Tigers' burning plight

From the Moreland Leader Grounds for survival By Kate Kyriacou AFL matches could be played in Moreland if a deal to update the Coburg City Oval goes ahead. Both practice matches and pre-season training are on the cards for Essendon and Richmond football clubs as part of a plane to save the Coburg Tigers from financial ruin. An arson attack that destroyed the ground's historic grandstand and has seen the Tigers lose out on spectator dollars, leaving the club on the brink of collapse. But plans to revamp the ground comes at the expense of the Coburg Cricket Club, with AFL clubs promising to use the ground only if it is cricket free during the summer months. The Tigers have been promised help in writing from several organisations, provided the cricket club moves. Essendon Football Club CEO Peter Jackson said his club needed a stable venue during the summer months, with Windy Hill unavailable because of District cricket. "Essendon Football Club's pre-season training is severely disrupted due to our inability to train full time at Windy Hill," he said. "This is despite investing millions of dollars in recent years to upgrade facilities, including the ground surface. "I understand there is some consideration to relocating cricket off the Coburg City Oval so it is available as an AFL venue throughout the year. "No doubt it would also be a major fillip for the region, being able to attract patrons to watch club training sessions and presumably AFL and VFL practice matches." The sentiments were echoed by outgoing Richmond CEO Ian Campbell, who said Richmond players where forced to move between private schools and open parkland during the summer months. "The interest in a fully enclosed and secure venue available for February/March practice matches is a premium," he said. "You have an opportunity to ensure our code at both a national and state level is thriving in Moreland." Financial support "in kind" to upgrade the ground has been offered by both Football Victoria and the State Government, if the venue became a strictly football facility.

onslaught wrote:Some of this I sent to Baktiger in a PM, but surely the Council can put up the money without the booting the cricket club off the ground?

Perhaps the problem is that you can't train or play matches on the ground when the central pitch area is effectively off limits for much of the time? Maybe they could put in one of those 'synthetic' pitches? - (sorry only joking)

From the Moreland Leader. Cricketers in plea for oval rights By Kate Kyriacou MEMBERS of the Coburg Cricket Club turned out en masse to last weeks Moreland Council meeting to ask that they not be kicked out of their home ground. The club faces possible eviction after the Coburg Tigers Football Club revealed they were in financial crisis and needed a cricket-free ground to make money. Cricket club president Shayne Rule said about a dozen cricketers turned out at the meeting to ask councillors about their fate. "We asked a number of questions and I suppose we received a fairly non-committal response," he said. "Council just said they hadn't considered any proposals yet and they would be continuing to work through the processes council have set up. "There was some indication of plans to have cricket on City Oval for this season, but even this hasn't been set in concrete. "Gound allocations may not be finalised until late August." A representative of the cub's womens teams, Kate Ryan, said the matter was already having an impact on the club's preparations for the approaching season. "We are trying to recommence our junior women's cricket program, but we don't know where we will be playing or training," she said. "Why has this suddenly become so much of a pressing issue for the footy club that they have to kick us off for them to make money?" Cr Steve Roach said the council was yet to form a position on the matter, but hoped to make a decision by the next meeting. But Cr Robert Larocca told the Leader the football club should negotiate with the other tenants. "To expect the council to remove a tenant, indeed another community=based sporting club, who have been paying their rent is unfair and unreasonable," he said. "We must make the most of our limited community facilities and that means sharing and working together.