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Richmond Oval (South Australia)

Richmond Oval
City Mazda Stadium
Bloods vs Tigers @ Richmond Oval 005.jpg
The B. K. Faehse Stand at Richmond Oval
Former names BroadSpectrum Oval
Location Milner Road, Richmond, South Australia
Coordinates 34°56′14″S 138°34′6″E / 34.93722°S 138.56833°E / -34.93722; 138.56833Coordinates: 34°56′14″S 138°34′6″E / 34.93722°S 138.56833°E / -34.93722; 138.56833
Owner City of West Torrens
Operator West Adelaide Football Club
Capacity 16,500
Record attendance 15,742 – West Adelaide vs Glenelg, 1969
Field size Football: 170m x 125m
Surface Grass
Construction
Broke ground 1954
Opened 26 April 1958
Construction cost £20,000
Tenants
West Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) (1958-present)
Gridiron Association of South Australia (2012-present)

Richmond Oval (currently City Mazda Stadium and formerly Broadspectrum Oval) is an Australian rules football oval in Richmond, a western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It has been the home of South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club West Adelaide for training since 1956 and home games since 1958.

Richmond Oval was constructed upon land formerly used for housing that fell into major disrepair during the Great Depression and possessed demand for restoration because of the movement of people from the inner city. West Adelaide had lost the Wayville Showground as their home ground after the 1939 season after it was taken over by the Australian Army due to the outbreak of World War II and had no home ground, instead playing its matches at Adelaide Oval along with South Adelaide. A major problem with this arrangement is that there was not enough room for both of these clubs to train even using the practice Adelaide Oval #2.

Although the decision to build a football oval was made in 1946, the West Adelaide Football Club did not decide on using it until 1952. After this decision was made, the ground was completely returfed and a grandstand erected, a process which took six years, during which many lower grade games were already played at the ground.

Originally West Adelaide hoped to start using the ground for SANFL league games in 1956. The Grounds Committee sought an undertaking from the Council to complete the oval and have it ready for that season. Unfortunately the council was not in a financial position to meet the whole burden of this request and as a result, the club had no option but to use the venue only for training purposes that year. After many negotiations with the Council and the SANFL, including a AU£10,000, 10-year loan from the SANFL and another £10,000 loan from a local trading bank to pay for improvements, the ground was gradually developed with improvements including:


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