Aussie Stadiums

So, a look at the last few stadiums on my travels, and this time, we’re looking at three of them!

Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance (Capacity): 6,639 (44,500)

Sydney FC 0-1 Melbourne Heart
Zahra (86)

A meandering and mainly guess-filled bus journey from the city centre led us to the Sydney Football Stadium, which is also shared with a number of teams from different sporting codes. However, as far as they were off form, they had a big chance against the Melbourne Heart to claim all three points. With only one win in the last 8 games or so, the Heart should have been easy to turn over, but Sydney played very similar football. They had something else in common with Heart as well – a stadium that felt far too large for the club. It became even harder to generate a strong supporting atmosphere in the ground as Sydney struggled to create anything noteworthy, and it was eventually a late Melbourne Heart goal which gave them a narrow win. Proceedings weren’t helped by a particularly chilly breeze that none of us had prepared for!

Bluetongue Stadium
Attendance (Capacity): 6,249 (20,119)

Central Coast Mariners 2-0 Adelaide United
Simon (51), van Dijk (og, 78)

One of my most looked forward to stadiums to visit, Bluetongue Stadium didn’t disappoint as the Yellow and Navy jumped above Adelaide United to take 2nd place in the league. The stadium has by far the best surround, with the bottom end of the pitch given away to a line of palm trees and a view of the Hawkesbury River, while the weather was perfect for the game – bright sunshine and clear skies. Central Coast looked the liveliest in the first half, and once they took the lead in the second half, they dominated to the end. Even the journey to the stadium was enjoyable – a scenic train journey through NSW mountains. Locally born striker Matt Simon scored the important goal to round off a cracking day. Obviously, in a stadium sponsored by Bluetongue lager, we just had to get some Bluetongue lagers in for the match.

energyAustralia Stadium
Attendance (Capacity): 12,118 (33,000)

Newcastle Jets 1-2 Sydney FC
Haliti (68); Moriyasu (36), Cazarine (45)

Just over 50% of the way through my journey, it seemed fitting that I was at a stadium a little over 50% completed. Newcastle’s energyAustralia stadium is not as well integrated into the city as any other, and as such, is 4 train stops away from Newcastle. Even then, it appears to be located through a maze of parks, residential areas and business districts. With one of the main stands still under constructions, it has an odd appearance, and the majority of people seemed to have gone for the cheap seats, like me. This gets you into the top ends of the ground, on a grassy hill. When I was initially told there was a “dry hill” or a “non-dry hill”, I wondered why anyone wouldn’t choose the dry hill, before realising it didn’t mean that. There was also a sudden and heavy downpour throughout half-time where we all ran inside, before it cleared up again seconds before kick-off. As it was, Sydney upset the odds to beat their local neighbours 2-0, ensuring that I haven’t seen any team win more than one game.

I should point out that after the rain, both hills were wet.

The journey home had a new experience too – as the biggest away following I’d yet seen, there was a decent amount of sledging going on from either side of the train station, enough for the police to get involved. However, it was all in good spirit, typified by the Newcastle and Sydney fans celebrating their league positions in song – “Third last!” and “Second last!” respectively.

So there we are, my stadium journey now 6/11 of the way through (that’s 54.5454…% complete for anyone interested), and you can expect the next post to be up in a few days time. If you’re on the mailing list (subscribe by typing your email address in the box on the right>>) then I usually include more exact dates in my mass emails.

And finally, here is a photo of “Melvin the Mariner”, the Central Coast Mariners mascot. This week’s prize goes to whoever can identify what kind of animal he is, and what relevance it has to the Mariners.