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Searching for a new Wanderland

28th January, 2017
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Roar Guru
28th January, 2017
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The Wanderers disappointing A-League campaign to date has left fans feeling rather numb and almost as flat as the atmosphere at their temporary home at Olympic Park.

While on the field there is still plenty of time for redemption, the home ground situation will plague the club for the next two years while the new Parramatta Stadium is being rebuilt.

The average crowd for the Wanderers this season – not factoring in the season opener against Sydney FC – is around 13,200. This drops to 12,700 when including only the games played at Spotless Stadium.

While these numbers are hardly a major drop from previous seasons. The 2016/17 average was 14,297.

The electric atmosphere at Wanderers home games which has become a highlight of the A league has gone a little flat.

This is partly due to results on the field but also the fact the games are being played at oval shaped non-football type venues where the fans are not on top of the action.

While contracts are in place to use Spotless Stadium and ANZ Stadium, it might be fun to investigate alternate options the Wanderers may have while they wait for their brand-new purpose built stadium.

These options involve going to rectangular shaped venues around Western Sydney where the fans are right near the action.

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Option 1
Three home games at Campbelltown Stadium, three home games at Penrith Stadium, three home games at Belmore Sports Ground, three home games at Spotless Stadium and one game (Sydney derby) at ANZ Stadium.

With this option the club has a chance to truly live up to its name and wander all over Western Sydney and capture fans from all over the region.

With the club not having a permanent home for two more seasons after the current one, they may as well use it as an opportunity to take the game right into the backyards of the western suburbs of Sydney to its wide range of fans.

The club’s strength from its beginning has been its ability to engage with its community and this would be a great way to consolidate and build on this.

All venues have a decent capacity and crucially all are within a short distance of a train station making access relatively easy. The corporate facilities at Campbelltown, Belmore and Penrith aren’t as good as the venues at Olympic Park and some fans may prefer a permanent central location rather than having to travel around. However these temporary problems could be outweighed by the prospect of attracting new fans from the western suburbs.

The Campbelltown/Macarthur region has a population of nearly 250,000 of which more than 8,000 are registered footballers. This doesn’t factor in the booming Liverpool region which is a 15 minute drive up the M5 and boasts numbers which are just as strong.

Penrith has a population of 200,000 including over 12,000 people who play the round ball game.

When you add Blacktown (a short 25 min drive up the M4) to the mix, this figure more than doubles.

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The Canterbury/Bankstown region where Belmore is based has a population of well over 350,000 and over 21,000 football participants from both the Canterbury District and Bankstown District associations.

These numbers are huge and the Wanderers can take full advantage by taking meaningful games right into their backyards and showing them they are very much part of the club’s heartland.

By the time the Wanderers return to their spiritual home in the centre of western Sydney they may well have significantly more members than the 19,300 they have this season.

Option 2
In 2017-18, have six games at Campbelltown, six games at Penrith and one game (Sydney derby) at ANZ Stadium. In 2018-19, have six games at Belmore, six games at Campbelltown and two games (Sydney derbies) at ANZ Stadium.

This option allows the Wanderers to spend one year of the remaining two consolidating each different region of Western Sydney with more games in each particular year rather than a lesser number of games at each venue over two seasons.

This may also make it easier when sorting out membership packages.

Whether the Wanderers management considers options like the two mentioned above or come up with their own or stick with what they have, it will be interesting to see what the membership numbers will be in the coming two season prior to moving back to Parramatta Stadium.

As always, the fans will vote with their feet and their back pocket.

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One important factor to consider is the impact on the playing group. Some might find it disturbing to their routine if they have several home venues but many will find it better if they played in a proper rectangular football stadium where the fans are right on top of the action.

With the A league expanding in the coming seasons it would be great to show everyone else how strong the Wanderers brand is and how the western suburbs of Sydney is truly the heartland of the world game here in Australia.

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