Waverly Park was built in suburban Melbourne in Mulgrave and originally planned to seat 125,000 people, but only ended up having a capacity of 75,000 after officials worried it would ruin the MCG's limelight.
The first game was played there in April, 1970 against Fitzroy and Geelong and ended up hosting 732 AFL and VFL matches before it was announced it was no longer needed in 1999, because the now called Marvel Stadium was going to be used. There was also hope they could sell it and use the profit to help the development of the new stadium in the Docklands.
This event takes place in a round 10 clash between rivals St Kilda and Essendon late in the 3rd quarter. The ball goes out of play in Essendon’s forward pocket with 4 minutes and 47 seconds left in the quarter. The ball is thrown in from the boundary when all of a sudden it goes pitch black. Channel 7’s broadcast flickers and then cuts out.
A couple of minutes go by when the broadcast returns to a dark room with a single lighter aluminating the face of the commentator addressing that a car had crashed into a utility box nearby and cut all the power off in the area. The players went into their huddles, expecting to go back on, until they were sent into the rooms. That’s when things went pear shaped.
Fires were being started all over the stadium by the fans in outrage and even a goal post was taken! That was until the police came and everyone was asked to leave the ground immediately.
The AFL decided the next morning to replay the match on the Tuesday night and both teams were allowed to make changes which was a big blow for St Kilda as James Hird was going to be available for Tuesday after being not fit enough for the Sunday. The rematch was going to be played in 2, 12 minute halves and every player received a $5,000 bonus. Essendon went on to win the game by 22 points in a historic night(s) for football.
Many people (especially Saints fans) didn't agree with how the game was decided. If it were to happen again, like it did in 1996, some time, I feel the AFL would call it a draw. That's what I would want and that's what I think is fair.
Thanks for reading to the end! I know this was a bit different to what I normally do so I hope you enjoyed it!
If you did then there are more reads like this that I think you'll like too. You can find them here: https://medium.com/@afl-guru/list/effa689dfae4
