These were the facilities that were used during the hosting of the Sydney 2000 Olympic games. Most of the facilties still remain in their current shape today while some have had recognfigured (eg Olympic Stadium) or have been demolished. Events were held at Sydney Olympic Park, Darling Harbour in the city centre and at Satellite Venues across Sydney.

I’ll start this thread by focusing on the facilities at Sydney Olympic Park at Homebush Bay, 13 km or 8 miles west of the city. Where possible, I have listed the sports that used the facilities.

Sydney Olympic Park
Eighteen sports were played here across the various facilities.

Here's an aerial of Sydney Olympic Park

http://www.panstadia.com/vol6/61-056c-big.jpg

Stadium Australia (Olympic Stadium)
Capacity: 110 000 (85 000 post Olympics)
Sports: Athletics, Football

http://www.globalholidays.co.uk/holiday_guides_images/sydney_aerial_olympic_stadium_l.jpg

Post Olympics

http://www.airviewonline.com.au/photos/0309/2583/0309-2583-85.jpg

Sydney Superdome
Capacity: 20 000
Sports: Basketball, Gymnastics

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid59/pce30da151fa0bdc168d3597378b69f14/fc5a6c97.jpg

http://www.ndr.de/sydney2000/inside/images/superdome.jpg

Sydney International Aquatic Centre
Sports: Swimming, Diving, Synchroised Swimming, Water Polo

http://emulava.fbe.unsw.edu.au:8080/sdainfo/s045/images/s045_slide_304_0640.jpg

http://www.internationalbenchmarking.org/paralympics/venues/img/pool-large.jpg

Sydney Showgrounds
Sports: Baseball, Basketball

http://www.multibeton.de/deutsch/objekte/sydney4.jpg

Main Arena – Baseball

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid59/pd90e8496387eeb26c658ac49c1d56789/fc5a6cc3.jpg

Sydney International Archery Centre -Archery

http://www.vg.no/sport/ol/2000/grenene/arenaer/bueskyting_s.jpg

Sydney International Tennis Centre – Tennis.

http://www.papeople.com.au/sport/images/Tennis_C_Court.jpg

Hockey Stadium - Hockey
Capacity: 10 000

http://worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/oceania/australia/new_south_wales/sydney_hockey.jpg

State Sports Centre
http://www.canoe.ca/2000GamesVenuesImages/state_sport_centre.jpg

I'll next post images of Facilties at Darling Harbour.

Yes, hardly "a car boot sale"

i dont know if this thread was intended to compare sydney with any other recent olympcs so i wont compare... ill just say that the sydney ones are prety good but ive seen better...

I just loved the Stadium, i think it looks crap now, drove past it a few weeks back and it didnt impress, but it was really awesome at the time.

I was surprised at how much was still there at the park and being used, I dont think anything has gone has it?

I just loved the Stadium, i think it looks crap now, drove past it a few weeks back and it didnt impress, but it was really awesome at the time.

I was surprised at how much was still there at the park and being used, I dont think anything has gone has it?
I agree with you. I wonder if Athens' is gonna look 'not so great' in 4 years as well.

Sydney maybe had better facilities but those of Athens were really unique and romantic.I was happy to see the Olympics returning to the land of its birth.The opening show was spectacular even though it was short.I was totally amazed.

I just loved the Stadium, i think it looks crap now, drove past it a few weeks back and it didnt impress, but it was really awesome at the time.

I was surprised at how much was still there at the park and being used, I dont think anything has gone has it?

I think it looks better Post Olympics. It looks even better without the temporary stands. The extension of roof over the northern and southern ends has improved the visual appeal of the stadium. I'm happy with the stadium even though I wished the 110 000 capaity should of stayed.

i dont know if this thread was intended to compare sydney with any other recent olympcs so i wont compare... ill just say that the sydney ones are prety good but ive seen better...

Were not here to compare it with other host cities.

Yes, hardly "a car boot sale"

Agreed. I wonder what Gocaps thoughts are on this?

