Deakin Reserve

Deakin Reserve is the main sports venue in the Goulburn Valley and is primarily a cricket and Australian Rules Football sports oval in Shepparton, Victoria, Australia.

1969: Alfred Deakin Stamp

Deakin Reserve

formerly the Shepparton Recreation Reserve
Ground information
Location	20 Harold St, Shepparton, Australia
Coordinates	36°22′37.22″S 145°24′28.57″E
Establishment	1875
Capacity	2,000 seated, overall 15,000
End names
Nixon St end Grandstand end
Team information
Shepparton FNC (1879) Shepparton United FNC (1950) Murray Bushrangers U/18 FC (1993) Central Park St. Brendan's CC (1981) Shepparton Sports Carnival (1906-70)
Source: Ground profile

History

Jamacian Olympic gold medal runner, Herb McKenley, ran in the 1954 carnival

Queen Elizabeth II, visited Deakin Reserve in 1954

This sports venue was originally known as the cricket reserve in its very early years,^[1] then later known as the Shepparton Recreation Reserve, prior to being officially named the Deakin Reserve in 1947, in honour of former Victorian Water Supply Minister, former Federal politician and Australian Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin^[2] who was largely responsible for implementing the Goulburn Valley Irrigation Scheme.^[3]

In April 1875 a public meeting was called for in Shepparton for the purpose of appointing Trustees for the Shepparton Park and Recreation Grounds.^[4]

The first published mention of the cricket ground was in 1875, when the Shepparton Eleven had arranged a match against the Euroa Eleven and the Shepparton team "were practising hard on their local ground in the township".^[5]

Local Australian Rules Football teams, Shepparton and Shepparton Ramblers Football Club both used the Recreation Reserve as their home ground in the early 1890s.

In 1888, the Shepparton Cricket Club advertised for tenders for the erection of a sawn timber fence around the Shepparton Cricket and Recreation Reserve.^[6]

In March 1899 a local committee was formed of the Shepparton Athletics Carnival, with Dr. E. Ken Herring as the chairman of the organising committee, featuring athletics and bicycling events, with the first carnival at the Shepparton Showgrounds in April 1899, but was later moved to Shepparton Recreation Reserve.^[7]

In 1904, the Shepparton Shire Council approved and funded the erection of the first sports Pavilion on the Shepparton Recreation Reserve.^[8]

The original grandstand at the Reserve was erected in 1905^[9] and the local Shepparton Athletics Carnival contributed financially to its erection.^[10]

The eighth annual Shepparton Athletics Carnival was held at the Shepparton Recreation Reserve for the first time in 1906, with £325 in prize money offered.^[11]

Construction of the Deakin Reserve Memorial Column and the installation of ornamental lights on the King George VI Memorial Gates, as well as bronze plaques was completed in December 1952.^[12] These gates and plaques were officially opened by Victorian Premier, John McDonald and Mrs Herbert Brookes, daughter of former Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin.^[13][14]

When Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited Shepparton in 1954, an estimated 40,000 packed Deakin Reserve and the nearby streets for the Royal Reception.^[15]

The first recorded international cricket match held on the ground came in 1962 when an Victoria Country Eleven side played the Marylebone Cricket Club, when the English cricket team in Australia in 1962–63^[16]

A Youth Test match was held in December 1986 when Australia Under-19s played Indian Under-19s.^[17]

A Youth One Day International was later held there in November 1997 when Australia Under-19s played Pakistan Under-19s.^[18]

A List A match was held there in the 2006–07 Ford Ranger Cup between Victoria and Western Australia.^[19]

Australian Rules Football and netball are also played at the ground.^[20]

Since 1957, the Goulburn Valley Football League grand final has been played at the Deakin Reserve.

Deakin Reserve has hosted a number of VFL / AFL practices matches over the years, with the last of these being in March 2019 between Melbourne and Richmond.

Shepparton Sports Carnival

1905 Local Shepparton Wheelrace winner & world record breaking cyclist: Jackie Clark

The honour board below acknowledges former office bearers and winners of the Sheffield Handicap, later renamed the Shepparton Gift and the Shepparton Wheelrace, which was held at the Shepparton Recreation Reserve (Deakin Reserve) from 1906 onwards.

