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Look closer to that new terrace. They're not chairs they are sitting onThis looks pretty smart........
Wanderers fans already planning for our future.......
A large terrace at the northern end....
doesn't allow the flare smoke to spread properly
Because as much as I loved sitting on the old hill, this is one sight I don't miss during an intense part of the game
Because as much as I loved sitting on the old hill, this is one sight I don't miss during an intense part of the game
Wanderers and Eels unite for stadium revamp push
Adrian Proszenko
Strange bedfellows: the Western Sydney Wanderers and Parramatta Eels have teamed up in a bid to get Parramatta Stadium a much-needed upgrade.
Parramatta and the Western Sydney Wanderers might be cross-code rivals, but they have joined forces in their campaign for a better stadium.
Eels officials have been in talks with their Wanderers counterparts about their future venue needs, with a revamp of Parramatta Stadium or the construction of a new facility in the region their preference. The teams are in heated competition for fans, members and sponsors, but they have found common ground in their desire to provide them with the best possible amenities. Both have ambitions of building membership bases that far outstrip the 20,000-seat capacity of their current premises.
Eels chief executive Ken Edwards, who has extensive experience in stadiums strategy as the former chief executive of ANZ Stadium, confirmed he was in talks with Wanderers officials. ''We've had some discussions with the Wanderers around what their plans and what our plans are,'' Edwards said. ''Our public position is that Parramatta is our home and where we always want to be. At the end of 2012 we had 12,000 members and now we have 16,000 members. Our market research, coupled with the work we've done with the NRL, tells us we should have up to 40,000 members by 2017.
''That obviously brings into sharp focus our stadium issues in terms of capacity and the facilities that go with it. Parramatta Stadium was built in the '80s, and pretty much nothing has happened to it since then. In the meantime, there have obviously been redevelopments at ANZ Stadium and Allianz Stadium, meaning that, as a club, unless there are upgrades at Parramatta Stadium we are at a significant financial disadvantage and our members aren't getting the sorts of facilities other members are getting. Anything that we and the Wanderers can do to get a better facility at Parramatta Stadium - or a new facility somewhere in Parramatta - is a good thing.''
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Parramatta have managed to grow their membership base during difficult times on the field - they ''won'' the wooden spoon last year - while attendances for home matches remain fairly stable. However, the Wanderers became the hottest ticket in town during their fabled run to the A-League grand final. Their supporter group, the Red and Black Bloc, grew exponentially throughout the club's debut season, and Football Federation Australia boss David Gallop is on record as calling for an upgrade of Parramatta Stadium ''based on the phenomenal success of the Wanderers in year one which has seen three sold-out matches''.
The NSW government has outlined a stadium consolidation strategy, with ARL Commission boss David Smith confirming there will be a move towards playing matches in two or three larger venues in future. The Eels also plan to create a centre of excellence to replace their aged training facilities.
Asked if they could share a high-performance unit with the Wanderers, Edwards said: ''It's very difficult to share high-performance facilities, there aren't too many examples that we're aware of where that works. Our rugby league high-performance training requirements are very different to those of football. That's not to say it couldn't work While have been having some informal discussions with the Wanderers we haven't done anything formal with them. We're still pursuing our own stand-alone high-performance community centre.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-revamp-push-20130522-2k19p.html#ixzz2U3ckWcS
WSW're gonna need a bigger stadium...
Copyright www.words-and-pix.com
By
Kathy Scott
Jul 25 2013 10:00
WESTERN Sydney Wanderers are seeking to fast track the expansion of Parramatta Stadium for the start of the new season following an explosion in the clubs membership base.
Club representatives met with Venues NSW yesterday in a bid to have seating boosted at the northern and southern ends of the stadium by an additional 3500 seats.
Memberships have almost doubled on last seasons figures, soaring past 13,000 as of this morning, with the Red and Black Bloc home-end completely sold out on Monday.
But attempts to accelerate the upgrade will need to be done in consultation with joint tenants Parramatta Eels who are currently in the thick of the rugby league season.
Wanderers Executive Chairman Lyall Gorman said: Any work we do would have to be very respectful of the Eels absolutely. Part of the whole process of decision-making would be an impact analysis.
Is there an impact, what does it look like if there is and can you work around it or is it insurmountable?
The reigning Premiers are looking to replicate their on-field success with more than 3,300 memberships snapped up in just 48 hours after they went on public sale at the beginning of the week.
Ahead of just their second season, the club is on track to claim the second highest membership base in the A-League, after Melbourne Victory, and look the goods to smash their 2012/13 gate average of about 12,500, the fifth highest in the comp.
Venues NSW has about $29 million in the kitty to upgrade the Parramatta Stadium to 24,000-capacity by 2015, but the western Sydney outfit believes that could be too little too late.
A meeting was held between the club and financial consultants today to draw up a contingency model for capping memberships if sales continue to outpace redevelopment plans.
Gorman is confident expansion can be achieved before the season launch in less than three months.
It would be the extra seating at the northern and southern end and without rushing to do the corporate facilities it would probably take us to about 24,000, he said.
Ive said for a long time, and I believe this, our club can be one of the biggest sporting franchises in any code in Australia.
Weve got to continue to work with government and prove our case that we need a greater facility in Western Sydney, whether thats at Parramatta or somewhere else is up for debate.
I know that venues NSW is very cognisant of the tremendous input the Wanderers are making to the region.
The strong demand for memberships had given governments something serious to consider, he added.
The club is prepared to play its trump card the huge economic lift to Parramatta. About 174,000 people were brought to the CBD last season and an extra $18.3 million poured into the lifestyle and entertainment precinct.
As yet no figure has been put on a potential membership cap, but with the club keen to make room for game day walk-ups and away fans, its unlikely to go higher than 15,000 under the stadiums current 20,700 seating restrictions.
Gorman said: Weve briefed some consultants and finance people this morning to do some modelling for us so we can make an informed rather than random decision.
Any good model around the globe will have a cap so theres a capacity for new fans to come and enjoy the experience and sample it. We certainly want to continue to make sure that other fans can come to our games and enjoy the Wanderland experience.
Humbled but not surprised was how the football executive described the clubs growth, pointing out it was not entirely due to their on-field success.
You look at the western Sydney region and it has a population of 2 million people and 186 languages, he said.
If you trace where a lot of those languages come from, theyre from Europe, UK, South America, Asia and Africa where football is the first or second language.
He added: This is not just about us. This is about the work thats been done since 1976 and the National Soccer League. Its all that fertile ground that were so privileged to work with.
Meanwhile theres been no off-season for the RBB. The clubs passionate fan base was one of the good news stories of last season and has been hard at work preparing for the campaign ahead.
Its literally how big do you want this to grow? said fired-up RBB member Sean Herrett.
Its massive. Weve organised our preseason matches to attend. Weve got a lot of new chants organised the boys and girls are pumped.
Weve got families and kids involved now. Ive had messages from people asking, are our kids allowed in there? Of course, we just want everyone involved. As long as youre willing to stand and sing, no dramas.
