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The Western Sydney Wanderers has announced that the Club will play out of Sydney’s ANZ and Spotless Stadiums from the 2016/17 A-League season.

The move to the Sydney Olympic Park venues, necessitated by the redevelopment of the Parramatta/Pirtek Stadium, follows extensive consultation with Wanderers’ fans, Football Federation Australia and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.

The move will see the majority of Wanderers’ matches played at the 24,000capacity Spotless Stadium with a minimum of four ‘blockbuster’ matches, including both Sydney derbies, to be played at the 83,500 ANZ Stadium in the A-League 2016/17 season.

This will include a season-opening Sydney derby at ANZ Stadium in October, a match that officials suggest could create a new attendance record for the league.

While Wanderers’ management had resisted moves to relocate in demand matches to the ANZ Stadium in the past, the redevelopment of the Parramatta/Pirtek Stadium has demanded that the club finds a new home ground during the three seasons (2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19) when the building work is taking place.

While the Sydney Olympic Park venues will struggle to replicate the tight atmosphere of Pirtek Stadium, they will allow the Wanderers to attract larger crowds.

After extensive member and partner consultation including a survey of over 3,000 Wanderers members, playing matches from a single location earned 70% of the vote while a combination of Spotless Stadium and ANZ Stadium gained close to 60% of the total vote based on the six venue options presented.

Wanderers Chief Executive John Tsatsimas said that the decision to move to venues at Sydney Olympic Park was based the best interests of the sustainability and growth of the Club, stating “the overwhelming response from our members was they wanted a central location that has good public transport and access as well as being able to fit in not only our current 18,341 members but also have room to grow.

“Sydney Olympic Park offers two exceptional venues in ANZ Stadium and Spotless Stadium which will best serve our current member base and provides a major growth opportunity for the Club which allows us to offer a greater number of Wanderers fans access to our blockbuster matches both now and into the future.”

While stadium capacity for seated members and allocation for room in an admissible area for the Red & Black Bloc to continue their passionate support of the Wanderers were key elements in selecting the venue, the positive appetite from both venues to hosting Wanderers matches during the rebuilding period of Pirtek Stadium at Parramatta played a key factor.

Tsatsimas added “from a business perspective both ANZ Stadium and Spotless Stadium have been outstanding in their attitudes and appetite for having the Wanderers at their venues.

“We look forward to creating an environment at both venues that will retain the atmosphere that has become synonymous with Wanderers matches as well as creating a new standard in our delivery of match days to our members, new fans and corporate partners.”

Welcoming the Wanderers to ANZ Stadium, Stadium Australia Operations Managing Director Daryl Kerry, said commented “in just four seasons, the Western Sydney Wanderers have established themselves as one of Australia's outstanding sporting clubs.

“We look forward to welcoming the Wanderers and their passionate supporters to Sydney’s Olympic stadium. In particular, we’re excited to be hosting our first Sydney Derby in October and giving everybody in Greater Sydney the opportunity to experience this magnificent event.

“There is no doubt the Sydney Derby – played in the city’s major events stadium – has the potential to build into one of the world’s great football contests.”

The Wanderers are already scheduled to play English Premier League giants Arsenal at the ANZ Stadium in July next year.

Western Sydney Wanderers images courtesy of Damian Briggs Photography. Click here to visit the Damian Briggs Photography Facebook page. 

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