: the ground was Carlton's primary home ground continuously from 1897 until 2004, except in 2002 when it played only four games at the ground. A single farewell match was also played at the venue in 2005. The ground has been Carlton's training, social and administrative base continuously since 1897, remaining as such after the club stopped playing games there, and the club presently holds a 40-year lease on the venue which runs until 2035. : used the ground as its home during 1942 and 1943, owing to its usual home ground at Lake Oval being used for military purposes during World War II. : shared the ground with Carlton from 1967 until 1969 following its departure from the Brunswick Street Oval. : following its departure from Glenferrie Oval, Hawthorn used the ground as its primary home ground for sixteen years from 1974 until 1989. Then from 1990 until 1991, the club split its home games approximately evenly between Princes Park and Waverley Park, before moving permanently to Waverley Park in 1992. : after leaving Junction Oval and Victoria Park, Fitzroy spent a second stint at Princes Park and shared the ground with Carlton, using it as its primary home ground from 1987 until 1993, before moving to Western Oval seeking better rental terms. : after leaving Western Oval, used the ground as its primary home ground for three seasons from 1997 until 1999. Neutral venue: following Fitzroy's departure at the conclusion of 1993, an existing arrangement between Carlton and the AFL still required eighteen matches to be played there during the year; consequently, Fitzroy and the MCG's four co-tenants (, , and ) were each forced to play one or two home games at Optus Oval to make up the balance, including Fitzroy's last home game in the AFL. The practice ended in 1997 when the Western Bulldogs moved their home games to the venue. A similar arrangement occurred in 2002, when Carlton played only four games at the ground, forcing six neutral games to be staged at the ground to meet the new contractual minimum of nine. The unpopular venture was dropped at the end of the year, as all of the home teams in these neutral games lost money due to poor crowds and, in many cases, conflicting sponsorship deals. The ground has hosted VFA/VFL grand finals on and off from 1990 to 2007 and again from