Hawthorn FC's Waverley Park is set for a final blockbuster as three interested groups swoop

Hawthorn FC, who have used Waverley Park  – aka 2 Stadium Circuit – as their training base since the 2000s, is bound for their new purpose-built digs at Dingley and will vacate towards the end of the year, requiring a long settlement.

When settlement goes through “around the end of this year, start of next year”, it will be handed over with vacant possession, says Colliers’ agent Ben Baines.

Baines says the five-week expressions of interest campaign is off to a fast break with three main groups circling the property.

“It’s the elite sporting organisations, it’s education providers, and then we’ve got health and wellness, sort of allied health and other associated sort of wellness type groups,” he said.

“So, we’ve got, mostly, you know, retail investors looking at the good life gym, and then a mix of education groups and other elite sporting organisations having a really good look at the training facility in the oval,” he said.

“We’ve got two-and-a-half weeks remaining in the campaign, so it’s really tough for us to say [who will purchase] at this point in time. But yeah, certainly some really strong interest from a range of groups at the moment.”

With sporting codes other than AFL clubs among interested parties, Baines deflected further probing but said it was a “reasonable guess” that a soccer club over a tennis club had been among the parties to inspect the site.

“Yeah, definitely other sporting codes for having a look at it,” he said. 

Among the education providers, Baines noted there had been public and private, secondary and tertiary interest.

So whether you’re a Hawthorn Football Club fan or just a footy die-hard, this rare opportunity to secure a world-class training facility and sporting ground comes with bragging rights for life as the venue that played “a pivotal role in the club’s sustained success”.

It’s a “once in a generation opportunity to acquire one of Australia’s most esteemed sporting and multi-purpose facilities,” the listing reads.

Waverley Park, originally VFL Park, has been steeped in Australian Rules history, hosting AFL and VFL games between 1970 and 1999.

The stadium had many highlights over the years, including hosting the first-ever VFL match in 1970, a record 1981 home and away crowd of 92,935 at a Collingwood v Hawthorn game, as well as the 1991 AFL Grand Final.

The iconic landmark also hosted major events in the music world, including Michael Jackson’s History World Tour in 1996 and Guns n Roses’ Use Your Illusion Tour in 1993, with Pearl Jam as a support act.

The Hawk’s new world-class home, the Kennedy Community Centre, will allow equal elite facilities for AFLW and AFL teams to train at the same ground.

It is also poised to serve “as a home for the entire Hawthorn family, including past players, members, fans and the wider community”.