With the Adelaide Crows soon leaving West Lakes for a new $100 million headquarters at Thebarton Oval, the SANFL has asked if it can return to Football Park when the land vests back in the City of Charles Sturt in 2026.

The league wants to use the ground for its state under-16s and under-18s as well as its First Nations and multicultural talent programs.

The eight SANFL member clubs, which exclude the Crows reserves and Port Adelaide Magpies, would also have access to the ground “from time to time”, the SANFL said.

Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

The league wants to use the ground from 4pm to 8pm on Monday to Friday and for 25 match days a year. Over a year, the license request amounts to 16.75 hours a week, 72.5 hours a month and 870 hours a year.

The community will have access to the oval around 80 per cent of the time between 7am and 7pm over a year, according to the City of Charles Sturt.

The SANFL is also proposing a $26.9 million investment in the precinct.

The funding would go towards a new “high performance and community football facility” co-located with the Mosaic Hotel, a pub owned by the SANFL adjacent to Football Park.

A $3.3 million car park development and $1 million upgrade of the oval, including new perimeter fencing, an interchange area, lighting and a scoreboard, are also on the table.

A breakdown of proposed use times of Football Park, comparing the Adelaide Football Club’s current use with the SANFL’s proposed use. Image: City of Charles Sturt/SANFL

The SANFL has requested a 21-year non-exclusive license of the ground with an option to extend for a further 21 years.

“A long-term licence is critical given the proposed investment into the precinct is approximately $27m with SANFL committing to ongoing maintenance of the public amenity (oval and field lighting) equalling approximately $120,00 per annum,” SANFL CEO Darren Chandler said in a letter to the City of Charles Sturt last month.

“Included in the $27m is also a $1m contribution to oval and precinct development which will have substantial community benefits in addition to… community use changerooms.”

Charles Sturt councillors approved a three-week public consultation period on the SANFL’s license request at their October 23 council meeting.

The league said it hopes the council will approve its proposal in December so it can lodge a planning application for the new facility that same month. Construction is scheduled for July 2024 with completion in December 2025.

“SANFL has a strategic imperative to deliver quality facilities at all levels,” Chandler wrote.

“The SANFL talent football facility (which will include community use change rooms) is no exception to this imperative with the building complementing its surroundings and contributing to a welcoming and inclusive precinct.

“SANFL’s connection to place at West Lakes is significant and the iconic building will provide a recognisable anchor point for people to meet at the oval.”

Chandler said co-locating the new football facility with the Mosaic Hotel and the indoor golf centres X Golf and Hey Caddy would “enable excellent business outcomes for the precinct by providing ongoing local jobs and increased visitation numbers to the area”.

“Our ability to manage multiple venues from the same precinct will be a significant factor in its success,” Chandler said.

“Through the development of welcoming and inclusive public open space, more people will be attracted to the precinct to spend time and contribute to the thriving social fabric of residential, recreational, hospitality and retail offerings.”

No images of the development have been publicly released. Two images on the City of Charles Sturt’s most recent council minutes were redacted after the SANFL said they were commercial in confidence.

The SANFL owned Football Park from its opening in 1974 until 2014 when it sold the land to developer Commercial and General for $71 million.

Since then, the former 51,000 seat AAMI Stadium, which hosted AFL games from 1991 to 2014, has been torn down and the precinct redeveloped into housing.

Old signage at AAMI stadium. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

The SANFL plans to purchase a portion of privately owned land from the developer on the western side of Phillips Street to build its new administration and high-performance facility.

The Adelaide Football Club still uses Football Park for training but has long been searching for a new home. In August 2022, the Crows settled on Thebarton Oval, where the SANFL currently has an exclusive lease over facilities.

The Crows have a lease over Football Park until 2048, however this, according to the City of Charles Sturt, becomes null and void in 2026 when the oval vests in the council as open space upon completion of the West Lakes housing development.

In an agenda paper last month, the City of Charles Sturt administration said the SANFL is prepared to surrender its lease at Thebarton Oval but only if the league can find a new home.

“In essence, if the SANFL were not able to secure a future suitable tenure at another location, then they will remain at their existing Thebarton Oval location until the expiration of their existing lease in 2031,” the council said.

“If this were to occur it would also ‘grid lock’ any move by the AFC (unless yet another site could be found).”

According to league CEO Chandler, the SANFL originally intended to redevelop its facilities at Thebarton Oval with $11 million in government funding ($6 million federal, $5 million state).

However, the City of West Torrens resolved in early 2022, Chandler said, that it would not consider a new long-term lease with the SANFL as the council’s priority was to allow Adelaide Football Club to move to Thebarton.

The SANFL has since been looking for alternative locations to build the new facility with its government funding, Chandler said.

“Whilst the change in plans has been disruptive to our business, we feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to return to West Lakes once again and re-establish Football Park as the home for talented young players in South Australia,” Chandler said.

Public consultation on the SANFL’s license request ends on November 22.