1873-1885
St Kilda played its earliest games on a patch of ground known as the Alpaca Paddock, near what is now the St Kilda Railway Station.
The peculiar name derives from St Kilda Council’s earlier attempt to raise alpacas in the area as a commercial enterprise. The fact the fledgling Saints were able to lay claim to the small, grassy plain gives enough of an indication as to how the alpaca venture fared.
Alpaca Paddock was a stone’s throw away from the club’s future home of Junction Oval, and a short walk from Young’s Hotel where the club was first founded in 1873.