Stadium in Adelaide, South Australia
The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, rugby union, soccer, and tennis, as well as regularly being used to hold concerts.
Established in 1871, the structures and grounds underwent significant redevelopment between 2012 and 2014. It has three grandstands: Riverbank Stand, Eastern Stand, and Western Stand, and is known for its heritage-listed scoreboard, which stands alongside a new digital scoreboard. Australia's first stadium hotel, named the Oval Hotel, opened in 2024.
Adelaide Oval has been headquarters to the South Australian Cricket Association since 1871 and South Australian National Football League (SANFL) since 2014, and is managed by the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority.
Adelaide Oval has hosted the AFLW Grand Final three times since 2019. Its record crowd for cricket was 55,317 for the Second Ashes Test on 2 December 2017 and its record crowd for an Australian rules football match was 62,543 at the 1965 SANFL Grand Final between Port Adelaide and Sturt.In 2017, a concert by Adele attracted a record audience of 70,000. 
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History.
19th century.
After the formation of the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) on 31 May 1871, a later meeting recommended a central location for the cricket ground. After an act of parliament allowed a section of the Adelaide Park Lands between North Adelaide and the River Torrens to be leased by the association, the present grounds were leased in 1872 to the first trustees, Justice Gwynne, the Henry Ayers, and Edwin Thomas Smith.
In 1882, a grandstand, possibly designed by Wright &amp; Reed Architects, and later renamed the George Giffen Stand, was opened to the public. In 1884, the first Test match was played at the grounds, for which the mound was built and Moreton Bay fig trees were planted.
In 1885, the "Grand Corroboree", a corroboree performed by around 100 Aboriginal men and women from Point MacLeay mission and Yorke Peninsula, was attended by around 20,000 spectators (around a sixth of Adelaide's population).
During 1888, a switchback rollercoaster was constructed and was adjacent to Adelaide Oval, where the present Riverbank Stand resides.
In 1889 the original grandstand was expanded to include a dining saloon and "ladies retiring
rooms", and a new stand, designed by English and Soward, was built adjacent to it.
20th century.
Ahead of a cycling event held on 24 March 1900, SACA undertook some major renovation of the grounds in order to accommodate a cycling track around the oval. Thousands of loads of earth were carted from the Torrens to create the necessary slope to the track, and a picket fence was built around the Oval's playing surface. A newspaper commenter wrote at the time: "The removal of the soil and the sloping of the banks of the lake [the Torrens] have greatly improved both its width and its appearance, while the banking up of the oval has rendered it impossible for anyone to see in from outside, for the mound is continued beyond the inner fence so as to form a natural grandstand for the spectators".
In 1911, the Adelaide Oval scoreboard, designed by architect F. Kenneth Milne, began service.
Between 1923 and 1929 substantial modifications and additions were built at the grounds, to designs by SACA architect Charles Walter Rutt. These included the John Creswell Stand (built 1923) and the entrance gates, and the western stands were integrated under one roof. At this time, the other stands were named Sir Edwin Smith Stand (built 1889), George Giffen Stand (built 1882) and Mostyn Evan Stand (built 1919-26).
On 25 August 1973, during an SANFL game between Norwood and North Adelaide, two young children, Joanne Ratcliffe (born 1962) and Kirste Gordon (born 1968), went missing, presumably abducted, in a crime sometimes referred to as the Adelaide Oval abductions.
On 20 January 1990, the Sir Donald Bradman Stand was opened, after being built to replace the John Creswell stand.
In 1997, lights were constructed at the ground allowing sport to be held at night. This was the subject of a lengthy dispute with the Adelaide City Council relating to the parklands area. The first towers erected were designed to retract into the ground; however one collapsed and they were replaced with permanent towers.
21st century.
In 2003, two grandstands, named the Chappell Stands, after the South Australian cricketing brothers Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, and Trevor Chappell, were completed.
Temporary stands were constructed for the 2006 Ashes Series to cope with demand. In August 2008 SACA announced that it had approved plans to redevelop the ground, involving expanding its capacity to 40,000. Development plans showed a reconfiguration of the playing surface and a remodelled Western stand. The redevelopment would make the ground a viable option for hosting Australian Football League games as well as international soccer and rugby. The state and federal Governments each pledged $25m to the project, leaving the SACA to raise at least $45m. The SACA planned for the new stand to be ready in time for the 2010–11 Ashes series. The South Australian government announced it would commit funding to redevelop Adelaide Oval into a multi-purpose sports facility that would bring AFL football to central Adelaide. Announcing an agreement negotiated with SACA, SANFL and the AFL, the Rann Labor government committed $450 million to the project.
2010: new Western Stand.
The three original western stands were demolished (George Giffen stand (1882), Sir Edwin Smith stand (1922), Mostyn Evan stand (1920s)) were torn down in June 2009 and a single Western Stand was developed in its place ahead of the 2010–11 Ashes series.
The Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority (AOSMA), a joint venture of SACA and the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), was registered as a company on 23 December 2009 following the re-announcement of the plan. In 2010 AOSMA had eight directors, four associated with SACA (Ian McLachlan, chair; John Harnden; Creagh O'Connor; and John Bannon), and four with SANFL (Leigh Whicker-CEO, Rod Payze, Philip Gallagher &amp; Jamie Coppins).
In 2010 the new Western Stand was completed, incorporating 14,000 individual seats and featuring improved shading conditions and amenities for SACA members.
