Unley Oval

As far as ovals go in the burbs, this place gets 5 stars from me. I use it regularly for various purposes:
— 2 playgrounds for my kiddies
— PT sessions (the grandstand steps provide great glut workouts)
— run around the oval for sprint training
— BBQ with friends
— cricket practice cage
There are toilet facilities and water coolers. Recently, white picket fencing around the oval has been put up. Unley Rd coffee shops are just a short stroll away — bonus!

Since reading the other reviews, I’ve realised there’s even more to the Unley Oval Playground than I originally thought, and saw. My review is for the junior playground.
It’s small, but it’s new, engaging, colourful and fun. While the children can set about discovering it, the adults can admire the shade sails, or the rubber flooring, or the sheltered table/​chair areas which have BBQs beside them. Perhaps I need to stop reviewing playgrounds or perhaps I can say «YAY UNLEY OVAL! You may not have a big playground, but it’s a beauty!» :-)
*Dogs allowed (see photos)*
*Taps*
*BBQ*
*Shaded playground*
*Sheltered table/​chair areas*

In SANFL talk Unley oval is of course the home ground to the Sturt Football club. Being an Unley High girl at heart, I’m rather patriotic about Sturt, and reckon Unley oval is ace. Perhaps a little bit dated, but for me that adds to the charm.
I love the culture and team spirit sported by Sturt, and Unley oval is a great home ground for games with its sausage sizzle and a mini grand slam. And so, it’s looking good for the double blues.
Other than for Sturt home games and trainings, Unley oval is also great for walking the dog, playing cricket, having barbecues, exercising or taking the kids to play on the two provided playgrounds.
Additionally it’s a wonderful area, with beautiful terraces surrounding the oval. Caters beautifully to the SANFL boys and the Unley/​Malvern locals (plus occasional strangers like me).

Unley Oval is home to the SANFL Sturt football team.
It’s also a playground for the nearby community and has two great playgrounds the children. The lower playground near the barbecue and toilets was renovated mid-​2011 and is now a partially fence play area suitable for preschool and junior primary children. A short walk to the other corner of the oval, up the mound is the wooden pirate ship great for slightly older children to clamour over and role-​play. There is a table and bench here under the shade of big gums — a perfect spot to chill with the littlies play.
Overall it is a great place to hang out with family or exercise and is very popular with people walking their dogs.
People watching here is very fun too.

Unley Oval has long been the official home of SANFL football team, Sturt known to their supporters as the Double Blues. Back in the 80s before the advent of the AFL national competition, it was one of those places where football heroes like the Jumbo Prince and Peter Motley took speccy marks, kicked sensational goals and entertained their fans.
These days they still play SANFL footy there (in fact Sturt play 7 of their 14 home games at Unley), and they play South Australian Grade Cricket, but its not like it used to be back in the 80’s despite the two grandstands and the oval’s capacity to hold 15,000 people.
Local residents have benefited from this once hallowed turf becoming more of a public space set aside for their use. Plenty of people use the oval for leisure and sporting activities of all kinds and you’ll always find someone in private training doing laps around the ground.
Dogs are allowed there as well nowadays with on leash and off times being strictly enforced. Refer to the Unley Council’s website for specific times.