THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney Grounds have always been a problem for Australian Football in Sydney. They were either lacking in adequate dimensions, their acquisition was too difficult or in the early times, the financial justification for enclosed (fenced) grounds was not an option. The sport was a 'Johnny Come Lately' into Sydney even given its failure only a handful of years before the first decade of the twentieth century, Rugby was firmly established as the main winter code. Soccer too, whilst never really a huge influence on the Sydney sporting scene, had it's roots soundly enough entrenched within society the community. In the years following the resurrection of the game in Sydney in 1903, there was continued pressure to play matches on enclosed grounds and later for the league to secure their own venue. There were a number of reasons for this: • With no fences, poor ground conditions and spectators forever encroaching onto fields made it difficult for play to proceed, particularly when crowd numbers at times, ran into thousands, suggesting too that nothing had changed in the 30 years since it’s first appearance in Sydney. • The professionalism of the game detracted when played on a park . (as opposed to an oval which had perimeter fencing) • When matches were played on enclosed ground, the number of which were very limited in Sydney, the ground hirer charged a considerable percentage of the gate takings . On 11 August 1909 for example, where an estimated 4,000 spectators attended Erskineville Oval to see NSW v Sth Melbourne, the Erskineville Oval Trust took 55% of the gate. The securing of enclosed grounds for finals, which was exacerbated in1906 when the lack of an available (enclosed) facility caused a semi final between Newtown and Balmain was postponed. Additionally, the challenge final (grand final), in 1907 had to be suspended for two weeks leading in October whilst officials could locate a suitable fenced venue. • Commentators frequently urged the League to take more positive steps in obtaining their own ground. It was also glaringly obvious to officials that playing on a ‘Australian Football’ owned ground meant that all proceeds from attendance charges remained with the sport. Where possible, and certainly in the latter half of the first decade of the twentieth century, the league maintained a policy of playing their finals and all representative games on enclosed grounds. In those early days the only available enclosed grounds adequate for Australian Football were the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Agricultural Ground (RAS Showground, Moore Park) and later Erskineville Oval and Trumper Park (Hampden Oval). Of course, the other codes too were just as keen to secure these venues and with their popularity far greater than Australian Football, the ground hirer stood to gain more profit having them using the facilities as opposed to the NSW Football League (the League). The League held a lease on Erskineville Oval from 1910 but the two other venues provided a much larger capacity for spectators. It paid £300 ($600) for it's first tender of Erskineville to the "Trust" for the 1910 season, a huge amount of money in those days. It was planned to play all the major games on that ground for the season. In 1907 the old Erskineville Oval, situated on four acres of land situated approximately where the public housing now stands with bounded on one side by Swanson Street and Elliott 1 THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney Avenue and reasonably adjacent to the present ground, was fenced. The money for the fencing was provided by the Metropolitan Rugby Union (pre Rugby League days) on the proviso that they be granted permission to charge admission to first grade matches. A public furore resulted with local residents demanding general access to the ground. A compromise was subsequently reached. The League also gained use of the Agricultural Ground No. 2, (a field in the former Sydney Showground, Driver Avenue, Moore Park) however its surface was "far from perfect". Other ground problems dogged the competition with a match between North Shore and Balmain having to be postponed after the players arrived at the venue of Birchgrove Oval only to find it being utilised by other sports. The first game recorded as being played on Erskineville Oval was between Newtown and Balmain on 20 July 1907, the one and only for the year. The fact that this game was played after the Metropolitan Rugby Union had funded the construction of a 9 foot (2.75 metres) fence around the ground only months earlier and apparently had leased the ground for 16 matches in that season, is certainly an achievement on someone's behalf. Wentworth Park, (Glebe) although not a venue for Australian Football at that stage, was enclosed in August 1907 with a nine foot fence through a £1200 grant from the state government. Additional ground improvements provided terrace seating for 4000 people. All representative and special (i.e. VFL v VFL) games were played on enclosed grounds. In the vast majority of these latter matches, the visiting teams usually paid their own expenses and did not seek a percentage of the gate, as a gesture to enable the fledgling NSW Football League to become more financially established. This situation may well have set the scene as a false income stream for the league which, as we will see, slowly diminished in the years immediately leading into World War I. In fact initially in the early 1900s, and soon after federation, interstate clubs almost lined up to visit Sydney as an opportunity for their club and players to visit Australia's largest city and the birthplace of the nation with nationalism and patriotism beginning to build in the minds of some Australians at that time. Each year the league would receive a bevy of letters from various interstate clubs, not all in capital cities, seeking patronage for their tour. In June 1908 South Australian Club Norwood visited Sydney and besides donating an expensive premiership shield, then valued at £40 ($80) paid their own way and also left the gate takings which accounted for an estimated 5,000 spectators. A much more interesting fact of their trip was that league officials could not find an enclosed venue for the match and it was only with the good grace and acquiescence of the Metropolitan Rugby Union which moved their main match from the Sydney Cricket Ground to allow the Norwood game to proceed. The league's annual report of April 1909 highlights the fact that 1908 was the most difficult year for grounds "We have always had this very serious trouble with us and 1908 was the worst in our history....." and so the pressure continued to build both within the administration and with others for the league to seek, preferably, it's own enclosed ground. The question is then that could such an enterprising venture of the purchase of a ground by an amateur sporting organisation in Sydney, merely seven years old, have some justification and was not a wild whim of some over enthusiastic patrons of the game. After all, none of the other codes, apart from cricket, had made any such move. It was Hugh Dixson's energy and commitment that saw the Western Australian Football Association (WAFA) established in 1885. Dixson changed his name to Denison and was later 2 THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL GROUND The Game's missed Opportunity in Sydney to become Sir Hugh Denison and was widely recognized as the father of Western Australian football. (history of football in WA). He had business interests in Adelaide and was a member of the South Australian Parliament before moving to Sydney in 1908. (History of the Carclew Castle - Adelaide) There, he continued his business interests as proprietor of the Sydney Sun and later Melbourne Sun Pictorial, cigarette companies and the Macquarie Broadcasting company. Dennison died in 1940. He was however elected patron of the league in 1911. As competition for enclosed grounds increased in Sydney, particularly with the introduction of the professional game of Rugby League in 1908, pressured built for the league to do something to provide some professionalism to their code. The trouble was that there were very few such grounds available, if any, in the near Sydney area which could satisfy the wants of Australian Football. In September, Jubilee Oval Glebe was upgraded being 'beautified' and fenced with a pavilion to be constructed so fenced facilities were beginning to be developed. The first Rosebery Racecourse was one of many racing venues in and around Sydney. It was owned by John Wren, a Victorian racing and gambling entrepreneur who had a string of racecourses throughout Australia. He was a strong Collingwood supporter. Wren had decided to dispose of Rosebery Racecourse which was situated on 12½ acres at North Botany or contemporarily, Mascot (it is geographically in the boundaries of the suburb of Alexandria), on the north west corner of Botany and Gardeners Roads where factories are now located. A replacement racecourse, also to be known as Rosebery Racecourse was under construction in Gardeners Road, further towards Kingsford which was eventually demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Eastlakes Shopping Centre and home units. Several other racecourses also served the immediate area. Ascot at Lauriston Park where Kingsford Smith Airport is now located, Victoria Park in Joynton Avenue Zetland, on which the Leyland vehicle manufacturing plant was situated and but now supports many up market apartments, Kensington Pony Track where the University of NSW in Anzac Parade now stands and of course, Randwick Racecourse.