Windy Hill, Essendon
| Windy Hill | |
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| Former names | Essendon Cricket Ground |
|---|---|
| Location | Napier St, Essendon, Victoria |
| Coordinates | 37°45′7″S 144°55′11″E / 37.75194°S 144.91972°ECoordinates: 37°45′7″S 144°55′11″E / 37.75194°S 144.91972°E |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Opened | 1881 |
| Tenants | |
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Essendon Cricket Club Essendon reserves (VFL) Essendon Football Club (social only; VFL/AFL matches 1922–1991; training/admin 1922–2013) Essendon Association (VFA, 1900–1921) Essendon Bowls Club Essendon Croquet Club |
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Windy Hill (officially known as Essendon Recreation Reserve) is an Australian rules football and cricket ground located in Napier Street, Essendon, a northwestern suburb of the Melbourne metropolitan area.
Windy Hill is most notable as the former home base of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League; the club used the ground for home matches from 1922 until 1991, and then as its primary administrative and training base until 2013. It is the current home ground of the Essendon Cricket Club in the Victorian Premier Cricket, and the Essendon reserves in the Victorian Football League.
In the 1880s, the Essendon Recreation Reserve became the primary multi-purpose grassed sports reserve in Essendon. The Essendon Cricket Club was the ground manager and primary tenant, and played its cricket matches there during the summer. The Essendon Bowls Club was granted permissive occupancy of the south-western corner of the reserve in 1886. The reserve also contained a bicycle track, and was used by the Essendon District Football Club, which was a junior club, for its home games during the winter. At this stage, the Essendon Football Club, which was playing top-level senior football in the Victorian Football Association, played only occasional games at the venue; its primary home ground was the East Melbourne Cricket Ground approximately six miles away.
The demise of the Essendon District Football Club in 1897 left the ground vacant for other sports during the next three winters, including running and lacrosse. Football returned to the ground in 1900 with the establishment of the Essendon Town Football Club, which played in the Victorian Football Association. Over the following few years, the Essendon Croquet Club was established, and it built a court and club room in the north-eastern corner of the reserve.
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