On the 29th of October, the FFA officially launched a bid for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. One thing always talked about is which stadiums will be in the bid.
Today, I look at the potential stadiums that could be used. Before I get into it, some of you may already know which stadiums I am about to list as I previously wrote in a comment on Mary Konstantopoulos’ article “It’s time for all of us to #Get Onside”.
Final, semi-final, round of 16, group stage: ANZ Stadium (After redevelopment)
ANZ Stadium, built for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, will be redeveloped into a rectangular stadium and will have a retractable roof with construction starting in late-2019, and finishing in mid-2021.
This redevelopment will make it the largest rectangular stadium in Australia, and the perfect candidate for the final. The capacity of the stadium will most likely drop to 75,000 during the redevelopment.
The stadium that will host the 2019 final in France fits around 59,000 people. But I think Australia can do better and pack out ANZ for the final.
The biggest stadium in Sydney should always get the nod.
Semi-final, quarter-final, round of 16, group stage: Suncorp Stadium
Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane is currently the largest strictly rectangular stadium in the country. It is home to the A-League’s Brisbane Roar and recently hosted that 1-1 thriller between the Socceroos and South Korea.
Suncorp is no stranger to hosting world cups, with it hosting the men and women’s rugby league world cup finals earlier this year. It can accommodate over 52,000 people, while the second largest venue in France 2019 fits about 49,000 people. This is a good match and should give Brisbane the games it deserves.
Quarter-final, round of 16, group stage: McDonald Jones Stadium
The home of the Newcastle Jets is a regular host of women’s football and would be a suitable candidate to be a quarter-final venue.
The people in the Hunter showed they can bring big crowds after packing in out for the A-League final earlier this year, so they should get great crowds in 2023.
The stadium can accommodate about 33,000 people but does have one issue; the hills on the ends of the ground are probably not suitable for a FIFA World Cup.
Like Suncorp and ANZ Stadium, it was a host of the 2015 Asian cup.
Quarter-final, round of 16, group stage: AAMI Park
AAMI Park, opened in 2010, is the only large rectangular stadium in Melbourne, so it is kind of a ‘must-have’ in the bid. It is the home of Melbourne City and most games of Melbourne Victory, and was a venue in the 2015 Asian cup.
The stadium can accommodate about 30,000 people while being regarded as one of those atmospheric venues that are awesome when they are full. It has hosted Matildas matches in recent times.
Once again, AAMI Park is kind of a must have for the bid.
Quarter-final, round of 16, group stage: North Queensland Stadium
North Queensland Stadium is an exciting, under-construction stadium in Townsville. It will accommodate around 25,000 people.
A stadium in North Queensland would take this event up the top of the country and possible get people from the Northern Territory to attend. I believe it will have hills at one end of the ground which, once again, may not be suitable. The design looks a bit like Western Sydney Stadium.
Round of 16, group stage: GIO Stadium
I was considering GIO Stadium for the quarter-final, but I overlooked it because it is an older stadium. Nevertheless, a stadium in Canberra would be needed, for the simple fact that if this is in Australia, we should have a stadium in our capital city.
Canberra Stadium fits about 25,000 people and is capable of drawing big crowds, but not really for football.
I anticipate GIO Stadium should attract big crowds, as it did for the 2015 Asian Cup. It will most likely be the home of Canberra & Capital Region if it wins an A-League licence.
Round of 16, group stage: Campbelltown Stadium (After redevelopment)
Now this is an interesting one. If the South-West Sydney/United for Macarthur wins a bid for an A-League licence, Campbelltown Stadium will be upgraded to an 18,000 all seater stadium which could possibly have an extra 2,000 temporary seats for the world cup.
It will be a boutique stadium in a great location.
This means that most people in Sydney should be able to get to a venue which I will go further into soon. SWS/UFM is expected to win a licence so this stadium should be pretty fresh by 2023.
Round of 16, group stage: NIB Stadium
NIB Stadium or HBF Park, as it will be renamed next year, is another of the small boutique stadiums. It accommodates about 20,000 people and is Perth’s only major rectangular stadium.
We need NIB Stadium in the bid because this is a nationwide event, so we need venues to be used nationwide.
It hosted the Matildas versus Thailand game earlier this year and is the home of the Perth Glory.
It is a very atmospheric stadium and could possibly attract people from Malaysia or Singapore to attend.
Group stage: Coopers Stadium
The final venue in this bid, Adelaide’s only major rectangular stadium would complete this nation wide event.
A lot of people regard Coopers Stadium as the best stadium in the A-League and I without a doubt agree.
It fits about 20,000 and an extra 4,000 temporary seats could be added, similar to what they did in the 2000 Olympics. Venues in every state, apart from the Northern Territory and Tasmania, is what we need for this tournament.
We need to make sure that there are no ovals. We want people to be able to see properly and we don’t want to be playing on rock hard cricket pitches.
I was considering stadiums like Central Coast Stadium, however I did not see why the North Coast needed two stadiums. I thought about CBUS Super Stadium but they rarely get good attendances on the Gold Coast. I also considered North Hobart Oval, but I don’t think it’s up to world cup standard.
