Adelaide Oval Tour

Adelaide Oval Tour

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Posted 2018-03-25 by Vivienne Pearsonfollow
Not being the biggest sports fan, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I totally enjoyed a tour of the Adelaide Oval.

The tour is about sport but it is also about history, architecture, events, Adelaide and Australia. The tour captures a real sense of occasion - all the way from the introductory video, shown on a huge screen, to the opportunity to go in and see the inner workings of the historic scoreboard.



The tour takes around 1.5 hours and involves a lot of walking. As the Oval is used for more than just sport - I visited during the pack up from an Ed Sheeran concert - you'll see slightly different things with each tour.

In summer, there is more focus on cricket and in winter, there is a greater AFL component to the tour.

The tour guides, all volunteers, know the Oval in great detail and are knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and great at sharing inside info. I was taken around by Colleen, who added a personal touch by including a story about her connection to a footballer of old.

The Adelaide Oval was built in 1871 and is named differently to other Australian sports stadiums in that it is neither a 'Cricket Ground' (like the MCG, SCG etc), nor carries a sponsor name (like Ethiad Stadium etc). This is because it was built with funds donated by an English gentleman who wanted it named after 'The Oval' in Sussex.

The Oval was renovated in the years leading up to 2014 - partly with the aim of making it the new home of AFL in Adelaide. A superb job of combining the old and new was achieved, with the old, manual scoreboard, retained in active use and art deco features combined with modern sports stadium architecture.



A few of the highlights for me of the tour (and you will no doubt find many more) were:

* The big screen video showing the breadth of events that happen at the oval - not just cricket and AFL but music, athletics and monster trucks!

* Going behind-the-scenes to the player areas, such as getting to sit in the visitor cricket team change rooms (surprisingly small and stark).

* Walking up the 'race' from the change rooms to the ground, accompanied by the 'roar of the crowd'! You don't need to be a huge sports fanatic to appreciate the intensity of such a moment.



* Seeing the largest single-span roof in the Southern Hemisphere.

* Pretending to be a press journalist in the media centre.



* Finding out that one of Adelaide's top restaurants is located in the stadium (Hill of Grace)

And, the ultimate highlight was going inside the heritage listed wood and corrugated iron scoreboard. Offering a summary of an entire game (not just the current score), it is hand operated via levers, pulleys and slip-in letters.



Whether you are a local sports fan or a visitor interested in any aspect of sport, history, culture, architecture or simply Adelaide, book in (bookings are essential) for a tour of the Adelaide Oval.



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191046 - 2023-06-16 03:31:45

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