Princes Park (stadium)

This article is about the football ground in Victoria, Australia. For other sports grounds, see Princes Park.
"Optus Oval" redirects here. For the stadium commercially known as Optus Stadium, see Perth Stadium.
Not to be confused with Parc des Princes.

IKON Park
Princes Park
Map
Full nameCarlton Recreation Ground/Princes Park
Former namesPrinces Oval (1886–1897)
Princes Park (1897–1994)
Optus Oval (1994–2006)
MC Labour Park (2007–2008)
Visy Park (2009–2015)
IKON Park (2015–present)
LocationPrinces Park, Carlton North, Victoria
Coordinates37°47′2″S 144°57′42″E / 37.78389°S 144.96167°E / -37.78389; 144.96167
OwnerCity of Melbourne
OperatorCarlton Football Club
Capacity13,000 (since 2023)[1][2]
Record attendance62,986 (1945 VFL Grand Final)
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke ground1892
Opened1897
Tenants
Carlton Football Club

Administration & Training (1897–present)
VFL/AFL (1897–2005)
AFLW (2017–present)
VFLW (2018–present)

Other Australian Football Tenants

Northern Blues (VFL) (2012–2019)
Fitzroy Football Club (1967–1969), (1987–1993) (VFL/AFL)
Hawthorn Football Club (VFL/AFL) (1974–1991)
Western Bulldogs (AFL) (1997–1999)
Collingwood Reserves (VFL) (2008–2009)
Western Bulldogs (AFLW) (2022)
Essendon Football Club (AFLW) (2022)

Other Sporting Tenants
Carlton Cricket Club (1897–2000)
Carlton Soccer Club (1997–1999)
Balmain Tigers (NSWRL) (1994)
Melbourne Storm (Administration & Training) (2006–2010)
Melbourne Rebels (Administration & Training) (2011–2015)

Princes Park (also known as Ikon Park under naming rights) is an Australian rules football ground located inside the Princes Park precinct in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton North. Officially the Carlton Recreation Ground, it is a historic venue, having been Carlton Football Club's VFL/AFL home ground from 1897.[3]

At its highest usage, the ground had a nominal capacity of 35,000, making it the third largest Australian rules football venue in Melbourne after the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Docklands Stadium. Princes Park hosted three grand finals during World War II, with a record attendance of 62,986 at the 1945 VFL Grand Final between Carlton and South Melbourne. After 2005, when the ground hosted its last Australian Football League (AFL) game, two stands were removed and replaced with an indoor training facility and administration building, reducing the capacity. The venue reached capacity (24,500) for the inaugural AFL Women's match between Carlton and Collingwood in 2017.[4] Subsequent renovations and modernisation of the ground and surrounding precinct have reduced Ikon Park's capacity to approximately 13,000.[3]

  1. ^ Caffrey, Oliver (2 December 2023). "Surburban grounds or stadiums? Debate over AFLW venues". Canberra Times. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  2. ^ Caffrey, Oliver. "AFLW grand final to stay at Ikon despite quick sellout". Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Ikon Park".
  4. ^ Guthrie, Ben (3 February 2017). "Blue ribbon day for AFLW as Carlton downs Collingwood - AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. AFL. Retrieved 3 February 2017.