SFS redevelopment

[Lambretta]

Disagree

This is sorely needed although whether a complete knockdown should have happened or a staged upgrade is another debate.

ANZ is in a shit hole but the facilities there are so much better from the concourse all the way through to the corporates. My hope (albeit an optimistic one) is that the new SFS will be seen as a venue that people want to go to ala Suncorp Stadium.

It is a great view at the moment but the stadium just looks tired and out-dated. Look at places like ANZ, Suncorp, AAMI, Etihad, SCG, Adelaide Oval and the list goes on, they just look and feel more modern and the experience there mimics that. The SFS is well and truly stuck in the early 90s as a venue. They better still have full strength beer though!!

The SCG is not great for footy but what other choice is there? At least they are staying loyal to their local area and not going to ANZ/Parra stadium. I do think there is an opportunity to live up to the "Sydney" in our name and minimise the games at the SCG by playing a couple of games at places like Kogarah and Leichardt against out of town opposition as it is not too far from our traditional base but not sure how that would go down with most supporters. It isn't unprecedented, didn't Parra have a full season or 2 at Belmore?

Reasons I go to the football stadium

1. To watch the football
2. To watch the football
3. To watch the football
4. To watch the football
Guess what number 5 is?

Walking down the concourse doesn't even register on my list of things I give a shit about - as for the Corporate Experience? Give em decent food and decent beer and you're already pissing on what you'd get at ANZ.

if they could build a new stadium for $50 million, I'd say go for it - but they're talking about the best part of a billion dollars - and for what? So the corporate people have better carpet and still have to drink Hahn Superdry f**king mid strength?

it's a f**king disgraceful waste of money

Allianz pisses on Leichhardt, Penrith, Brookvale, Shark Park and all the other shitty suburban grounds
Don't forget, this is a stadium which hosts the Roosters, Sydney FC and the Waratahs - three teams who don't go close to filling the current 40,000 capacity and never will in a City like Sydney which is full of "look at me, I only go to 'events' attention whores"

AAMI is a lovely stadium..... doesn't mean the Storm or Melbourne City fill it every week with people creaming their f**king knickers about how pretty the f**king pie stand is.

One of the best stadium I have been in, in recent years is Stadium MK in Milton Keynes
It holds 35,000 people, has brilliant leg room, comfortable seats (padded, I might add), and an amazing view from wherever you sit with no internal pillars. It contains a hotel and has loads of retail outlets in it's grounds, so you can go for dinner or a movie or to a bar etc before or after the game.

IT COST 30 MILLION POUNDS for the first 20,000 seats - that's $52,000,000
They did a redevelopment to add some more seats, but they'd already constructed the tier the seats were added to, so it cost them the money to screw in new seats. Say another $5,000,000

They are talking about a THOUSAND MILLION to do what should cost ONE TENTH of that
The whole thing is a massive f**king rort and I don't want a f**king thing to do with it

Re-build ANZ by all means - the place is a shit hole. But Allianz does not need that sort of money spent on it just because it looks "a little dated"

 

[adamkungl]

Reasons I go to the football stadium

1. To watch the football
2. To watch the football
3. To watch the football
4. To watch the football
Guess what number 5 is?

Walking down the concourse doesn't even register on my list of things I give a shit about - as for the Corporate Experience? Give em decent food and decent beer and you're already pissing on what you'd get at ANZ.

Try getting decent food and a beer (or going for a piss) when there's 40,000 people in there and you'll be missing half of the football.

 

[Valheru]

Reasons I go to the football stadium

1. To watch the football
2. To watch the football
3. To watch the football
4. To watch the football
Guess what number 5 is?

Walking down the concourse doesn't even register on my list of things I give a shit about - as for the Corporate Experience? Give em decent food and decent beer and you're already pissing on what you'd get at ANZ.

if they could build a new stadium for $50 million, I'd say go for it - but they're talking about the best part of a billion dollars - and for what? So the corporate people have better carpet and still have to drink Hahn Superdry f**king mid strength?

it's a f**king disgraceful waste of money

Allianz pisses on Leichhardt, Penrith, Brookvale, Shark Park and all the other shitty suburban grounds
Don't forget, this is a stadium which hosts the Roosters, Sydney FC and the Waratahs - three teams who don't go close to filling the current 40,000 capacity and never will in a City like Sydney which is full of "look at me, I only go to 'events' attention whores"

AAMI is a lovely stadium..... doesn't mean the Storm or Melbourne City fill it every week with people creaming their f**king knickers about how pretty the f**king pie stand is.

One of the best stadium I have been in, in recent years is Stadium MK in Milton Keynes
It holds 35,000 people, has brilliant leg room, comfortable seats (padded, I might add), and an amazing view from wherever you sit with no internal pillars. It contains a hotel and has loads of retail outlets in it's grounds, so you can go for dinner or a movie or to a bar etc before or after the game.