The Sheffield Handicap was run over 130 yards, while the main wheelrace distance was over two miles. The very first two-mile race in 1899 was a dead heat.

The Shepparton Wheelrace was later raced over one mile.

In fact, the very first sports carnival held in Shepparton was back in 1879 on the site of the Shepparton Railway Station, just a year before the railway line was opened.^[21]

Over the many years of the carnival, the following sports took part, athletics, amateur and professional cycling, wood chopping, boxing, speed coursing (greyhound racing), fire brigade events, national dancing, fireworks, novelty attractions and a large betting ring.

In 1904, Shepparton cyclist, A J "Jackie" Clark won the famous Austral Wheel Race,^[22] then in 1905 he won the Shepparton Wheelrace and Adelaide Wheelrace,^[23] before heading over to Europe and America, to continue his riding career and set many world records along the way.^[24] Clark went onto win the Six Days of New York event in 1909 and 1911 and the Six Days of Berlin in 1913, just to name a few.

Prior to 1923, the annual carnival was held in February each year, then from 1923, the carnival was held on Foundation Day, one of the precursors of Australia Day, which was the last weekend in January.

By around 1930, the Shepparton Carnival was widely recognised as the premier sports carnival in northern Victoria by both athletes and patrons.^[25]

In September, 1933, the Sports Carnival committee decided to suspend its annual carnival, due to be held in January, 1934, due to a financial loss at the previous three carnivals,^[26] but after much public support the committee decided to go ahead with a carnival in January, 1934.^[27][28]

At the carnival's annual general meeting in November, 1934 the carnival went into recess, after the fourth annual loss in a row, which wiped out the carnival's bank account reserves, due indirectly to the Great Depression which meant that there was no carnival in 1935 and 1936.^[29]

Then in July, 1936 an organising committee was reformed and the next carnival went ahead on the 1st January, 1937.^[30]

International renown cyclists, Nino Borsari and Syd Cozens both rode at the 1937 Shepparton Carnival.

In an organised carnival boxing bout, 23 year old Percival Pettit died in the Mooroopna Hospital after being knocked out in a fight on the 1st January, 1938 at the sports carnival at the Shepparton Recreation Reserve.^[31]

One of the biggest ever crowds at Deakin Reserve was at the 1948 Shepparton Athletics Carnival, where an estimated 10,000 patrons paid a record £920 on New Year's Day.^[32]

In 1951, Danish cyclist, Carl Jorgan Koblauch crashed heavily after winning the fifth heat of the Aces Half Mile Derby on New Year's Day at the Shepparton Sports Carnival and was pronounced dead at the Mooroopna Hospital.^[33]

At the 1953 night session of the Shepparton Carnival, an estimated 15,000 spectators were present to watch crowd favourite and world champion cyclist, Sid Patterson.^[34]

In 1953, Geelong cyclist, Rex Kelly, 22 years of age, died in hospital, after crashing head first into an electric light pole in the third heat of the City Sprint at 3.16 pm, at the New Year's Day Sports Carnival at Deakin Reserve, after a fellow competitor punctured in front of him.^[35][36]

In 1958, local runner, Lance Watters won the Shepparton Gift and who had also just started up the business, Watters Electrical in Shepparton.

