Western Sydney Wanderers seek new home for growing band of fans
By Callan Lawrence
May 16, 2013, 12:25 p.m.
It may have taken only one season for barnstorming Western Sydney Wanderers fans to outgrow their home at Parramatta Stadium.
The black-and-red army packed the 21,000 seat ground three times in clubs first A-League season, and averaged about 12,400 at home games.
Those early signs of the clubs popularity have already sparked talks about the need to redevelop the stadium, or move elsewhere.
After speaking to developer industry heavyweights at a forum Wednesday, Football Federation of Australia chief David Gallop said talks with state and federal governments were underway.
With three sell out crowds last season, you dont have to look too far into the crystal ball to see that pretty soon demand will outsell supply every week and therefore we need to be meeting that supply with more seats, better corporate facilities, and a better stadium, he said.
Generally, the fans of the Wanderers have a great love already of playing in Parramatta but they deserve to not miss out, so yeah, theres already dialogue underway with local and state governments.
Mr Gallop said there was pressure to supply enough grounds in western Sydney to meet demand for grass-roots sports already and the additional one million people expected over the next two decades would increase that.
But that population boom would also mean more Wanderers and Eels fans.
In a short period of time the Wanderers are well and truly going to outgrow Parramatta Stadium, so were going to need a bigger upgrade to that stadium -- or wouldnt it be great if we had a new stadium for western Sydney?.
David Borger, a former Parramatta lord mayor, state minister and now western Sydney director of NSW Business Chamber, said the Wanderers had united western Sydney people and now needed a new stadium to cater for them.
Western Sydney doesnt exist, he said, Its a construct.
When you talk to people they say, I come from Penrith, or I come from Parramatta.
Theres a real problem around that. The characters of western Sydney, the stereotypes, are not liked in popular culture.
One thing that is changing that in particular, though, is the passionate pride (people have) in the Western Sydney Wanderers who have already brought people together and thrived on community support.
So if they continue to build a champion team, I think we will see people start to identify with western Sydney.
Its time we did something about the cultural infrastructure of the region, not just Parramatta, but for the region.
Its time we did something about Parramatta Stadium. It would be great to see 40,000 supporters getting off at the station and walking down the street to games.
Parramatta MP Geoff Lee said he has talked to Wanderers, the Eels, Venues NSW and the Sports Minister about the future needs of the stadium.
"It's 25 years old and needs an upgrade of seating, facilities, corporate areas and increased capacity," Mr Lee said.
"The government recognises the need to upgrade the stadium however there are no funds available at this stage.
"I will continue to lobby for funds for an upgrade.
"The Wanderers have signed up to play at Parramatta for years.
"We need to continue to seek funding for a stadium upgrade.
"Losing the Wanderers will make it difficult to have a case for an upgrade.
"I will continue to work with Venues NSW and the Sports Minister to seek support for funding."