Most people in the country should be able to get to a game. The only people that will find it hard to get to a game would be people up the north end of W, people in Papua New Guinea or Indonesia could possibly even go to games in Townsville.
I am, so why don’t you #GetOnside?
George
Guest
Cooper's Stadium's present capacity is 16,500 not 20K as you mentioned. The South Australian State Government has now officially backed our 2023 bid and this means they will have to upgrade Cooper's Stadium so that it can be FIFA compliant. It will need to increase its capacity to a minimum of 22,065. Adelaide DID support the Matildas last week with over 10K on a cold Tuesday night. It was enthusiastic support too. This is after not having a Matildas game for a long time. Covering the three stands and filling in the corners would make this one of the best boutique stadiums in the country with an even better atmosphere with the sound of the fans being "trapped in." It already has a great atmosphere when there are more than 10K fans in attendance.
Josh Stuart
Guest
I suggest Robina Stadium. It has hosted FFA mathches before and has a 27,000 seating capacity
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
We need a venue at least 50,000 for the final i reckon.
Cam
Roar Rookie
In 2015 Canada had 6 venues. In 2019 France will have 9 venues. Aim for one in each city should be fine. Main Venues, means we have a venue and games in each of our major centers. SEQ gets either Brisbane or GC. Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney. AAMI Park, Melbourne. Nib Stadium, Perth. Coopers Stadium, Adelaide. Suncorp Stadium Brisbane or Cbus Stadium, Gold Coast. GIO Stadium, Canberra. Extra venues if required. Hunter Stadium, Newcastle. New Townsville Stadium. If you want a bigger venue for the final use the new Sydney Football Stadium.
Kangas
Roar Rookie
Central coast is closer to Sydney then the north coast of nsw “”We simply can’t give the north coast 2 stadiums , “ We or you don’t decide that . It depends how many teams are involved and whether 6 or 8 stadiums are needed . For non Australia ( neutral). I suggest ccm and Newcastle are more likely to attract better crowds then Sydney . History of the rugby World Cup tells us that .
Kangas
Roar Rookie
They for some reason held back that post in moderation You are comparing Gold Coast soccer crowds from 8 years ago . That data is less relevant That’s why we are using rugby league crowds at the Gold Coast . There is no chance Optus oval in Perth will get a World Cup game unfortunately .
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
What we need to do to up crowds in Perth is success. I decided not to get a membership last year because it was same old same old every week. I got a membership last week because of our success. Regarding the Central Coast, we simply can't give the North Coast 2 stadiums. Central Coast or Newcastle, you decide.
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
I will say it again, why are we comparing 2 sports? Actually if that's the way we are going to do it. The average AFL attendance was 46,893 at Optus Stadium while at Metricon Stadium it was 13,593.
Kangas
Roar Rookie
Jordan I wouldn’t be so dismissive of comments regarding the Gold Coast titan crowds to deflect the poor attendance at glory games , it showed potential audience on the g c the especially for a tournament as big as the World Cup Gold Coast A league owner wanted 4000 so he paid less ground hire and other reasons , some research about this would help Also before disregarding the central coast , they have regularly filled that stadium for rugby league and even rugby World Cup matches not including Australia. It’s a great article but there are a few generalisations that dismisses good venues A lot will come down to which state governments buy the rights to host games. The distance will not help west Australia chances unfortunately. What do think can be done to to the glory crowds back to the halcyon days of the NSL ? My mates back in Perth are saying the A league is a hard sell in summer.
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
Look. Let's not compare 2 different sports. Yes the Glory have an average attendance of around 10,000 for all the A-League season but when Gold Coast United were in the league, there avergae attendance was a shocking 4,051
Kangas
Roar Rookie
Jordan Glory crowds are ordinary tbh Gold Coast titans get better crowds Canberra got terrific crowds at the Asian cup , Canberra Stadium is Gio correct ?
Randy
Roar Rookie
The Glory's average attendance since the beginning of A league is under 10k at NIB. The Titans overall average at Cbus is over 15k. It's a moot point anyway as a World Cup game would sell out no matter what stadium its played at.
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
I did originally have that in my stadiums. But then i realized that that would mean that Sydney would have 2 of the top 5 stadiums. So i thought i would throw a bit of wildcard out there and go for a smaller stadium. Are you from the Gold Coast? Because NIB, Cooper and GIO defintely get better crowds the ==n at Cbus.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Most likely it won’t be a nationwide event but rather confined to the eastern seaboard states, plus maybe ACT. I haven’t heard any other stadium in QLD in discussions other than Ballymore with the politically well-connected QRU seeing it as their opportunity to profit at football’s expense. And don’t write off the possibility of a boutique stadium being built in Brisbane for football and this event - discussions are being held.
RandyM
Guest
Campbelltown stadium? ummm there is a brand spanking new stadium in western sydney being built right now if you had forgotten. Cbus rarely gets good attendances but Coopers, NIB and GIO do? hmmm....