There is exactly one year until the kick-off of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, and already the tournament is steadily generating momentum.
Newcastle is one of five host cities for the Asian Cup, along with Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, and on Sunday the city will celebrate the official one-year countdown until their first group match.
The 16 best teams in Asia will be contesting the Cup, with reigning champions Japan expected to be a key contender again.
The final 16 teams to compete in the tournament will be finalised in early March, with the official draw to take place on March 26 at the Sydney Opera House.
Newcastle isn’t taking host city status lightly, putting on a celebration at Wheeler Place in heart of the city’s CBD, a site familiar to football fans having been a live venue for the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.
On Sunday morning at 10.30am the official 2015 AFC Asian Cup countdown clock will be launched at the site, fans will get the opportunity to get hold of the first tickets available for Asian Cup matches and Newcastle Jets games.
Jets players and local football legends will be on hand to sign autographs, while the AFC Asian Cup trophy will also be on hand for the event.
Tournament organisers will be hosting the ‘365 football scramble‘ for pre-registered participants, with five of 365 balls containing family pass tickets to be won.
With the city hosting four matches – two group games, the semi-final and the third-place playoff, tickets to Newcastle’s 33,000-seat stadium are expected to be at a premium.
Ms Jan Ross, Manager of Tourism and Economic Services for the City of Newcastle, said that she expected the matches to be well patronised by visitors from neighbouring countries playing in the city.
“Newcastle has long been a football heartland and being one of just five host cities to stage AFC Asian Cup matches in 2015 is both a great honour and incredibly exciting for the whole city,” said Ross.
“All matches will be played at Newcastle Stadium – home ground for the Newcastle Jets A-League football team.
“Following completion of the stadium’s recent state of the art $81 million Western Grandstand, increasing its seating capacity to 33,000, Newcastle is well prepared to welcome the thousands of fans who will be travelling to region to see some of the world’s best teams vie for the AFC Asian Cup championship.
“Given the number of teams involved in the championship from all around Asia, we expect interest in AFC Asian Cup to surpass all other events – and we can’t wait to show off our wonderful city to visitors travelling from far and wide.”
Sunday’s event comes after the tournament was officially launched one year out from the January 9, 2015 kick-off at Melbourne’s Federation Square.
Speaking at the launch, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou urged Australians to get behind the event.
“The Socceroos are the people’s team, and the Asian Cup is the people’s tournament,” he said.
“This is a chance for Australia to shine on and off the field.
“We are one of the most multicultural nations on earth, and for the first time we are hosting the top 16 teams in the world’s biggest region.
“First we have the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, then six months later we host the AFC Asian Cup. Australian football has never known a time quite as exciting as this.”
How do you get involved? Registrations for the 365 football scramble are now open and entry is free – so if you’re looking to snare some of the first available tickets to next year’s tournament, register and get down to Wheeler Place on Sunday.
Mazzalenko
Guest
I like Ange's comments about socceroos being the people's team. A short and to the point comment that is neither grandiose or likely to put people's noises out of joint, however I shudder to think what Mr Gallop is going to say about the tournament and how much he is going to be over the top about this tournament, especially about it being well viewed and well attended. 500,000 is a realistic target for total attendance and anything above that is a huge bonus, but dont hold your breath about it being larger than what the cricket world cup will be, that will be held around the same time. Not to mention the Aus Open as well that is going to be held concurrently with the Asian Cup. I honestly feel David Gallops "football is unstoppable" comment this summer has done our code as much harm as what those idiot rioters did before the victory v wanders game in late December. This tournament is going to be a well run tournament and hopefully it will get some (good) publicity in the mainststeam, but I honestly hope Gallop does not come out and say it will take our code to number 1 status or other such fluff, as this is not a WC we are talking about here!
Johan
Guest
Better to have a full stadium of peeps paying 10 dollars than 3 men and a dog paying 40-50 dollars.
Dan
Guest
Iranian and Korean supporters will love to hear that sort of comment. And $10 tickets - be realistic.
Titus
Guest
As far as I know, Adelaide and Perth had no desire to contribute to costs and spreading it out to Adelaide and Perth would have made it significantly more expensive.
Monopoly Man
Guest
Can somebody explain why Newcastle and Canberra were chosen over places like, I don't know, Adelaide or Perth?
Cappuccino
Roar Guru
I'm not saying that ticket prices *should* be more than $10, just that they will be, because the AFC will want to turn a profit. Anyway, I'm expecting decent crowds- matches involving the Socceroos will all sell out, Japan, Korea, China and so on will draw big crowds and even matches involving the minnows should get decent attendances. The FFA said a while back they expect a total attendance of around 500,000- which is an average of about 16,000 per match. Anyway, it's going to be a great tournament, I'm excited and I'm sure the rest of Australia will be as the tournament gets closer.
MG
Guest
Won't be going as it won't be played in Adelaide. Will have to catch it on TV...
Johan
Guest
Cap- yes but the a league represents regions of Australia so people have a connection. How many people have you met from North Korea in Australia? North Korea are one of the 4 teams that have qualified so far. Some teams like China ( if they manage to qualify and they often don't) and Japan will no doubt get support but others will get virtually none if tickets are not very cheap. Working class peeps who make up the majority of football fans will not pay more than 10 bucks to see unknown teams with players who are of very Mediocre skills. The football fans in my employ tend to follow an a league team and an EPL or Serie A team, so I doubt that they would go along. Maybe if it was Holland v France with players that they know.
Cappuccino
Roar Guru
You're having a laugh mate. The standard of football will be good (no, not World Class but then neither is the A-League) and as far as $10 tickets are concerned you're dreaming.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Korea maybe?
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Oh really! thanks for that Mike (that's how closely I followed the qualifications ahh!). I definitely want to attend a few matches. PS: just had a look at the qualifications. SEA is really behind, sad really.
Mike
Roar Guru
Indonesia and Vietnam didn't qualify, sorry Nick! Should still be a great tournament though. Might have to go to a few matches. :)
Johan
Guest
The FFA must be sensible about pricing of the tickets if they want crowds to the non socceroos games. No more than 10 dollars- the standard of football on show will be derisory so tickets must be priced accordingly. Japan are technically good and Australia will have a physical advantage and are playing at home. The other teams are not good by world standards.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Really think this could/will be a defining moment in Australia's sport history (not only football). Oz has the opportunity to show that they are part of Asia and Asia is part of 21st century Australia. How fantastic it would be to have Viet Nam, China, Indonesia and all other nations who have a common history with Oz present in the tournament. I cant wait for the opening ceremony.
Mike
Roar Guru
I'm looking forward to the Asian Cup. Should be a lot of fun, and a great chance to showcase Australia to Asia. Hopefully China will qualify in March, as their audience would be helpful. So far there's only a handful of teams from East Asia who've qualified.
Stevo
Guest
Was at Fed square to see Luca$h and Co. hype up the Asia Cup. Was surprised to see many kids and families as well - also plenty of photo ops with Luca$h. He seems fit enough but has he got a team at the moment that he can play with?