The land known as "Berwick Recreation Reserve" was gazetted on 14 July 1863.[3] There are records of the Berwick Football Club playing at a ground with that name as early as the 1930s.[4] However, the club appears to have played approximately 2 kilometres (1.2mi) away at Arch Brown Reserve.[5]
When Berwick entered the Victorian Football Association in 1983, it continued to play at Arch Brown Reserve, although it had a long-term plan to move to Manuka Road Oval for the 1987 season.[5] However, a fire destroyed the Arch Brown Reserve clubrooms in December 1984, and the club moved to Manuka Road in 1985 with the support of the local council.[5] The first VFA match played at the venue was between Berwick and Caulfield on 21 April 1985 in front of a crowd of 1,500 people.[6][7]
In 1996, the venue was renamed to Edwin Flack Reserve after Edwin Flack, Australia's first Olympian, who lived in Berwick.[8]
