The Albert Park precinct, as it appeared in the 1966 edition of the Melways street directory. What became Middle Park Stadium was originally known as Oval no. 18, located on the border of South Melbourne and St Kilda, on the South Melbourne side. Other soccer fields included Oval no. 7, which was used by Park Rangers, a club formed out of South Melbourne United in 1946.
Middle Park (also known as Middle Park Stadium, Hellas Stadium and Oval No. 18), was the home ground of South Melbourne Hellas from 1960 until 1994, when it was demolished to make way for the Australian Grand Prix circuit in Albert Park.
Oval no. 18 was at the heart of South Melbourne Hellas' existence. It was the main reason for the merger of the newly formed and homeless Hellas with the oval's then chief tenant South Melbourne United to form South Melbourne Hellas.
History[]
Other tenants[]
=Primary tenants[]
- Hakoah (Melbourne)
- Melbourne Hungaria
- South Melbourne United
Temporary tenants[]
- Brunswick Juventus
- Footscray JUST
- Heidelberg United
Other uses of the Middle Park name[]
Somewhat confusingly, Middle Park was also the name of the suburb the stadium was located in, as well as the name for several home grounds of other teams in the area who used different fields, as well as the junior grounds used by South Melbourne Hellas.
There have also been at least three soccer clubs which have used the Middle Park name. In June 1889, a side known as Middle Park Rovers was scheduled to play a match against South Melbourne[1]. In the early 1930s, a side called Middle Park played Victoria's Division 3.[2] In more recent times, the name Middle Park Football Club belongs to the team originally founded in 1969 by members of the Victorian Railways Institute, which changed its name to Middle Park in 1976.[3]
Trivia[]
In 1993, Middle Park Stadium featured in several scenes of the 1993 film The Heartbreak Kid.