http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,1,26508128-5006301,00.html

“A MEMO from the AFL instructed SANFL officials how to behave at the Adelaide Oval redevelopment announcement, including directions to “smile” and act “upbeat”…….”

http://sanflannualreport.realviewtechnologies.com/#

http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/adelaide_vn.html

Best Crowds 1991-1998
28884 St George v Balmain Adelaide 28-Jun-1991
27435 Adelaide v Hunter Adelaide 14-Mar-1997

On one hand you bemoan Adelaide still being stuck in the 50,s and on the other attack it for not catching up with the times.

Freud would really have a field day with you.

BTW the SANFL is probably the 2nd best football comp in Australia, thats pretty good for a supposed backwater.

You have obviously been to Footy Park more recently than myself but we also know your a Melbournite who has the pleasure of sitting under the roof at Etihad and one of the most impressive stadiums I’ve ever been to in the MCG.

One simply cannot begin to draw comparisons, yes Footy Park is exposed to the elements and it needs an upgrade, I don’t think anyone is hiding from that fact but it isn’t in a state of disrepair, it needs the upgrades so the AFL clubs in particular can maximise their profits and as I’ve noted, half of the $450 Million would suffice for expansion and roofing, I’m not sure about parking but I think that might cost a bit more.

The Adelaide Oval doesn’t need to be a major stadium. It’s one of the few remainining quaint cricket grounds, many Adelaidians don’t want it to become some major attraction, they’d rather see it protected in its current state as a reminder of it’s history, it’s fine the way it is so why does it need fixing?

Locationwise – here you’ve really shown you’re a gumsucker. Even if you don’t know Adelaide, go look on Google maps, you don’t have to be a city planner to note the lack of transport infrastructure around the Adelaide Oval, to see the difficulties any huge redevelopment will pose, how it will stress the city no end etc etc.

Many of Adelaide’s best restaurants and bars (taste dependent of course) are found out in Glenelg or in Brighton, it’s easier to get there from Footy Park than it is from the CBD. The casino – well the joke that is Adelaide Casino – is hardly some major drawcard for the city and all-in-all, Adelaide doesn’t function around it’s CBD like Melbourne or Sydney, that’s something that yourself and Mr Demetriou have failed to understand, Adelaide doesn’t need a stadium at its heart for Adelaidians, they happily commute by car, it is a foreign concept that doesn’t fit in the South Australian landscape and it shouldn’t be forced on the residents of Adelaide just so the travelling support of some Victorian teams can stay in a hotel near the casino and still be within walking distance of the stadium.

The MCC and VFL/AFL share the MCG. Sure Waverley Park was built (like footy Park) to remove the difficulties of season timing but ultimately 95% of Melbournians would much rather travel to the MCG than to Waverley. History has borne this out.

I was at AAMI stadium 3 months ago, it is a run down out of date stadium. Poor catering options, parking, public transport, no doubt corporates faciltiies are below par and it is 75% exposed to rain. This was my second experience after seeing a Showdown in 2008.

Have also been to the Adelaide Oval, no question it is a lovely ground to watch cricket. But a major stadium it is not.

Location wise this is a no brainer for Adelaide and it will reap the rewards of building a satte of the art stadium in the heart of town. Once the locals get the expereince of a new stadium close to bars, the casino, restuarants,etc, they will never look back.

Redb

The Politicians want a drawcard stadium and one of the criteria for this is location, obviously the Adelaide Oval is more centrally located than Footy Park but this could only possibly begin to matter in 25+ years when the city has expanded and public transport becomes a genuine reality, currently Footy Park is better to reach but they want to have a stadium in the heart of the city (like Melbourne) that acts as a Sports Mecca (like Melbourne) for the state.

My suggestion is give half the funding to the SANFL, you’ll have a 65,000 seat stadium in no time and that would put it second (in terms of capacity) behind the MCG (ANZ Stadium excluded). 65,000 seats in Adelaide and money to spend on the surrounding infrastructure would be a drawcard stadium.

Give the SACA their $100 Million and let them keep the historic ground, that’s what most cricket supporters want and funds are left over for an expansion of Hindmarsh…All for just $450 Million, you can improve three stadiums, make three sports happy, genuinely improve the appeal of all three and encourage further investment in South Australian sports (teams with larger capactiy grounds are always more attractive) or they can go and destroy the best of them all…

Obviously they should have a huge say in the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval. But the 2 key groups who need something developed for them in the city are AFL and FFA. If nothing comes of this, SACA will just keep on keeping on, whereas Aami Stadium will always be where it is and will continue to have its own issues and FFA will lose Adelaide as a possible host city for a World Cup,

The MCG and SCG have becomes meccas to “big” sport. Lost their hills, huge stands, no soul. Adelaide should go the other way, stay true to what it is, much like Lords etc in the UK. Yes they can’t handle huge crowds, but that’s the point.

I used to follow AFL, but I am increasingly growing to hate it (or rather the way it is being run). Demetriou seems to have an attitude that his sh!t doesn’t stink, the sun shines out of the AFL’s ass, and what they want they should get. They are about to become a billion dollar sport, and they want everything their way. Tell you what, given you are a billion dollar industry, you can fund your own grounds and everything else, and stop using government funding as a step up to keep growing your business.

