Anzac Day country footy clash moved AFL Gather Round mess left at Summit Sports and Recreation Park
The Hills Footy League Anzac Day clash has been forced to move from Mount Barker Oval due to mess left from the AFL Gather Round.
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The Mount Barker Football Club has been forced to move its Anzac Day clash.
The club said the Summit Sports and Recreation Park was not left in a suitable state following the historic AFL match between Brisbane and North Melbourne on April 15.
While the oval itself is in perfect condition, a large amount of infrastructure, debris and rubbish remains at the site.
In a post to Facebook, the Mount Barker Football Club said the 2023 Hills Football League Anzac Day clash against Hahndorf will now be at the nearby Hanson Oval “due to circumstances outside its control”.
“We know that this is disappointing, however due to the Summit Sports and Recreation Park not being in a suitable state to host a large footy event such as this, and keeping in mind our community’s safety, there was no other choice,” it read.
“What we can do, is promise you the same action packed Anzac Day clash that we have had for many years.”
Mount Barker president Matt Schultz said safety issues associated with the infrastructure forced their hand.
“Unfortunately, because of the scale of the Gather Round game, the facility just hasn’t been in a position to be repatriated or cleaned up to a point where it’s functional for recreation use,” he said.
The Advertiser understands an indication was given to the Mount Barker Football Club that the ground would be ready by Sunday, giving the club ample time to prepare for Tuesday’s game.
However, Mount Barker Mayor David Leach conceded that “90 per cent” of the grandstands were still up around the ground.
“A substantial amount of the equipment has been bumped out, but there is sufficient left to make it inappropriate for a match to be played,” Mr Leach said.
“This is the first time of doing the Gather Round and we didn’t know how long it was going to take to restore it back to normal operating conditions.”
He said the Gather Round was an overwhelming success.
“For people to be concerned about the amount of time it takes to pack up, if that’s the only thing that people can find fault with then I am delighted.”
But Mt Barker Football Club supporter Caroline Nunan said the situation was extremely disappointing.
“The facilities up at Hanson Rd just aren’t as accessible, I suffer from MS and use a walker, so I just can’t get up to the clubrooms there,” she said.
“I feel for the elderly that would have been involved in this Anzac Day match that will find the same problems. The Summit Oval is just laid out alot better and being such a big round, it would have been fantastic.”
She said she felt for the club’s volunteers who had their plans “thrown into chaos”.
“Hahndorf hosted this match last year and the year before the oval wasn’t ready, so it’s disappointing to miss out again,” she said.
“People have had to work around the clock cleaning up Hanson Oval and fixing light towers to get it ready.”
Mr Schultz said the club was keen to have better lines of communication with council moving forward.
“The challenge is a lot of this came fast and late because the AFL sort of dictated to the council how things were going to happen,” he said.
“But they simply have this belief that we can just make things happen because we’ve got the volunteer base and by and large we do, but there does need to be a better and more structured way of engaging.”
One person on social media said the place was a “mess”.
“It is not OK now because the council and the AFL have left the facilities completely unusable. The ground itself is perfect,” she said.
“Go have a look – the place is a mess.”
She said there were “genuine safety concerns”.
“It’s literally like an abandoned rental half vacated.”
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