Waverly Park - What are peoples memories?

[peejay]

I remember a ground that was easy to get to for people east of the city.
There was room for kids to run around inside and kick the footy outside after the game.
It was about as easy to see the play as at the MCG and no need to climb to a third or fourth level.
It took a while to get out of but so does the G and the dome and there was more room to kick the footy
It didn't rain there as much as people said and when it did there was usually room to get under shelter.It wasn't that cold compared to the G
It had one of the finest surfaces in the land.
You could kick the footy on the ground after the game Like any other ground at that time
It was in a population growth corridor

There must have been two waverley Parks - because the one i know was nothing like this (bolded bits)

 

[Xtreme]

You could kick the footy on the ground after the game

Reminded me of a funny thing that occured at the end of one of the last games i went to at the ground. Siren went, everyone bolted on to the ground to have kick to kick sessions with each other, but it was literally packed up to the rafters. Me and my mate were doing alright, but one of my kicks went a little further than i had intended and i managed to smack someone on the head

 

[Wallaby]

Reminded me of a funny thing that occured at the end of one of the last games i went to at the ground. Siren went, everyone bolted on to the ground to have kick to kick sessions with each other, but it was literally packed up to the rafters. Me and my mate were doing alright, but one of my kicks went a little further than i had intended and i managed to smack someone on the head

Hey, that was my kid! We were having his first kick-to-kick on the ground EVER after a game, and a big torp comes in from the side and cracks him on the scone. It took about 5 minutes to calm him down (he was only 5). Then just as we got back into it, a huge pack of teenagers moved sideways to go for a mark, and went right over the top of him - he brought the whole pack down, but he got smashed.

It took me about a year after that before I got him back to the footy..........

 

[WN123]

Can't think of Wavertley witit remembering footy's most embarrassing moment. Angry Anderson singing at the Grand Final.

 

[Colin Grigson]

freezing sh1thole miles from anywhere.

Sydneysiders: Think Homebush after a terrorist attack, and located in Penrith.

at least our footballers have necks...

when you evolve to a human being let us know what you think.

 

[raff23]

All this talk about shit car parks and cold, wet and windy all the time is just nonsense. The MCG car park is terrible and they close the gates when their is a truckloads of car parks still available. Waverley had the best car park to get in and out of because it was huge, mutiple ways to get out of the ground and didnt take hours to get out of like the G. Best surface on any ground anywhere in the history of the game, leaves for dead bells beach at Telstra Dome a few years back. Cold wet and windy? Please! they are playing a winter sport so what the hell do you expect sunshine and 30 degrees? every chance if it was cold and rainy at waverley it was the same everywhere in melbourne. Typical media beat up of Waverley which has got everyone fooled.

 

[HBF]

So many memories, but running on after the games to the players, and even getting an autograph or two. Loved the place, and would have been great had the AFL decided not to bulldoze the joint.

 

[damochandler]

the biggest memory of waverly is the 1991 grand final. the last grand final to be played away from the g. paul dears best game and his only good game for his career. and the brisbane st kilda game. when it hailed

 

[Manila_Hawk]

Round 12- 1999. Hawthorn vs St. Kilda.

Twelve ex-pats down from Hong Kong for our annual footy pilgrimage. Two Hawks supporters. Hawks were 10 goals down during the second quarter and I was getting a bath from my mates.

Slowly but surely the Hawks reeled them in and won the game. Amazing comeback. We were hoarse from yelling and screaming.

The COLDEST DAY at the football in my whole life !!!

 

[soupaman]

Well the AAMI Stadium design was based on Waverly.


For those that go past there now every so often, whats it like? Is it kind of eerie seeing houses where the grand stands were, and with the sole grandstand still remaining? If I had have been to games there, I reckon it would be wierd seeing it how it is at the moment.

Its interesting because I never really went to Waverley much, but now as a resident of Wheelers Hill (which is 5 minutes away at the most) I go there all the time. The sole grandstand looks a bit stupid, because its so out of place, but the ground looks great. Fantastic surface, and they've gotten rid of the level 1 seating on the remaining stand and turned it into a steep lawn. There is now a gym, cafe and Hawthorns facilities in the remaining stand, and around the ground apartments are being built backing onto the ground like a mini stadium.

For anyone in the area, I highly reccomend it as the best place to have a kick without running onto the MCG.

 

[Fossie 32]

There must have been two waverley Parks - because the one i know was nothing like this (bolded bits)

I think it is well recognised that it had a fine surface. It didn't take long to get to - just get on the freeway and not too hard from there.
Its closure went along with the end of kicking the footy on the ground after the game. If it was freezing there it was freezing at the G even if not exactly the same temp. I never got wet there.
But you're right, there were two Waverley Parks, hard to understand all the peeps who complained about it Maybe they just needed to harden up and stop listening to media and AFL crap. All the problems [?] could have been fixed.

