This beloved sports facility was ‘upgraded’. Now locals are angry ... with a private school

To an outsider, the five-a-side football pitch at Fraser Park in Marrickville might not have looked like much. But its small size, with an underlay of a soft spongelike material, is a blessing for anyone with a bung knee, or an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

So when one such person, Brad Stebbing, got news last year that the courts, which are owned and managed by the Sydney Portugal Club, would be ripped up and replaced with a much harder surface, allowing the site to be used for a wider range of sports, the keen footballer was not happy.

“I personally put a lot of effort into the weekly organisation of the game and I get a very good turnout because of the positive influence it has on our players’ livelihood and mental health,” he wrote in a letter to The Sydney Portugal Club.

“We play early Saturday mornings, which has obvious health benefits, but also social benefits as we grab a weekly coffee at the local cafe after the game … Playing early in the morning has also had a benefit for a lot of the younger guys, where it gives an incentive to drink less on a Friday night.”

His letter opposing the new surface got no response from the club, which was founded in 1965, and this month further work has been carried out to rip up the squishy surface.

Stebbing asked around other sports organisers who rented the pitches from the Portugal Club if they had requested the new all-sport surface. He was told they hadn’t.

“This has led me to believe that the decision-making has not been influenced by the community, but is likely driven by the recent financial collaboration with one of the most expensive and well-resourced schools in the state.”

That school, Newington College, previously agreed to fund upgrades to a public park in Tempe in 2020 in exchange for exclusive access under a multimillion-dollar agreement with Inner West Council.

But Newington told the Sun Herald, while it was now using the Portugal Club’s facilities during school hours, it had not paid for the recent refurbishments and was not involved in decisions around the pitch.

“Last year the college formalised a facility hire arrangement with the club via a tenancy agreement,” a spokesman said.

“The agreement gives us certainty of use during school day times and gave the club certainty to invest in improving their facilities for all users.

“All decisions relating to improvements are made and have been made solely by the club. We know and support their aspirations to become a more popular multi-sport and event hub in the inner west.”

The Portugal Club was given a $2 million redevelopment grant by the federal Labor government in 2013, but five years later, the new grandstand had no seats. The club took out a $500,000 National Australia Bank loan to finish the project, while in 2021, a temporary administrator was appointed to the club, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Last year Inner West Council gave approval to the club to host five large-scale events with up to 5000 patrons, and 10 smaller events with up to 3500 patrons, every year.

Club president Nuno da Silva said the Fraser Park facilities were located on private land owned and managed by The Portugal Club.

“The courts were replaced as part of a planned upgrade to support a wider range of uses and increased utilisation, following assessment of the existing surface,” he said in a statement.

“The upgrade was undertaken by the club to cater for football training, basketball, futsal, pickleball, school sport, community groups, and casual users, and to maximise safe use of the site. The club advised users of the changes in advance.

“The club leases the facilities to a range of users at different times and does not operate the site for the exclusive benefit of any single group.”

Jim Flanagan from Dulwich Hill, who books the pitches three times a week and has been using them since 2012, said he understood the club needed to make money, but would have like to have been consulted.

“It is a business, it is not a government or public facility. They’ve made this decision for commercial reasons, they need to make a living, I get that,” he said.

He pays $145 for 90 minutes, which he said was expensive. “The original surface was an all-weather pitch. It was fantastic, with really good drainage,” he said.

“The new surface, it is unplayable in the rain. We had to cancel our game on Thursday night. The new surface is nowhere near as good for football, it is harder, and it is harder on your joints.”

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