The Adelaide Football Club has identified Thebarton Oval as the best site to meet its long-term requirements for a new world class headquarters.

It follows detailed consideration and a lengthy period of extensive due diligence, with the near city location in Adelaide’s west presenting significant benefits.

Importantly, the Club can realise enhanced high-performance advantages which align with its football-first strategy, while delivering meaningful upside for its members, supporters and local community.

These include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The site encompasses 9.1ha and accommodates a large sports precinct. By comparison, it is more than 30 percent bigger than another parcel of land previously considered at Brompton;
• The State Government’s latest plans for the South Road tunnels mean a large section of Kings Reserve would be available from the outset, rather than the Club having to wait 7-10 years as initially advised. Therefore, two ovals can be established. One will be the size of Adelaide Oval, with the other replicating the MCG;
• Gender equity with AFLW facilities capable of accommodating the industry’s future expansion to full-time athletes and coaches;
• First-class aquatic facilities encompassing cutting edge hydrotherapy resources, as well as leading rehabilitation and medical amenities, with publicly accessible allied health services;
• An indoor artificial grassed training field which is nearly double the size of what is currently available at West Lakes;
• A new and improved council community hub can be developed to replace the existing building which will be demolished as part of the South Road works;
• More member and fan focussed areas, such as an interactive museum and café, along with greater on-site car parking options;
• Added facilities, such as a skateboard park, playground with dedicated parking, and soccer pitch-sized turfed area can also be established;
• Increased community greenspace which is fully open to the local community. It sits alongside two AFL competition-sized ovals that can help address the significant shortage of playing fields across suburban Adelaide;
• Significantly lower environmental remediation risk as well as no road closure with subsequent and costly sewer trunk relocation requirements, compared to the former Brompton Gasworks site.

Crows Chairman John Olsen said the Club would continue extensive negotiations with relevant stakeholders and seek State Government funding support to enable the project to proceed.

“Given the importance of this project and the progress we are making, it is appropriate that we provide our members and supporters with an update,” Olsen said.

“This development will underpin our football-first focus and it will benefit our players, coaches, staff, corporate partners, members and supporters, as well as the local community, for many years to come.

“Aside from being a state-of-the-art headquarters for all players, coaches and staff, it will be our AFLW team’s home ground, having dedicated facilities for both athletes and spectators.

“There will also be many and varied opportunities to celebrate our heritage, and engage with members, fans and the broader community.”

The Club had strongly considered the former Brompton Gasworks site, which the previous State Government awarded to a Melbourne-based developer in January this year.

The tender process for that location is subject of a review by the current State Government.

“I would like to acknowledge the State Government and Premier Peter Malinauskas for honouring their pre-election promise to review the initial tender process,” Olsen said.

“We appreciate their open and constructive approach to our discussions, and we have advised and kept the Premier abreast of our progress and decision-making throughout.

“Since January, we have had time to undertake further detailed planning and develop a compelling master plan for the Thebarton precinct which complements our strategic agenda.”

The Club is continuing to negotiate with the City of West Torrens, which controls Thebarton Oval, as well as the current tenant SANFL, with a view to finalising lease terms and conditions.

“We want to deliver a win-win outcome for all parties, as well as the game of football more broadly in this State,” Olsen said.

“There is still considerable work to be done to bring this project to life but we have made significant progress, and the fact we have now identified a site which best meets our long-term requirements is a key moment.

“We are determined to deliver sustained success in both our men’s and women’s programs and the high-performance components that we could build at Thebarton can be industry leading, and there are equally impressive fan and member engagement opportunities.”