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Western Sydney Wanderers hoping for new stadium plans to be finalised by Christmas
Western Sydney Wanderers executives will meet with NSW government authorities this week in the the hope of finalising details by Christmas for the mooted $300 million complete rebuild of their home ground Pirtek Stadium.
The Wanderers, who share the facility with NRL club Parramatta, could be currently playing their last A-League season at the ageing facility for at least three years, with the club investigating options for a temporary move to one of several stadiums in Sydney's west.
The new stadium will essentially double the capacity of the current facility in terms of spectators and corporate facilities, meaning the Wanderers will be able to further increase its already relatively impressive financial performance in only its fourth season in the A-League.
"We are hoping for a resolution, and the sooner the better," Wanderers chairman Paul Lederer told The Australian Financial Review. "But we think the new stadium will be a game changer. It will be a world class facility in Sydney's west and will be a great asset for the community."
The Wanderers are budgeting for a profit this season from revenue of at least between $12 to15 million, according to chief executive John Tsatsimas. Membership is at capacity at about 17,900, with another 2000 on a waiting list.
"We think we could eventually get that total number to 25,000 to 30,000 in the new stadium," Tsatsimas said. "We expect this season to be possibly our last season for a while at Pirtek Stadium, without knowing for sure. So we're making plans for what we will do in the interim and examining all our options while considering the facilities for our fans and for our corporate support and so on."
Happily debt-free
The Wanderers also are hoping to shortly break ground on their $20 million training, academy and administration project at Blacktown. The site, to be paid for by the club, will begin with 9 full-size and one half-size football pitches and take about 12 months to build, after which will come medical, administrative, office and social facilities built over three phases.
"We don't take dividends, the club is stable and it is debt free and we are investing any profits we make back into the club," Lederer said. "We think the facility will be finished within five years, so we will have that and the stadium then. The facility will truly be world class, and it will really connect us with our community."
Lederer also said he was pleased there had been a resolution to the dispute between A-League fan groups and Football Federation Australia regarding the banning of fans from stadiums with the right of appeal.
The matter came to a head the weekend before last with large groups of fans, including the Wanderers' Red and Black Bloc, boycotting matches. Meetings last week saw the boycotts end for last weekend, during which the Wanderers beat Melbourne Victory 2-0.
Read more: http://www.afr.com/business/sport/w...ed-by-christmas-20151209-gljkkf#ixzz3uFUSgCJU
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Another design in process.
Korny, please don't take offence to it because it came from a person who ISN'T a Parra Eels fan.
