Allianz Stadium predicted to sell out for the A-League grand final between Wanderers and Mariners
Tom Smithies
The Daily Telegraph
April 15, 201312:00AM
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Wanderers fans are set to pack Sydney's Allianz Stadium for the grand final. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph
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THIS is the ground the NRL and rugby union can't sell out - well thank heavens for the Wanderers.
The fairytale rise of the A-League's newest franchise Western Sydney writes its next chapter at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
And football chiefs hope the showdown with Central Coast will set a new record at the stadium, thanks to the enthusiasm generated by Western Sydney's astonishing march to the brink of claiming the double in their first season.
The Mariners' previous two visits to Allianz for grand finals have delivered big crowds. Against Sydney FC in 2006, the inaugural grand final, was witnessed by 41,689, while Newcastle's win in 2008 attracted 36,354.
Tickets go on sale to Wanderers and Mariners members today and demand is likely to be extreme, with officials already confident of a sell-out despite the game being held at the home of Sydney FC, the Wanderers' cross-city rivals.
Any remaining tickets, priced at $115, $85 and $55, will go on general sale on Wednesday morning after a window for Football Family members tomorrow.
The ground record is 43,967 for the Socceroos against Argentina in the first leg of a World Cup qualifier in 1993, on a day when the gates were thrown open after the game was over-sold.
Since then expansion works have taken the capacity to 45,500, though almost all of the 6700 stadium members would have to attend, and corporate hospitality be taken up in full.
In June last year, the Wallabies' Test against Wales attracted 42,889, and the last time it was a technical sell-out.
NRL fixtures have occasionally topped the 40,000-mark.
Football Federation Australia chief David Gallop yesterday said he was confident of selling out all publicly available tickets, on the back of the A-League's ebullient season.
"Any time you sell out a game in Sydney, the most competitive sporting market possibly in the world, is a huge statement about the health of your sport," Gallop said.
"Football has smashed through the barrier to become part of mainstream Australian sport in the eighth season of the A-League.
"Sell-outs are a message to the sport's commercial backers that they are riding the wave, and the youthful nature of the crowd will be a reminder to them of football's future growth potential."
The Wanderers' crowds have grown since attracting more than 10,000 in their debut game against the Central Coast Mariners in round one, and dipping to 8075 in round five against Melbourne Heart, to average 12,610 in the regular season including effective full houses for the two derbies at Parramatta Stadium.
It's likely this year's final would have been taken to ANZ Stadium, but a double-header heavy metal concert at the venue was booked for the whole of next weekend.
