‘We are digging in’: Port Melbourne Cricket Club won’t stay silent despite pressure to relocate

A cricket club with more than a century and a half of history at its home ground fears it is being “strong armed” by the AFL to relocate to make way for women’s footy games.

Port Melbourne Cricket Club players are unhappy as the AFL looks to relocate the club from their home at North Port Oval. Picture: Ian Currie

The Port Melbourne Cricket Club claims it is being “strong armed” by the AFL to move from its “spiritual home” of the past 150 years to make way for women’s footy games.

North Port Oval – also known as ETU Stadium – has become a political football in recent years as rival sporting codes vie for control of the ground.

Several attempts have been made by the AFL and the Port Melbourne Football Club to extend its use of the site through spring, which would clash with the start of the cricket season and force the PMCC to play matches somewhere else.

The ground, which boasts a grandstand that can hold about 6000 spectators, has been earmarked by the AFL as a prime location for AFLW games.

But the defiant cricket club is refusing to go quietly, saying it’s history at the site dates back further than footy.

“We are digging in, we are not giving up easy,” PMCC president Chris Sewell told the Herald Sun.

“We’ve been here for 150 years this season, we were on this ground 10 years before the football club was.”

The club faces being kicked off their ground to make way for AFLW. Picture: Ian Currie

It is understood the AFL offered the PMCC money and the promise of a new ground at the neighbouring site of an Australian Post warehouse, which had recently been bought by Port Phillip Council for $38.8m.

But with the site only in the early planning stage, Mr Sewell insisted the club was being muscled out of their current home by the AFL who wanted the oval as their own boutique football venue.

“We’ve had players come to play with the club because of the history and we won’t sell out our history to the AFL just to allow AFLW games be played at the ground,” Mr Sewell said.

“We are determined to dig in until something is built that can accommodate the cricket club.”

The renewed fight to stay at North Port Oval comes weeks after Liberal MP for McNamara Benson Saulo threw his support behind the AFL, creating a petition calling for support to make the ground the “home” of women’s footy.

According to Mr Saulo, the Port Melbourne Football Club had backing from the AFL for a major redevelopment of North Port Oval and the council’s proposed Sandridge Sports Precinct.

“I’m fighting to make Port Melbourne Football Club the home of women’s AFL and a hub for community cricket and more,” Mr Saulo said in a statement on social media last month.

North Port Oval off Williamstown Rd in Port Melbourne has long been the centre of contention between the PMCC and the AFL. Picture: Facebook

The PMCC has shared a 150-year-long connection to the oval, beating their adjoining football club by a decade for longest tenure at the ground. Picture: Facebook

The MP said he understood there were “tensions” from the cricket club about a possible relocation, but argued backing women’s footy was the way forward for the venue.

“Backing women and girls into football is a critical venture for the future … this would be a big step forward,” he said.

Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummings criticised Mr Saulo’s decision to openly back local football at the detriment of the cricket club.

“There is not a lot of political gain to be made in pitting different sporting codes against each other,” Mr Cummings said.

“Port Melbourne is their (PMCC) home, they don’t have anywhere else to go … why should they move?”

He said there should be no talk of relocation until a new ground had been built for the PMCC or a “better alternative” was provided.

“We absolutely stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Port Melbourne Cricket Club and will continue to do so into the future,” Mr Cummings added.

He said Cricket Victoria and AFL Victoria had “worked well together” and would continue to do so into the future, pointing to an agreement between the parties to share facilities year-round across the state.

That agreement is set to expire at the end of March this year.

The Port Melbourne Football Club and the AFL did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Originally published as ‘We are digging in’: Port Melbourne Cricket Club won’t stay silent despite pressure to relocate