	Shepparton Athletic Carnival
Year	President	Secretary	Treasurer	Shepparton Gift[37]	Shepparton Wheelrace	Venue	Gate / Crowd	Date
1899	Dr E Ken Herring	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	A Walters	G O'Callaghan &	Showgrounds	[38]	19/04/1899
					W J Lindsay >	(dead heat)
1900	Dr E Ken Herring	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	W J Hart	H Symonds	Showgrounds	[39][40]	04/04/1900
1901	Dr E Ken Herring	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	Fred R Murray	B Rolfe	Showgrounds	[41]	13/02/1901
1902	Dr E Ken Herring	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	J P O'Connell	W F Darcy	Showgrounds	£69[42][43]	12/02/1902
1903	Dr E Ken Herring	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	Fred R Murray	C E Burton	Showgrounds	£62[44]	11/02/1903
1904	W R Banner	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	A C P O'Brien	J Greenaway	Showgrounds	£69[45]	10/02/1904
1905	F W Fair	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	A Maskell	A J "Jackie" Clark[46]	Showgrounds	£90[47]	15/02/1905
1906	W McAbernethy	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	Norm Oliver	B S Joyce	Recreation Reserve	£260[48][49][50]	12&13/02/1906
1907	W McAbernethy	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	Fred R Murray	A J Davies	Recreation Reserve	£342[51]	12&13/02/1907
1908	D McAndrews	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	H Kiley	A J Davies	Recreation Reserve	£335[52]	11&12/02/1908
1909	George V Furphy	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	Wally Hartley	cancelled > rain[53]	Recreation Reserve	£270[54]	23&24/02/1909
1910	F W Fair	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	A A Taylor	R Pyke	Recreation Reserve	£349[55][56]	08&09/02/1910
1911	W R Banner	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	Archibald Clark[57]	G L Crawford[58]	Recreation Reserve	£388[59]	07&08/02/1911
1912	W H Allen	John Stubbs		R "Bob" Carnie[60]	T G Walcott[61]	Recreation Reserve	£415 / 12,000[62]	13&14/02/1912
1913	J P Downing	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	Wally Hartley	L H Parkinson	Recreation Reserve	£465 / 14,000	11&12/02/1913[63]
1914	J P Downing	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	G H Best	Ernest Bainbridge	Recreation Reserve	£471 /	10&11/02/1914[64]
1915	W R Vincent	John Stubbs	A Whitehead	L J Hume	R Gardner	Recreation Reserve	£384	12&13/02/1915[65]
1916	M Haplin	John Stubbs	T Corkill	S Keane	J G Atkins	Recreation Reserve	£311	08&09/02/1916[66][67]
1917	A Biggar	John Stubbs	T Corkill	R A Taylor	J G Atkins	Recreation Reserve	£297	13&14/02/1917[68]
1918	A Biggar	John Stubbs	S H Drury	1st:Stan Hawkins[69]	P J Sheehan?	Recreation Reserve	£232	13/02/1913
				2nd:John Beckwith[70]	>(won on protest)[71][72]
1919		John Stubbs		Jim McNeil[73]		Recreation Reserve		16/04/1919[74]
1920		John Stubbs		G E Davis[75]	L D Harris	Recreation Reserve		10&11/02/1920[76]
1921	J Kendall	John Stubbs	H B Lincoln	G Bond	L C Stevens	Recreation Reserve	£372 / 6,000	19&20/04/1921[77][78]
1922	A W Sims	John Stubbs	H B Lincoln	Les E G McLeod[79]		Recreation Reserve		14&15/02/1922
1923	J H Waltho	John Stubbs		Bert Love	J Beasley	Recreation Reserve	£453	29/01/1923[80]
1924	H B Lincoln	John Stubbs	H Cecil Jacob	A C Klemm	L C Stevens	Recreation Reserve	£453	28/01/1924[81]
1925	W T Daish	John Stubbs	H Cecil Jacob	L H Kew Ming	H A Hawkins	Recreation Reserve	£504	26/01/1925[82]
