Work is progressing well at KGV Park.
The new artificial pitch has been laid and looks superb.
The new lights should be erected and in operation in a couple of weeks.
I imagine work on the grandstand and the antiquated change rooms will follow.
Meanwhile, at South Hobart Oval, one of the most historic football grounds in Tasmania, the dog walkers still rule the roost.
How the Hobart City Council can countenance such an arrangement mystifies me.
South Hobart Oval was a cricket and football ground for at least seven decades.
It has hosted some famous teams, players and important contests since at least the 1950s.
The ‘Keen’s Curry’ sign, made by spelling out the letters with white stones, high up on the hill near the ground is still there.
When my father used to take me to games at South Hobart in the late 1950s - when I was only 10 years old - I always knew we were almost at the ground when I saw that sign on the hillside.
South Hobart was soccer headquarters.
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In succeeding years, the Tasmanian Soccer Association had their offices beside the netball courts on the city end of the ground.
South Melbourne Hellas, State teams such as Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia, have all played there.
Who can forget the Tasmania versus New South Wales game played there in the early 1990s. Tasmania led 4-1 with 20 minutes to play, but NSW won 5-4.
The Joeys have trained there, as have Nagoya Grampus Eight (complete with Gary Linneker).
George Best has played there.
And then, in about 2018, something changed.
The Hobart City Council designated the ground as a dog-walking ground, and one where dogs could run off-leash.
Football had to hire the ground for games and training, while for the rest of the time, it was a dog park and remained unlocked all day and night.
How was this decision made? Perhaps some bush lawyers and animal activists, a powerful lobby group, got into someone’s ear and the ground no longer became a mecca only for football. It became dog heaven.
One has to feel sorry for the South Hobart club, which hires the ground for matches and some training sessions because club volunteers invariably have to remove dog droppings from the ground before games. The bare brown patches caused by dog wee is another feature of the ground these days.
How can this be hygienic? I could list at least a dozen diseases that one can contract from dog droppings. If players slip on the turds and sustain cuts, they could become seriously ill. Dog droppings and sport don’t mix.
This applies to men’s, women’s and junior football. Slipping on dog droppings on a premier sports arena is simply abhorrent.
Football is an easy target because the fans, players and clubs lack political clout and are largely apathetic. They are not activists like the dog lobby.
Imagine the outcry if North Hobart Oval and the TCA ground were designated as dog parks outside game times. They are both fenced grounds and would be suitable.
It would never happen, though, as there would be a public outcry.
South Hobart FC have almost $1.5m in the kitty through government grants and yet they cannot spend it on ground improvements because the venue is a dog park and not just a football ground. Why would they?
The
community can have its say as the Hobart City Council is calling for
submissions and views about the use of South Hobart Oval in its South Hobart Oval and Park Survey.
The closing date for comment is 11 December 2022. Go to the Hobart City Council website and find the link to have your say. The dog walkers are sure to.
The football community and South Hobart FC need to reclaim what has always been one of the most famous homes of football in Tasmania.
There are other areas that the council can fence and use as dog parks.
The football community should be offended at how football has been trampled on by selfish vested interests.
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