Lavington Sports Ground

Lavington Sports Ground is an Australian rules football stadium located in Hamilton Valley, a suburb on the north-west fringe of Albury, New South Wales, Australia. The capacity of the venue is estimated at around 20,000. The oval is nestled in the side of a hill, with concrete terraces cut into the southern side of the oval below a grass enbankment, with the grandstand and changing rooms located on the north-west flank. The venue also incorporates a velodrome for track cycling and a netball court. The Lavington Panthers licensed club is located adjacent to the ground, across Hanna Street.

The venue is the home ground for the Lavington Football Club in the Ovens & Murray Football League, and usually hosts the Ovens & Murray grand finals, which typically attract crowds of around 15,000. Up until 2006 it often hosted AFL practice matches during the AFL preseason, however due to the inadequacy of the existing ground lighting, for now at least, the AFL prefers to schedule such fixtures in the Riverina area at Narrandera. [http://dailyadvertiser.yourguide.com.au/news/sport/afl/narrandera-gets-second-afl-game/1102549.html]

The New South Wales Rugby League had scheduled the City vs Country representative game for Lavington in 2007 but the fixture was shifted to Coffs Harbour [http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=26916] , as the existing lighting was deemed unsuitable for television. It did however host the grand final of the ARL Preseason Challenge Cup back in 1994 and 1995, and in other seasons hosted other NRL preseason trial games.

In summers the venue is used for cricket, with a turf wicket, and in this capacity serves as the home of the Lavington side in the Cricket Albury-Wodonga Provincial competition. During the 1992 Cricket World Cup, the ground hosted the match between England and Zimbabwe [http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65152.html] , in which Zimbabwe won in a shock result. It also hosted a Sheffield Shield fixture between NSW and Victoria during the 1989/90 domestic season.