Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Wanderers plan 32,000 Parramatta super stadium
Wanderers fans have proven to be as big a part of the club's success as what happens on the field (Getty)
Western Sydney Wanderers is proposing to make its home ground Parramatta Stadium a 32,000-capacity venue, chairman Paul Lederer revealed.
By Philip Micallef
3 Oct 2014 - 2:50 PM UPDATED 4 MINS AGO
0
Lederer, the Primo Smallgoods chairman who is the head of a consortium that bought the club from Football Federation Australia for $12 million this year, said the stadium was becoming too small for the Wanderers.
The club that will contest the AFC Champions League final against Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal - at home on Saturday 25 October and away on Saturday 1 November - has just under 17,000 members and Lederer believes that the success of the Wanderers on and off the field has forced the board to look ahead.
"We are beginning to outgrow Parramatta Stadium and we have taken steps to remedy that," Lederer said.
"The NSW government, as you know, will expand the stadium by 5000 seats next season and that is stage one.
"Eventually there is potential for this stadium to be extended to a 32,000 capacity.
"Obviously we need more support from the government which we are working towards.
"This second stage has not been announced yet because the government is not committed to it.
"There is enough room around the stadium to expand.
"We have a support base of 16,000 to 17,000 and I'd like to think that in the next three years we could be looking at 22,000 to 25,000 people so we will need a bigger facility.
"I can tell you that we as a board have no intention whatsoever of moving away from Parramatta Stadium."
The stadium is owned by the government but Lederer gave a clear sign of the board's intention to be there for the long haul by declaring that the club "would keep all options open and not rule out anything down the track."
Lederer spoke at length about the Wanderers phenomenon that has taken Australian sport by storm.
What brought you to the Wanderers?
"I've been working in the western suburbs for more than 30 years so I've spent the better part of my life there.
"I've shown my loyalty to the western suburbs and I think if we can make a small difference, which I think we can then I'm more than happy to do that.
"That's my driving force."
You bought the club for $12 million ... was this one of your best bargains?
"I did not buy the club as a business. I sincerely came in to build the club the western Sydney community can be proud of.
"The last thing on our mind was to buy the club as a business for profit and loss.
"We bought it to build something ... a little bit more than a football club ... a sporting club for western Sydney."
What is the Wanderers' greatest asset?
"We are very humble and very focussed. We know what we want. We have a great group of people, a top chief executive, coach and assistant coach.
"I think it's a team effort and everybody involved with the Wanderers knows what their task is."
You come from a football family and you must have enjoyed the whole experience of the Champions League semi-final versus FC Seoul on Wednesday night.
"It was probably the most memorable night of football that I attended. It was one of the code's best achievements.
"The boys, the coach and everybody associated with the club excelled and it was a hell of an effort to get to this stage.
"It was a fantastic job all round."
The rapid rise of the Wanderers begs the question: how far can they go?
"I'd like to think that in a short time it has made a fantastic effort but it's only the beginning.
"It is the board's intention to build a world class sporting club. We want to be the best and biggest sporting club in Australia.
"It is ambitious but I'm sure we are going to get there."
You know that football in Australia has a history of false dawns. What makes you think that this time the Wanderers and the game in general are the real thing?
"Football across the board has become more professional, the game's perception among the people is higher and we are getting the right people in the game from FFA to club level.
"The right attitude from everybody is making a big difference."
Tony Popovic is doing a great job and he obviously will attract interest from bigger clubs from abroad. Will the Wanderers do their utmost to keep him?
"Absolutely. I must say that Tony is very committed to the club. He loves the club and it's his passion. We have a great relationship with him and I'm sure that he will be with us for many years to come."
What is the club's policy regarding the selling and buying of players?
"We have a very ambitious plan on the juniors, the ladies and the whole western area as to recruiting, nurturing and educating players.
"We are planning a whole blueprint on how to go forward and our intention is to grow our own players.
"There is no long-term strategy of buying and selling players."
You're a football man but also a businessman: are you here for the long haul?
