Grounds of the Past: MacDonald Reserve, Hawthorn East

In another case of it's hard to believe now, humble MacDonald Reserve (now known as Burke Road South Reserve, previously also known as Hawthorn South Reserve) hosted Victorian State League football as the home of Wilhelmina in the late 1950's and early 1960's.

The ground currently has no car park of it's own. There is very limited street parking on Sinclair Avenue. There have been many changes alongside the the ground since that time, which can be appreciated when we look at the Melways map from that era.

To the north, the drive in theatre became the Coles complex at Tooronga Village. The brickworks are long gone, and to the south Carroll Crescent disappeared to make way for the South Eastern Freeway. The majority of football patrons attending games would have come via trams down Burke Road or from the Gardiner train station.

The facilities are sparse. When I visited, cricketers using the nets at the south eastern end parked on the street and had no rooms to change in. The only structures on the site are a storage shed at the north eastern end, and another building further up the hill from it, which may have been the changing rooms when the ground was a VSL venue.

The quaint building sits near the storage shed, but it may also be that the current storage shed was even the changing room back then.

The view across the pitch looking from the east to the west. Behind the trees lies Gardiner's Creek and the Monash Freeway.

With it's lack of amenities, it's the hill on the Sinclair Avenue side that would have been a major attraction to the ground for Wilhelmina as a home. It would have been able to give the crowds they were drawing a decent view, a major problem in the days when standing behind the rope on a flat open park was the prime spectator location.

Another view of the storage shed, changing rooms behind it, and the eastern side of the ground.

Looking south, towards the cricket nets. Behind that would have been the bowling clubs, and further beyond would be Gardiner railway station.

Looking east from the south western corner shows how steep the hill is, and the limited amount of street parking around the ground.

The view when looking north to where the drive in cinema would have been, which is now the corporate headquarters of the Coles supermarket chain.

The ground is in excellent condition, as you would expect in the leafy inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Wilhelmina began playing there when promoted to the First Division in 1957, having previously used Survey Park in Burnley (later a home of Richmond Alemannia). The club also used Olympic and Middle Parks for home games in that era, but MacDonald Reserve was chiefly their home venue until they established Jubilee Park in Ringwood in 1962. The club then changed it's name to Ringwood City Wilhelmina, eventually becoming just Ringwood City.

Could the following picture be of the game between Wilhelmina and George Cross which drew 1400 spectators to MacDonald Reserve on Saturday August 12 in 1961?

If it is, it would had to have been taken from the north eastern side. It is possible that the buildings in the background could be a part of the brickworks. It's worth further investigation, as it would be great to have an image of top flight football from this long forgotten venue.

                                                         (Click on images to enlarge)

                    Edited to add photo from Wilhelmina v Juventus Dockerty Cup tie in 1956