Brookvale Oval - History

History

In the late nineteenth century, the suburb of Brookvale was known as Greendale. The name Brookvale was later adopted as that was the name of the home built by the original grantee of the land, William Francis Parker. It was in this area that Dan Farrell built his stone house called "Inverness" which was later to become Manly Leagues Club.

A block of nearby land called Farrell's Paddocks was sometimes used for local community events. This land was originally granted to William Redman in 1857. The original parcel was subsequently subdivided into smaller lots and sold. The change from agricultural use to public recreation did not occur until after the turn of the century following a period of lobbying by local residents for the Government to give the community a park.

'The area known as Lot 47 A (Land Titles Office Vol. 1524 Fol. 122) was sold to Jane Malcolm in April 1907. Land title records suggest that between 1907 and 1911, Malcolm carried out a subdivision of Lot 47A into four blocks. From Alfred Road in the west to Pine Avenue in the east, these lots respectively measured 2 acres 2 roods 12 perches, 4 acres 1 rood 4¼ perches, 2 acres 0 roods 22¼ perches and 2 acres 0 roods & 2 perches. Lot 47A became known in the early 1900s as “Farrell’s Paddock” (Dan Farrell was the first president of the Manly-Warringah Tramway League), as it was the location of a public gathering in April 1910 to celebrate the extension of the tram line from Manly to the village of Brookvale.' (Mayne-Wilson & Associates (2005). Heritage Report on Brookvale Park Pittwater Road, Brookvale. Dee Why: Warringah Council)

In the following year, the State Government reached agreement with Warringah Shire Council to acquire land for a park near the Shire’s Offices. The acquired land plus a smaller parcel of land bought from Miss Jane Malcolm (later known as Jane Try) from Brookvale, was officially opened in 1911 as Brookvale Park. 'Presumably inspired by local resident action at that time to secure a public park or village green for the suburb, Jane Malcolm presented to the Minister for Lands the largest of the four lots from Lot 47A (the lot measuring 4 acres 1 rood 4¼ perches) – under a caveat that it only ever be used for public recreation purposes. Although the ‘dedication’ refers strictly to the first lot of land donated by Jane Try, subsequent acquisitions by Council of the other lots owned by Mr & Mrs Try were described specifically for the purposes of public recreation or for enlarging the Park' (Mayne-Wilson & Associates, 2005).

The Park was transformed into a showground within the first decade. In 1921, the Brookvale Show was established with the formation of the Warringah Agricultural, Horticultural, Amateur Sports and Athletic Association. Between 1919 and 1928 children from Brookvale School planted trees to commemorate Arbor Day and it was the setting for school sports days and Empire Day picnics.

During the Second World War Brookvale Park was utilised by the Defence Force for training purposes.

On 25 April 1951, a new attendance record at Brookvale was set at 9,447, with spectators overflowing onto the field for a match between Manly and South Sydney.

Over fifty annual shows were held at Brookvale Park before the show was moved to St. Ives Showground. Trotting and ring events were features of early shows at Brookvale. The trotting track occupied a substantial area of the Park with lighting of the ring for night entertainment. Substantial improvements were later made to form a sporting oval by the addition of stands. Pavilions were constructed along Alfred Road to house show exhibits. Outside of the annual show period these pavilions were used for local church services and meeting rooms for the local community. They were also used by local bands as a place to practice.

'With the formation of the Manly-Warringah Rugby Club, known as the Sea Eagles, however, the situation changed. The horse events of the Show had to be transferred to an oval in Frenchs Forest because the horses’ hooves did too much damage to the turf of the rugby ground, and the Show itself ended its long association with the Park in 1992. The growth in popularity of the Rugby League competition led to the re-forming of the oval into a rectangular field in 1970-71, with major earthworks undertaken to form spectator ‘hills’ on the eastern and southern sides of it. Following this came the construction of simple but large concrete grandstands on the western and southern boundaries of the field, and finally the Ken Arthurson Pavilion that linked the two. The construction of these facilities necessitated the removal of the original grandstand and the various exhibition halls and show pavilion, and with that, the termination of their use by community organisations and their hiring out for social functions' (Mayne-Wilson & Associates, 2005).

While Manly Council favoured rugby union and would not permit league to be played at Manly Oval, Warringah Council was more sympathetic to the rugby league cause and encouraged the playing of rugby league matches at Brookvale Park. Thus when the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles were granted first grade status in 1947, the team's first match in the big league was a home game at Brookvale Oval against Western Suburbs. Manly played well against their more fancied opponents in that historic first match at Brookvale scoring three tries to one but narrowly losing the match 15 - 13 courtesy of a string of scrum penalties from referee Aub Oxford.

Brookvale has three grandstands stretching the western and southern sides of the ground. The Jane Try Stand, running along the western side is the biggest of the three. It is also one of the few grandstands of major Australian stadiums to be named after a woman. The Ken Arthurson stand in the south west corner, is the latest addition to the ground. It is named after the long serving Manly-Warringah, NSWRL and ARL administrator. The southern stand is elevated with standing room underneath. A large hill runs along the eastern and northern sides. The ground's capacity is around the 23,000 mark.

In terms of use, it can be said that the Park has been intended to be used for ‘public recreation’, yet the 'public use' is now limited to a small section in the more recent northern sector. Primacy of use of the original central sector of the Park has been given to rugby league matches to the exclusion of virtually all other stakeholders. The 'public use' is restricted to 'passive recreation and ‘the public’ pays to watch ( see Mayne-Wilson & Associates, 2005). The intended use as a 'multi-purpose' and 'multi-use' facility - one of the objectives of the construction of the new grandstand - still needs to eventuate.

As the major stakeholder and leasee of the park, Manly-Warringah Football Club launched a "Save Brookie" campaign, aimed at government funding for improvement to the facilities including seating, accessibility, improved safety, corporate boxes and construction of another stand, likely behind the Eastern Hill. The Warringah Council (Local Government) initially pledged funding of $4,000,000 dependent on further grants from State and Federal Governments. The NSW State Government provided a further grant of $6,000,000 in June 2008, and the club has restated its aim for a further $6,000,000 to $10,000,000 from the Federal Government.