Windy Hill, Essendon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Essendon Recreation Reserve
Windy Hill

Former names	Essendon Cricket Ground
Location	Napier St, Essendon, Victoria
Coordinates	37°45′7″S 144°55′11″E / 37.75194°S 144.91972°E / -37.75194; 144.91972Coordinates: 37°45′7″S 144°55′11″E / 37.75194°S 144.91972°E / -37.75194; 144.91972
Opened	1881
Surface	Grass
Capacity	15,000
Tenants
Essendon Football Club (admin + training) (VFL/AFL) Essendon Cricket Club Essendon District Football League (VFL)

Windy Hill (officially known as Essendon Recreation Reserve) is an Australian rules football ground located in Essendon, a northwestern suburb of the Melbourne metropolitan area.

Windy Hill is the home base of the Essendon Football Club, one of the eighteen teams that makes up the Australian Football League. The phrase 'Windy Hill' is therefore often used to refer to the club itself. The club first played its home games there in 1922, having previously used the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, and used it continuously until 1991, after which it moved to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Their current home ground is Etihad Stadium, located at the Melbourne Docklands, which they moved to in 2000.

Windy Hill is located on Napier Street, and is now primarily the team's training facility and administrative headquarters as well as the home to the Essendon Cricket Club. The ground also hosts the Grand Finals of the Essendon District Football League senior divisions. Over time a few of the stands and the manual scoreboard were demolished. Facilities include a gymnasium, an indoor swimming pool and lawn bowls/croquet club which is open to the public, as well as a bistro and the now famous Bomber Shop where fans can purchase merchandise.

The name "Windy Hill" was bestowed on the ground in the mid-1950s by Melbourne "Sun News Pictorial" football columnist Lou Richards. Richards, who had been captain of Essendon's great rival Collingwood, had experienced the vagaries of the variable winds around the ground and the naming was typical of his expansive, humorous writing style.

Stands

Current

R.S. Reynolds Stand

Built when Essendon relocated from the old EMCG. Remained unnamed until 1950, when it was named in honour of Essendon's greatest player, "King" Dick Reynolds.

Alan T. Hird Stand

Opened in 1973, it houses the club's Social Club. Named after former club president and player Allan Hird, who was also the grandfather of club legend James Hird

W.H. Cookson Stand

Originally named the Memorial Stand, it was built in 1963. Was designed by Essendon player Jack Clarke.

Former

W.R. Crichton Shelter

Located in the outer, it was mainly a standing room only stand, with limited seats at the front. It was removed to make way for the Essendon Bowls Club, who had lost their greens with the construction of the leisure centre. Removed approximately 1994.

A.F. Showers Pavilion

The ground included a significant heritage stand, the A.F Showers Stand. Designed by Essendon architect Harry Winbush^[1] and built in 1939, it was the last major football stand to be built in Melbourne prior to World War II. After spending many years closed to the general public due to safety concerns, the Showers Stand was demolished in late 2007 to make way for more open space at the ground.

W.G. Brew Scoreboard

Located in the school end pocket, behind the croquet club. Was removed in the late 90's/early 00's along with the reminder of the outer and hill, which were reduced to about fence level around the school end of the ground.

Other

There was also a small open concrete stand located next to the Cookson Stand. This was removed to make way for a car park. It housed the main camera position for television broadcast.

Playing Days

During the days as Essendon's home ground, Windy Hill had the reputation of being a violent place for players, and was the site of several ugly incidents, The most famous of these being The Battle of Windy Hill, when a bench-clearing brawl broke out between players, team officials, trainers, spectators and police at half-time during a match between Essendon and Richmond on May 18, 1974. Another famous incident is when Hawthorn player Leigh Matthews broke the behind post after running into it during play in a 1982 game.

The record attendance for the venue was set on 7 May 1966 when Essendon defeated Collingwood in front of 43,487 spectators.

The playing field dimensions are 164.5 metres (180 yd) long and 139.8 metres (153 yd) across.

Essendon's Move From Windy Hill

Due the feud between the Essendon Football Club and the Essendon Bowls Club, the Bombers will be leaving Windy Hill and they will find a new Training and Administration Base. The Bombers will base themselves out of Essendon in neighbouring Tullamarine next to the Melbourne Airport.

References

↑ "Harry Winbush". A tribute to influential Australian Christians. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2013.

External links

v t e Essendon Football Club

History Premierships & Records Players Captains Coaches Awards W. S. Crichton Medal Leading Goalkickers Captain: Jobe Watson Coach: Simon Goodwin Nickname: Bombers

Home grounds	East Melbourne Cricket Ground (1897–1921) Windy Hill (1922–91) Princes Park (1993–97) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1992–present) Docklands Stadium (2000–present)

Premierships (16)	1897 1901 1911 1912 1923 1924 1942 1946 1949 1950 1962 1965 1984 1985 1993 2000

Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Related articles	Anzac Day clash Carlton-Essendon AFL rivalry Dreamtime at the 'G Archer–Hird Medal Line in the Sand Match Round 16, 2001 comeback vs. North Melbourne 2013 supplements controversy

v t e Australian Football League grounds

Main grounds:	Adelaide Oval Carrara Stadium Docklands Stadium The Gabba Kardinia Park Melbourne Cricket Ground Stadium Australia Subiaco Oval Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Showground Stadium

Secondary grounds:	Bellerive Oval Cazaly's Stadium Manuka Oval Marrara Stadium Traeger Park Wellington Regional Stadium York Park

Future grounds:	Perth Stadium

Former grounds:	Arden Street Oval Blacktown International Sportspark Brunswick Street Oval Coburg Oval Corio Oval East Melbourne Cricket Ground Football Park Glenferrie Oval Junction Oval Lake Oval Moorabbin Oval Motordrome Princes Park Punt Road Oval Toorak Park Victoria Park WACA Ground Waverley Park Whitten Oval Windy Hill Yarraville Oval

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.