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Perth Now
a day ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Hands Oval: What you need to know about AFL's newest venue
Hands Oval is in South Bunbury, a five-minute drive from Bunbury's city centre, and a two-hour drive south from the Perth CBD. The home of South West Football League powerhouse South Bunbury FC, it's about a half-hour drive north of Busselton Margaret River Airport, which is where North Melbourne will fly into on Friday ahead of Sunday afternoon's clash. Hands Oval's recently-completed upgrades were planned to increase capacity for the game to 15,000 people, though Sunday's crowd may be slightly lower. Around half the crowd will have access to seating, with six temporary grandstands in place alongside the newly-completed 750-seat grandstand building. Liam Baker in action in March's pre-season game at Hands Oval. Credit: James Worsfold / Getty Images No. The first batch of general admission tickets were released in March and sold out inside half an hour, with some later smaller releases going just as quickly. Yes. There's been a total of 784 AFL/VFL games in WA, spread across three venues: 545 at Subiaco Oval, 167 at Optus Stadium, and 72 at the WACA Ground. This will be the first regional match for premiership points. Federal member for Forrest Nola Marino, City of Bunbury mayor Jaysen Miguel, SWFL president Barry Tate, Member for Bunbury Don Punch and SWFL general manager Jason Crowe take in the Hands Oval refurbishment earlier this year. Credit: Amber Lilley/South Western Times / South Western Times Hands Oval is named after former Bunbury mayor J E Hands, who had two stints in charge of the city between 1928-1933 and 1937-1938. Hands Oval is ready for its moment in the national spotlight. Credit: Amber Lilley/South Western Times / RegionalHUB Hands Oval has hosted six AFL pre-season games — four involving Fremantle and two featuring West Coast — as well as six WAFL games, an International Rules practice game and a Perth Glory pre-season fixure in 2009. When the cricket pitch was in place, it staged three domestic One Day Cup games between 2009 and 2011, the first of which saw Mitch Marsh become the State's youngest ever player. Matthew Pavlich and Chris Judd matched up on each other in a pre-season game between Fremantle and Carlton in 2009. Credit: Mal Fairclough / WA News The typical south-west wind favours the north-east or city end of the ground, which will be left-of-screen when watching Sunday's broadcast. That end produced 15 of the game's 20 goals - and 29 of 40 scoring shots - in the pre-season match between West Coast and North Melbourne in March. The Hands Memorial Oval redevelopment features new dug-outs. Credit: Amber Lilley/South Western Times / RegionalHUB Hands Oval will be the 52nd venue to stage an AFL/VFL game, and the 36th in the AFL era (since 1990). Bunbury will replace Subiaco Oval as the western-most location for a game, with China's Jiangwan Stadium the northern-most, New Zealand's Wellington Regional Stadium the eastern-most, and Hobart's Ninja Stadium the furthest south.
Leader Live
a day ago
- Sport
- Leader Live
Wrexham: Phil Parkinson on what Championship means for club
The Reds finished runners-up in League One this term, securing an historic third successive promotion. It has been an amazing journey for The Racecourse outfit who have climbed from the National League to the second tier under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Wrexham have adapted well to going up a division but this will be the biggest jump yet for the club which last played at this level 43 years ago. Parkinson was manager of Bolton Wanderers in the Championship and he knows what to expect when Wrexham come up against the likes of Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich Town in 2025-26. "One thing which stands out is the athleticism and the speed of the game goes up considerably in the Championship," said the Reds' boss, who is looking to add to his squad this summer. "So we have got to make sure that we get that power in the team. "Any team which goes up is not just looking at the technical side of it but the physical element as well. "Obviously you want quality but it is an all-round package in the player you are looking for." Wrexham finished with 92 points this season - a club record in the Football League - to clinch automatic promotion alongside champions Birmingham City, with Charlton Athletic going up through the play-offs. A 10-game unbeaten run to end the campaign helped the Reds finish the job off but Parkinson feels a big improvement in the away form since the start of February was also key. "The trajectory has has been a rapid one," he added. "We've evolved as a team this season and I think that's key. "We adapted as the season went on and we needed to. MORE WREXHAM NEWS "A lot of credit to the staff and everybody who made clear and concise decisions how we were going to get to the target of promotion because it doesn't just happen. "How we were going to turn that away form around which up to the end of January was 13 points from 12 games. "We then had that in-balance of away games to home games and we felt to get promotion, we had to improve that. "The away form was 26 points in the last 11 games which is incredible, and that turnaround has got us over the line."
