Western Australia’s push towards potentially hosting the Australian Football League’s ‘Gather Round’ in future will result in a massive coup for one of the state’s most iconic venues.
Western Australia’s push towards potentially hosting the Australian Football League’s ‘Gather Round’ in future will result in a massive coup for one of the state’s most iconic venues.
Sullivan Logistics Stadium – still referred to as Leederville Oval by scores of West Australian Football League traditionalists – will receive a $3.8 million upgrade from the state government, which will be completed across two stages.
Construction is tipped to get under way in October and could be finished by March next year. Tendering for the project will be facilitated by the City of Vincent.
The initial stage of the project is based around infrastructure, including a new playing surface, construction of above-ground dugouts and irrigation systems.
Additionally, the venue will have 1,000 lux level floodlighting installed, coupled with a transformer update, which will allow both WAFL and WAFLW matches to be televised under broadcast-quality lighting.
Both night and twilight matches on Good Friday have been held periodically at the venue over the past 24 years.
A number of youth-aged development squad matches have also often followed league matches during the early months of each WAFL season.
Since the early 2000s, both the East Perth and Subiaco Football Clubs have been co-tenants of the ground, after relocating from HBF Park and now-demolished Subiaco Oval respectively.
Prior to 1994, the West Perth Football Club called Leederville Oval home, before electing to relocate to Joondalup in a bid to connect with Perth's growing corridor of northern suburbs.
With the addition of the WAFLW and Rogers Cup competitions, 10 teams – five each from the Royals and Lions – have had to work together in a bid to train and play games at the venue.
During winter, this added foot traffic has routinely played havoc with the surface, resulting in extremely heavy conditions for players during games, particularly following periods of heavy rain.
Much of the infrastructure – including the goalposts, fencing and dugouts – also has visible staining from many years of bore water use.
"We're really proud to be supporting these important upgrades to Leederville Oval, which will not only benefit our WAFL teams that play here, but the sport more broadly," deputy premier Rita Saffioti said.
These sentiments were echoed by Royals CEO Dean Turner.
"This opens up the opportunities for night matches, AFLW and other key fixtures to drive people into Leederville and the city centre," he told Business News.
"This not only benefits football but the community at large. We have worked closely with the state government, AFL, WAFC and City of Vincent to ensure the oval becomes recognised as a Tier 2 AFL venue and one that we can all be proud of."
