Subiaco Oval (Perth)

Subiaco Oval was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of the same name. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood.

It was the home of Subiaco FC, an Australian Rules club, and in later years the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers in the AFL. However, Subi, as it was often called by locals, also has some association football history.

National Soccer League Grand Final at Subi

The 2000 National Soccer League Grand Final was played at Subiaco, in which Wollongong Wolves defeated Perth Glory on penalties after a 3-3 draw, with 43,242 in attendance. The Grand Final returned in 2002, this time seeing Glory defeated 1-0 by Olympic Sharks.

The defeat was put right a year later, as Perth were crowned Australian champions against Olympic following a 2-0 win. The team retained their title the following year before the introduction of the A-League in 2005-06. 

The first Australia men’s international to be played in the stadium arrived in March 2005 and ended in a 3-0 victory against Indonesia, with 13,719 in attendance to watch the friendly. Perth Rectangular Stadium, home of A-League side Perth Glory, naturally staged national team games after that.

My visit

Monday 2nd December 2002

I was quickly finding out what it was like to see England being hammered at cricket in Australia, with the Test match at the WACA ending in three days. However, there was the consolation prize of having a couple of extra days to go sightseeing in the Perth area.

Plans had been made to catch up with other disconsolate cricket mates later in the day in Fremantle, so I decided to make the most of my time and stop off along the way and see if I could have a look inside the Subiaco Oval.

The gates into the stands were open, offering me the chance to take some snaps of a major stadium after catching the train to West Leederville Station, a couple of minutes’ walk away.

Once done, I went on my way and visited the historic prison at my destination as well as Fremantle Oval, which from 2021 would become the training base of Perth Glory after earlier being the home of Fremantle FC, better known as the Dockers. An excellent and chaotic night ensued.