East Melbourne Cricket Ground
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Between 1860 and 1921, the East Melbourne Cricket Ground was one of Melbourne's most prestigious sports ground. In 1921 the land was resumed for an extension of the Jolimont railway yards.
[edit] History
The East Melbourne Cricket Ground (EMCG) was a sports venue located at the corner of Wellington Parade and Jolimont Parade, in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was opened in 1860 and closed in 1921, after which it was demolished to make way for an extension of the Jolimont railway yards. The site has now been taken over by a housing estate, a feature of which is a semi-circular housing block with a tower, that was obviously designed to look like an erzatz football pavilion.
The ground adjoined the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and was not that far from Richmond Football Club's Punt Road Oval, all three grounds being cited in the area fomerly known as Captain Lonsdale's Cow Paddock, now Yarra Park.
Four first-class cricket games were played at the ground in the 1880s, including the Smokers v Non-Smokers match on March 17-21, 1887, in which the Non-Smokers made 803, at the time a world record innings score.
East Melbourne Cricket Club was the most successful member of the Victorian Cricket Association during the 19th Century and early 20th Century, winning more than half of the VCA's Premierships during that period. The club was formed in 1857 as the Abbotsford Football Club but they soon changed their name as part of a putsch to use the EMCG. The team mainly consisted of Scotch College old boys. When the club lost the use of the ground in 1921, they amalgamated with the Hawthorn Cricket Club to form the Hawthorn-East Melbourne Cricket Club and moved to Hawthorn's Glenferrie Oval.
The ECMG was also used for Australian rules football. The ground hosted the first ever interstate football match, on Tuesday, July 1, 1879, between Victoria (represented by the VFA) and South Australia. The match was attended by more than 10,000 people, a big crowd for a weekday at that time.
Tenant football clubs of the ground included:
- East Melbourne, who used the ground until the club disbanded in 1881.
- Essendon, who used it from 1882--1921. (Because of the loss of their ground in 1921, Essendon Football Club amalgamated with Essendon Association Football Club who played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), and moved to Essendon Association's home ground, the Essendon Recreation Reserve (now colloquially known as Windy Hill.
- University, who used it from 1908-1910.
- 30 VFA finals were played at the popular East Melbourne ground between 1903 & 1921.
- Melbourne City, a VFA club nicknamed The Citzens used the ground during their two years in the VFA (1911-12). Melbourne City lost all the games they played.
After EMCG closed, one of its wooden stands was moved to the HEMCC's Glenferrie Oval where it stood until 1965 when it was replaced by the Dr A.S. Ferguson Stand.
[edit] See also
Australian rules football - Early years in Victoria
[edit] References
Caruso, Santo; Fiddian, Marc; Main, Jim; FOOTBALL GROUNDS OF MELBOURNE; 2002; Pennon Publishing, Melbourne.
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