Western Sydney Wanderers supporters could be granted their wish to have the first safe standing area in the country after the NSW government hinted the designs for the new stadium in Parramatta could accommodate the club's request.
What loomed as a potential disagreement between the Wanderers and Parramatta Eels appears to have been resolved with NSW minister for sport, Stuart Ayres, saying the A-League side could have its submission for 1000 rail seats to be installed in the new venue.
Designs for the new 30,000-seated stadium are yet to be formalised though the final submissions have been lodged with the Wanderers making a strong bid to have the first terrace-style environment to accommodate their vocal active supporters.
Loud and active: The Wanderers want to have standing room for their fans in the new stadium.
Loud and active: The Wanderers want to have standing room for their fans in the new stadium. Photo: Jonathan Carroll
Seats that can be locked up to form terraces with protective rail guards could form part of the northern end of the new stadium that will include a steep rake in a purpose-built rectangular football stadium.
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The Eels had concerns about potential obstruction of sight caused by the safe standing rails but speaking at a launch for Female Football Week, Ayres was confident the final design would satisfy both clubs' needs.
"All of that information has been put into the design brief and we'll be putting that out to the designer construct tender. We'll be looking to see how the market responds to putting those requests into those designs but I'm very confident that we'll get something that everyone's happy with," Ayres said. "We'll be looking to get world class rake, which is the angle of the seats, and we'll be looking to accommodate all different types of fan usage in the design the best way we can."
Despite conjecture over the future of Allianz Stadium at Moore Park, Ayres says the state government remains committed to knocking down the stadium instead of renovating the existing venue. The minister says there are no plans to build a new stadium on the land adjacent to Allianz Stadium.
"I think the design brief will determine where is the best location to build the stadium. But, we've made some very strong comments about the fact that stadium - at this stage - the intent is to build it on the existing SCG Sports Ground Trust's lands unless the government's presented with an alternative that outweighs any of the counter positions around that, we're sticking to what we've already announced," he said.
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