Adelaide Oval - NEW Home of SA Footy

[southee]

It's just not Adelaide Oval anymore.

Correct !

[woodublieve12]

Adelaide Oval? ho-hum...
I'm unlikely to ever go there - parking is going to be hopeless from what I've read, and bussing it is likely to be impractical for me.

For anything I do need to attend to in the CBD I try to drive to Parkside than bus it in the rest of the way, rather than get ripped off for the parking.
I could go by bus on my Seniors Card for free but it takes too long, and it is easier for me to just drive to Marion or Mount Barker instead.

you could probably meet heaps of chicks on the bus

[The Patriach]

Personally I think it looks ridiculous having grandstands surround 3/4 of the stadium with the remaining 1/4 left as grass on 'this hill'. The SA Government will try to pump it up as ‘forward thinking’ while the rest of the country will view it as yet another quaint Adelaide hybrid solution. Think the retractable lights, Southern Expressway etc.

I did not think there was anything wrong with Footy Park. But if the Government was determined to throw away money on a new stadium they should have done it right. In 10 years people will be scratching their heads wondering why a fully enclosed stadium was not developed.

This mentality annoys me immensely. After construction is completed we'll have a world class stadium which is still relatively individual, rather than a generic concrete bowl that has no life. This ground is 100% what SA needs in terms of capacity, feature, standards and functionality. If you don't like it, please stay away and feel free to patronise all of the blockbuster games left at AAMI Stadium in the future

I’m curious what you are thinking when you mean we will have a ‘world class stadium’. This term has frequently been thrown around by the Government when describing the new development and to me is just a buzz word they use. What does it actually mean? More specifically, why is Football Park apparently not world class?

Does ‘world-class’ refer to seating capacity? Amenities? Car-parking? All of these things?

Where do I start... World Class refers to the following (which AAMI Stadium, as much as I loved it, lacked)

- Seating Capacity (> 50,000 - only the MCG and ANZ Stadium have a bigger capacity as oval stadiums)
- User Amenities (More toilets per person than the MCG, more kiosks per person than the MCG, more ATMs than any stadium in Australia)
- Sight lines (closer to the field of play, steeper seating bowls for a better view)
- Cover (> 80% of the crowd are able to sit under cover compared to about 30% at AAMI)
- Video Screens (3 bigger, Higher Definition, better video screens than any stadium in the state)
- Player Facilities (4 international standard players rooms and designated warmup areas)
- Closer to a wider range of public transport
- FIFA compliant (for what it's worth - AAMI and the old AO weren't - nice to have the option)

I could go on, but you'd find a way to whinge some more sadly
If you choose not to attend based on principle, have fun missing out of the fun!

[am Bays]

[Where do I start... World Class refers to the following (which AAMI Stadium, as much as I loved it, lacked)

- Seating Capacity (> 50,000 - only the MCG and ANZ Stadium have a bigger capacity as oval stadiums)
- User Amenities (More toilets per person than the MCG, more kiosks per person than the MCG, more ATMs than any stadium in Australia)
- Sight lines (closer to the field of play, steeper seating bowls for a better view)
- Cover (> 80% of the crowd are able to sit under cover compared to about 30% at AAMI)
- Video Screens (3 bigger, Higher Definition, better video screens than any stadium in the state)
- Player Facilities (4 international standard players rooms and designated warmup areas)
- Closer to a wider range of public transport
- FIFA compliant (for what it's worth - AAMI and the old AO weren't - nice to have the option)
I could go on, but you'd find a way to whinge some more sadly
If you choose not to attend based on principle, have fun missing out of the fun!

That to me that is the bigges joke, FIFA is more than happy to play internationals at the oval shaped "shallow" Olympic Stadium in Rome, in Africa where there is barely one covered grandstand on one side of the "stadium" and ditto for places like Kazhikistan and Thailand

Yet we are supposed to jump through hopes to have games here???

Get Pharked!!!

Also just think for less than half a Bill we could ahve up-graded AAMI and built a rail spur off the Grange line to make it meet all those and more.

Could have a had a stadium comparable to Homebush in Sydney

[The Patriach]

[Where do I start... World Class refers to the following (which AAMI Stadium, as much as I loved it, lacked)

- Seating Capacity (> 50,000 - only the MCG and ANZ Stadium have a bigger capacity as oval stadiums)
- User Amenities (More toilets per person than the MCG, more kiosks per person than the MCG, more ATMs than any stadium in Australia)
- Sight lines (closer to the field of play, steeper seating bowls for a better view)
- Cover (> 80% of the crowd are able to sit under cover compared to about 30% at AAMI)
- Video Screens (3 bigger, Higher Definition, better video screens than any stadium in the state)
- Player Facilities (4 international standard players rooms and designated warmup areas)
- Closer to a wider range of public transport
- FIFA compliant (for what it's worth - AAMI and the old AO weren't - nice to have the option)
I could go on, but you'd find a way to whinge some more sadly
If you choose not to attend based on principle, have fun missing out of the fun!