2012–2014 redevelopment.
In the lead-up to the 2010 state election, the opposition SA Liberals announced that, if elected, it would build with a new stadium with a roof, located at Riverside West at the site of the state government's new hospital location. The incumbent SA Labor government subsequently announced it would fund a $450 million upgrade and redevelopment of the whole of Adelaide Oval, rather than just the Western Grand Stand.
However, in early-mid-2010, prior to the election, it became clear that $450m would be inadequate. Following the election, won by Labor, the Rann government capped the State Government's commitment at $450 million, and set a deadline for the parties to agree. In May, treasurer Kevin Foley announced that "the government's final offer to the SANFL and SACA for the redevelopment" was $535 million, and the deadline was extended to August 2010. Simultaneously, SACA and the SANFL were in the process of negotiating an agreement that would enable Australian rules football to use Adelaide Oval during the AFL season as their home ground. In August 2010, SANFL and SACA representatives signed letters of intent committing to the project, including the capped $535 million offer from the state government.
The redevelopment included a $40 million pedestrian bridge across the River Torrens to link the Adelaide railway station precinct with the Adelaide Oval precinct, which was partially completed for the Ashes cricket series in December 2013 and fully completed ahead of the 2014 AFL season.
In early 2011, the AFL, SANFL, SACA, the SA Government and the Australian Government reached an agreement to upgrade Adelaide Oval. The SACA and the SANFL proposed, if SACA members vote yes on the upgrade in early May, that the whole Stadium would undergo redevelopment, except for the Northern Mound, the Moreton Bay fig trees and the heritage-listed scoreboard. A three-quarters majority of SACA members were required to vote in favour of the proposed upgrade for it to ahead, with a successful vote resulting in the SANFL and AFL having control over the stadium for 7 months of the year and SACA having control for 5 months of the year. SACA members had the choice of voting online on 28 April 2011 or attending in person an Extraordinary Meeting at the Adelaide Showground on 2 May 2011. At 6 pm, 28 April 2011, It was announced that 60% of SACA members that voted online voted yes, 15% short of the majority vote needed for the upgrade to go ahead. At 10.15 pm, on 2 May 2011, the final result was announced: 80.37% of total votes cast were in favour of Adelaide Oval being redeveloped (10,078 members voted yes and 2,461 voted no), meaning that the 75% threshold had been reached and the upgrade and stadium reconfiguration was approved. Following the vote, the South Australian Government increased its funding commitment to $535 million.
The upgrade commenced in April 2012. The Chappell Stands and Sir Donald Bradman Stand were demolished. The Riverbank Stand was complete in late 2013 in time for the Ashes test as well as parts of level one of the Eastern Stand. The new Eastern Stand was fully completed with a total capacity of 19,000, bringing the overall seating capacity of the stadium to 50,083 in time for the 2014 AFL season.
As part of the 2012-14 redevelopment, the already rebuilt Western Grandstand (SACA and SANFL members-only stand) had modifications to improve sightlines for some seats, the addition of a new media centre for AFL, Rugby League, Rugby Union and Soccer matches and AFL standard interchange benches. The Northern Mound had its seating capacity increased, and the historic scoreboard and the Moreton Bay fig trees, planted in the 1890s, remained untouched. The 2014 development included renaming the central part of the Western stand the Sir Donald Bradman Pavilion.
Recent upgrades.
The lights under the roof of the grandstands were replaced with LEDs in November 2017, followed by the light towers in December 2023 with the latter costing $5 million.
Australia's first stadium-hotel, the Oval Hotel, was announced in December 2018 and opened in September 2020. It has 138 guest rooms.
Description and features.
The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, rugby union, soccer, and tennis, as well as regularly being used to hold concerts.
In 2012 Austadiums.com described Adelaide Oval as being "one of the most picturesque Test cricket grounds in Australia, if not the world." After the completion of the ground's redevelopment in 2014, sports journalist Gerard Whateley described the venue as being "the most perfect piece of modern architecture because it's a thoroughly contemporary stadium with all the character that it's had in the past".
Volunteers lead 90-minute guided walking tours of the grounds for interested visitors, including children.
Oval and pitch.
The oval is by . This is both unusually long and narrow for an Australian cricket or football ground. The arrangement was highly favourable for batsmen who played square of the wicket, and heavily penalised bowlers who delivered the ball short or wide so that the batsman could play cut, hook or pull shots. Before the far ends in front of and behind the wicket were roped off, making the playing area shorter, it was not uncommon for batsmen to hit an all-run four or even occasionally a five.
The Adelaide Oval pitch runs north–south. Historically, Adelaide Oval's integral pitch was generally very good for batting, and offering little assistance to bowlers until the last day of a match. Since the redevelopment in 2013, a drop-in pitch has been used at the venue.
Scoreboard.
The heritage-listed scoreboard, designed by architect F. Kenneth Milne and located on "The Hill", was first used in 1911, and has been retained. Today there is a manually-operated display adjacent to a huge digital one, around four storeys high. The scoreboard, which was first heritage-listed by the National Trust in 1984, was listed on the South Australian Heritage Register in 1986. This is the only manual scoreboard still operating in major Australasian cricket venues. Due to the 10-letter limit, some names have to be truncated, or be replaced by nicknames.
The Hill.
'"The Hill" (or "Northern Mound"), located under the scoreboard and shaded by the Moreton Bay fig trees, was created in 1898 or 1900, with earth from the banks of the