Melbournes second stadium has moved its ground tier forward for only the 3rd time in its existance thanks to a Rugby League international between Australia and New Zealand.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m144/camvoss/Austadiums/td_retractable_1.jpg
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The crowd was 30 732 (55% capacity). Not bad for a pro AFL (Australian Football) city.
The Melbourne Victory FC hope to take advantage of this configuration in the future. I think the rectangular mode loses about 4000 seats.

Brilliant!

It looked fantastic on TV also.

Just a pity they don't do it more often.

^^Absolutley . . . I thought the reconfiguration would be a hatchet job but I must admit that although not perfect for rectangular sports, I'm very pleasantly surprised with the outcome as it had exceeded all my expectations. In addition to the retractable seating, it has a retractable roof and a car park situated beneath the playing surface along with state of the art corporate facilities and personal video screens in the medallion club (about 5,000 seats). Telstra Dome is one of the worlds most technologically advanced stadiums but I wish they can fix the grass problem soon.

^^^Yes it's a very comfortable stadium to be a spectator in. The grass has been a big issue although it looks alright in that photo. Does anyone know why it's so hard to put it in rectangle mode??? Ruins the precious grass...?

fantastic...i heard about this ...great to see pics...:)..is it possible to fit an athletics track in the stadium?

There was an inventor on "The Inventors" on the ABC about a month back who had a pretty good solution to the Telstra Dome surface issue.

He had ground up rubber tyres directly under the turf surface instead of soil.

This had two effects to sort out the Docklands problems. It would make the ground far softer for people running about as well as lifting the soil temperature by on average 3 degrees celcius. Grass as we all know needs light and soil temperature to be relatively high in order to grow the weed.

You could combine on top of this those light panels some offices have where natural light comes through optic fibre cabling and Telstra Dome would be like a bowling green all year round and soft under foot.

It looked amazing. I dont usually watch or like Rugby but I watched this game and it was actually exciting.

By the way, how on earth does retractable seating in this venue work? Is it automatic and why dont they do it often?

they don't do it that often because it's used by aussie rules football teams every week of the season

Basically spud is right. Becuase of the AFL competition using the ground for at least 2 matches every weekend during the winter the retractable seating isn't used as much as people would like as it requires sections of the ground to be pulled up to reveal the tracks the seating moves on, such as you may have seen with Sydney's Telstra Stadium when it changes to oval mode 2 or 3 times a year for AFL games.

Also, the dome loses about 3,000 seats in capacity when in rectangle mode and as such obviously loses the revenue from the sale of those seats for events such as a rugby union test or a State of Origin rugby league match.

The seats are there to be used if needed obviously, its just up to the body who hires the venue for the occasion to actually want it used, and thus far its not been required that much. Pity, it certainally would enchance the viewing for those in the movable lower tier when it comes to rectangle sports like both rugby codes & soccer games.

And Mo Rush, to answer your question, I don't see why no athletics track could be used in TD. The oval playing surface might be big enough but it also might require removing some sections of seats at the ends of the ground to fit properly. But that is one thing I doubt will ever happen there.

Not bad, not bad at all, u Aussies can give urself a pat on the back for this one.

Pics from austadiums.com

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/max_skill/Telstra%20Dome/P1010030.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/max_skill/Telstra%20Dome/P1010033.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/max_skill/Telstra%20Dome/P1010038.jpg

Wow nice pics..definetly my second favourite venue in Australia! (after MCG).

they don't do it that often because it's used by aussie rules football teams every week of the season
Yes but why dont they reconfigure it for the soccer? Or do they?

Holding A-League matches at the Dome was only meant to be a one-off, but that quickly changed now that they've realised that Olympic Park is way too small at 18,000.

I'm assuming they'll keep it in a rectangle configuration since it won't be for a while until it's needed for cricket ODIs.

Yea, I was aware it was one off but I assumed they could move the seats on short notice.

Any pics of the dome during a Victory match?

I was down there when Sydney FC played down there and it's a pretty good venue.

Seeing i was an away supporter i was behind the goals and it was not much worse than the view from Aussie Stadium behind the goals.

People on the sides looked to be a fair way away from the pitch though.

One thing i did find strange though. There's a bar in the stadium, you can drink full strength beers in there but you can't take them to your seat in the stadium. You can only take mid strength or light beers out of the bar.

BUT.....it's perfectly fine to take a bourbon and coke out of the bar and to your seat.

So basically, you can take out a bourbon and coke but not a full strength beer.

Can anyone in the know explain why this is to me??

i love telstra dome...cant wait till cape town releases its design for its own telstra dome..:)

I heard a stadium in Liverpool was designing a stadium using Telstra Dome as it's model.

Looks beautiful! What's the highest capacity it can fit? And compared to the MCG?

The Dome crowd record is 56,600 for Australia V British Lions a few years ago.

It think people were hanging off rails and rafters for that game. i think about 55,000 is the true capacity. The Qld v NSW state of origin Rugbly league game earlier this year had just under 55,000 from memory.

