August 2017 will mark 20 years since the final match for premiership points was played at VU Whitten Oval, formerly, the Western Oval.
In recent years, the former quarry on the corner of Barkly and Gordon streets has come alive again with the Footscray Bulldogs, the Club’s VFL side, and the Western Bulldogs women’s team using the venue as their home ground.
Last weekend, the second AFL pre-season game in three years again packed the terraces at the old ground, and once again the Kennel came alive.
24-year-old defender Fletcher Roberts was yet to celebrate his fourth birthday when the Bulldogs beat West Coast by 20 points on a fittingly wet and miserable day in Round 21, 1997, but he’s reflective of a playing group who appreciates the history of their football club.
“As you walk into the Club every morning you walk past all of the big posters and billboards of all of the games that were played here in the past, and I think the history of this ground, this Club and Footscray and the greater western community is obviously something very special and is passed on [to us] from Bobby Murphy, Dale Morris and Matthew Boyd, he told westernbulldogs.com.au
While the fans may never again pack the stands like they did back in 1955 when 42,354 people turned out to watch the then defending premiers Footscray take on Collingwood, Roberts said that playing at Whitten Oval will always be special occasion for players pulling on the red, white and blue.
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“It’s always good to come back to Whitten Oval, we train here every day and we get to play a [preseason] game here, which is pretty special.
“There’s a lot of history here and it really meant a lot to the boys - that history and that passion for the western suburbs - it’s great to be back here playing in front of our faithful.”
Last October, 30,000 people crammed in to see the 2016 AFL premiers lift the Premiership Cup for the first time in 62 years while 8,000-plus fans have flocked to see the Club’s women’s team take part in the inaugural AFLW competition.
Two decades may have passed since the siren blew for the final time back in 1997 but the ground continues to be the setting for history being made.
