Warrnambool's Reid Oval wins AFL national facilities award

The recently redeveloped Reid Oval in the regional Victorian town of Warrnambool has taken out the top national honour in the AFL’s annual Ken Gannon Community Football Facilities Awards

The $10.6 million project, completed in 2022, is seen as a fine example of state and local government coming together with sporting stakeholders to deliver a wonderful outcome for the community.

The result is a completely transformed venue including a redeveloped oval playing surface, installation of LED lighting, construction of a new sports pavilion with gender-neutral player and umpire change facilities and construction of a grassed training area, with lighting, to cater for umpire and football training.

The venue has given the Warrnambool area a major boost and having been developed to cater for AFL preseason and AFLW matches, hosted its first AFLW home-and-away game in October last year when 3,800 spectators came to watch Essendon play Geelong.

Since opening, Reid Oval has also hosted Geelong 2023 AFL Community Camp, Hampden Football Netball League, Warrnambool District Football Netball League and Western Victoria Female Football League matches, including night matches and finals as well as a range of school, participation and inclusion activities.

The Ken Gannon Awards recognise best practice in community football facility development across Australia, along with the people, clubs and other stakeholders driving the best projects. The awards are funded by the AFL’s Australian Football Facilities Fund which partners on $50 million worth of community football facility projects benefitting more than 100 clubs each and every year.

Over the past five years, the AFL has invested $24 million into an estimated $340 million worth of infrastructure projects.

The AFL is currently involved in more than 200 facilities projects in development or underway across the country at all levels of the game, from elite through to grassroots.

Ken Gannon Awards 2022 - State and Territory winners (with total project cost):

Victoria (National Winner): Reid Oval Redevelopment - $10,645,000
NSW (Highly Commended): Wiigulga Sports Complex - $28,400,000
Northern Territory: TIO Stadium Seat Upgrade - $862,300
Queensland: G Rae Sports Ground - $1,460,000
South Australia: Max Amber Sportsfield Redevelopment - $10,900,000
Tasmania: Devonport Oval change room development, $962,510.03
Western Australia: Frankland Park Sporting & Community Facility - $10,530,000

AFL Executive General Manager of Game Development, Rob Auld commented "good facilities are fundamental to ensuring people can participate in and enjoy the game of Australian football and the Ken Gannon Awards represent the very best in facility development.

“The winners of these awards are outstanding examples of what can be achieved when stakeholders, across different levels of government and football, come together to deliver for the clubs and communities that benefit from new and upgraded facilities. 

“The AFL is committed to providing well-positioned, welcoming, accessible, fit-for-purpose football facilities that support the game’s growth, with overall participation numbers rising and the popularity of football for women and girls surging. To cater for growth in the game, the AFL aims to develop one new oval per week for the next five years, which will result in 250 new or upgraded football venues across the country in that time.

“On behalf of the AFL, congratulations to all involved in the Reid Oval project, which has been transformational for Warrnambool and is deserving of the recognition received as the national winner of the Ken Gannon Awards. I would also like to acknowledge the state and territory category winners, all outstanding projects which will continue to significantly impact the communities and regions where they are located.”

Ken Gannon had a decorated career across many areas of the game, including as Chief Executive of the Geelong Cats and AFL Victoria.

Images: Reid Oval in Warrnambool - winner of the top national honour in the AFL's annual Ken Gannon Community Football Facilities Awards for 2023. Credit: Supplied.