

[ibd77]

I would like to see more regional SANFL games though.

Should the SANFL replace Port & Crows when they exit with 2 new clubs? Would Mount Barker & Barossa be first in line?

 

[Bjo187]

This is a funny article. Whilst I think gather round is great myself.

I agree on a few points:

• malinaskus has done a number on everybody.
• not one person would have been converted to the game, unlike the purpose of the concept.
• goyder being out of touch with literally everybody again.

Gather Round? More like Blather Round if you ask me

After being bombarded with missives about the charms of South Australia, we were supposed to rejoice and be grateful that they had the footy and we didn’t.

www.google.com

 

[Papa G]

This is a funny article. Whilst I think gather round is great myself.

I agree on a few points:

• malinaskus has done a number on everybody.
• not one person would have been converted to the game, unlike the purpose of the concept.
• goyder being out of touch with literally everybody again.

Gather Round? More like Blather Round if you ask me

After being bombarded with missives about the charms of South Australia, we were supposed to rejoice and be grateful that they had the footy and we didn’t.

www.google.com

Yet terms like "The Gee", "The Home of Football", "Blockbuster", "The Sporting Capital" and the bazillions of Vic Government/Taxpayer money spent yearly on "Footy Infrastucture" and The "Footy Industry" of which Cats Arse Mouth Baum is 100% a part of is no problem? The Irony is fantastical and the malevalonce telling.

I increasingly have less and less interest in the AFL, but this little bitchy article just shows up the small dick Malbun attitude.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

The more the folk talk about the “industry,” the more off putting it is.

 

[Jbudds04v2]

I’m with you. Unley is a joke.

Always thought Woodville was underrated, love the grass areas. Obviously no chance of hosting. Prospect is okay. Glenelg seems like the other obvious choice.

I would love to see a game at Glenelg.