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THE Western Bulldogs will play home and away games in Ballarat by 2017 if Labor wins the election. Visiting Eureka Stadium on Thursday morning, Bulldogs president Peter Gordon and opposition leader Daniel Andrews said Ballarat would host at least two premiership season games in Ballarat every year if Labor won. Western Bulldogs players would also wear a Eureka-inspired playing jumper for the games. The plan involves a $31.5 million upgrade of the Eureka Stadium precinct, including an increased stadium capacity of between 15,000 and 20,000. This will also include $9 million upgrades for basketball and netball courts at the Wendouree Sports and Events Centre and $5 million to upgrade the Ballarat Showgrounds. A separate commitment of $2.5 million will also be set aside for a stage one upgrade of the adjacent CE Brown Reserve, which houses the Lake Wendouree Football Netball Club. "We want to make the people of Ballarat feel that we are their team for the 21st century," Gordon said. "This is not just a once off, it is not just for one year, it is a long-term commitment to relocate two or three of our games per year to Eureka Stadium." The Bulldogs will hold a community camp in Ballarat early next year before their March 14 NAB Challenge match against Melbourne. In addition, Gordon said an office would also be built in Ballarat, with staff to be based in the city. FULL ELECTION COVERAGE HERE. "This is the sort of opportunity that gives us...a club that has a history of struggle, it gives us a realistic chance for the first time ever to build our membership past 50,000 and build our economic base," he said. He also stressed the club was not siding with the Labor Party, instead pushing just for the idea for Ballarat to host AFL games. Gordon said he had not spoken with premier Denis Napthine, with the idea in place since the start of the year. "We're a non-partisan club but what we stand for solidly here, is the idea," he said. "I would love for this to become a bi-partisan idea and I hope that the Liberals do take it up. We will certainly be saying to them that we are happy to talk about it because it is about the quality of the idea...that counts the most." Andrews said the commitment would be a massive boost for Ballarat. He said the money would be provided in the first budget May, 2015 if Labor was to win the election. "You're going to get an amazing mix of a country footy experience but an an AFL standard and I can't think of anything more special than that," he said. Gordon said he was confident the AFL would support the idea to bring football to Ballarat and hoped to host Adelaide, Port Adelaide or Great Western Sydney. The Bulldogs had previously been vocal in their aim to expand into western Victoria and "win the west". In a stunning revelation, the AFL last week disclosed the Western Bulldogs had entered into an agreement with the City of Ballarat. However, both the Bulldogs and council have remained extremely tight-lipped on their agreement, with neither party willing to discuss any alignment. "I'm not going to encroach on commercial confidences but I will say I was first approached with this idea early in 2014 and we were thrilled to continue the discussion," Gordon said. North Melbourne's CEO Carl Dilena last week expressed his frustration that his club was left blind-sided by the deal. North Melbourne will no longer hold community camps in Ballarat and it is now expected that the Bulldogs will take over. Former premier John Brumby joined forces with North Melbourne in 2010 when he announced a proposed redevelopment of Eureka Stadium, but that plan was abandoned when Labor lost the election. The Kangaroos had looked at playing four games annually at a redeveloped Eureka Stadium.

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