That to me that is the bigges joke, FIFA is more than happy to play internationals at the oval shaped "shallow" Olympic Stadium in Rome, in Africa where there is barely one covered grandstand on one side of the "stadium" and ditto for places like Kazhikistan and Thailand

Yet we are supposed to jump through hopes to have games here???

Get Pharked!!!

Also just think for less than half a Bill we could ahve up-graded AAMI and built a rail spur off the Grange line to make it meet all those and more.

Could have a had a stadium comparable to Homebush in Sydney

Fair point in terms of FIFA's double standards, but AAMI + rail line would be absolutely nothing like Homebush, even with $250mil of funds spent. Homebush was built in the late 1990s, has OLYMPIC standard facilities (albeit 2000 standards), has a much larger capacity and is multi purpose. AAMI was built in the 1960s and still has a design legacy and a heap of infrastructure left from those days ages ago.

Having said that, the ground quality at ANZ is horrendous, the location is worse than AAMI and it is far too big for 99.9% of events these days.

IMHO the amount of negatives of moving to AO is 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000x outweighed by the positives. Plus, it's happened now so nothing any typical Adelaide "no progress at all cost" people can say or do will change that and ruin it for the rest of us

[mickey]

I thought that part of being fifa compliant is having an all seater stadium

[Ecky]

- Seating Capacity (> 50,000 - only the MCG and ANZ Stadium have a bigger capacity as oval stadiums)

- Cover (> 80% of the crowd are able to sit under cover compared to about 30% at AAMI)

Where have you got your figures from that say there are over 40,000 undercover seats? I'd be very very surprised if this is the case.

[dedja]

Surely the comparison between Homebush and West Lakes is a piss take? West Lakes is a stones throw compared to Homebush, plus you don't have to travel on the arse end of the train system to get there.

There was and still isn't much wrong with Football Park, and for much, much less the stadium could have been modernised with steeper and closer seating.

Once you're in a seat watching a game, I doubt that you'll say, faark me that $700M was money well spend, what a great view that I wouldn't have got at Football Park. The teams will be the same, the game will still be the same, and the food will be just as shit.

If there has to be a CBD stadium, then a brand new one should have been built instead of bastardising Adelaide Oval.

That said, the State doesn't have the funds to pay for it anyway so we'll all be paying for it for years and years.

The idea that people in Adelaide will travel to Adelaide Oval on public transport is ridiculous ... the vast majority travel by car and there will be relatively minimal parking around the ground.

The SANFL thought the West Lakes community was hard to deal with, well they have nothing on the North Adelaide Society who's sole mission is to keep the riff-raff out of their pristine and elite enclave.

[wild dog]

Fair point in terms of FIFA's double standards, but AAMI + rail line would be absolutely nothing like Homebush, even with $250mil of funds spent. Homebush was built in the late 1990s, has OLYMPIC standard facilities (albeit 2000 standards), has a much larger capacity and is multi purpose. AAMI was built in the 1960s and still has a design legacy and a heap of infrastructure left from those days ages ago.

Having said that, the ground quality at ANZ is horrendous, the location is worse than AAMI and it is far too big for 99.9% of events these days.

IMHO the amount of negatives of moving to AO is 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000x outweighed by the positives. Plus, it's happened now so nothing any typical Adelaide "no progress at all cost" people can say or do will change that and ruin it for the rest of us

Football Park was built in the 70's but Yes, rail lines are expensive, and Adelaide's has required almost a full rebuild (we did manage to salvage the tracks.)

I don't have a problem with Adelaide Oval upgrade, architecturally I wish they had tried to retain the "galv iron and red brick" look of the old oval. Possibly too expensive to build. Does look a bit like a toilet seat from the aerial view. I like that they have retained the hill

For me it was the fact that it was publically funded rather than the AFL and Cricket putting in the funds that annoys me - reflects the political debate of the time. Demetriou gets acclaim over the fact he gets ground upgrades without any cash input. Furthermore the new infrastructure at Football Park (northern stadium, crows facilities, public transport transit lanes and interchanges) and Adelaide Oval (chappell stands) that is now or has been demolished would have not had their business case fulfilled and so money has been wasted. However the result of the riverbank precinct will be unbelievable and will be great for the city and state.

[Booney]

So haseth the biggest slapper

How to Pick up 101 - Darwin Uni.


Anywho, I think keeping the hill is fantastic. For the people who are knocking it (I did to begin with, we didn't need the debt and Footy Park is fine, but now it's done we might as well embrace it) I bet the first time you go to the newly developed stadium, stand on the hill and have a beer you will think how bloody good is this and it will still and always be Adelaide Oval.

All thats really changing is what was the "temporary" Chappell Stands is now a permanent stand reflecting the Western side of the Oval.

[The Patriach]

Put it this way, I'm an AFL Club member and I go to all of their games, as well as a few of the other club's games throughout the season (with a group of 10 other people). We are now doing the following:

- travelling to the footy on public transport (didn't at AAMI)
- going out before AFL games - within 5km (didn't at AAMI)
- going out after AFL games - within 5km (didn't at AAMI)
- going to more opposition AFL games due to the improved facilities (didn't at AAMI)

I know this is the smallest sample group ever, but it's 1000% better than having to travel to West Lakes and be stuck in the sticks after a game with nothing to do.

