| Punt Road Oval | |
|---|---|
| Punt Road | |
| Former names | Richmond Cricket Ground |
| Location | Punt Rd, Richmond, Victoria |
| Broke ground | 1855 |
| Opened | 1856 |
| Closed | 1964 (for VFL/AFL) |
| Owner | City of Melbourne |
| Operator | Richmond Football Club |
| Surface | Grass |
| Capacity | 15,000 |
| Tenants | |
| Richmond Football Club (admin + training) (AFL) Richmond Cricket Club |
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Punt Road Oval (also known as the Richmond Cricket Ground) is a sporting ground located in Yarra Park, East Melbourne, Victoria situated only a few hundred metres to the east of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Punt Road Oval is historically notable as a former venue of the Victorian Football League (now Australian Football League) with 544 official VFL/AFL matches played there between 1908 and 1964 and as the headquarters and former home ground of the Richmond Football Club.
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In October 1855 an application was made for the Richmond Cricket Club to play matches on the Richmond paddock next to the site occupied by the prestigious Melbourne Cricket Club. The first documented cricket match on the oval was played on December 27, 1856.
It was used as the home ground by the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football Association from 1885 to 1907 then in the Victorian Football League from 1908 to 1964. It was also used by the Melbourne Football Club during and immediately after World War II, when the MCG became a military base. Not until late 1946 were Melbourne able to play the MCG again. Owing to the arrangement of the draw for 1942, South Melbourne played one home game there against Hawthorn when Richmond had the bye.
The Tigers, under the stewardship of Club President Ray Dunn, negotiated to move their home games to the MCG and, on August 22, 1964, the last senior VFL game was played at Punt Road when Richmond played host to Hawthorn.
In November 1999 it hosted a Mercantile Mutual Cup match between Victoria and Canberra
The ground is still used for training by the Richmond Football Club and it remains the club's administrative headquarters. A statue of Tigers legend Jack Dyer is outside the ground. A $20 million redevelopment is underway to provide a modern state-of-the-art facility for the Richmond football club. The redevelopment is under the management of Buxton Construction.
It has remained as the home ground for the Richmond Cricket Club from 1856 to the end of the 2010/2011 season. The Richmond cricket club has moved from Punt Road after being the longest-serving survivors in cricket to keep their ground from the AFL sides. They now play in Mount Waverly. When completed in 2012 the redeveloped sports facilities at Punt Road will accommodate a range of business and community sports organisations, including Klim Swim, the VRI Fencing Club and the Indigenous Youth Education Centre.
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