Yep.
Collingwood also got the reactions they deserved as well when they first hosted their first finals training session at Olympic Park.
Then they improved it from there. I think they had busses going back and forth from Victoria Park one year. They then couldn’t do that because it brought too many cars to Victoria Park there weren’t enough car spaces. Eventually, people habits changed and they realised a train can get them to training facilities just as efficently.
Unfortunately, we do not have that option at our disposal.
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On the positive side, we may not have to worry about pre-finals training for a while yet…
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You mean the shops in Napier St ? More people in them on a weekday morning.
I can’t see behind the paywall at NT News or The Mercury, but they have the latest on the Footy club v cricket club fight.
Apparently Premier Cricket have said stuff the AFL and have scheduled games at Windy Hill in October.
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Do they know who has the lease, and who has the sub-lease?
Guess it’s all in the fine print?
One of the first games I went to was there
Story:
Another shot has been fired in the war between football and cricket over Essendon’s iconic Windy Hill.
A few weeks after Essendon Football Club scheduled AFLW matches for the ground in October, Essendon Cricket Club has done the same for Premier Cricket fixtures as the stand-off between them continues.
An Essendon Second XI match is set down for Saturday, October 4.
October 11, 18 and 25 are also on the cricket draw, clashing with Essendon AFLW games listed for October 19 and 25.
Officials in both sports believe the issue will go to the highest levels of their administrations, if not court.
Cricket Victoria wrote to the AFL this afternoon setting out the October dates and cricket’s claim on the ground.
The cricketing Bombers were financially compensated when they agreed to the Essendon women’s team playing at the ground in 2023 and 2024.
But cricket club president Simon Tobin said that in the absence of any deal for 2025, “it’s business as usual as far as Cricket Victoria and Premier Cricket goes’’.
Asked if his club was digging in, he said: “It’s not just a case of digging in. We have nowhere else to go. It’s our home ground and has been for many years.
“It’s not just four men’s team this impacts. We’ve got 10 junior teams at Essendon. On any given Friday night during October you’ll have three Under 10s matches being played. So it’s not a question of digging in. It’s about playing cricket in cricket season, as we have done for 150 years.’’
He said the issue boiled down to the football club wanting to play four hours of football at Windy Hill at the expense of eight weeks of cricket.
The football club has scheduled six AFLW games at Windy Hill, two in October, and believes the women’s team’s standing in a national competition overrides the traditional “division of seasons’’ agreement between football and cricket.
The football Bombers are adamant they’re not seeking to kick cricket off Windy Hill, insisting the clubs can compromise on the sharing of the ground.
“Playing more games, especially in front of our passionate supporters at Windy Hill, is a huge moment for our Club and the AFLW competition,’’ Dons chief executive Craig Vozzo said after the club allocated six fixtures at Windy Hill this year.
“Windy Hill is more than just a ground for Essendon. It is an important part of the very soul of our club and our community, steeped in generations of Essendon history and tradition. To be able to host a record number of AFLW matches there this season is incredibly significant.”
Essendon Football Club is the lessee of the ground and says the cricket club has no formal lease.
The cricket club says it is indeed a subtenant and has been for many years.
Tobin said the football club was simply ignoring long-term occupancy agreements.
“They’re saying we have no playing rights there, which is ridiculous.
“We are nominated subtenants under the head lease and we were nominated specifically by the Moonee Valley City Council to ensure our training and playing rights were enshrined.
“The gap in the documentation is that it doesn’t detail the dates of cricket season and football season. That current head lease was completed in 2010 – and at that stage of course there was no contemplation of anything but cricket being played in cricket season.
“So by the football club’s interpretation, if they’re entitled to play football matches in cricket season at Windy Hill, we’re entitled to play cricket matches during football season.’’
He said the AFL had offered Essendon other venues for the two October matches, including Arden St and Whitten Oval.
Tobin said the cricket club had asked for mediation, formally and informally, but through their lawyers the AFL Bombers had refused.
“We couldn’t be more disappointed,’’ he said.
“It’s evidence of their bullying and arrogant attitude. For all the espousing they do about their great community work, when it really counts they do what suits them best.
“They talk about all parties having to compromise and making sacrifices, but their interpretation of compromise is as long as they’re not inconvenienced and someone else is paying the price, that’s all the matters.’’
Tobin said the cricketers wanted to thrash out not only the October dates, but their future at Windy Hill when Essendon’s lease expires in 2031.
Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins, speaking from the US, said October belonged to cricket and the ground to Essendon.
“It’s when the cricket season starts and it’s Essendon’s home ground,’’ he said.
“As per our standing agreement, it’s when the cricket club takes possession of the ground. And that’s when we’re expecting to play.’’
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NAILED IT. This attitude is embedded in the club.
The club is now wasting time and resources on a facility they don’t own or control. Windy Hill belongs to the past, it would be really nice to have it as a link to the past but the reality is that it is time to move on.
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Think this is a horrible fight for the footy club. Just find the cricket club an alternative and be done with, otherwise it’s theirs from October as it has been since before the footy club even played there.
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Yep ditch Windy Hill, play AFLW home games somewhere like Whitten Oval or Princess Park, and focus on getting The Hangar right.
VFL and VFLW can use The Hangar as a home ground.
I mean it won’t happen, this club is scared of nothing more than letting go of the past because it’s all it has now, but it should.
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Spend the money on a stand and more car parking and play at the hangar.
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Relocate the cricket club. Send them to Aberfeldie Park. Build turf nets out there, the pavilion and facilities will be far superior to what they have right now at Windy Hill.
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Just have heard the VFL game this week is getting moved to the Hangar due to the conditions at Windy Hill
Agreed.
The Hanger is a lifeless dump and something needs to be done.
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Cafe is pretty good. 
Let cricket have it. It’s their ground
If the club gave a crap about its fans, the facilities at the hangar would be able to accomodate fans for aflw games
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80000 seat stadium and airport train line
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and a top golf
actually you know what, leave out the stadium and train and just go with a (cursed) top golf
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I think a few of you have missed the “no longer $50m” part of the thread title.