First off I never called anything a "car boot sale" so I do not know where you are getting that from. Neither did I say that I did not like Sydney's Olympics because I did very much. Everything ran perfectly, and was great, and I cannot take that away from you. Your venues were great expecially the Olympic Stadium, the Gymnastics arena, and the swimming center. But they were the greatest venues in 2000. But if you are trying to compare them to those of Athens there is no comparison, in general Athens had better and more modern venues than Sydney. You can't really compare a brand new venue to one built 4 or 5 years ago, not to mention it looks like they put that archery stadium together in 5 minutes.

I never had anything against Sydneys Olympics or stadiums but the fact is the ones in Athens are better, and more modern, also they are made to last unlike they many in Sydney that were made just for the games, and were taken down right afterwards.

Imo the best stadiums in the world were built in Melbourne.. Geez they got some beautys there.

nice i have a recopilation of the Barcelona venues

Some of the venues in Athens were better than in Sydney and some in Sydney were better than Athens.
The Olympic Stadium i by my opinion a little better in Sydney.
The Superdome i Sydney were also a little better.
The Aquatic Centre were much better i Sydney.
Most of the "small" indoor arenas in Athens were better than Sydney. (The Arenas for: Preliminary Basketball, Handball, Badminton, Teakwondo....)

First off I never called anything a "car boot sale" so I do not know where you are getting that from. Neither did I say that I did not like Sydney's Olympics because I did very much. Everything ran perfectly, and was great, and I cannot take that away from you. Your venues were great expecially the Olympic Stadium, the Gymnastics arena, and the swimming center. But they were the greatest venues in 2000. But if you are trying to compare them to those of Athens there is no comparison, in general Athens had better and more modern venues than Sydney. You can't really compare a brand new venue to one built 4 or 5 years ago, not to mention it looks like they put that archery stadium together in 5 minutes.

I never had anything against Sydneys Olympics or stadiums but the fact is the ones in Athens are better, and more modern, also they are made to last unlike they many in Sydney that were made just for the games, and were taken down right afterwards.

My apologies. I just went back to the thread and found out it was Reaper the pure that made the comment.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=100225&page=4&pp=20

Nothing changes faster than peoples taste in archtecture. Sydney was cutting edge in 2000. Today it looks like a bow tie on a double-lapel suit-no longer the standard by which things are measured. Athens is elegant today, but I have no doubt that it will look dated in 2008. The hand of time moves on!

what are they doing right now with what used to be the International Broadcasting Center (IBC)?

Our Olympic Stadium is way better than the Athens one...

Our Olympic Stadium is way better than the Athens one...


LOL. How predictably trite. :weirdo:

Nothing changes faster than peoples taste in archtecture. Sydney was cutting edge in 2000. Today it looks like a bow tie on a double-lapel suit-no longer the standard by which things are measured. Athens is elegant today, but I have no doubt that it will look dated in 2008. The hand of time moves on!

Yes and Athens was akin to dressing up an old, overweight and useless maid in a glass tiara. The only thing that even made the athens stadium palatable was the roof. The basic stadium looked dated when it was built quite a few years ago. I do agree though that Sydney could have been designed with a little more flair and longevity of aesthetic but you have to understand that the stadium is very Australian in its style.

u cant say its just a bowl...I mean the munich s stadium is much much more primitive than the athens one but it still looks up-to-date great and all...and that was just a bowl..if it wasnt for the roof nobody would mention it :)


Sydneys stadium was awesome at that time!! And looked very nice on tv also.....what i dislike about it is that now without the extra seats it looks like any other stadium they are building in asia..mainly china at the moment...it doesnt look that unique as it did with those extra seats.

Hey could i have some more info about the international aquatic center? and maybe a couple more pictures? ty!

We know you're not a fan of the Athens venues. You don't have to belabor the issue with constant repetition. Don't reinforce my image of you as a rigid personality, ok?

