General Information
Location
Lakeside Stadium is conveniently located across from the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre (MSAC) in Albert Park, further on down Aughtie Drive.
Melways Reference 2K, D7
Capacity
Lakeside Stadium has a capacity of 12,000, which includes seating for 6,000 spectators.
The record crowd at the venue for a National Soccer League fixture is 14,850 spectators, when South Melbourne beat Carlton Soccer Club 1-0 in 1998. This was when the whole ground except the grandstand was terracing. In 2001, seats were installed around the outer sections of the ground and as a result reduced the capacity.
The record crowd at the venue for a Victorian Premier League fixture is 11,800, achieved in 2005 when South Melbourne hosted Heidelberg United. This crowd figure is also the highest crowd attendance ever recorded at a VPL match.
History
Situated on the banks of the picturesque Albert Park lake (site of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix), Lakeside Stadium is only a five minute drive from the Melbourne CBD. Once the home of Victorian Football League club South Melbourne Swans (now the Sydney Swans) as well as the South Melbourne Cricket Club, nowadays the stadium is the pride of the South Melbourne FC blue and white army, as well as hosting world-class athletics events.
The stadium underwent its first transformation in 1994, from the disused Lake Oval that was formerly the home of the South Melbourne Swans Football Club (who relocated in 1982 to become the Sydney Swans in the AFL) and the South Melbourne Cricket Club, into a boutique footballing stadium known as Bob Jane Stadium, who moved from their former home at Middle Park to allow the construction of the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit.
A second transformation began in 2010 to reconfigure the stadium to accommodate Athletics Victoria and Victorian Institute of Sport facilities, who relocated from the Olympic Park precinct. With a new name and image as Lakeside Stadium, the development of an athletics track, a second grandstand opposite the SMFC grandstand and refurbishment of the old Lake Oval grandstand were completed in time for the 2012 Victorian Premier League season.
Events
As a world-class multipurpose venue, Lakeside Stadium hosts Athletics Victoria and the Victorian Institute of Sport as well as South Melbourne FC’s footballing operations and is one of the four major sports venues that form the Melbourne Sports Hub along with the nearby Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre (MSAC) and MSAC Institute of Training (MIT) and the State Netball & Hockey Centre (SNHC).
In terms of football, the ground has been used for training by Euro 2000 winners France (in 2001), Euro 2004 winners Greece (in 2006) and the Socceroos (in 1997 before the Iran series, in 2001 before the French friendly and Uruguay series and in 2007 and 2008 before Melbourne Asian Cup and World Cup Qualifiers). The Socceroos have also used the venue for friendly matches. In addition, football advertisements have been filmed at the venue, including the Nike advertisements that featured heavily throughout the 2006 FIFA World Cup) and Hyundai A-League advertisements.
Public Transport
Train
The nearest train station is the Southern Cross (Spencer Street) train station, which is located on the corner of Spencer and Collins Streets and is a five minute drive from Lakeside Stadium.
Tram
Route 96 (East Brunswick to St Kilda Beach) – Stop 129
Route 12 (City to South Melbourne/St Kilda) – Stop 131
For timetabling information, please visit www.yarratrams.com.au
Parking
The car park outside Lakeside Stadium has a capacity of 500, which does not take long to fill up on weekends due to being used by park patrons along with football patrons. In addition, there are less spots available on match days as a section of the car park is closed off for officials, players and media. Parks Victoria has recently installed parking machines inside the car park, which charges $2.30 on weekends.
Parking is also available along Clarendon Street, Aughtie Drive and Albert Road, but there is no parking available in the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre or along Aquatic Drive for football patrons.
Spectators are advised to closely check the parking signs along these roads, as there could be special conditions for VPL match days.