IT COST 30 MILLION POUNDS for the first 20,000 seats - that's $52,000,000
They did a redevelopment to add some more seats, but they'd already constructed the tier the seats were added to, so it cost them the money to screw in new seats. Say another $5,000,000

They are talking about a THOUSAND MILLION to do what should cost ONE TENTH of that
The whole thing is a massive f**king rort and I don't want a f**king thing to do with it

Re-build ANZ by all means - the place is a shit hole. But Allianz does not need that sort of money spent on it just because it looks "a little dated"

The amount of money being spent is a different issue and a political one at that. I am merely saying it does need a rebuild and I think the club as well as the city will benefit from it.

 

[Lambretta]

Try getting decent food and a beer (or going for a piss) when there's 40,000 people in there and you'll be missing half of the football.

You can't get decent for or beer if there are 3 people in there as they don't f**king sell any. As for going for a piss, I never have an issue on Anzac Day.

 

[H.H]

Thought Webster made some good points today, puts the $2b into perspective too:

After years of the so-called stadium wars, there is peace in our time with Premier Gladys Berejiklian a week ago announcing a $2.3 billion upgrade of Allianz and ANZ Stadium.

It will cost $705 million for a new 45,000-seat stadium, with work to start in August next year. ANZ Stadium's 75,000-seat rectangular stadium will be built from 2019. Along with the new 30,000-seat stadium at Parramatta, Sydney will finally have the sporting facilities you'd expect of the biggest city in the country.

Allianz needed to be rebuilt. Its safety and compliance issues were real. Forget about squabbles over toilets and long queues. The place doesn't have a single sprinkler in it. As certain fans have shown us with the use of flares, those seats are indeed flammable.

Now, it will have the ability to swap between "club" and championship mode to accommodate the smallish and biggish fixtures, but what I like about this design — seen here from Driver Avenue looking east — is the vast open spaces around the stadium. Before angry residents start firing off angry letters to the editor, the stadium will be built solely on SCG Trust land.

Since the announcement, the usual commentary has surfaced about the entire thing being an enormous waste of taxpayers' money. It lacks foresight about what Sydney's sporting landscape will soon look like.

A revamped transport network, with light rail networks in both the east and west as well as WestConnex, means the largest impediment to attending sport in this city — the mind-numbing traffic — will ease dramatically.

There's an argument that supply does not equal demand. These two stadiums are pretty much white elephants … What planet are these people on?

ANZ Stadium and Allianz Stadium host 200 major men's and women's fixtures across all five codes every year. Both venues attract 3.5 million people per year to major events and a total 17 million precinct visitors.

Then there's the age-old argument about money being better spent on schools, hospitals, roads, perhaps Vivid.

It's been suggested to this column from government types that about $200 billion will be spent on health and education over the five years that these stadiums will also be built. About $2 billion on stadiums equates to one percent of that.

Both venues contribute $2 billion in economic impact each year for NSW. We could go on and on about the jobs the sports played at these venues create, how much money those sports bring into the economy, the importance of Sydney keeping the NRL grand final, State of Origins, trying to secure hosting rights to the 2023 FIFA women's World Cup ... but we're running out of space and we're close to deadline.

Those who roll their eyes whenever the government invests money into sport often don't understand the value — monetarily or otherwise — that sport brings.

 

[Lambretta]

The facilities at the SFS absolutely struggle with more than 20,000 in there.
A city that considers itself world class should have a world class stadium.

When are there ever more than 20,000 at Allianz? When the Waratahs play there? Twice a season for the Roosters? Twice a season for Sydney FC? That's it.

Sydney will have 3 World class stadiums
ANZ, which will be re-built and deservedly so, because it's a f**king shithole
Parramatta - 30,000 all seater
SCG for Cricket and Aussie Rules

Yes, both the rectangle stadiums will be "out West" but that is now the geographical centre of Sydney and that's where the crowds will go. Like it or not the money needs to go where the crowds will turn up and Moore Park isn't it.

Once ANZ has been fully re-built and is running smoothly, then you can knock down Allianz if you want - but to knock it down at the same time as ANZ is stupid. Plus the money they're crapping on about is utter nonsense. I don't see it's needed atm. Leave it a few years till the other stadiums are sorted out

 

[Lambretta]

On the subject of the SCG - if we have games there for two years I will stick to going to away games

The last time I watched Rugby League there was my last time ever

 

[Valheru]

Yeah the SCG does suck but what other choice is there? At least they are keeping it in the area.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

I hope you take a bunch of games up to Gosford. Perfect opportunity to really cement yourselves as THE Gosford team...

Following this big up-front commitment, you will only need to take 1-2 games a year and you will still achieve and maintain a presence equivalent to StGeorge in Wollongong.

 

[horrie hastings]

I hope you take a bunch of games up to Gosford. Perfect opportunity to really cement yourselves as THE Gosford team...

Following this big up-front commitment, you will only need to take 1-2 games a year and you will still achieve and maintain a presence equivalent to StGeorge in Wollongong.

