From a poorly lit ‘mud pit’ to one of Tasmania’s premier facilities, West Tamar Council’s $2,000,000 redevelopment of Windsor Park has been recognised as the state winner of the 2025 Ken Gannon Award as Tasmanian community football facility project of the year.
The Ken Gannon Awards recognise best practice in community football facility development and are named after long-serving AFL administrator Ken Gannon who championed outcomes related to over 800 community football facility projects across the country.
Windsor Park will now be in the running for the national award, set to be announced in 2026.
The works included re-leveling the oval surface, installation of new drainage system, sand slitting, irrigation, the establishment of a 100mm sand mattress, reseeding, as well as new perimeter fencing and improved lighting.
West Tamar Mayor Christina Holmdahl said it’s been a long time coming.
“We’re very proud of the outcome, we’ve had fabulous feedback from players that use it on a regular basis. We’re please we have this for our community members, but the benefits also go further outside our municipality.
“This award gives us the confidence in future to look at projects like this that we may waver on for whatever reason – that we now know when we provide a facility like this for the municipality, its benefits are very far reaching.”
AFL Tasmania’s Venue and Government Partnerships Manager Anthony Osborn said the redevelopment was a worthy winner of the Tasmanian Ken Gannon Award for 2025.
“The ground was plagued with surface drainage challenges for decades, highlighted through opposition coaches describing the ground as ‘mud pit’ in the media and council hiring a helicopter to remove excess water before a State League final. Looking at it now, it is hard to believe that this is the same venue.”
“Through the Tasmanian Community Football Facilities Fund, AFL Tasmania has a focus on advocating for and contributing to infrastructure upgrades that result in participation benefits, making a $74,000 contribution to this project.
“We view this project as a blueprint for councils and clubs across Tasmania to strive towards improvements and upgrades to unlock greater access and improve the experiences of all participants.”
Football participation is continuing to grow across Tasmania, highlighting the importance of venue conditions and access.
Community football clubs and Tasmanian councils are encouraged to apply for funding through the Tasmanian Community Football Facilities Fund, with more information available on the AFL Tasmania website.