Our sports fields
Six parks in the municipality have sports fields available for hire each season. Sports offered are specific to the season in play.
Summer sports are in progress from October to March and winter sports come into effect April to September. Refer to the map or expand the accordions below to see what facilities we have on offer at the City of Melbourne to play organised sport.
Summer season sports grounds for hire:
- Turf cricket
- Synthetic cricket
Winter season sports grounds for hire:
- Australian Rules Football
- Soccer
- Lacrosse
Summer season sports grounds for hire:
- Turf cricket
Winter season sports grounds for hire:
- Rugby/American Football
- Australian Rules Football
Summer season sports grounds for hire:
- Turf cricket
Winter season sports grounds for hire:
- Soccer
Summer season sports grounds for hire:
- Synthetic cricket
Winter season sports grounds for hire:
- Baseball
- Soccer
Summer season sports grounds for hire:
- Turf cricket
- Synthetic cricket
- Touch football
Winter season sports grounds for hire:
- Australian Rules Football
- Soccer
Summer season sports grounds for hire:
- Bookable lawn space
Winter season sports grounds for hire:
- Soccer
Summer season sports grounds for hire:
- Turf cricket
- Synthetic cricket
- Softball
- Touch football
Note: not all touch football and softball pitches are available throughout the season, due to the multi-sport nature of Fawkner Park.
Winter season sports grounds for hire:
- Australian Rules Football
- Rugby
- Soccer
- Softball
- Touch football
Summer season sports grounds for hire:
- Turf cricket
- Synthetic cricket
- Multi-use synthetic
Winter season sports grounds for hire:
- Australian Rules Football
- Soccer
- Multi-use synthetic
Address: Docklands Drive, Docklands VIC 3008
We have been inundated with requests from established clubs to use this new sports park for training and competition. Being a new piece of infrastructure we are conscious of the need to avoid overuse of the space in its first 12 months, and thus we are carefully managing its frequency of use at this time.
Our Recreation team are working with the local Docklands community to provide physical activity opportunities and sports clinics and are working with local residents to set up a local sports club to maximise opportunities for the space going forward. As such City of Melbourne are currently not providing ongoing allocations to any existing sports club (both inside and outside the municipality).
We understand that there is limited green space available for clubs to expand in the inner city but there is even less green space available to those who live and work in Docklands and we need to ensure that they also have the opportunity to participate in regular outdoor physical activity.
You are however able to book the space for casual use using the casual permit request form (placeholder).
If you require any additional information, please don't hesitate to contact us at recreation@melbourne.vic.gov.au
Summer season sports grounds for hire:
- Bookable lawn space
Winter season sports grounds for hire:
- Soccer
Managing our sports fields
Our sports fields are patrolled by the Park Ranger Service and are monitored by our open space contractors.
People using a sports fields without a permit will be asked to leave or move to an area within the park that is not a formal sports field. This does not include people engaging in ‘passive recreation’ activities that:
- are limited to a small number of participants
- do not involve organised clubs
- do not require a marked field or require infrastructure such as goal posts.
- Activities that are not considered passive recreation require sports permits.
The City of Melbourne undertakes significant work on sports fields to improve the turf, including over-seeding and fertilising. These renovations are completed in spring and autumn before the start of each summer and winter sports season. Sports grounds are only available after these works have been completed and grounds are in a satisfactory condition.
In order to manage the increasing demands for our sports fields and the ongoing impact of climate change, we are improving water management strategies, including:
- the use of underground storage tanks
- management of Royal Park wetlands
- stormwater catchments in parks
- managing use by tenant clubs
- installing synthetic surface sports fields.
- These works are implemented alongside long-term strategies to improve sports grounds including:
- use of recycled water for irrigation where possible
- planting of drought-tolerant grass species.
We have measures in place to maintain our sports fields and reduce the risks of injuries to participants and spectators. These include:
- ongoing renovation works on sports fields
- allocating sports fields is in accordance with the condition of the playing surface and their capacity to be used
- managing increasing demand on a limited number of lit sports fields within the municipality
- minimal use of sports fields on weekdays to allow grounds to recover from use and for maintenance to take place before and after weekends
- limiting bookings of natural turf sporting fields. Bookings are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and take into account the:
- condition of the field at time of enquiry
- likely impact on the sports field
- type of sport
- frequency of bookings.