I reckon they will probably take two games up to Gosford a season while the SFS is out of action plus the one game to Adelaide, I have no problems with a couple more games up at Gosford as it is a decent stadium and its easy to get to by train from Sydney, besides i'm not looking forward to watching games at the SCG because it is a shocker and it will be interesting how they will schedule games at the SCG with the Roosters and the Swans as tenants , also not sure whether the Waratahs will play there also.

 

[morley101]

Everybody wants the sports stadium close to the cbd like Melbourne..

the distance from central to sfs (2.8 km) via Albion St and Moore Park Rd.

from flinders st station to Melbourne rectangular stadium 2.9 KMs

 

[Lambretta]

Yeah the SCG does suck but what other choice is there? At least they are keeping it in the area.

With the number of supporters we get for some games, Henson Park or Leichhardt would be far preferable. Even three games at Gosford would be better than the SCG.

Hell, I'd even put up with games being played at Brookvale with the option of sitting in the Leagues club and watching on big screens rather than the f**king SCG 500 miles from the pitch and watching from ground level at 45 degrees to the corner post (which every single seat not already sat in by some bastard appears to be)

 

[Valheru]

With the number of supporters we get for some games, Henson Park or Leichhardt would be far preferable. Even three games at Gosford would be better than the SCG.

Hell, I'd even put up with games being played at Brookvale with the option of sitting in the Leagues club and watching on big screens rather than the f**king SCG 500 miles from the pitch and watching from ground level at 45 degrees to the corner post (which every single seat not already sat in by some bastard appears to be)

I don't know about Brookvale, but I think there is merit in taking the lesser drawing games to a place like Kogarah. That wouldn't be too hard for our fan base to get to.

Anyways, the club must know that the SCG is not ideal and must be willing to accept the inevitable bad crowds that will occur in 2019/20.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

I reckon they will probably take two games up to Gosford a season while the SFS is out of action plus the one game to Adelaide, I have no problems with a couple more games up at Gosford as it is a decent stadium and its easy to get to by train from Sydney, besides i'm not looking forward to watching games at the SCG because it is a shocker and it will be interesting how they will schedule games at the SCG with the Roosters and the Swans as tenants , also not sure whether the Waratahs will play there also.

Given the shit quality of the SCG for RL games, id even be hoping for 4-6 games in Gosford...

Still very accessable for Sydney fans (better than Perth/Adelaide), the best quality stadium youll find outside of West Sydney and a real chance to cement yourselves as THE Gosford team.

Its better than most other options near by and youll never have another chance like it to really establish a fan base in the CC area. I really hope you dont waste the opportunity on the shitty suburban grounds and the f*ck SCG...

 

[Captain Apollo]

With the number of supporters we get for some games, Henson Park or Leichhardt would be far preferable. Even three games at Gosford would be better than the SCG.

Hell, I'd even put up with games being played at Brookvale with the option of sitting in the Leagues club and watching on big screens rather than the f**king SCG 500 miles from the pitch and watching from ground level at 45 degrees to the corner post (which every single seat not already sat in by some bastard appears to be)

I can't see our club taking first grade games to either Leichhardt Oval or Henson Park for at least one major reason - the lack of decent corporate facilities at either ground. It is one reason the Wests Tigers cited for taking games to ANZ in the first place, as they said they could not sell corporate tickets at decent prices as Leichhardt's facilities were so far behind the times compared to other grounds. Corporate revenue is probably higher for our club than season ticket revenue.

I admit, I'm no fan of the SCG as aground to view league at. I hate it as much as you do.

 

[horrie hastings]

I can't see our club taking first grade games to either Leichhardt Oval or Henson Park for at least one major reason - the lack of decent corporate facilities at either ground. It is one reason the Wests Tigers cited for taking games to ANZ in the first place, as they said they could not sell corporate tickets at decent prices as Leichhardt's facilities were so far behind the times compared to other grounds. Corporate revenue is probably higher for our club than season ticket revenue.

I admit, I'm no fan of the SCG as aground to view league at. I hate it as much as you do.

I just remember how nomadic we were when they demolished the old Sports Ground to build the SFS, we locked into Parramatta Stadium for a few games before settling in on Henson Park a bit later on and we also played a home game in 1986 at Orana Park which is now Campbelltown Stadium, I'm almost certain Kevin Hastings played his 200th game for the Roosters there and even though it was a home game I thought it was an insult to the great player. I would be happy for a retro game to be played at Henson Park but as you say there is no corporate facilities there and really the place is only fit to host a trial game at best now. The SCG is the best fit for the two or so years the SFS is out of action with a few games going up to Gosford.

 

[H.H]

Correct re. Horrie's 200th...I was there and geez it was sad to see.

You could see the embaressment on his face when they presented him to the crowd before the game who were 95% Wests fans. Credit to them as they were polite in their applause but it was pretty ordinary.