The Lake Oval (also known as the South Melbourne Cricket Ground) was an Australian rules football and cricket stadium located in Albert Park, Victoria. It was the home of the South Melbourne Football Club from 1878 until their relocation to Sydney in 1982 (where they became the "Sydney Swans"), and also of the South Melbourne Cricket Club. In 1995 the majority of the remaining stands and facilities were demolished, and the boutique soccer venue Lakeside Stadium was erected in its place, to accommodate the relocation of football (soccer) club South Melbourne Hellas (now known as "South Melbourne FC" and not to be confused with the Australian rules club) from its former home of Middle Park due to the construction of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.
A remnant of the old Lake Oval structure, a grandstand built in 1926, remains standing between the stadium grandstand and the stadium's car park. It was in a state of disrepair for many years prior to the Lakeside Stadium redevelopment in 2010. Its continued existence was the subject of debate, complicated by the plans of the Victorian Government, who wished to install a running track at Lakeside Stadium in an attempt to relocate Athletics Victoria away from its current base at Olympic Park. The stand's future was secured when it was announced that it would be refurbished to accommodate the Victorian Institute of Sport.
The ground record crowd for Lake Oval was set on 30 July 1932 when 41,000 turned out to see Carlton defeat South Melbourne by nine points.
Famous quotes containing the word lake:
“Like a canoe route across the great lake on whose shore
One is left trapped, grumbling not so much at bad luck as
Because only this one side of experience is ever revealed.
And that meant something.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)