1926	A Henderson	John Stubbs	A H Palmer	Harry Simpson	J Beasley	Recreation Reserve	£505	01/02/1926[83]
1927	J J Beattie	John Stubbs	A H Palmer	H Nicholls	E Strang	Recreation Reserve	£570	31/01/1927[84]
1928	J J Bettie	John Stubbs	A H Palmer	T G Whitla	W Redman	Recreation Reserve	£605	30/01/1928[85]
1929	B S Smith	John Stubbs	A H Palmer	Alf Barton	E H Simpson	Recreation Reserve	£578	28/01/1929[86]
1930	A F Mackwood	John Stubbs[87]	A H Palmer	H Rumney	P Wells	Recreation Reserve	£550[88]	27/01/1930
1931	John Gibbs	John Stubbs	A H Palmer	M Maroney (Wang)	A Price	Recreation Reserve	£322[89][90]	26/01/1931
1932	John Gibbs	John Stubbs	A H Palmer	T W Odgen	W Clements	Recreation Reserve	£389[91]	01/02/1932
1933	T H Peart	John Stubbs	A H Palmer	G L Evans	H W Lygon	Recreation Reserve	£254[92][93]	01/02/1933
1934		John Stubbs		J H Lester	R J Moore	Recreation Reserve	£350[94]	20/01/1934
1935							In recess[95]
1936	Cr J Riordan	W S Clayton	Percy H Anderson				No carnival in '36
1937	G S A Gaylard	Les J Hellier	Percy H Anderson[96]	P Kiniry	L Cutts	Recreation Reserve	£473[97]	01/01/1937
1938	Joe E McMahon	Les J Hellier[98]	Percy H Anderson	Arthur Rosenow	Harry Woolrich	Recreation Reserve	£550[99][100]	01/01/1938
1939	Joe McMahon[101]	Les J Hellier	Percy H Anderson	Paul Bell	J Cremin	Recreation Reserve	£590[102]	02/01/1939
1940	Joe E McMahon	Pat O'Connell[103]	Percy H Anderson	P W Buckley	Tassy Johnson	Recreation Reserve	£475 / 3,000[104][105][106]	01/01/1940
1941	Lou J Michel[107]	Pat O'Connell		R A Archie Wright	L Solomons	Recreation Reserve	£423[108]	01/01/1941
1942							In recess > WW2[109]	01/01/1942
1943							In recess > WW2
1944	Lou J Michel	Jim P Esson[110]	A L Bool				In recess > WW2[111]
1945	Lou J Michel	Jim P Esson	A L Bool	C B Wilson	Bruce Opperman	Recreation Reserve	£451[112][113]	01/01/1945
1946	Lou J Michel	Jim P Esson	A L Bool	J M Scammell	R Daldy	Recreation Reserve	£751[114][115]	01/01/1946
1947	Lou J Michel, MBE[116]	Jim P Esson	A L Bool	D Barry Hall	K Croft	Recreation Reserve	£823[117]	01/01/1947
1948	Cr L C Trevaskis	Jim P Esson	H T Donaldson	Reg Letcher[118]	E Robinson	Deakin Reserve	£920 / 10,000[119]	01/01/1948[120]
1949	Cr L C Trevaskis			Jim T Smith[121][122]	Norm Beitzel	Deakin Reserve	£925	01/01/1049[123]
1950	R A Wright	Jim P Esson	H T Donaldson	E Ted P Marantelli	J J Walsh	Deakin Reserve	£1090 / 10,000[124]	01/01/1950
1951	R A Wright	Jim P Esson	J Greening	Tom Carney[125]		Deakin Reserve	£1042[126]	01/01/1951
1952	W A Thompson	Jim P Esson	J Greening	R C Sampson[127]	Sid Patterson[128]	Deakin Reserve		01/01/1952
1953		Jim P Esson		John Newman	Vin Smith	Deakin Reserve	£1602 / 15,000[129]	01/01/1953[130]
1954				Eddie T Dunstan[131]	Sid Patterson	Deakin Reserve		01/01/1954[132]
1955				Peter Nelson[133]	Hec Sutherland[134]	Deakin Reserve		03/01/1955
1956				W "Bill" R Mills[135]	Sid Patterson[136]	Deakin Reserve		02/01/1956
1957						Deakin Reserve
1958				Lance Watters		Deakin Reserve		01/01/1958[137]
1959				Alan Goodlet	D Burgess	Deakin Reserve		01/01/1959
1960					Ron Petri[138]			01/01/1960
1961					Bill Toohey[139]			02/01/1961
1967				Noel Pattison[140]				04/03/1967[141]
2023				Jack Lacey[142]	N/A	Showgrounds		18/03/2023
2024				Jared Oliver[143]	N/A	Showgrounds		28/01/2024
2025					N/A	Showgrounds		15/02/2025
Year	President	Secretary	Treasurer	Shepparton Gift	Shepparton Wheelrace	Venue	Gate / Crowd	Date

Life Members

• 19?? - John Stubbs
• 1931 - W R Banner^[144]
• 1951 - L J Michel^[145]