Relocation within Melbourne?

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For whatever reasons many and varied relocating or starting teams in outer suburban population bases seems to be a very hard sell.
The Saint Kilda Seaford experiment and Peel Thunder who were started in a big population base who are big supporters of AFL in Mandurah has also struggled to become a success only the Dockers have made them competitive.
Very surprised that Hawthorn would try this at Dingley will be an interesting experiment
Was listening on radio yesterday where the idea is being floated for Bunbury / Busselton to host the 3rd side here population 350k in the strong AFL area but couldn't support it myself maybe when they get to 500k in the area.
 
Eddie is on board. Says North should go to the outer northern suburbs, and he mentions the south east as well.



Outer Melbourne is growing far faster than anywhere else and there are areas they are just as big as “expansion” markets interstate.

Put a stadium in the right spot with good access, and there’s an enormous prize on offer in 30 years’ time for a Vic club that will make the leap and keep the faith. Geelong is the envy of many Melbourne clubs, yet it’s a model that is able to be copied in other areas.

The government and local councils would pour in plenty of cash in addition to the AFL.

40k people were at Geelong in their brand new stadium in Round 1. Study the model. It can be replicated. Geelong and the Surf Coast is not the only area where this can be done. It’ll just take planning and balls.
 
Bunk Moreland said:
40k people were at Geelong in their brand new stadium in Round 1. Study the model. It can be replicated. Geelong and the Surf Coast is not the only area where this can be done. It’ll just take planning and balls.
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And at least half a billion dollars.

Probably shouldn't leave that out to be fair given its really 99% of it.
 

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Rob said:
And at least half a billion dollars.

Probably shouldn't leave that out to be fair given its really 99% of it.
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Outer Northern suburbs are going to be swing electorates over the next few election cycles though keep in mind
 
Bunk Moreland said:
Eddie is on board. Says North should go to the outer northern suburbs, and he mentions the south east as well.



Outer Melbourne is growing far faster than anywhere else and there are areas they are just as big as “expansion” markets interstate.

Put a stadium in the right spot with good access, and there’s an enormous prize on offer in 30 years’ time for a Vic club that will make the leap and keep the faith. Geelong is the envy of many Melbourne clubs, yet it’s a model that is able to be copied in other areas.

The government and local councils would pour in plenty of cash in addition to the AFL.

40k people were at Geelong in their brand new stadium in Round 1. Study the model. It can be replicated. Geelong and the Surf Coast is not the only area where this can be done. It’ll just take planning and balls.
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Geelong has a 100 year history in the footy world. Its never been a suburb of Melbourne. It really has its own identity & a solid culture built off that.
Also, the major transport lines are directed into the city CBD. Thus the MCG & Marvel aren't hard to access.
I fail to see how moving into the suburbs would make any positive difference. Even the 'gift' of a 40k stadium would make SFA difference IMO.
 
Another crappy venue in the middle of nowhere is way down on the wish list of the AFL and Victorian Government. If we're talking about long term vision, this is their focus:

Gosch2a.jpg

(keeping in mind PRO and the Shane Warne Stand will be redeveloped in the short-to-medium term)
 
Playing games in the outter suburbs no, unless you built a suburban venue that can hold 10-15k with a hill. Not a stadium as such.

But taking the training base out of the inner city and trying to engage with the migrant community and bring them along as North fans isn’t a bad idea
 
Underarm said:
Show me on a map where you would put a Stadium with better access than Docklands.
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I think the answer to that one is clear, nowhere!

If however any outer suburban stadium was going to be looked at, it would need decent transport access, not another Waverley situation.

If we're talking decent rail access, then the clear locations for that would be Broadmeadows, Reservoir, Fawkner and Heidelburg.
Mainly because they are the 4 points in the north where the existing train lines will also intersect with the suburban rail loop.

The problem though, is that you would still need to find somewhere to build a stadium, and I can't see the idea of bulldozing houses for a stadium being a winner with anyone.
 

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Seedsfan said:
Playing games in the outter suburbs no, unless you built a suburban venue that can hold 10-15k with a hill. Not a stadium as such.

But taking the training base out of the inner city and trying to engage with the migrant community and bring them along as North fans isn’t a bad idea
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Do you think that these migrants have a significant interest in footy? And how does a training base location make a significant difference to a club’s supporter base? Most supporters will never go to the training base.
 
