Australian rules football playing field


An Australian rules football playing field is a venue where Australian rules football is played.
The playing field is typically a large oval-shaped grass surface. These fields may vary especially for variations of the game. However, for official Australian Football League matches, strict requirement specifications must be met for stadiums.

Standard specifications

Ground dimensions

Australian rules football grounds, even at the highest level of the game, have no fixed dimensions. For senior football, the playing field is an oval, typically between long goal-to-goal and wide wing-to-wing. Grounds can vary from long and narrow to almost circular, and are not necessarily symmetrical, depending upon how and where the field was constructed. At least of space between the boundary line and any fence is required for safety.
Smaller fields are generally used for junior football; some are purpose-built, and some are temporarily marked out within the confines of full-sized oval; as for a senior match, there are no fixed dimensions for a junior-sized field. The Western Australian Football Commission advises that a good rule of thumb is to set the length of the field equivalent to times the length of an average kick of the age group playing.

Ground markings

A top-level Australian rules football ground has the following markings:
Grounds at lower or junior levels, particularly small grounds, may lack some of these markings.

Goal posts

At each end of the ground there are two goal posts, spaced apart; these are conventionally painted white. A further on either side of these are behind posts; the behind posts are shorter than the goal posts; additionally, in South Australia it is customary for behind posts to be painted red, in height. All posts are typically padded with wall padding to minimise injury due to players colliding with them.

Surface

Playing surface is a controversial issue in Australian rules football due to possible injuries caused to players moving at high speed including marking, jumping, turning and being tackled without protective padding. For these reasons the playing field standards imply use of lawn as a surface.

Purpose-built stadiums

Almost all Australian rules football fields are of a suitable size and shape for cricket; and in the majority of cases, the fields are used for cricket in the summer and Australian rules football in the winter, a seasonal strategy which is part of the history of Australian sport. As a consequence of this, there are very few fields which were purpose-built for and used by Australian rules football to the exclusion of cricket and all other sports.
However, there are many grounds – particularly those built more recently – which were built with Australian rules football as the primary intended purpose, but upon which other sports, including cricket, have been played.
StadiumLocationOpenedBuilt forCapacity at ConstructionComments
Casey Fields VFL OvalCranbourne, Victoria2006City of Casey15,000Other ovals in the complex are used for cricket
Docklands StadiumMelbourne Docklands, Victoria2000Australian Football League53,000Primarily for Australian rules football, but regularly hosts other football codes, concerts and cricket
Football ParkWest Lakes, South Australia1971South Australian National Football League60,000Hosted World Series Cricket matches
Waverley ParkMulgrave, Victoria1970Victorian Football League78,000Hosted World Series Cricket matches
Skinner ReserveBraybrook, Victoria1966Victorian Football AssociationHas been opened to other sports since 1989
Richmond OvalAdelaide, South Australia1958West Adelaide Football Club16,500Has also hosted American football

Variations

Variations of the standard field dimensions and layout exist. For junior levels, smaller fields are often used. Rectangular fields have also been used in the past in Australia and also overseas, as well as adapted fields from other sports such as Association Football and American Football.