Lakeside Stadium

Lakeside Stadium is a sports arena in Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for the South Melbourne FC, Athletics Victoria, Athletics Australia, Victorian Institute of Sport and Australian Little Athletics.The venue was built on the site of the former Australian rules football and cricket ground, Lake Oval (or South Melbourne Cricket Ground). It served for more than a century as the home ground of the South Melbourne Football Club and the South Melbourne Cricket Club, although it was also used for soccer from at least 1883.HistoryThe Lake Oval and Australian rules footballIn its original oval configuration, the Lake Oval served most prominently as the home ground for Australian rules football club South Melbourne, in both the Victorian Football Association and the Victorian Football League. In its early days, the ground was considered one of the best in the league, and was the venue for the 1901 VFL Grand Final. South Melbourne used the ground for home games until the end of the 1981 VFL season, when the club relocated to Sydney and became the Sydney Swans. The last senior VFL match played at Lake Oval was on Saturday, 29 August 1981, when South Melbourne was defeated by 33 points against North Melbourne in front of 8484 fans. The club continued to use Lake Oval for reserves matches for several years after 1981.