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The Sydney derby will make history next month, and fans can play their role by filling ANZ Stadium for the biggest domestic game in recent memory.
There were conflicting stories in Sydney’s mass circulation Daily Telegraph last week, with Tom Smithies claiming that Sydney FC fans had snapped up less than 5,000 of the tickets on offer for the opening weekend clash against bitter rivals Western Sydney Wanderers.
According to Smithies some 10,000 tickets designated for Sydney FC fans remain unsold, with many more still available in general seating areas.
But the Telegraph’s sports editor-at-large Phil Rothfield was more bullish in his ‘What’s The Buzz’ column on Saturday, writing that the derby had already shifted 50,000 tickets and that more than 70,000 fans were ultimately expected to file through the gates.
The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, with the majority of fans inside ANZ Stadium for the historic showdown likely to be supporting recently upended hosts Western Sydney.
A cursory check of the Ticketek website reveals there are indeed tickets remaining in the Sydney FC end, although it’s never stopped tens of thousands of fans decked out in Sky Blue from showing up at Allianz Stadium on derby day in the past.
Whatever colours supporters wear to Homebush, the important thing for the A-League is to get as many fans through the gate as possible.
This is a chance to make a genuine statement and there’s no better way to do it than by seeing a record crowd make its way to Sydney’s Olympic Park.
My partner and I will be flying down from Brisbane for the match and I would urge every football fan in Sydney to make a concerted effort to be part of this historic occasion.
Some of the best moments in Australian football have taken place at ANZ Stadium – including the national team’s World Cup qualification in 2005 and an historic Asian Cup win in 2015 – and a supersized Sydney derby offers the chance to write another chapter into the history books.
I’ll be at the season opener between Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory the night before and in keeping with the ‘rocks and diamonds’ nature of the A-League, there’s considerably less fanfare surrounding that particular fixture.
Victory look set to sign former Chelsea hard man Michael Essien – not that they need him – while the Roar will simply be hoping that some fans turn out following another disastrous off-season.
Less than three weeks out from the game there are still no general tickets on sale – the same can be said for Perth Glory’s and Newcastle Jets’ opening day fixtures – with the A-League and its constituent clubs once again leaving things decidedly late.
There’s also been relatively little advertising around the upcoming campaign, although there were murmurs from the A-League’s official social media accounts last week that an ‘Find Your A-League Team’ promotion would be forthcoming.
Not for the first time, it looks like fans will be expected to do much of the heavy lifting, although at least there’s a sprinkling of new names to help lure spectators in.
It’s a shame no one appears interested in Germany’s former World Cup winner Miroslav Klose, despite his eight goals and eight assists for Lazio in Serie A last season.
Klose is no spring chicken at 38 years of age, but he’s the highest goal scorer in World Cup finals of all time, and he scored in his last three matches in a row in the Italian top flight last season.
He’s got a better pedigree than Essien, but sadly the fact that Klose scored most of his goals in the Bundesliga rather than the Premier League appears to have counted against him.
That’s only a minor gripe though.
The good news is the new A-League campaign is just around the corner. If the Sydney derby is anything to go by, it could be the biggest season yet.(Click to Tweet)