Corect La Hincha SANFL attendaces have always been higher then WAFL going back as far as 70’s.
Clubs there are stronger, finacially secure and have pokies.
Jacky to Subi, boy salary cap must be getting very close.
As for WAFC god help us if they are negiotating with media moguls. They will be eaten alive and more than likely sell the great WAFL further up shit creek. "Question should be how much are the networks prepaired to pay for the rights to cover footy
The thing we have always had though is the talent. Every bit as good as any other state.
But yeah in every other respect SA is/was ahead.
Even our grounds look a bit agricultural compared to theirs. (Apart from Noarlunga)
I like how they have some grassed areas and some paved areas - bars in the outer. It just looks and feels more professional with better potential for atmosphere no matter how many come through the gates.
Somewhere back in the time - the 60’s 70’s 80’s - when footy was strong in WA, nothing was done to improve the grounds or facilities or make them look better. Why I’ll never know.
Dead right La Hincha Adelaide Footy grounds are far better laid out, more akin to the old Melbourne Suburban grounds.
Ours were really developed along rural grounds, and never really improved with the exception of Subiaco, although that had a huge grass hill even when WANFL was at its peak, when SANFL already had Football Park Stadium, and perhaps Fremantle Oval which is akin to a Melbourne surbuban ground.
Both Adeliade and Melbourne were rich industrial cities when footy was emerging and booming in the 50’s and 60’s they developed grounds accordingly, juxtapposed to Perth which was never a manufacturing industrial city and got left with agriculutural backward styled grounds.
Well makes sense.
But the money we did spend was on odd ideas.
For example, the weird 3 tier stand behind the goals at Subiaco Oval. And putting in wooden seating around the boundary fence then removing it and not replacing them. Or the bits and pieces add on developments at the WACA. A stand here a stand there. Nothing syncronised. Toilet blocks at WAFL grounds that have been left derelict for years and years. The lighting deal at Fremantle when Cicco bought the Showground lights then sold off some to make money but left the oval with poor grade seeing conditions for night games. The new lights at Leederville aren’t any better. A new scoreboard at Leederville that is worse than the old man operated one and doesn’t have room for other scores, race results and yet cost a packet. Building East Fremantle Oval on the side of a hill and with poor facilities even by 1950’s standards. And to top it all off, a new ground at Burswood that won’t be big enough in about 5 years time. Has poor access by car. Not enough parking and low and behold, a footbridge across the river that is supposed to be the answer to the access issues.
Is there something wrong with us folk here!
The 3 tier at subi is easy, when it was planned the entire oval was to be realigned, so as the 3 tier was on the wing, it was to be the new WANFL members stand, it had private boxes in it orginally. However it was obviously built on the cheap and is now well below modern standards, once the ground rea lignment fell through, it became a bit of an oddity in a totally under developed facility.
Cicco made $5000 on the sale, and they were from Richmond Raceway not the showgrounds, he later got more from Athens Olympics.
East Freo was variuosly a polo field, tip, and oval, its setting was never ideal as you say, effc spent a mint of members buildings there, on the angled slope..the outer was poor even in the halcyon days, and is akin to an aboned farmers field now..
Burswood will be OK i reckon.
it won’t be just a footbridge over the river to the new stadium, it will ofcourse be an ICONIC footbridge
and speaking of south Australia doing things better, how good is the new Adelaide oval redevelopment? they have STANDING ROOM. we could never have that here - would take up space that could be used for corporate boxes.
That’s an interesting story about the three tier stand behind the goals. Never heard that before.
Good on Swans for investing back to the grass roots levels. Do you have a rough breakdown of how that money was spent and for instance which companies like BHP etc deserve some praise also for any contributions.
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To be honest, I don’t know. Some of the other Swannies faithful on the site might be able to elaborate.
That’s an interesting story about the three tier stand behind the goals. Never heard that before.
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Yeah it was planned in 1969, the realignment of the oval to an east - west configuration never eventuated due to closeness of Roberts Road and the Subiaco Town Council, among other things, on the ground floor level in the upper section, the grounds first sponsors boxes were installed in the lete 70’s.
The 3 tier was orginally to extend around the entire new souther wing . had the new oval alignment gone ahead.
Never happened.
in 1979 about 10 years later , it was decided to extend it but at just 2 tiers ( due to cost) over the original Subiaco Members Stand, around the pocket up to the old WANFL Members stand.
Once again the quality of the build was poor, cutting corners due to cost, wooden benches installed, narrow walkways, bugger all catering etc.
despite trying to save money and doing it on the cheap, the loans for it sent the WAFL broke.
