Minister for Sport John Eren. Photo: The Age

Minister for Sport John Eren today to joined Member for Footscray Marsha Thomson to announce the old pavilion at the oval will be refurbished to accommodate female players and umpires thanks to the Labor Government’s $15 million "Female Friendly Facilities Fund".

The pavilion is home to the VU Western Spurs women’s football club, the Parkside Football Club and the Footscray Cricket Club which have a total of more than 300 players, of which almost two thirds are female.

However, the old club rooms were designed for male use only and are inappropriate for women and girls. This project will refurbish the player and umpire change rooms to make them female friendly and accessible.

The Spurs have been rapidly growing and enjoying significant success, with seven of their players recruited in the first AFL Women’s draft. The club expects to grow by an additional 60 to 70 players in the next couple of years, so the improved facilities will help significantly.

This project comes on top of $15,000 from the Labor Government’s Community Sports Infrastructure Fund to install a new electronic scoreboard at the reserve.

This funding package is part of the Labor Government’s strong commitment to sports and active recreation and encouraging all Victorians to get out there and get active.

Across Victoria we’ve invested more than $420 million in community sport and recreation facilities, and earlier this year provided almost half a billion dollars in the Victorian Budget 2018/19 to support sport and active recreation at all levels.

Mr Eren and Ms Thomson acknowledged Maribyrnong City Council, AFL Victoria and Bendigo Bank for their commitment and financial contribution to the projects.