The Showgrounds, Wangaratta

About

The Wangaratta Showgrounds is situated on the banks of the Ovens River, close to central Wangaratta and provides a large venue for a host of local sports and community clubs. It has hosted the Wangaratta Agricultural Show since 1860 and the annual Wangaratta Athletic Carnival since 1917. The sports oval is a major North Eastern cricket and football venue in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia and is known as the Norm Minns Oval.

The first annual exhibition (Wangaratta Show) was hosted in 1860 by the Ovens and Murray Agricultural and Horticultural Association on land near the Ovens River, Wangaratta.

The Boxing Day Wangaratta Hospital Fete was first held at The Showgrounds in 1882, which also included an athletic program.

The first recorded international cricket match hosted on the ground came when Wangaratta played the touring Fijians in 1908.

In February 1933 at the Wangaratta Sports Carnival, at The Showgrounds, Wangaratta, Austin Robertson Sr. broke the world record for 140 yards in a time of 13.1&1/2 / 16 seconds.

In 1950, American Olympic sprinter, Barney Ewell, ran the fastest ever 100 yards in Australia at the Wangaratta Carnival in a time of 9.5 seconds and several weeks later won the World Professional Sprint Championships in Wangaratta.

The ground held its first first-class match in 1986 when Victoria played Queensland in the Sheffield Shield.

Ten years later a second first-class match was played there between Victoria and the West Indians.

A List A / 50 over, limited over match was played there in the 2005/06 ING Cup between Victoria and New South Wales.

The Showgrounds Oval serves as a football ground in the winter. It is the home ground of the Wangaratta Football Club, Junior Magpies Football Club and the Murray Bushrangers Football Club and is one of the Ovens & Murray Football League 's main two venues, alongside Lavington Sports Ground, Albury.

The venue secured the rights to host five Australian Football League pre-season games between 2012 and 2021; however, the first of those matches, to have been played between St Kilda and Essendon in 2012, was cancelled after Essendon's chartered flights were unable to land in or near Wangaratta due to the very heavy afternoon rain throughout northern Victoria. The venue also hosted two matches in the 2005 Australian Football International Cup.

The venue also has a bicycle track, and floodlighting suitable for night matches. The oval was renamed the Norm Minns Oval in honour of Norm Minns, who played in four consecutive O&MFL premierships with Wangaratta from 1949 to 1952, won another O&MFL flag as captain-coach of Benalla in 1953, and went on to the committees and selection boards for both the Wangaratta and the O&MFL interleague teams.

The official Wangaratta Athletic Carnival has been held at the Wangaratta Showgrounds sports oval since 1922. It commenced as the Anzac Day / RSL Carnival in 1919, with the Victorian Governor, Lord Arthur Stanley in attendance, along with 4000 spectators. The carnival was then taken over by the Wangaratta Athletic Club in 1922 and is run under Victorian Athletic League rules.

The sports competed for over the years have been - athletics, cycling, high jump, pole vault, whippet racing, wood-chopping, tent pegging, tug of war, pigeon racing and highland dancing, along with side-shows and fireworks on display most years to round out the night session of the carnival.

A regular at the Wangaratta Carnival was Jimmy Sharman 's boxing show, where locals were always eager to put their mits on against Sharman's troupe.

At the 1921 carnival Lieutenant Parer in his DeHaviland aeroplane gave a exhibition of thrilling stunts over the Showgrounds.

The main event of the carnival has always been the Wangaratta Gift, initially run over 130 yards, but now run over 120 metres since 1973. A highlight of the carnival has been the running of the final under lights too.

In 1929, world sprint champion, Tom Miles ran at Wangaratta, but was beaten in his heat of the Wangaratta Gift. The club also installed a new public speech system, which included 12 loud speakers.

In 1930, 18 year old local athlete, Mick Maroney was the first runner from Wangaratta to win the Gift. He also won the 70 yard Warby Gift. World Professional sprint champions, Lynch Cooper and Austin Robertson Sr competed in Wangaratta for a number of years in the late 1920's and early 1930's.

By the mid 1920's, the carnival was widely known as the "Cock of the North" carnival.