Devonport Oval

Devonport Oval
Location	Devonport, Tasmania
Coordinates	41°10′1″S 146°21′32″E / 41.16694°S 146.35889°E / -41.16694; 146.35889Coordinates: 41°10′1″S 146°21′32″E / 41.16694°S 146.35889°E / -41.16694; 146.35889
Opened	Circa 1937
Owner	Devonport City Council
Operator	Devonport City Council
Capacity	13,000
Tenants
Devonport Football Club - TSL Devonport Cricket Club

Devonport Oval is an Australian rules football, cricket and athletics stadium in Devonport, Tasmania.
It is the home stadium for the Devonport Football Club in the Tasmanian State League (TSL) and for the Devonport Cricket Club in the NWTCA competition.
The oval also hosts the Devonport Athletics & Cycling Carnival each year and regularly attracts interstate competitors.
The stadium has a capacity of 13,000 people and has recently undergone upgrades for increased lighting to be used for night football matches in the TSL in 2009.

History

The Devonport Oval is positioned next to Mersey Bluff in Devonport overlooking Bass Strait.

It has two stands, the Frank Matthews Stand is a long wooden Main Stand on the wing, a newer concrete stand with bucket seats in the pocket, a pavilion and a grass hill. The ground is tiered on one side.

After the Devonport City Council's decision to upgrade the unused Devonport Oval in 1937, a VFL practice match was played there between Collingwood and Geelong, and the redevelopment was a winner for the fans, with a crowd of more than 10,000 attending.
In 1959, Devonport's population was just under 14,000 people, in that same year an interstate Australian Football match between Tasmania and Victoria was played there and the attendance was 13,500.

The Devonport Oval hosted one One-Day International match in the 1986-1987 season between England and the West Indies. It also hosted many Tasmanian Sheffield Shield cricket matches and domestic one-day matches for Tasmania.
The ground also hosted two Tasmanian State Grand Finals and six TFL Statewide League finals between 1988 and 2000 and hosted the NWFU Grand Final on several occasions.

External links

• Devonport Oval at AustadiumsTemplate:Tasmanian State League teamlist