Yeah it was planned in 1969, the realignment of the oval to an east - west configuration never eventuated due to closeness of Roberts Road and the Subiaco Town Council, among other things, on the ground floor level in the upper section, the grounds first sponsors boxes were installed in the lete 70’s.
The 3 tier was orginally to extend around the entire new souther wing . had the new oval alignment gone ahead.
Never happened.
in 1979 about 10 years later , it was decided to extend it but at just 2 tiers ( due to cost) over the original Subiaco Members Stand, around the pocket up to the old WANFL Members stand.
Once again the quality of the build was poor, cutting corners due to cost, wooden benches installed, narrow walkways, bugger all catering etc.
despite trying to save money and doing it on the cheap, the loans for it sent the WAFL broke.
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Wasnt it WAFL President Vince Yovich building company that built the 2 Tier Stand in 1979?
Not sure but I think it was , they took out a $1 Million Loan for it in 1979, which was a massive amount of money at the time, the average house in Perth back then was about $35,000, Interest rates went through the roof as well.
by 1985 compounding interest was killing them.
The 2 Tier stand was actually still under construction during the 1980 GF SF V SD , whic is why the crowd capacity was restricted and the attendance was below 50, 000 as a result, otherwise it would of been well above.
The thing we have always had though is the talent. Every bit as good as any other state.
But yeah in every other respect SA is/was ahead.
Even our grounds look a bit agricultural compared to theirs. (Apart from Noarlunga)
I like how they have some grassed areas and some paved areas - bars in the outer. It just looks and feels more professional with better potential for atmosphere no matter how many come through the gates.
Somewhere back in the time - the 60’s 70’s 80’s - when footy was strong in WA, nothing was done to improve the grounds or facilities or make them look better. Why I’ll never know.
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Hang on Unley (Sturt) and Gliderol (Glenelg) where they pumped us in the state game a few yrs back dont hold a candle to Basso, Lathlain, Frem, Joond, Leederville etc..in fact my local ground Gosnells oval craps all over most of their SANFL grounds
Yeah it was planned in 1969, the realignment of the oval to an east - west configuration never eventuated due to closeness of Roberts Road and the Subiaco Town Council, among other things, on the ground floor level in the upper section, the grounds first sponsors boxes were installed in the lete 70’s.
The 3 tier was orginally to extend around the entire new souther wing . had the new oval alignment gone ahead.
Never happened.
in 1979 about 10 years later , it was decided to extend it but at just 2 tiers ( due to cost) over the original Subiaco Members Stand, around the pocket up to the old WANFL Members stand.
Once again the quality of the build was poor, cutting corners due to cost, wooden benches installed, narrow walkways, bugger all catering etc.
despite trying to save money and doing it on the cheap, the loans for it sent the WAFL broke.
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Wasnt it WAFL President Vince Yovich building company that built the 2 Tier Stand in 1979?
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I’m really starting to think that the problems we are facing now started well before 1987. The bad planning. The corner cutting. The lack of foresight. Lots of little 1 percenters that all add up over time.
They sure do mate
the issues go back long before 1987. In fact by 1987 they were already mounting up, debt was big, many clubs were in trouble and the 1986 WAFL attendances were the lowest in decades.
The investments in booth the 3 and 2 tier stands were bungled badly, just two examples of long term mistakes.
Apparently a major sponsor has been found and ch7 broadcasting the WAFL next year is almost a done deal.
Games will be broadcast from two grounds. Early in the year a Friday night game will be the game of the week. The idea is that it will follow the live afl game. Later in the year when the winter weather starts it will fill the gap between the Saturday afternoon and Saturday night afl games. It is the same plan that has worked so well for the SANFL this year.
Now they are just working out the compensation for teams that have to move a home game. Still a lot of complaining to work through.
Have heard maybe one sponsor on the hook but it is looking doubtfull.Also all grounds to be utilized for coverage.
WAFC should charge broadcaster for the right to cover the games. What if crowds diminish even further and stay at home and watch the box…who will top up club finances?
the pickets at Basso , the tree-lined grass banks at East Freo , the showground sheds at the back of Claremont , the trees at the city end of Lathlain , Joondalittlebritainlup too , Leederville looks a bolter but Freo Oval needs an upgrade to pack a fair bit more in those light towers for night games if they’re going to be televised
The WAFC had to pay ABC to broadcast it this year. They had to find over a million in sponsorship for 7 to do it.
No one is ever going to pay for the WAFL broadcast rights.