Wander? No, team will stay at home
TICKETS to the third and final Sydney derby of the regular A-League season sold out in just 38 minutes but Western Sydney Wanderers insist they have no plans to move future high-profile games to ANZ Stadium.
The cross-town rivalry has already emerged as one of Australian football's hottest tickets as the March 23 match between the Wanderers and Sydney FC has already become the second sold-out match between the two this season, with the other played in front of more than 26,000.
The Wanderers' executive chairman, Lyall Gorman, says the club is not looking to move future derbies to larger venues. The new boys have exceeded expectations with their performances on and off the field but will not move derbies to Olympic Park until the "house full" sign is regularly displayed at Parramatta each season.
"My understanding is that all our allocations are exhausted. There might be the odd ticket but it's as close to a sellout as you can get," Gorman said.
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"There are no plans [to move to ANZ Stadium] at this stage. We've made a firm commitment to our members and our stadium partner. It's to early to get carried away, our success is not measured in one year . . . If we're still having these outcomes in our third year, then we'll have some evaluating to do."
The Wanderers held a series of fan forums before the start of their debut A-League season where the overwhelming majority of attendees favoured games to be played at Parramatta Stadium, which has a capacity of 20,741. While the demand for the Sydney derby has exceeded the capacity of its home ground, Gorman says the club will honour its promise to fans.
The Football Federation of Australia can reschedule A-League games and change venues but it is understood that it is happy to leave it up to individual clubs to secure their own venues. Although the FFA owns the Wanderers, it is not prepared to interfere with the club's pre-existing stadium deal.
