Bendigo footy identity Jock Clark says Queen Elizabeth Oval is ‘definitely iconic’
Country Victoria is home to some iconic grand final venues. Check out the top five grounds footy fans flock to each September.
For almost four decades Jock Clark has made his way to the Queen Elizabeth Oval for the finale of the Bendigo Football League season.
The majority of those years were spent behind the microphone calling the action with two standout grand finals – Castlemaine’s 1992 premiership win by only five points over Golden Square and the 2007 Derrick Filo-inspired Eaglehawk come-from-behind victory over Gisborne.
Aside from on-field heroics, Clark said there was one other key ingredient on grand final day at the QEO: the atmosphere.
“It is definitely iconic,” Clark said.
“I’ve called interleague footy when Bendigo played Ovens and Murray at Lavington and I’ve also been to Deakin Reserve when we’ve played GV.
“Both are good grounds, but they don’t have the same atmosphere as the QEO.”
Bendigo league legend Tony Southcombe’s brilliant career with Golden Square and Northern United predated Clark’s calling days, but agreed the QEO on grand final day was something else.
“If you couldn’t play good football on the QEO there was something wrong,” Southcombe said.
“It was big and roomy and really favoured someone who had a bit of ability and could read the play.
“In the 1970s and 1980s you couldn’t get within 10 metres of the fence on grand final day.
“It was always absolutely packed.”
The QEO has been hosting Bendigo league grand finals for more than a century with the tradition replicated across country Victoria.
Shepparton’s Deakin Reserve has hosted every Goulburn Valley league grand final since 1957 after previously being played at Tatura and Warrnambool’s Reid Oval and the Lavington Sports Ground have been the regular venues of the Hampden and Ovens and Murray league grand finals.
Also up on the border, the Tallangatta District and Hume leagues traditionally play their entire finals series at Sandy Creek and Walbundrie respectively.
The Murray league played every grand final bar one between 1968 and 2013 at Tocumwal.
The run ended when Tocumwal joined the Picola District league in 2014, but the club has since returned to the Murray league.
Deniliquin’s Sean Drennan played in five flags from nine grand finals at Tocumwal and lives in hope the premiership-deciding match will return to the ground on the banks of the Murray River.
“I might be a bit biased because we had a bit of success there, but I always considered Tocumwal to be the best country ground I played at,” he said.
“It was always in great condition and its size meant you could get plenty of cars and people around it.
“An added bonus most years was a fight on the hill late in the afternoon.
“If you were kicking to the town end in the last quarter the goalsquare was a great place to watch the action.”
There are other venues that had their time in the September sun, but are no longer.
Yallourn Oval was held in such high esteem it hosted a 1952 VFL match for premiership points.
But when the town had to be moved in the 1980s, to make way for an expansion of the open-cut mine, it also disappeared.
Further east, Ensay hosted the first grand final played in the state every year from 2004 to 2016.
Ensay withdrew from the Omeo District league in 1995 due to having no players, but the league decided to bring the ground out of mothballs for all finals.
But as grumblings grew about cramped change rooms and the netball court surface deteriorating, a rotation of finals grounds was reintroduced.
Former league secretary Ian Forbes hopes the grand final will return to Ensay with a potential game-changer being a bushfire recovery grant to be used on updating the venue.
“It was a pretty positive move at the time,” Forbes said.
“There was good parking and the playing surface was always good.
“But when things got better at other grounds, it got left behind.”
ICONIC GRAND
FINAL VENUES
(Past and present)
1. QUEEN ELIZABETH OVAL, Bendigo
Ticks every box. With a history of being the Bendigo league grand final’s long-time home, QEO’s heritage-listed grandstand on its southern wing and CBD location puts this oval on top.
2. TOCUMWAL RECREATION RESERVE
This ground hosted every Murray league grand final bar one between 1968 and 2013 when Tocumwal left the competition. Its Murray River back drop, huge ground, hill behind the town-end goals and plentiful parking are all big ticks.
3. LAVINGTON SPORTS GROUND, Albury
Lavington Sports Ground has been a regular O&M grand final venue since the mid-1990s with a recent $19.6 million upgrade only making it better. Parking was a gripe pre-redevelopment, but issues appear resolved.
4. ENSAY RECREATION RESERVE
This hugely popular high-country venue was home to all Omeo District league finals from 2004 to 2016. Sadly it ceased being used when conditions of change rooms and the netball court slipped.
5. DEAKIN RESERVE, Shepparton
Deakin Reserve has hosted every Goulburn Valley league grand final since 1957. The proximity of the footy ground and netball court for spectators keen on both sports is a big plus.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
REID OVAL, Warrnambool
Reid Oval is the southwest’s premier venue that hosts Hampden and Warrnambool District grand finals. Seaside conditions are part and parcel of the experience. Grumblings about elements of recent upgrades exist.
YALLOURN OVAL
Gippsland’s best ground until the town move to make way for expansion of the open-cut brown coal mine in the 1980s, Yallourn Oval hosted its first Gippsland league grand final in 1956 and last one in 1976.
WALBUNDRIE SPORTS GROUND
The home ground of Rand-Walbundrie-Walla Giants before becoming a venue for Hume league finals including the grand final, Walbundrie is a massive ground with all-important ample cover in the event of rain.
SANDY CREEK RECREATION RESERVE
Tallangatta District league venue for all finals, Sandy Creek Recreation Reserve’s playing surface improved dramatically since coming under fire in 2010. Other facilities need similar attention to even begin to justify a mantle as “MCG of the Bush”.
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