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.
History
The first annual exhibition (Wangaratta Show) was hosted in 1860 [2] by the Ovens and Murray Agricultural and Horticultural Association on land near the Ovens River, Wangaratta.[3]
The Boxing Day Wangaratta Hospital Fete was first held at The Showgrounds in 1882, which also included an athletic program.[4]
The first recorded international cricket match hosted on the ground came when Wangaratta played the touring Fijians in 1908.[5] 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.[6] A List A match was played there in the 2005/06 ING Cup between Victoria and New South Wales.[7][8]
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.[12]
^"1860 - 1st Wangaratta Show". Ovens and Murray Advertiser. Beechworth, Vic. 22 March 1860. p. 2. Retrieved 16 April 2020 – via Trove Newspapers.
^"1860 - 2nd Wangaratta Show". The Victorian Farmers Journal and Gardeners Chronicle. 2 March 1861. p. 18. Retrieved 16 April 2020 – via Trove Newspapers.
^"1882 - Boxing Day Fete". Ovens and Murray Advertiser. 25 November 1882. p. 8. Retrieved 16 April 2020 – via Trove Newspapers.
