Punt Road Oval

Infobox_Stadium
stadium_name = Punt Road Oval
nickname =


location = East Melbourne
broke_ground = 1855
opened = 1856
closed = 1964 (for VFL/AFL)
demolished = "incumbent"
owner = City of Melbourne
operator = Richmond Football Club
surface = Grass
construction_cost = "unknown"
architect = "various"
tenants =
Richmond Football Club (administration only)

Richmond Cricket Club

former_names =
Richmond Cricket Ground
seating_capacity =
~15,000

Punt Road Oval (also known as the Richmond Cricket Ground), is a sporting ground located in Yarra Park, East Melbourne, Victoria. It is situated only a few hundred metres to the east of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground.

History

In October 1855 an application was made for the Richmond Cricket Club to play matches on the Richmond paddock next to the site occupied by the prestigious Melbourne Cricket Club. The first documented cricket match on the oval was played on December 27, 1856.

It was used as the home ground by the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football Association from 1885 to 1907 then in the Victorian Football League from 1908 to 1964. It was also used occasionally by the Melbourne Football Club.

The Tigers, under the stewardship of Club President Ray Dunn, negotiated to move their home games to the MCG and, on August 22 1964, the last senior VFL game was played at Punt Road when Richmond played host to Hawthorn.

In all 544 official VFL games were played on the Punt Road Oval between 1908 and 1964.

Ground records - VFL

*Most Goals (Individual) in a Match: 14 by Doug Strang (Richmond vs North Melbourne Round 2, 1931)
*Highest Score: Richmond 30.19 (199) (vs North Melbourne Round 2, 1931)
*Lowest Score: St Kilda 1.10 (16) (vs Richmond 1910)
*Greatest Winning Margin: 168 points (Richmond vs North Melbourne Round 2, 1931)
*Drawn Matches: 6
*Record attendance: 43,543 (Richmond vs South Melbourne, 1921)

Today

The ground is still used for training by the Richmond Football Club and it remains the Club's administrative headquarters. A statue of Tigers' legend Jack Dyer is outside the ground.

It has remained as the home ground for the Richmond Cricket Club from 1856 to this day.

External links

* [http://stats.rleague.com/afl/venues/punt_rd.html Punt Road Oval statistics] from [http://stats.rleague.com/afl/afl_index.html AFL Tables]
* [http://www.aroundthegrounds.bellestorie.com/punt/punt.html "Around the Grounds" - Web Documentary - Punt Road]