In terms of the generic, whinging car parking excuse, look at Clipsal - where do these people park? Petty excuse

[dedja]

stop whinging, you had The Shed ...

[UK Fan]

Put it this way, I'm an AFL Club member and I go to all of their games, as well as a few of the other club's games throughout the season (with a group of 10 other people). We are now doing the following:

- travelling to the footy on public transport (didn't at AAMI)
- going out before AFL games - within 5km (didn't at AAMI)
- going out after AFL games - within 5km (didn't at AAMI)
- going to more opposition AFL games due to the improved facilities (didn't at AAMI)

I know this is the smallest sample group ever, but it's 1000% better than having to travel to West Lakes and be stuck in the sticks after a game with nothing to do.

In terms of the generic, whinging car parking excuse, look at Clipsal - where do these people park? Petty excuse

Having seen how bad it was for drivers to even move 50 metres down the road in ten minutes for a Strikers game with 15k there, I hope people are prepared for a loooooong trip.

And North Adelaide has just introduced 2 hour street parking limits between the Oval and Wellington Square, it will be in place before the football season, so they can forget using those.

[HH3]

Personally I think it looks ridiculous having grandstands surround 3/4 of the stadium with the remaining 1/4 left as grass on 'this hill'. The SA Government will try to pump it up as ‘forward thinking’ while the rest of the country will view it as yet another quaint Adelaide hybrid solution. Think the retractable lights, Southern Expressway etc.

If you look at College Football, and even the NFL in the US, a lot of their stadiums have at least one open end. They still get massive crowds, and it does look a lot better to have some sort of focal point instead of having seats all the way around.

SEATTLE

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PITTSBURGH

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I’m curious what you are thinking when you mean we will have a ‘world class stadium’. This term has frequently been thrown around by the Government when describing the new development and to me is just a buzz word they use. What does it actually mean? More specifically, why is Football Park apparently not world class?

World class means its enjoyable to watch games there, as well as all the extras like kiosks, merch, toilets all being relatively easy to use and not a pain in the arse. I went to AAMI for the Crows vs North game and sat behind the northern goals and could see **** all of what was happening past the center square. If you look at the digital preview of Adelaide Oval, you can pick a seat and see what the field looks like from there. No matter where you sit, you can see everything. You will also sit more "over" the field, than back from it, so its better viewing.

[Dogwatcher]

I'll be catching the train there. I don't mind the doing that, it's better than dealing with traffic jams.
Judging by the number of people who use the train to get to AO for Test matches, I won't be alone.

I'm more likely to go to the footy more than the once a year Collingwood plays too, because it's at Adelaide.

[lutz]

What needed upgrading at AO for it to become FIFA compliant?

FWIW I didnt see anything wrong with Footy Park really, but can see that the new AO will obviously be better, and am also glad that the hill has been kept, still retains character imo.

I will also be catching the train to games (I've been able to walk). I wonder whether Adelaide Metro will be able to keep up the demand!!

It will be interesting to see the direct economic effects to the CBD and North Adelaide as a result of AFL in the city. If you've got the income to do it you could have a huge day/night.

[Dutchy]

It is not FIFA compliant, FIFA states that the stadium must be all seated, as does hosting games of the Rugby World Cup. Hence why the hill and scoreboard will only remain for a few years, as soon as Australia hosts one of these major events it will be fully enclosed.

Its a disgrace, despite the look of a dunny seat which interstate people are already calling it, our great city is going from 2 Stadiums to 1, how is that progress???

[HH3]

As well as more people wanting to travel from interstate because there's more to do around the oval, as well as more accommodation/dinner options than there is at West Lakes.

Dutchy - What if they make the hill out of bounds for any FIFA governed games? Does that make it compliant?

[HH3]

Anyone wanting to have a look, here's a link to the virtual tour. Im not sure if its been put up before.

http://afc.io-media.com/

[Mr Fuller]

Surely the comparison between Homebush and West Lakes is a piss take? West Lakes is a stones throw compared to Homebush, plus you don't have to travel on the arse end of the train system to get there.

There was and still isn't much wrong with Football Park, and for much, much less the stadium could have been modernised with steeper and closer seating.

Once you're in a seat watching a game, I doubt that you'll say, faark me that $700M was money well spend, what a great view that I wouldn't have got at Football Park. The teams will be the same, the game will still be the same, and the food will be just as shit.
.

I agree 100% with these comments. Don’t get me wrong, a new stadium is great and it is most ideal to situate this within Adelaide CBD. I will certainly attend games.

However if you are going to do it then do it right. In other words, a completely new stadium rather than a hybrid concept should have been the way forward. If we couldn’t afford this then upgrade footy park at a fraction of the cost. The hybrid solution was a political decision driven largely by the need to differentiate from the Liberal proposal.

The grass is a nice touch but it won’t last. It will be built upon eventually and with it the destruction of the former glory of the Adelaide Oval.
In terms of ‘improved viewing’ that may be so but I doubt that will be the driver to get more people to games. People will attend regardless. And seriously, how many % improvements will viewing be enhanced anyway? It will be so minimal that once the game starts people won’t even notice.