I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

[bulldogtragic]

When I was very little, I could walk from end to end at the end of the quarter to always be behind our goals.

[chef]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

I could stand and watch the footy and have a kick on the ground afterwards.

[Bornadog]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

I loved standing in the wind and rain and getting soaked

[Eastdog]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because..

It brings a sense of grassroots back to the game which is seriously lacking today. Would have been great to travel for me all the way from the Eastern suburbs to the Whitten Oval and cross the West Gate Bridge back home with a Bulldogs win

[bulldogtragic]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

I loved standing in the wind and rain and getting soaked

Hey that's a FFC birthright BAD

[Bornadog]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

Hey that's a FFC birthright BAD

On a serious note, use to love meeting mates between the umpires race and the players race at Western Oval as it was called.. There use to be at least 10 of us who probably only caught up at the footy and very few caught up outside game days. Most of us went to the same school but we were in different year levels and juts knew each other. 1984, 1985 were fantastic years to catch up, especially 1985. In fact other than 1981/2, we won most of our home games in the 80's, so we really enjoyed it. Same as in the mid to late 70's, won lots of home games but very few away.

The atmosphere was always electric at Whitten Oval, especially when the crowds got to around 20,000. Didn't really enjoy other suburb grounds, although there was always some fun at Arden st getting stuck into North Fans, or on the hill at Windy Oval, screaming at the Essendon ferals. Vic Park was a nightmare and we won very few there. Remember going there for an ANZAC day clash in the 80's and I think we won that one. ( I should look that up)

I even remember going to watch South Melbourne at their ground and Fitzroy at the Junction Oval - not happy hunting grounds. Princes Park I hated because that is the club and supporters I hate the most. We generally played well there.

Geelong was always a treck and very few wins there. When we won our first game there in over 20 years it was oh so satisfying. Hawks ground in Hawthorn was a dump and I don't remember going there, (maybe once as a kid). Saints well, what a pack of ferals at their home ground. These days I live around the corner from Toorak Park, which hosted some games back around the second world war. (not that I was around ) I pop down there now and then to watch Old Xavs.

Always loved home games.

[LostDoggy]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

Hopefully will get back to Whitten Oval next year to watch a few games

[Eastdog]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

Hopefully will get back to Whitten Oval next year to watch a few games

Has it been confirmed yet that our new VFL team will play their home matches at WO?

[bulldogtragic]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

At the WO it you were able to run onto the ground on the siren, swamp the players and go down the race. Awesome stuff as a kid.

[Twodogs]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

You could move from place to place. If the spot you were standing in wasn't so good or you had an idiot next to you then no problem you could just go and stand somewhere else.

Also there was a certain breed of person you would see at the footy that seems to have disappeared these days. I don't know how to describe these people-they were just different. You wouldn't see them anywhere else but at the footy.

You could lean over the fence and get the players' attention.

I like Docklands but I really, really miss Whitten oval. Every Club that gave up their ground lost something. The mass migration of clubs to 'better' facilities we saw in the '90s didn't happen anywhere else in the world and the competition is the poorer for it.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

You could move from place to place. If the spot you were standing in wasn't so good or you had an idiot next to you then no problem you could just go and stand somewhere else.

Also there was a certain breed of person you would see at the footy that seems to have disappeared these days. I don't know how to describe these people-they were just different. You wouldn't see them anywhere else but at the footy.

You could lean over the fence and get the players' attention.

I like Docklands but I really, really miss Whitten oval. Every Club that gave up their ground lost something. The mass migration of clubs to 'better' facilities we saw in the '90s didn't happen anywhere else in the world and the competition is the poorer for it.

I know exactly what you mean TD. Different football environment back when, unique even. I loved getting there early to watch the ressies (remember them!) and getting autographs from the players around the bench. For me the Western Oval was a snapshot in my life. I used to go with my nan and all her sisters and cousins, all old football ladies who would get seats in the two rows around the ground and scream "kick the ball". Boy did they all love Douggie. Even more so than Teddy. Not many of my old ducks are left, but they all got to see a premiership, so they all felt very lucky. Funny how a place can be a snapshot of a point of time. I feel sorry for the generation who have only known big cold stadiums, plastic seats and plastic bottles/cups. But footy has moved on, so be it.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

The smell of hotdogs, when I get that smell it reminds me of the walkway at the Western Oval early 90's. It's funny how a smell can transport the brain like this.

[GVGjr]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

The smell of hotdogs, when I get that smell it reminds me of the walkway at the Western Oval early 90's. It's funny how a smell can transport the brain like this.

I can recall the jam doughnuts as well. You would almost get 3rd degree burns when the jam splattered on you but they were great on a cold day,

[bulldogtragic]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

Are youth at the footy. And the (other) kids who would run out trying to get a footy launched out of the out of the ground by Beasley, Delre, Grant etc, to take as a trophy.

[ReLoad]

Re: I liked the suburban VFL grounds because....

Looking up at the scoreboard and wondering how E vs F was going, and who G vs H was, and why H was beating them.

That and going home after the game on a saturday afternoon listening to the footy wrap up on the radio in the car. (we drove a few hours each way) also when i was finally old enough to not have to take a milk crate to the footy to see the game.

We always stood behind the goals at the geelong road end, seeing the regulars and it really felt like family.

I also enjoyed the fact that our ground was considered "hostile" by every other team and everyone loathed playing there, it was our patch, our turf and our home. (the away teams change rooms were 3rd world at best, and my uncle used to turn the hot water off on the away rooms regularly)