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Inner West Council claims partisan politics is threatening the future of Leichhardt Oval, which could be overlooked for state government stadium funding despite being in urgent need of repair.

The historic Leichhardt Oval is falling into ruin, according to Inner West Council, which is seeking state funding for its upgrade.

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys is lobbying the NSW government to relocate funding from the abandoned $800 million Accor Stadium upgrade to renovate at least four suburban rugby league grounds: Bluebet Stadium in Penrith, 4 Pines Park at Brookvale, PointsBet at Cronulla and potentially Leichhardt Oval.

The NSW government will already fund the knock down and rebuild of Bluebet Stadium, which will reportedly cost up to $300m, with $20m also set aside for a new grandstand at Brookvale, which is also being funded by the Northern Beaches Council.

However, the owners and operators of Leichhardt Oval haven’t received any guarantee of state funding despite the much-loved historic ground becoming one of the busiest venues for top-tier rugby league, rugby union and football in the past three years.

That is despite paint peeling off the western grandstand and dilapidated change rooms. The north-end toilets have been out of use for more than a decade; locked to the public, badly damaged and having no lights or services. The seats along the eastern touchline are hand-me-downs from the SCG and, despite the local council pouring in more than $5m in recent years, the revered ground is at risk of not being fit for top-tier professional sport in the future, according to the council.

“If the ground is not upgraded then it won’t be tenable for games to be played there at all,” Inner West mayor Darcy Byrne said. “We are at a real fork in the road here. If not, let’s be honest, the ground will fade away. There won’t be elite sport played there. It’s a special place we will always care for and get the most community use out of it that we can.”

The council is seeking at least $50m in state government funding and has also vowed to jointly fund a knock down of the large western grandstand as well as seating behind the goalposts at the northern end to build a modern, wrap-around grandstand to bring the venue up to date and appealing for elite sports grounds.

A spokesman for the state government told the Herald no decision has been made yet on further funding for suburban ground, however confirmation could come with the release of the state budget next month.

The mayor of the Inner West Council – which covers the Greens’ state seat Balmain, the Labor state seat of Summer Hill and parts of the Greens seat of Newtown – claims the lack of commitment yet from the state government is due to partisan politics. Brookvale Oval is in a blue-ribbon state Liberal state seat – although Zali Steggall did dethrone Tony Abbott at 2019 federal election – while Penrith is also represented by Liberal state member Stuart Ayers, the minister for sport. PointsBet Stadium also sits in a safe Liberal seat of Cronulla.

“It’s been so obviously partisan and biased, the lack of support for Leichhardt Oval,” Mayor Byrne said. “We can’t save the ground or secure its future if the state government refused to help.

“I am not opposed to other grounds receiving money. What I am angry about is the fact that the government is funding money into Liberal seats. If you’re going to fund grounds, do it fairly, don’t do it on your partisan political interests.”

A spokesman for the premier’s office declined to comment on the funding when contacted by the Herald on Saturday.

As part of the proposal, Inner West Council wants to build a museum of the history of rugby league in the inner west at the venue, honouring the Balmain Tigers, Wests Magpies, Newtown Jets, Annandale and Glebe. They have vowed to retain the Keith Barnes Stand at the southern end of the venue as well as the Wayne Pearce Hill on the eastern sideline to retain the charm of the venue.

“That’s not negotiable,” Byrne said. “The rest of the ground, you could have one continous, large-scale grandstand that provides modern seating and other amenities that will provide the allocated seating that clubs and codes need, so they will make a return on playing at Leichhardt Oval.”

Should it be successful, the council expects a commitment from Wests Tigers to play at least six NRL games a season at the venue.

The Herald sought comment from the Tigers on Saturday.

In recent years, Leichhardt has become one of the most used suburban grounds for three football codes, with A-League men’s, A-League women’s and Matildas internationals also played at the venue. As well as Wests Tigers matches, Leichhardt Oval hosted international rugby league games involving Lebanon, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Samoa. The Waratahs have also called Leichhardt home while displaced from Moore Park due to the rebuild of the Sydney Football Stadium.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/it-will-fade-away-council-accuses-state-government-of-allowing-leichhardt-oval-to-fall-into-ruin-20220513-p5al6l.html