MFC ‘traditional heartland’ return plans

Image: Melbourne FC

The Australian Football League (AFL) team the Melbourne Football Club (Australia) Chief Executive Gary Pert has said that ‘the Demons’ are a step closer to returning to their “traditional heartland” with their proposal for a new headquarters gathering momentum.

‘ntnews.com.au’ stated that ‘the Demons’ plans to move their training base from the Casey Fields in Cranbourne East, Australia, to the Caulfield Racecourse in Caulfield, Australia, have been greenlit for a business case proposal where the club is set to seek funding from the State Government for the move.

Melbourne (Australia)-based the Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian Rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association with its inaugural season held in 1897.

The Australian Rules football, also called Australian football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground.

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed ‘the Demons’, is a professional Australian Rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport’s elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) and plays its home games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Image: Melbourne FC

The 100,024-capacity the Melbourne Cricket Ground, also known locally as ‘The G’, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia). Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the 11th largest globally and the second-largest cricket arena by capacity.

The 9,000-capacity Casey Fields is a $30 million, 70 hectare multisports complex in the City of Casey at Cranbourne East, a Southeastern suburb of Melbourne (Australia). The complex is home to Australian Rules football, cricket, netball, soccer, tennis, cycling, golf, and rugby football.

The Caulfield Racecourse is one of Melbourne, Australia’s best-known horse racing tracks. Commonly known as ‘The Heath’ by the local racegoers, it is home to the Melbourne Racing Club. Horse racing started there in 1859 on a bush track where the Melbourne Hunt Club (a historical organization in Australia primarily associated with fox hunting on horseback) met.

‘ntnews.com.au’ further stated that the proposal would bring the club’s administration and the Football Department back under the same roof after years with its resources split between the 30,050-capacity AAMI Park in Melbourne and the Casey Fields.

Melbourne’s plans include two ovals and two “multiuse” rectangular football fields along with an indoor facility.

‘The Demons’ administrative headquarters would be built on the Booran Road side of the racecourse away from the Melbourne Racing Club grandstand at the Caulfield.

Put in Pert, “We expect to receive an outcome on the success or otherwise of the business case around mid-2025. While there is still a way to go, the Melbourne members should feel confident in the work being done by all involved to ensure we achieve our vision of uniting our club at a new home base within our heartland. The proposed facility has the potential to transform the lives of those who live and work in the area providing much-needed green spaces and community resources. As we have previously noted, Glen Eira (Australian local Government area) is a traditional heartland of the Melbourne Football Club with many of our club members and supporters living in the area and many club greats hailing from the area … the opportunity to create a facility that benefits both our club and the Glen Eira community is an incredibly exciting prospect.”

The advancement in the project is a win for Pert who will help lead an “external” review of ‘the Demons’ Football Department in the coming weeks.

It comes after the former President of the Melbourne Football Club Kate Roffey stepped down amid criticism of the handling of star midfielder Christian Petracca’s (Australian Rules football player) disillusionment with the club.

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