MCG has a 100,000 capacity. next time it'll be full will be 26th december for the Aus v Eng ashes test. i believe the first 4 days are now sold out. so expect a new world record crowd number for a test match.

I heard a stadium in Liverpool was designing a stadium using Telstra Dome as it's model.

Im not surprised. Adelaide is using it as a vision for a multi-function venue in the CBD.

One thing i did find strange though. There's a bar in the stadium, you can drink full strength beers in there but you can't take them to your seat in the stadium. You can only take mid strength or light beers out of the bar.

BUT.....it's perfectly fine to take a bourbon and coke out of the bar and to your seat.

So basically, you can take out a bourbon and coke but not a full strength beer.

Can anyone in the know explain why this is to me??

It's a state mandate brought in due to behaviour of 'footy' and cricket fans in years gone by. The perception is (theirs, not mine) that beer drinkers are more unruly than bourbon drinkers... Go figure.

Fosters are angry about it too. They are arguing big time that it should be a 'level playing field'.

I must admit, i was suprised to see the stadium in rectangle mode for this match. Good stuff!! Looks pretty good. Not a bad crowd either.

awesome stadium, loved seeing it in rectangular form

wow that's great.. we should see it this configuration more often. Didn't Telstra Stadium have an AFL game and an NRL game in a span of a week? or even a couple of days? I would've thought they could roll out the grass so that the stands closer to the action could roll freely on concrete

renell, they've actually done that a few times (having an AFL game and a rugby match) within a day of each other.

The main reason why the rectrctable seating hasn't been utilised is because its not really up to the owners of Telstra Dome to decide upon its use. The body hiring the venue for an event such as NRL, ARU (Australian Rugby Union) or FFA (Football Federation of Australia) have to request and subsequently pay for it to happen. As the dome actually loses about 3,000 seats of capacity when the lower tier is in rectangle mode most choose not to do so as the higher crowd obviously brings in more revenue.

Money talks & bull$hit walks. I guess thats why us humans walk. Most of us have BS'ed at some point.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/2309290825_d8ab2132aa_b.jpg

Inside, during last night's A-League final.

http://vq.id.au/img/2009/02/a-league-final-telstradome-pano-1600.jpg (http://vq.id.au/image/235)

Nice photo.

Also important to note that as of today, it is now the Etihad Stadium, not the Telstra Dome

That is from Austadiums.com Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium has official been renamed Etihad Stadium as of March, however the AFL is refusing to call the stadium by its new moniker, due to ongoing disputes with pourage rights, sponsorship and club stadium deals.

The league is set to sue Etihad Stadium management because the name conflicts with AFL sponsor Qantas, although no court date has been set.

The five-year deal with United Arab Emirates-based airline Etihad, worth an estimated $25 million, commenced on Sunday 1st March 2009 with the Carlton-Hawthorn NAB Cup game the first at the renamed venue. The A-League Grand Final in which Melbourne defeated Adelaide in front of over 53,000 fans on the last day of February was the final event under the venue’s previous name, Telstra Dome. Docklands originally opened as Colonial Stadium in 2000 before Telstra purchased the rights in late 2002.

AFL chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan confirmed recently the league would not recognise the new name.

"From our perspective, we will call it Telstra Dome or Docklands Stadium until this issue is resolved."

But McLachlan said the league was willing to negotiate over the issues, as it works hard on a new deal for its clubs.

"We would be very keen to reach an agreement but the ball is in their court.

"I think we are very keen to seek a resolution, and to keen to progress any discussion."

I can see the retractable roof and seating making this venue a firm favourite for FIFA.

Some images from Australia vs Oman before the game:

Seating was moved in, the first time they have done it for a football match.

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I don't see this venue excluded from a World Cup. FIFA definitely would want this. Even at the expense of the MCG.

I don't see this venue excluded from a World Cup. FIFA definitely would want this. Even at the expense of the MCG.
Agreed.

MCG might be a far more iconic venue in the eyes of Aussies, but is simply inadequate for the game of soccer.

It looks like they have moved the seats back already? Why don't they leave them in this position until approx February when the footy starts again?

Not sure, they may have a cicket fixture comming up?
Could be cheaper to push the seating back then replace the dead turf if they are left in soccer mode.

They have a couple of concerts as well, ACDC is one of them.

They are going to use the rectangle seating config for the Melbourne Victory vs Gold Coast United game on the 28th.

Nice photo.

Also important to note that as of today, it is now the Etihad Stadium, not the Telstra Dome

Oh you people do not know our pain.

Telstra Dome is my least favourite stadium in the world.

It is HORRIBLE for watching Football (soccer)
Infact the MCG is 100x Better.
About 5,000 of its seats have only half of the ground visible, thanks to the large screens.
It is Oval. It has a roof which is 90% of the time closed, which feels like Basketball when your watching a game of AFL.
Its horrible for teams who play home games there, as they never ever get Wet Weather Football Practise as the roof is always closed.

The Positives are, it is situated in a booming area.
And it has magnificent atmosphere when the seats are pushed in, best in AUS, Bar MCG.


