From an area originally known as Shipsters Paddock, Kensington Oval was officially opened for play on Saturday afternnon, 10 July 1875 by the Hon. L. Glyde, the President of the Kensington Athletic Association.[3][4]
In addition to the Norwood Football Club the oval was regularly used by all SAFA (now SANFL) clubs for matches up until the 1897 season after which games were played at the newly opened Jubilee Oval in Adelaide. SANFL matches returned to Kensington in the 1945 Season with Norwood playing 3 of their home games at the oval. From the 1946 Season various fixtures involving all clubs played at Kensington until the 1963 season. The last game being Glenelg Football Club vs North Adelaide Football Club in Round 19 on 31 August 1963.
From 1963, the ground was converted into an athletics stadium, featuring a rubber-bitumen track. In 1975, the track was upgraded to tartan track.
As Olympic Sports Field, the ground was home to Athletics South Australia's interclub athletics competition from October to March and the South Australian Championships. A number of Australian Championships; in 1967, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1981, 1986 and 1992, were also held at the venue.[7]
The ground was also home to the Adelaide City soccer club and, in 1977, a game against Sydney Marconi saw a record crowd of 13,132.[2]
Redevelopment as Kensington Oval
In the 1990s, a new home for South Australian athletics, Santos Stadium, was built and the oval was returned to a sports playing field, which is held in trust by the City of Burnside and is currently leased for specific hours of (school term) use by the nearby Pembroke School. The running track was removed in 1997 and the ground was redeveloped as a cricket ground. Its original name of Kensington Oval was revived and the ground now plays host to grade and women's cricket matches.[2]