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
National League promotion 'not fit for purpose'
York City co-owner Julie-Anne Uggla has written an open letter to the EFL and National League about the "glaring imbalance" of the current promotion February the 72 clubs in the National League, including those in the North and South divisions, started the 3UP campaign to call for three teams go up from the fifth tier into the Football promotion into the league did not exist prior until 1987, with the bottom four EFL clubs instead having to survive a vote of member clubs to keep their place. A second promotion place was introduced in 2003 via the play-off missed out on promotion this season after finishing second behind league winners Barnet and then losing to Oldham, who they finished 23 points and three places ahead of, in the Latics beat Southend in Sunday's promotion final to secure a return to League and her son Matthew took over at York City, who were relegated from the Football League in 2016, in May 2023."I am writing to express my deep concern and disappointment at the current promotion system between the National League and League Two, following a season where York City FC, despite finishing 28 points clear of seventh place and winning 12 more matches, were denied promotion," she said in a letter published on the club website., external"Such a glaring imbalance not only undermines sporting merit but erodes the very foundations of fair competition."While I am aware of the historical basis for the two-up structure, it is no longer fit for purpose. The gap between the top National League clubs and the lower EFL clubs has narrowed, and in many cases reversed, making the case for three-up promotion beyond compelling."The "3UP" campaign rightly reflects the sentiment of every National League club and countless supporters."Under the current format the teams who finish fourth and fifth host those who finished seventh and sixth respectively before the winners of those ties play the teams who came second and third in one-off month, York were beaten 3-0 by Oldham in their tie, while Forest Green, who finished third, lost on penalties to Southend, who had finished seventh.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ex-Blackburn Rovers man seals fourth promotion with dramatic finale
Former Blackburn Rovers midfielder, Corry Evans, celebrated his fourth career promotion after helping Oldham Athletic back into The Football League. The Latics were promoted at Wembley on Sunday after beating Southend United 3-2 in a dramatic National League play-off final. Micky Mellon's side had trailed twice but scored two goals in as many minutes in the second half of extra time to snatch victory. Advertisement Evans played his role in earning the promotion after joining Oldham on a short-term deal until the end of this season in January. He has made 10 appearances for Oldham, who finished fifth in the National League and had to beat FC Halifax, York City and Southend to book a spot in League Two. READ MORE: Tyrhys Dolan's future as Championship rival joins race and Blackburn Rovers wait The 34-year-old started each of the three play-off clashes and lasted 101 minutes in Sunday's showpiece event. Victory means Oldham will be back in the Football League after two seasons in the fifth tier. Sunday marked a fourth promotion of Evans' career, including 2017/18's League One promotion at Ewood Park. He also helped Sunderland out of the third-tier and won promotion during his spell at Hull City with Oldham rounding off an impressive feat. Evans joined Sunderland from Rovers in 2021, having made over 200 appearances in a seven-year stint.
Leader Live
2 days ago
- Sport
- Leader Live
Wrexham: How many miles will fans travel in Championship?
Phil Parkinson's men finished runners-up in League One this season, securing an historic third successive promotion. It's been an amazing journey since Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney completed their takeover at The Racecourse, with the Reds climbing from the National League to the second tier where they will ply their trade for the first time in 43 years when competitive football starts back in August. And fans will travel nearly 6,700 miles following Wrexham, with many taking in some new stadiums along the way. Supporters once again travelled in big numbers when the Reds finished second in League One this term, registering 92 points - a club record in the Football League - to clinch automatic promotion alongside champions Birmingham City. Having notched up 6,006 miles in the 23 away games in the third tier, fans will spend more time on the road in the Championship when 6,656 miles will be clocked up. It's still not as bad at the 7,794 miles when Wrexham were crowned National League champions following a record-breaking 2022-23 campaign, although the Red and White army only travelled 5,870 miles in the 2023-24 campaign when they saw their side finish runners-up in League Two. Stoke City, who play at the bet365 Stadium, is a mere 43 miles from The Racecourse and just an 86-mile round trip, making it the closest away game in 2025-26. That is one of nine matches under 100 miles away as Wrexham will also come up against Preston North End (70), Blackburn Rovers (73), West Bromwich Albion (75), Birmingham City (81), Derby County (82), Sheffield United (89), Sheffield Wednesday (88) and Coventry City (97). Trips to Leicester City (118), Swansea City (134), Hull City (148), Oxford United (160), Bristol City (166), Middlesbrough (166), Watford (177) and Queens Park Rangers (199) will be bearable when the Reds play in the second tier for the first time since the 1981-82 season. At the other end of the scale, six fixtures are over 200 miles away. The furthest journey is to Portsmouth when supporters will travel 239 miles to see James McClean and his team-mates in action at Fratton Park. That is closely followed by the 236 mile journey across country for the fixture at Norwich City, while Millwall (211), Southampton (221), Ipswich Town (225) and Charlton Athletic (230) are the other long treks as Wrexham come up against some teams they haven't faced for years. Supporters haven't got long to wait until they can start making travel arrangements, overnight stays or even plans for home games. The EFL has announced that next season's fixtures will be released on Thursday June 26 at 12pm. The Championship campaign kicks-off over the weekend of August 8-10. The scheduled 46 rounds of league matches will take place across 33 weekends, nine midweeks and four Bank Holidays in the second tier. Wrexham's final league match will be over the weekend of May 2-3. The Play-Offs will take place during the 2025 May Bank Holiday weekend. 2024-25 MILEAGE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP Birmingham City - 81 Blackburn Rovers - 73 Bristol City - 166 Charlton Athletic - 230 Coventry City - 97 Derby County - 82 Hull City - 148 Ipswich Town - 225 Leicester City - 118 Middlesbrough - 166 Millwall - 211 Norwich City - 236 Oxford United - 160 Portsmouth - 239 Preston North End - 70 Queens Park Rangers - 199 Sheffield United - 89 Sheffield Wednesday - 88 Southampton - 221 Stoke City - 43 Swansea City - 134 Watford - 177 West Bromwich Albion - 75 TOTAL MILEAGE - 3,328 x 2 = 6,656