Walshawk said:
Do you think that these migrants have a significant interest in footy? And how does a training base location make a significant difference to a club’s supporter base? Most supporters will never go to the training base.
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No they don’t but doesn’t mean they can’t. Look not often but that doesn’t mean they can’t. Easier to run engagement programs if they are in an area people live
 
Seedsfan said:
What that overpriced white elephant that won’t be completed until we are all dead?
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Should have been built in the 1960s - 70st when the Liberals were in power for 23 years and it is still a very much needed part of the missing Melbourne rail infrastructure and will be a great addition thanks to Dan Andrews having the balls to start this ground breaking project!
We did have an outer rail line that ran from Carnegie to North Fitzroy but it was dismantled during WW2 for its steel rail tracks.
 
weewilly said:
Should have been built in the 1960s - 70st when the Liberals were in power for 23 years and it is still a very much needed part of the missing Melbourne rail infrastructure and will be a great addition thanks to Dan Andrews having the balls to start this ground breaking project!
We did have an outer rail line that ran from Carnegie to North Fitzroy but it was dismantled during WW2 for its steel rail tracks.
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I agree in parts but the brown nosing of that muppet spare me.
 
The idea of a suburban AFL stadium for Melbourne could be compared to the NRL in Sydney (which has separate grounds for each team).

The teams in Sydney have always been more dispersed, whilst the teams in Melbourne have always been more concentrated towards the CBD.

The exception being St Kilda moving from Junction to Moorabin Oval, and Hawthorn moving from Glen Ferrie to Waverley Park.

Even Fitzroy at Brunswick Street and South Melbourne at Lake Oval were super close to the CBD.

I’ve shown the location of each of the Melbourne based AFL grounds before stadium rationalisation and the current NRL grounds. I’ve highlighted the stadiums that fall off the map as you zoom in.

IMG_3743.jpeg

In Sydney, it works having every team in separate stadiums located in the heartland of their supporters. However these are mostly small and tired facilities.

But in Melbourne, if one team try’s to go it alone, in the outer suburbs, it’s just isolating itself from the large and nice facilities at Docklands and the MCG.

It would be interesting if Sydney started a stadium rationalisation approach, and had 3 teams playing out of Sydney Football Stadium (Rooster, Manley and Cronulla), 3 teams playing out of Western Sydney Stadium (Penrith, Tigers and Eels), and 3 teams at Stadium Australia (Bulldogs, Rabbitohs and Dragons).

And stop having to funding upgrades and maintenance at 7 other stadiums in Sydney that only get used less than a dozen times a year (let alone the other stadiums in Newcastle, Central Coast and Wollongong).
 
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kranger said:
But in Melbourne, if one team try’s to go it alone, in the outer suburbs, it’s just isolating itself from the large and nice facilities at Docklands and the MCG.
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This was precisely the type of outdated thinking that saw Geelong go within a whisker of moving out and shutting down Kardinia Park. You want the biggest and best stadium.

Now they’re the envy of every club.

Clubs thrive with stadiums that suit them. Otherwise the experience sucks, as does the financials. A small ground for a club like St Kilda to play interstate opponents would be perfect. Pair it with a proper training base and presence where they are the only club that plays there and it will grow.
 
Bunk Moreland said:
This was precisely the type of outdated thinking that saw Geelong go within a whisker of moving out and shutting down Kardinia Park. You want the biggest and best stadium.

Now they’re the envy of every club.

Clubs thrive with stadiums that suit them. Otherwise the experience sucks, as does the financials. A small ground for a club like St Kilda to play interstate opponents would be perfect. Pair it with a proper training base and presence where they are the only club that plays there and it will grow.
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Right, so which marginal seat will receive the shower of money for a ground that Kardinia has? That's the reason they got it.
 
Frankston Park is the perfect place to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on new grandstands. Just gotta get rid of the houses, churches, schools and medical practices pinning in the 100 metre-wide "oval" first. The locals will love it.
 
Teen Wolf said:
Another crappy venue in the middle of nowhere is way down on the wish list of the AFL and Victorian Government. If we're talking about long term vision, this is their focus:

View attachment 1972494

(keeping in mind PRO and the Shane Warne Stand will be redeveloped in the short-to-medium term)
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Where is this from?

I get that it's just a visual guide, but Richmond Station is going over the road, but tracks are under the ground? That grade is a bit more than 2%. And there's no way those left two soccer pitches are going to survive an MCG game day crowd, let alone year after year of them.

This can't be from anything official.
 
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