Lathlain Park

Lathlain Park
Brownes Stadium
Full name Lathlain Park Oval
Former names EFTel Stadium
Location Lathlain, Western Australia, Australia
Coordinates 31°58′21″S 115°54′27″E / 31.97250°S 115.90750°ECoordinates: 31°58′21″S 115°54′27″E / 31.97250°S 115.90750°E
Owner Town of Victoria Park
Capacity 20,000
Surface Grass
Scoreboard Manual
Construction
Built 1959
Opened 25 August 1959
Tenants
Perth Football Club (WAFL) 1959–
Lathlain Park (Perth)

Lathlain Park (currently known as Brownes Stadium under a ground sponsorship arrangement) is an Australian rules football ground, located in Lathlain, an inner-eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia.[1] Since its opening in 1959, it has been the home ground for the Perth Football Club, who play in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).

Naming

It was known as Lathlain Park,[2] until 2003 when the naming rights were sold to Eftel, an internet company, for a period of five years.[3]

In 2011 EFtel decided not to renew their contract, which gave WA dairy company Brownes the naming rights of Lathlain Oval, and so for the past three years its sponsored name has been Brownes Stadium.

Uses

The oval is primarily used for Australian rules football and has been the home ground of Perth in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) since 1959 (with the exception of 1987 and 1988 when they played home matches at the WACA Ground).

The ground has also been used for rugby league games and was used three times previously by the New South Wales Rugby League for their former midweek competition. On 17 February 1977, the ground hosted an Amco Cup game between Western Australia and the Northern Territory, the locals winning 23-18. The next time the ground was used for top flight rugby league was 10 years later when two Preliminary round matches of the 1987 National Panasonic Cup were held there. WA defeated South Australia 18-16 on 5 April, before following that a week later with a 28-10 win against Victoria.[4]

In September 2013 Australian Football League (AFL) team West Coast Eagles entered into a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with the Town of Victoria Park to develop a new home for the club at Lathlain Park with plans to build $50 million state-of-the-art headquarters, which they plan to be one of the premier sporting club facilities in Australia.[5]

References