You Gold Coast fans saw it in its prime haha.
When the Melbourne public had really gotten behind it.
But all in all, a new magnificent stadium is coming, and TBH when you look at the MRS, and the MCG is in the distance, it makes the MCG look like a pile of trash.
Haha.

Oh you people do not know our pain.

Telstra Dome is my least favourite stadium in the world.

It is HORRIBLE for watching Football (soccer)
Infact the MCG is 100x Better.
About 5,000 of its seats have only half of the ground visible, thanks to the large screens.
It is Oval. It has a roof which is 90% of the time closed, which feels like Basketball when your watching a game of AFL.
Its horrible for teams who play home games there, as they never ever get Wet Weather Football Practise as the roof is always closed.

The Positives are, it is situated in a booming area.
And it has magnificent atmosphere when the seats are pushed in, best in AUS, Bar MCG.


You Gold Coast fans saw it in its prime haha.
When the Melbourne public had really gotten behind it.
But all in all, a new magnificent stadium is coming, and TBH when you look at the MRS, and the MCG is in the distance, it makes the MCG look like a pile of trash.
Haha.
As opposed to the whole bottom tier of the MCG being basically useless for watching football.

As opposed to the whole bottom tier of the MCG being basically useless for watching football.

Please explain, Maracana, Berlin, Rome ect.

You can see perfectly fine from Level 1.

^^ dude, its not that simple!. Firstly, look up the pitch dimensions of those stadiums, the MCG is HUGE. Secondly, the rake of the first tier is low. That means - poor views. I cbf looking up the figures because ive already posted them before, but the MCG is a poor stadium for rectangular sports.

I can safely say I have never had anything in my line of sight when at the dome. The pitch dimensions a a fair bit smaller, the rake of ALL the tiers seems to be higher, the stadium is more enclosed and overall its much better for viewing soccer.
Also, I dont see the fun in sitting in freezing wind and pelting rain for 90 minutes. Give me a roof any day (which has always been open when Ive been to games). It also helps keep in the atmosphere in such a ginormous space.

You just dont understand woozoo :)


But i can understand where your comming from.

I personally am not a sit-down watch game kinda guy.
Im an active support kinda guy.
And our opinions are strongly different.

I really do not care were football is held, only that it is held in Melbourne, we have proven to the world as a Sporting Capital, and above all, a Footballing capital, The new stadium sadly will not be able to sustain more then 31,000 capacity, so Jihad stadium and MCG are our only options.

Also, back when i DID sit down and watch the game, i do remember Advertisement Boards blocking my view, i then moved to Level 3.

Im not a sit down kinda guy either. When I go to games I stand at one of the ends untill my lazy mates drag me to medallion level...

I Just dont see how the MCG is better than Etihad????

I assume your a victory fan pissed at etihad for the times its screwed our club, thats cool, but dont say its a worse stadium than the G which is woefull from the lower tier.

Also, dot say we're the sporting capital of the world. It drives me nuts when melburnians say we're the capital of fucking eveyuthing. If any city is the sports capital its London. We do ok.
And if Swan st was any bigger the atmosphere at Victory games would be rather drear, so 31k is adequate.

Until aussies start taking soccer seriously, they going to have ugly stadiums, look at what south africa is doing even rugby is a big sport there, but soccer is the most played there.

Im not a sit down kinda guy either. When I go to games I stand at one of the ends untill my lazy mates drag me to medallion level...

I Just dont see how the MCG is better than Etihad????

I assume your a victory fan pissed at etihad for the times its screwed our club, thats cool, but dont say its a worse stadium than the G which is woefull from the lower tier.

Also, dot say we're the sporting capital of the world. It drives me nuts when melburnians say we're the capital of fucking eveyuthing. If any city is the sports capital its London. We do ok.
And if Swan st was any bigger the atmosphere at Victory games would be rather drear, so 31k is adequate.

imo, MCG makes its own atmosphere, and enjoyment. I just love it, idk.
I can watch anything at that stadium, and it will be amazing,

TD is so dull and boring.

And yes i do hate TD because it ruined My Clubs Support.

Here is an old pic I found of when WWE had their Global Warning show at the stadium:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/kennerado/GwArena1.jpg

nice photo kennerado

must have been a shocking view form the back of the ground seating

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/pw-pix/4326722415/

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by ccjsw
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccjsw/6524865855/

Until aussies start taking soccer seriously, they going to have ugly stadiums, look at what south africa is doing even rugby is a big sport there, but soccer is the most played there.

Soccer has always been the most popular sport by far in South Africa.

If it hadn't been for the world cup, the new stadiums wouldn't have been built. A fair few of them are white elephants now anyway, far too big for the local clubs.


I've only been to the Etihad for AFL games (3 times) and I prefer the MCG for that sport, although that's partly because it's nicer to watch sport on a suny afternoon than to watch at night in a dome, with the roof shut.

The ability to move the lower tier at the Etihad would clearly make it a better soccer venue, although neither stadium is going to be ideal.