Bellerive

Bellerive, also known by it's sponsor name of Blundstone Arena, is a football venue located in Hobart in the state of Tasmania that presently serves as a secondary home venue for North Melbourne in the Australian FL and the primary home ground for Clarence in the Tasmanian FL.
==Construction and early years==
The location of the venue before it's construction was already being used for both football and cricket, with the first recorded match there between Carlton and Bellerive in 1884. It would not be until 1914 that the venue would be made into a proper oval, although it quickly became known for it's hump in the midle of the ground whereupon spectators on one side of the oval could only see the upper half of player's bodies on the other side. The venue remained unchanged for many years. Clarence played its home games at Bellerive from an unknown date, at the time known as Bellerive.
==Upgrades begin==
It would be in 1947 that the venue would improve. Clarence had applied to join the Tasmanian FL and work needed to be done to bring the ground up to standard. This resulted in the removal of the infamous hump. A concrete cricket pitch - covered during the football season - would remain in place until 1956 when it was replaced by a turf wicket. There were more additions in the 1960's including clubrooms in 1961, a small grandstand in 1963 and a public address system on an unknown date.
In 1977 Tasmania gained a place in cricket's Sheffield Shield, and plans were put in place for the cricket headquarters to be moved from the TCA Ground to Bellerive. This process took a number of years and included new grandstands and a new three storey member's pavillion, the transfer of the scoreboard from the TCA Ground and a new surface - as well as cricket training facilities at a cost of $2.2 million. The first game of football played was played on the new surface in 1986 with Clarence playing Hobart in July, but the new surface was wrecked by the game. It was repaired in time for Clarence's last home and away game that season against North Launceston.
In 1990 a new electronic scoreboard was installed and the Northern Stand was built.
==Further upgrades==
In 1999 the Federal government of Australia contributed $5 million to more work. The TCA applied for and receieved a loan of $10 million and with another $1 million coming the Clarence council, leading to the construction of the new Southern Stand which while it deprived the venue of views of the Derwent River it did protect winds coming off it. The Member's Pavillion was also upgraded to include a media are which while well placed for the cricket was put behind the goals for the football. The whole upgrade was completed in early 2003. When the Tasmanian Devils played in the Victorian FL their home games in the south of the state were played here, including two finals.
In 2009, primarily for night cricket, four light towers were installed. This did create some controversy with the local residents who were divided on the issue. In 2011 North Melbourne started playing some of it's home games at Bellerive.
In 2010 more upgrades were planned, mainly for the cricket World Cup in 2015. This included an extension of the Soouthern Stand and upgrades to the member's area. AFL Tasmania also looked to re-locate it's office to Bellerive from North Hobart Oval.
==Other uses==
Bellerive hasn't been used for anything else other than football and cricket. Many of the upgrades as mentioned were cricket driven even though football did benefit. The first international cricket match at Bellerive was in early 1988 when Sri Lanka played New Zealand. The first Test match would played in late 1989 between Australia and Sri Lanka. Bellerive would continue to host cricket matches reguarly, culminating in early 2022 when it hosted it's first Ashes Test between Australia and England - although it wasn't planned as border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the Test from being played at it's original venue - Perth Stadium.
Category:Venues