 

[sacka]

syd v melb one sunny sat arvo, thats right sunny, W.Capper started to drift up the ground from ff so the old man yelled out capper get back in the square where you belong and he turned around a walked back to the goal square, just as he got back the ball gets kicked long and he jumps on the head of his opponent and takes a screamer, as he gets up off the ground he turns and gives my old man a thumbs up.... thats my only memory of waverly...

 

[GoYouBlues]

Ice cold weather, mud and rain.

Would have been a great place to watch football in the past ten years - we've been in drought!

 

[Italia2006]

Pig of a ground...no atmosphere !!


Our first GF was played there...at Hawthorns home ground

Maybe one day we will have a home GF at Subi

 

[Hooligan87]

For those who have not been there, go to Football Park and just imagine the playing surface being 1 and a half times the size.

 

[marvin]

First time I ever saw Tony Modra play (Ansett Cup, 1992) was at Waverley. Other great memories were Darel Hart scoring a late goal to pinch one from the Hawks there in 1992, and the Trent Ormond-Allen game in 1999.

I always enjoyed going there, despite the sudden temperature drop when you walked in the gate, and miss the place.

 

[Fossie 32]

syd v melb one sunny sat arvo, thats right sunny, W.Capper started to drift up the ground from ff so the old man yelled out capper get back in the square where you belong and he turned around a walked back to the goal square, just as he got back the ball gets kicked long and he jumps on the head of his opponent and takes a screamer, as he gets up off the ground he turns and gives my old man a thumbs up.... thats my only memory of waverly...

Gold

 

[Hooligan87]

This place did :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estádio_do_Maracanã

And this place does:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rungrado_May_Day_Stadium

but those crowds would never have happened today (due to regulations)

 

[Barry Schneider]

My memory is of a footy trip from Sydney.We went to a game where Kelvin Moore was playing on Mark Jackson.
Jacko was bowing down on his hands and knees in front of Moore in mock worship.
Can't remember much about the game but haven't forgotten Jaco's antics.

 

[tucky74]

Hey, that was my kid! We were having his first kick-to-kick on the ground EVER after a game, and a big torp comes in from the side and cracks him on the scone. It took about 5 minutes to calm him down (he was only 5). Then just as we got back into it, a huge pack of teenagers moved sideways to go for a mark, and went right over the top of him - he brought the whole pack down, but he got smashed.

It took me about a year after that before I got him back to the footy..........

Loved the kick on the ground after the game waiting for the car park to clear.what kid (or adult) didnt get hit with a footy after a game.great memories

 

[morph]

Came across this "Ode to Waverley" on the web for those interested.

http://www.soulthoughts.com/Ode to Waverley Park.pdf

Love it or hate it, IMO Waverley offered a far better "footy experience" than say the Dome, which is a bit like watching footy on the TV in your loungeroom (albeit a crowded one).

 

[Butane]

The bloody carpark!

 

[mediumsizered]

All this talk about shit car parks and cold, wet and windy all the time is just nonsense. The MCG car park is terrible and they close the gates when their is a truckloads of car parks still available. Waverley had the best car park to get in and out of because it was huge, mutiple ways to get out of the ground and didnt take hours to get out of like the G. Best surface on any ground anywhere in the history of the game, leaves for dead bells beach at Telstra Dome a few years back. Cold wet and windy? Please! they are playing a winter sport so what the hell do you expect sunshine and 30 degrees? every chance if it was cold and rainy at waverley it was the same everywhere in melbourne. Typical media beat up of Waverley which has got everyone fooled.

You must have been attending VFL Park during a different era to me. In the '80s, getting out of the car park after a game was a total nightmare. It didn't take me long to realise that I was better off staying inside the ground, waiting for the final scores from the other games, rather than trying to battle the car park 'crawl'. Experience taught me that it was no point starting your car before 5.30pm because all you would achieve would be to waste petrol sitting in a queue of cars that wasn't moving. In contrast, the MCG car park, during the '80s, was quite simple to get out of, because Brunton Ave & other streets surrounding the 'G' were closed off to enable cars to easily leave the car park.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

Being given a Gary Ablett Snr Coke footy pog (the ones that came in the bottom of the cups) by a kind old lady after a Hawthorn Adelaide game.

 

[Motown]

You must have been attending VFL Park during a different era to me. In the '80s, getting out of the car park after a game was a total nightmare.

My recollection is similar to his, with the exception of the truly big games where the lack of public transport made it ridiculous. For the average game with 20-40k people, I don't remember much trouble at all. My recollection is it was slightly better than getting out of the MCG now, particularly if you've arrived early at the G.