George Andrews Reserve

The lights came first. In 2023 the towers at George Andrews Reserve in Dandenong were rebuilt in LED at a cost of $700,000, taking the ground from 200 lux to 500.

It matters because the tenant had already outgrown the old set-up. Dandenong Thunder SC, formerly South Dandenong, play here in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. In June 2022 the reserve staged an Australia Cup preliminary round tie against Heidelberg United. That August, Melbourne Victory came down from the A-League Men for a pre-season friendly and won 2-0.

The rest of the year it is not a football ground at all. Tennis, basketball and council community events run off the same site off Trewin Street, with a second entrance on Deepdale Street.

Its origins are harder to pin down. The name has never changed — council papers and club histories have called it George Andrews Reserve throughout — but when the ground first opened is not recorded anywhere it can be checked.