South Yarra Football Club forced out of Fritsch Holzer Reserve

A football club whose sinking oval was built on a former tip in Hawthorn has been forced to find a new ground to play on, after the uneven playing surface was ruled too hazardous.

As South Yarra Football Netball Club rises in player numbers and teams, its home ground sinks.

But unlike two years ago, when wet weather reduced it to a mud pit, it no longer stinks.

The playing surface of Fritsch Holzer Reserve in Hawthorn east has dropped so alarmingly in the past year that it’s been ruled unfit for football.

The ground was built on a former tip site.

But the land was once a brick factory with a workforce of 50 that produced 250,000 bricks a week, according to Boroondara Council.

Late last season a rival club said the uneven surface was too dangerous and refused to play at the ground.

MORE NEWS

Why these junior footballers can’t play for the team they want

Springvale Districts forced to shut corporate box shipping container

Months of building delays lock East Malvern Panthers out of clubrooms

A report for the Southern Football Netball League agreed and the league told the Yarras to find another venue for their home games this year.

Last week the club secured Leigh Park in Balwyn North.

“It’s flat, it’s well grassed and we’re very happy with it,’’ South Yarra life member Owen Pearse said. “There’s not too much cover for supporters and spectators but it’s better than Fritsch at this stage.’’

The club continues to train at Fritsch Holzer Reserve and Pearse said the players had no problems with it.

“They go flat out. They don’t worry about the slopes or the unevenness or the dirt, they keep training on it. They’re committed,’’ Pearse said.

“The club did a survey with the players and they unanimously said that it was the people who made the club and that’s why they want to be here.’’

The centre square of the ground has dropped noticeably since last season and Pearse said he believed the right decision had been made to play games elsewhere.

“It’s fallen down quite dramatically,’’ he said.

South Yarra Football and Netball Club life member Owen Pearse on the uneven oval at Fritsch Holzer Reserve, Hawthorn East. Picture: Sarah Matray

“It’s too dangerous now. Have a look at that slope. If you’re running with the ball flat-out and suddenly the surface drops away, there’s a potential for injury.’’

South Yarra has called Fritsch Holzer Reserve — off Camberwell Rd, 400m on the city side of Camberwell Junction — home since 2007.

It offers a glimpse of the city skyline but it’s fair to say its facilities leave no Southern clubs with any envy. The changerooms are small but they are at least bright after a lick of paint courtesy of Bunnings Hawthorn. The social club is on the second level of the basketball stadium next door.

But Pearse said the club would like to stay at Fritsch Holzer and hoped the ground and facilities would be updated in a master plan for the entire park.

“It’s a boutique ground. But it needs a whole lot of improvement,’’ he said.

In 2016 former Hawthorn MP John Pesutto spoke about the club’s plight, telling parliament the Yarras’ facilities had been judged the worst in the Southern league.

The Yarras have three senior men’s, one senior women’s, over-35s and over-50s football teams, under-8s, Auskick and four netball sides this year.

“We’re going through a strong growth period despite a bit of adversity,’’ Pearse said.

THE HISTORY

■ The park was named after Augustus Fritsch and the Holzer brothers, who formed the Upper Hawthorn Brick Company in 1883. The factory employed about 50 people and produced 250,000 bricks a week, which were used throughout Victoria.

■ The council bought the area in 1972 and used it as a landfill site until 1986, then as a temporary waste transfer station until 1989. In the years that followed the site was left empty to allow the landfill to stabilise.

■ The council, together with the Victorian Government and the Rotary Club of Hawthorn, reconstructed the area into a park in 1995.