Waverley Park (VFL Park) — The AFL’s Lost Suburban Cathedral

Waverley Park is the AFL’s most-mourned ghost — a concrete monolith out at Mulgrave that hosted 30 years of VFL/AFL football before being shut down in 1999. The wind tore through the open-ended concrete bowl in the third quarter; the toilets queues were biblical; the food was indifferent at best; and the memories are now sacred. If you went to Waverley between 1970 and 1999, you have a story. Probably involving Buddy Franklin’s older brother kicking a goal from 60m, or the time the wind turned a punt-kick into a wobbling banana, or just the sheer concrete bleakness of the venue at 5pm on a winter Saturday.

The History: VFL Park’s Suburban Experiment

Waverley Park (originally VFL Park) opened on 14 April 1970 with a Hawthorn vs North Melbourne fixture. The venue was a VFL initiative — the league wanted a centralised stadium independent of the MCC, and Mulgrave (in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs) was chosen for its central location and ample land. Cost: $5.5 million. Capacity: 72,000 at opening, eventually expanded to 78,000.

The venue was meant to be the VFL’s flagship — finals, blockbuster home-and-away matches, and eventually Grand Finals all to be hosted at Waverley. Reality was different. The MCC retained Grand Final rights through legal manoeuvring; finals were split between Waverley and the MCG; and Waverley settled into being a regular-season workhorse rather than a flagship.

By the 1990s, the AFL had tired of Waverley. The venue was difficult to reach (no rail link), the corporate facilities were dated, and the wind — that legendary wind — made for poor television broadcasts. The AFL announced closure in 1999. The final game: 6 September 1999, Hawthorn vs Sydney, 73,000 in attendance, an emotional farewell.

The Footy: 30 Years of Suburban AFL

Waverley hosted thousands of VFL/AFL fixtures over its lifespan. Hawthorn was the primary tenant — the Hawks effectively made Waverley their second home through the 1980s and 1990s, winning four premierships during the venue’s lifespan.

The pitch was 165m × 138m — same as the MCG. The wind off the surrounding open paddocks was the venue’s defining feature. Visiting forwards routinely had set shots blown 10–15 metres off course. The crowd noise (when 70,000 turned up) was deafening due to the open concrete bowl design.

Famous Moments

• 14 April 1970 — first VFL Park game, Hawthorn vs North Melbourne.
• 1971 VFL Grand Final qualifier — first major final at Waverley.
• 1989 Hawthorn-Geelong Grand Final qualifier at Waverley — the famous prelim that preceded the legendary 1989 Grand Final at the MCG.
• 1991 AFL Grand Final qualifier — Hawthorn vs West Coast at Waverley, the precursor to the famous 1991 Grand Final.
• Buddy Franklin’s father played here — the elder Franklin was a Geelong reserve in the 1970s.
• 6 September 1999 — final AFL game at Waverley, Hawthorn vs Sydney.
• Wayne Carey’s 14 goals in a 1995 fixture against Footscray — possibly the greatest individual key forward performance at the venue.

The Closure and Legacy

Waverley closed at the end of the 1999 season. The AFL transferred fixtures to Marvel Stadium (Docklands) which opened in 2000. The Waverley site was sold for residential redevelopment; most of the venue was demolished by 2002. The northern grandstand was preserved as a heritage feature within the new Mirvac housing estate that now occupies the site.

What remains at the site:

• Northern grandstand (heritage-listed, partial preservation)
• Original light towers (decommissioned but visible)
• A small Hawthorn Football Club training base
• The Mulgrave Tip — adjacent to the old stadium site

Trivia for the Pub

• Waverley Park was the VFL’s only purpose-built football stadium.
• The venue’s open-end concrete design was modelled on American football stadiums of the 1960s.
• Hawthorn won four flags during the Waverley era (1971, 1976, 1978, 1983).
• The 1991 Grand Final was almost held at Waverley but was relocated to the MCG due to capacity demands.
• The wind at Waverley was independently measured as the strongest at any major Australian stadium.
• Bus access from Glen Waverley station was the primary public transport, with capacity issues every game day.
• The venue’s farewell game in 1999 drew 73,000, with reserved seating sold out within hours.

The Rumours (Then and Now)

The persistent contemporary rumour: Waverley redevelopment as a modern AFL venue. Floated occasionally, never gained traction. The site is now too residential.

The historical rumour: Waverley as a Grand Final venue. The MCC’s grip on Grand Finals was always going to be the obstacle. Waverley’s wind issues and corporate facility limitations made it a hard sell anyway.

The Verdict

Waverley Park is the AFL’s great might-have-been. A purpose-built football stadium that should have been the league’s flagship, undone by location, weather, and the MCC’s institutional power. Anyone who saw football at Waverley remembers the wind, the concrete, and the genuine working-class atmosphere. The Hawks dynasty of the 1980s was built here. The site is now a housing estate, but the memory lives on — in heritage grandstands, in old footy programs, and in the 73,000 who turned up for the final game in 1999. Pour a stubby for VFL Park.