The great mistake of closing Waverley
09 April 2007 Herald-Sun
Daryl Timms
IT'S hard to believe that 1999 was the last time a league footy match was played at Waverley Park.
Will anyone at AFL headquarters ever admit they got this one wrong, that selling the venue was a mistake?
When the league decided to pump millions of dollars into Sydney's Telstra Stadium so footy could be played there, they said the ground was located in the city's fast-growing demographic area. They said it made sense.
Hello, where is Waverley Park?
The VFL showed foresight when it bought the 85ha at Mulgrave in 1962 to build what was then called VFL Park.
When the ground opened in 1970, $2.5 million had been spent on the first stages. Staggering as it sounds, the ground would have accommodated 166,000 fans, with seating for 126,000, had it been finished.
Government interference, to protect the MCG, ensured building was not completed, leaving Waverley with a "never finished look" because the top stands weren't built all the way around.
The AFL ditching the ground was a bit like a man trading in his wife for a younger trophy bride -- a new stadium with a retractable roof at the Docklands.
The league argued at the time that it needed to dump Waverley Park so it could come up with the funds to put equity into the state-of-the-art stadium, which it will own in 2020.
But the AFL knew in 2002 - when it owed $56 million - that it would be debt free by 2006. So, was cash really the problem?
The AFL did a magnificent deal to gain eventual ownership of Telstra Dome for a pittance, but why couldn't Waverley Park have been retained?
The ground is on the doorsteps of one of the fastest growing areas in Australia.
Pakenham, Officer, Cranbourne and Berwick have explosive growth and there are established suburbs nearby.
The Monash freeway cuts through the back of Waverley Park and a sign just a punt kick along Wellington Rd points out that the Scoresby Freeway will put Ringwood only seven minutes away in one direction and Frankston 17 minutes away in the other.
AFL football has lost a lot of people from the suburbs, developing outer areas and further down the line to Gippsland, since the sold sticker was slammed on Waverley Park and the land carved up for housing.
Many regular Waverley Park fans haven't been to a league match since the ground was shut.
People argue that Waverley Park was built in a rain belt, which is a nonsense.
And they say it lacked a train line, which is true, but you can thank the government for not providing one.
And how many times did the spin doctors say it was an ageing stadium?
So was the MCG, but the AFL's commitment to future matches there has seen new stands built.
Lord's is also an ageing ground, but should that historic English cricket ground be bulldozed?
Former Hawthorn president Ian Dicker fought hard for Waverley Park and once said closing it was the biggest mistake the league commissioners would make.
Luckily, the National Trust won a battle to have a section of the members' stand heritage listed.
Hawthorn is now based in the stand and uses the ground, which is surrounded by homes, as its training base.
Perhaps the club wouldn't have been forced to chase revenue and sell games interstate if games were still played there.
And don't forget the sleeping giant of soccer? Waverley Park would have helped the AFL keep its presence in the suburbs and ward off the enemy.
Closing a ground, rather than opening one, has left many fans, and the game, in the cold.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21523598%255E19742,00.html
