Roads were not upgraded, and a rail line never built, which led to persistent transportation problems, inspiring a 1986 song called "Stuck in Waverley Car Park" by Greg Champion.

[ambiguous] [clarification needed] Waverley allowed Gippsland-based football patrons to attend VFL games, given the shorter travelling distance.

Under the direction of architect Reginald E. Padey of Meldrum and Partners, work started at the site on 5 January 1966 when the VFL President Sir Kenneth Luke turned the first sod.

Construction of the stadium involved the excavation of 378,000 cubic yards (289,000 m3) of topsoil, and the surface of the oval was lowered to a depth of 27 feet (8.2 metres) from the surrounding area.

In 1982, a monochrome video matrix scoreboard was installed, for the first time in VFL history, displaying instant replay highlights.

Two years later, a mosaic mural, commemorating many great names of VFL football, was installed on the grandstand façade above the members' entrance.

[12] Later, the League would also argue that a portion of the income from the sale of Waverley would provide further finance for the development of AFL football as a national code in Australia.

Despite an excellent playing surface and its own water storage, focus shifted to its unfavourable position, and its antiquated corporate and spectator facilities available, such as the originally high-tech but now ageing sepia-toned video screen.

The stadium's car park was large enough to service its crowds, but the access roads were incapable of dispersing them, and long delays for driving spectators were common.

Spectators felt distanced from the game in the huge arena,[13] and seating was only partly undercover giving it the unflattering nickname "Arctic Park"[12] which was due to its location on an exposed site, with the prevailing south-westerly winds bringing rain to Melbourne's eastern suburbs directly from Port Phillip Bay.

The 2000 VFA/VFL Grand Final was the last official game of football played at the venue when Sandringham 15.18 (108) defeated North Ballarat 11.11 (77) in front of a sparse crowd of 8,652 people.

The basis for the nomination is that the stadium was the first major stadium purpose-built for Australian rules football, that its construction and ownership by the VFL provided the basis on which the league built its power base and eventual evolution to become the AFL, that it hosted the 1991 AFL Grand Final, that night-time cricket games were first held at the ground, and that the members' (or K.G.

The oval itself and the eight bays of the Sir Kenneth Luke Stand have been retained, with the remaining section of the members stand, which have been redeveloped into a state-of-the-art training and administrative facility for the Hawthorn Football Club a similar arrangement to what fellow AFL club Adelaide have with Football Park in Adelaide.

The Hawthorn Football Club moved its administrative and training facilities from Glenferrie Oval to a redeveloped Waverley Park early in 2006 in preparation for the 2006 season.

[15] In 2018, the Hawthorn Football Club announced plans to build a new training and administration facility named the Kennedy Community Centre in Dingley to replace Waverley Park.