Hickinbotham Oval (Flinders University Stadium)

Capacity: 12,000 (approx)
Record Crowd: 10,123 – South Adelaide vs Glenelg (May 6^th, 1995)
Home Team: South Adelaide (SANFL)

Hickinbotham Oval (currently known as Flinders University Stadium due to naming rights, and originally Noarlunga Oval) is an Australian rules football oval in Noarlunga Downs, an outer-southern suburb of Adelaide. It has been the home of South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club South Adelaide Football Club (nicknamed ‘The Panthers’) since 1995.

The venue was renamed from Noarlunga Oval to Hickinbotham Oval in 2005 to honour former Panther captain-coach and successful property developer Alan Hickinbotham. In 2018 the ground was re-named Flinders University Stadium, as part of a five-year sponsorship deal with Flinders University.

The oval has a capacity of approximately 12,000 people, with seating for up to 1,000 in the Jim Deane Grandstand, named in honor of South Adelaide’s 1953 and 1957 Magarey Medallist. The record crowd for Noarlunga is 10,123 attending the SANFL match between South Adelaide and Glenelg on 6 May 1995 – the first SANFL match played at the venue.

The oval is located at the top of a hill, and is known for its cold southerly wind and wet weather coming straight from the nearby Gulf St Vincent, something which is generally unpopular with spectators as only the grandstand and a roofed standing-room-only area in front of the change rooms offer any protection from the weather.

Flinders University Stadium’s dimensions are 170×135 m, giving it the widest playing surface in the SANFL. To entertain fans, the South Adelaide Football Club has introduced a gas powered fireball that shoots up at the start of all four quarters of Panthers night games. The fireball, located in the south east corner of the ground near the scoreboard, also ignites every time the Panthers league team kicks a goal.

Along with the Norwood and Richmond Ovals, Flinders University Stadium is one of only three SANFL grounds not used for cricket during the summer months. This generally means that the centre squares of these grounds (where the cricket pitches would be located) are not as susceptible to becoming a mud patch after rain during the football season, and these ovals are generally regarded as having the better surfaces in the SANFL.