"Football is my passion, it's what I love doing and I think I can add a bit of value make a bit of a difference and I am here for the long haul, absolutely.
"I'm not about to buy and sell shares."
How do you see the A-League and is there anything in the whole set-up that you'd like changed?
"It is going from strength to strength and is on the right track. Obviously, there are few things that you can do better maybe but the bottom line is the game is run by very committed people and I can see a bright future for the competition."
Apology accepted Suity ;-).
Date October 23, 2014 - 10:00PM
Football Writer
Spiritual home: Labinot Haliti salutes the crowd at Pirtek Stadium in March this year. Photo: Brendan Esposito
The biggest match of any code ever hosted by Pirtek Stadium might also be the last Asian Champions League match played at Parramatta.
Like many, I'm still staggered that the final of the ACL is being played at a ground in which only 18,500 tickets can be sold. Like many, I also have my reservations about ANZ Stadium, but in this instance it was the right venue for a match which could have – conceivably – pulled in 50,000 fans. Now, of course, we'll never know.
Western Sydney Wanderers insisted on Parramatta partly because of the wishes of their coach, Tony Popovic, and partly because the majority of their fans wanted it there. Even though many of those members have ended up missing out on seats because their entitlement (four tickets each) was about three-times the available capacity.
But the bigger picture here is that the ACL final will showcase just how inadequate Parramatta is as a major events stadium. And how the planned $29 million upgrade won't paper over those cracks. Both the Wanderers and Parramatta Eels had hoped to get an investment four-times that – a renovation which would have increased capacity to about 32,000 – but a change of state government has changed everything.
Advertisement
The new Liberal government has a new stadium policy, and while there is an acknowledgement western Sydney is crying out for a major-events stadium, Parramatta is now fighting with Penrith and perhaps a new site in Blacktown for the lifeblood of public funding. You'd imagine the fact that Parramatta has two major tenants might work in its favour, but there are powerful lobbyists at work elsewhere – not least James Packer's push for Penrith. Whether Parramatta will ever get the upgrade it needs to host major events therefore remains uncertain.
As it stands, there are serious doubts whether the Asian Football Confederation will sanction Parramatta as an ACL venue beyond the final. Why this matters is that the Wanderers will be playing in the ACL again next year – with their first matches in late February. The only venue in Sydney which is fully AFC-compliant is Homebush, but 10,000 fans inside ANZ Stadium for an ACL group match doesn't have the same appeal as five-times that number for the final. Nonetheless that's the scenario facing the Wanderers in 2015, particularly if they lose out to the Eels in terms of the timing of the building works at Parramatta.
In theory, the Wanderers should again be able to host ACL games after the upgrade is completed, but Asian football doesn't always work like that. The AFC only reluctantly gave Parramatta an exemption this year, and if the Al Hilal entourage, which includes members of the Saudi royal family, don't enjoy their game-day experience in the final then prepare for the backlash. The AFC, now dominated politically by west Asia, care more about their VIPs than anything else.
In the meantime there's frustration the chance for Western Sydney Wanderers to test their potential has been wasted. ANZ Stadium wanted the game, and had committed to being ready despite a monster truck event last weekend. Like many, I wonder just how big the Wanderers juggernaut can become, and the biggest game in their short history – and apart from the FIFA Club World Cup the biggest game they can possibly play – was the perfect opportunity.
Ultimately the real story here is about football taking control of its venues. Frank Lowy believes that the cost of real estate in Australia makes building football-specific venues a pipedream. I prefer to believe where there's a will, there's a way. Until the Americans began building their own stadiums, Major League Soccer was in dire trouble. Getting the full benefit of match-day revenue has liberated the MLS, and one day it will be among the most important leagues in the world.
It may be that private investors will need to share the burden if A-League clubs are to follow the same path, but there is a precedent here. Look at the NSL, and all those clubs who built their grounds from scratch. With private money, on private land. It might cost a lot more to do the same today, but the principle remains the same.