While our parks can become more green following rains, the ground underneath the grass can be very delicate and at risk of deteriorating.
Where available, there are no restrictions on the use of artificial turf surfaces. There are also no restrictions on passive recreation activities such as kicking around a ball.
We regularly audit each sports field to determine whether it is safe to use. Regular risk assessments of all sports fields include both playing and non-playing areas.
Sports fields are assessed in terms of ground condition and safety for both players and spectators. Assessment criteria include:
- cover, vigour, height and evenness of grassed areas
- evenness and firmness of playing area and wickets
- hardness of ground including cracks, holes, the condition of sprinklers
- damage to ground by animals or machinery
- positioning of signage, fences, light towers and flag poles
- the potential for injury by spectators or players.
If sports fields are found to have deteriorated significantly or otherwise fail to meet these criteria, we work with the seasonal sports clubs to identify solutions and alternatives for use.
Sports grounds FAQs
General growth in population, both within the municipality as well as the greater metropolitan area has led to a larger growth in sports club membership and, as a result, greater demand for sports fields. The popularity of sports such as soccer and touch football has also led to much greater demand than that as recently as five years ago.
Changing demographics in areas such as Kensington, Docklands and the resulting increased number of families has seen a huge increase in demand for facilities to cater for junior sports.
Our sports fields are maintained and managed to a very high degree, and we monitor unauthorised use by sports clubs (particularly in relation to pre-season training) which has continued to grow as a significant issue, particularly in recent years.
Recent and current works provide opportunities for greater sporting activities within the municipality.
These include upgrades to irrigation systems in order to maximise water usage, reductions in training loads on sports fields, installation of synthetic surfaces and, in limited cases, reductions in competition use.
Other options could include reclaiming general parkland for conversion back into sports fields and the purchase of land for use as sports fields.
All yarn used in the manufacture of synthetic sports fields in Australia are lead free and recyclable. We are investigating non-recycled rubber infill, however a study conducted by the New York Department of Health has found the use of recycled rubber infill presents no negative environmental impact.
Additionally, after the installation of synthetic surfaces there is no ongoing use of herbicide, pesticide or fertilisers as there is in a natural turf field.
It is proposed to install up to four synthetic sports fields (one in each of Council’s sports precincts – JJ Holland Park, Princes Park, Fawkner Park and Royal Park) over the next four financial years. Significant consultation has taken place with all tenant sports clubs, who are supportive of these installations.
It is recognised that detailed community consultation will be required with the relevant park users and stakeholders prior to any future installation of synthetic surfaces.
There has been some community concern in relation to converting natural turf to synthetic turf. Much of this concern relates to the suggested environmental impacts of synthetic turf and the perception that the installation of a synthetic sports field effectively precludes use of the area by other park users.
There may also be a view that a natural asset should not be replaced with an artificial surface.
A number of sports have approved and adopted synthetic sports fields for both training and competition use, including:
- Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
- International Rugby Board (IRB)
- AFL Victoria
- Cricket Victoria
- a number of community sports clubs.
Benefits include:
- durability – it is estimated that the synthetic sports surfaces can cater for up to four times the use of a natural turf sports field.
- adaptability – due to the multi-use nature of synthetic sports surfaces, more than one seasonal sports club can be programmed to use the facility at the same time.
- improved availability – installation of synthetic surfaces include Australian Standard sports training lights which will maximise levels of use, particularly during the winter season.
- water conservation – installation of water storage tanks beneath the surface enable it to harvest rain water. Any water harvested can be applied to adjacent sports fields and parkland as required.
It is estimated that a full-sized soccer pitch could capture up to 1.9 megalitres of rain water annually through direct rainfall. Further water savings could be achieved by linking the underground tanks to nearby infrastructure such as stormwater and local building roofs.
