VFL Park, Waverley. A glittering jewel in the crown of league football as envisioned by VFL president Sir Kenneth Luke or a cold, grey monolith parked inconveniently in the outer eastern suburbs situated in a bitterly cold rainbelt with major traffic problems caused by the refusal of state governments to provide public transport?
By Staff writer
First published in The Age, September 11, 1972.
Waverley officials beamed
Aerial view of the traffic streaming from the car parks at VFL Park.Credit:The Age Archives
This was the scene from the air at VFL Park, Waverley, as play finished in the first final played at the ground on Saturday.
More than 50,000 people flocked to the stadium to see the elimination final between St Kilda and Essendon and few of them had cause to complain.
A fan rugged up against the cold watches the action at VFL Park, Waverley.Credit:Age photographer
VFL officials had done a little nail-biting on the eve of the history-making final but they were beaming when the last of the 52,499 had filed out.
About 15,000 cars were at Waverley for the match but parking attendants had little difficulty placing them.
Traffic delays generally were much less serious than expected.
But police took no risk when an elderly woman was injured at the ground. They called in a helicopter to avoid delay in getting her to hospital.
Traffic police said bad exit routes from VFL Park increased delays for people travelling towards the city after the match.
They said there was the usual finals traffic but bad outlets meant it took well over an hour-and-a-half for city-bound traffic to get more than a mile from the ground.
Waverley and Jackson roads were the most congested.
A main problem: people changing their minds and heading in different directions.
Traffic in some places was banked up for nearly two miles.