I find the comment that ths SAFL has faded since the Crows and Port came in very telling. As they say, keep churning out the recruits for the draft and stay in your box SA!! The VFL, sorry AFL, is sitting pretty in Melbourne, with Docklands, and the MCG, and propping up its overpopulated Melbourne teams, and signing Karmichael, etc. Feeling taken for granted yet SA?

Cricket and footy are in most places good bedfellows, but in the vast majority of grounds it is football paying the way.

The SANFL will not let cricket have the whip hand, a independant government body should run the new stadium.

Loved the first comment from that article from a reader named taxpayer

“I think the SANFL forgot the kitchen sink!”

Yes I am and that pesky Port simply don’t fit into the South Australian landscape. Crows supporters love that they have a team to have a rivalry with but Port are economically not a viable club.

Your comment about the SACA is quite disrespectful. They get such a big say because cricket, in the state of SA is run by them. The Adelaide Oval is theirs, it’s the home of a sport for an entire state, it’s the beacon for cricket in SA, it’s a beautiful ground etc etc etc. – that’s why they get such a big say.

You are correct in saying this is as much about the city as it is any stadium.

Adelaide has been left behind for decades, the jokes by the other states do have some basis. It must grow and by growth I mean grow like a city, not expand and sprawl further. I mean economically, culturally. It is stuck in a bit of a time-warp if I’m honest.

Re The Footy Express. I’ve never taken public transport to the ground so I can’t make any judgements on the service itself but it is simply impossible that buses service the city, it’s too big, too wide and the population too spread.

Adelaide’s lack of real public transport shows just how far behind it is.

Dec 28, 2007 Adelaide v Sydney FC at Adelaide Oval = 25,000

Nov 22, 2008 Adelaide Utd v Sydney FC at Hindmarsh = 9,509

Jan 3, 2009 Adelaide Utd v Sydney FC at Adelaide Oval = 23,002

I think that tells you the benefit of having an inner city location that is easily accessible to the public.

“CRICKET pitches must be removed during football season. ” – That will be a huge issue. The SACA will never want this and I fail to see what bargaining chip could be used to make them give in. They’ll know what they have with their centre square and I can’t see any reason why they’d want to compromise it.

“THE SANFL has total control of Adelaide Oval from March 1 to October 14 each year. ” – Again, hard to see that one. Cricketers won’t want to be coming back in mid-October to find their stadium a shambles.

One must also consider the requirements for the outfield are completely different, whether that is something that Burdett could overcome? Probably pretty difficult if he has to give up the ground (assuming the SANFL will want to bring Butterfield over from Footy Park) for more than half the year.

Freud – you say you haven’t been to Aami Stadium for 2 years? I would say that’s part of the reason why they want a city stadium. There are many people like you who haven’t been to Aami Stadium for a long time and for the majority of those people, it’s just because it is too far out of the way. Often people argue against this saying that Waverley/ANZ stadium are just as far, but we are talking about Adelaide folks, not Sydney or Melbourne.

The public transport issue is interesting. In this day and age of ETS, CPRS, recycling, water restrictions, etc we all still want to drive our car to the footy. Why? I’ve never driven to the footy … ever. The public transport Aami Stadium at the moment is pretty good too. The Footy Express is a FREE service that will pick you up almost from your doorstep. What more do the Adelaide people want?

Under this plan, there will be a walkway from the train station right to the front gates of the new stadium. And yet all I keep hearing is “where will I park my car??” The answer is leave your car at home. I hope they charge $20 minimum for car parking and continue to offer free public transport in the beginning.

And therein lies the crux of the issue. Adelaide at the moment is a big country town. You have all sporting facitilities except Adelaide Oval (our only real gem in the sporting landscape) outside the city limits. You have suburban shopping centres with greater patronage than the city precinct. And you have pockets of dining areas that have grown organically which owe more to the great work of local chefs and restauranteurs than city planners.

The city-stadium debate is bigger than the AFL, bigger than SANFL and much much bigger than the SACA (cricket’s a dead game anyway, why do they get such a big say?). It’s about the city – about public transport, about rejuvenating a dead city that has gone backwards and about attracting tourism and business to the city of Adelaide.

Which is why I think the Liberal party’s vision is better. The stadium needs to be built, owned and controlled by the government, ergo the people of SA. Graham Cornes will tell you that the SANFL will never move to a new stadium if it doesn’t have control of it. Well let’s see how long the Crows and Port stay at Aami once the government pulls ALL funding to the game and the clubs while they continue to play at West Lakes. Who runs this State anyway??

You’re not a Crows supporter by chance?

This should tell you all just how powerful Demetriou is, more powerful than SACA and the SANFL combined.

The SANFL built a perfectly good stadium with potential for redevelopment, the Crows should fill it week-in, week-out and any other SA team than Port would do the same.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,,26446860-2682,00.html

After reading that, I doubt this thing goes through.

Firstly this is only a memorandum of understanding, No deal will be struck until after the next election in July next year.

The liberals are proposing an alternative, you have the right to vote which you think is better.