- Dec 7, 2016
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I recently attended a Mars Stadium development information session. The main speakers were from Development Victoria and the Ballarat Council. The lead DV spokesman suggested that North Melbourne might play a couple of games per season at Mars Stadium. I responded that the Western Bulldogs would seriously push back against that. With the pending loss of Hobart as a base, the North Melbourne Football Club must now start planning for what its future will be beyond Tasmania. The club has some serious decisions to make, but the issue is that these decisions must start being planned for now. As I see it, we have three options if we want to remain a Victorian based club (And in no particular order of preference, that is what I pose to you the forum members):
The QEO above has certain advantages over Mars Stadium. It is centrally located in the city of Bendigo and only 1 km walk to the railway station up the roadto the right of the oval (View Street).
Ballarat's Mars Stadium has evolved a lot since we were white-anted by the Bulldogs in 2015 It will be developed more in the coming years with its next stage of development to be completed in 2026. There are further upgrades planned beyond that, but those will not emerge until at least 2030. Presently its main disadvantages include poor lighting, an adjacent train line but no train platform planned for several years, and local council-imposes a limit on its capacity due to car parking limitations and lack of immediate train access.
The image above shows the next stage of Ballarat's development by September 2026 where the old showgrounds are presently being demolished to build a new athletics centre and two new grandstands will replace the present standing hill at the main stadium. ... And yes all the buildings and grass within a 1 km radius will be painted white
Future upgrades planned beyond 2026 include an eventual train platform, removal of the roof on the small Eastern Stand (bottom right) to extend its seating to replicate the two new stands (increase capacity to 15,000) and upgrades to the stadium's lighting.
- Option 1. Do we simply return to Melbourne and try to eek out an existence at Marvel Stadium?
- Option 2. Do we fight to re-claim Ballarat from the Western Bulldogs? Where it seems that their supporters seem to think that they are getting a bad deal. Apparently, they hate having to play games outside Melbourne. Further to this, the Bulldogs contract with Ballarat is due for renewal later this year. They could possibly pull the pin on the fact that the stadium isn't getting expanded to hold 20,000 as they've been pitching for. Future expansion is only planned for when a train station/platform is eventually built. They have some objection to having to drive an hour and a half to see their team play 2 well-sponsored home games per season in Ballarat. Trust me folks, some of their supporters are silly enough to believe that their club can win over the 600,000 Western Melbourne Sub-Continental immigrants (who follow cricket and soccer), play all of their future games for a profit at Marvel Stadium and dump Ballarat altogether. They see no merit or benefit in growing their club beyond Melbourne's tram tracks.
- Option 3. Start a case now four years out before we are finally booted out of Hobart to establish a Mars Stadium like facility in Bendigo at the Queen Elizabeth Oval and adopt Bendigo as the Northern Victoria country heartland of North Melbourne? There is merit to doing this, it would ultimately pitch Ballarat against Bendigo as Bulldogs v North Melbourne territories. Having a second sponsored home base would continue to fill the club's meagre coffers, and it allows North Melbourne supporters in Victoria to at least drive or to catch a train to two games outside Melbourne each season instead of the current alternative which is expensive Kayo subscription or a plane ride to Tasmania.
The QEO above has certain advantages over Mars Stadium. It is centrally located in the city of Bendigo and only 1 km walk to the railway station up the roadto the right of the oval (View Street).
Ballarat's Mars Stadium has evolved a lot since we were white-anted by the Bulldogs in 2015 It will be developed more in the coming years with its next stage of development to be completed in 2026. There are further upgrades planned beyond that, but those will not emerge until at least 2030. Presently its main disadvantages include poor lighting, an adjacent train line but no train platform planned for several years, and local council-imposes a limit on its capacity due to car parking limitations and lack of immediate train access.
The image above shows the next stage of Ballarat's development by September 2026 where the old showgrounds are presently being demolished to build a new athletics centre and two new grandstands will replace the present standing hill at the main stadium. ... And yes all the buildings and grass within a 1 km radius will be painted white
Future upgrades planned beyond 2026 include an eventual train platform, removal of the roof on the small Eastern Stand (bottom right) to extend its seating to replicate the two new stands (increase capacity to 15,000) and upgrades to the stadium's lighting.
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