Sydney was a fine Olympics. It's a shame that you and many other Australians can't admit as much about the Athens games. But as I said, that would take a maturity of character that many Aussies, apparently, lack. Your self-image must be founded on putting others down to build yourselves up. Pity, really.

Dwell in your pool of bile down-under. The rest of the world will move on. :)

I think the 2000 stadium looks better without the temporary end-zone bleachers. They may have provided great capacity, but they made the stadium look too much like something at a high school or college, in the midwest of America, for example. Only thing I can't figure out from the aerial before & after photos is where the stadium's Olympic torch was located.

As for 2000 and 2004, I think they're one big blur, mainly because recent Olympic organizers have pretty much followed the same format in outfitting their sites with lots of the same type of temporary canvas wall coverings, the ones imprinted with "Atlanta 1996" or "Sydney 2000" or "Athens 2004." However, I think the locations for 2000 had more oomphf because they more likely were full of spectators, whereas the 2004 games had several locations that weren't exactly SRO (at the soccer stadium in particular, which made it impossible to believe soccer is a popular sport in Europe).

The "superdome" looks really ugly.

We know you're not a fan of the Athens venues. You don't have to belabor the issue with constant repetition. Don't reinforce my image of you as a rigid personality, ok?

Sydney was a fine Olympics. It's a shame that you and many other Australians can't admit as much about the Athens games. But as I said, that would take a maturity of character that many Aussies, apparently, lack. Your self-image must be founded on putting others down to build yourselves up. Pity, really.

Dwell in your pool of bile down-under. The rest of the world will move on. :)

LOL I love the Athens roof I just didn't love the stadium itself - I loved your multi-purpose hall unique and looks great from outside. I also liked much of the Athens landscaping - I guess for me seeing too much of Olympic Park had desensitised me to it. We were using some of the venues for raves 5 years before the olympics began and it got a bit boring for me seeing the same place all the time.

Don't get me wrong Greece did do an awesome job if not a little hairy towards the end with venue completion - I just think Sydney was overral better, more organised and slightly more spectacular to me.

Oh and yes I love causing trouble and argueing even if it's over nothing.

you come to these forums and all you read from the Aussies is almost CONSTANT criticism if the Athens Games. Do you read constant comments from Greeks putting down the Sydney Games and venues? No way. I think that in itself says a great deal about the maturity and self-assurance of both nations.

As I said, the world if moving on. You can climb on board with the rest of us or dwell in your self-loathing. Your choice.

The "superdome" looks really ugly.
I disagree.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~dbates/images/superd1.jpg

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~dbates/images/superd2.jpg

you come to these forums and all you read from the Aussies is almost CONSTANT criticism if the Athens Games. Do you read constant comments from Greeks putting down the Sydney Games and venues? No way. I think that in itself says a great deal about the maturity and self-assurance of both nations.

As I said, the world if moving on. You can climb on board with the rest of us or dwell in your self-loathing. Your choice.

But you're probably only reading what you want to read. Criticism will catch your attention more easily than praise. That's just human nature.

http://skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=302
If you haven't been to this forum yet then you are in no place to make a comment about Australians.

Besides, Athens is over, time for Beijing now.

I was privileged enough to attend both the Athens and Sydney Olympic Games and when people try to compare they often comment that Athens had more symbolic importance and stuff like that and that there venues were better than Sydney. Sydney's Venue sreceive as inspected by international urban planners, architects and civil engineers, 8.6/10, where as Athens only received 7.7/10. Sydeny's organization was superb and this does not simply go on Athens venue delays. The layout of the 2000 olympic park which was amazing and is an example to other host cities wanting to host the games. There venues were immaculate and have def. not grown old. They are modern stadiums and literally saved the face of the Olympic Games after the disgusting Olympic Stadium of Atlanta. I could go on but the Superdome, right through to the Aquatic centre were of excellent standard and outdo Athens but we should not compare but admit that Sydney was better for many reasons in terms of infrastructure and this is why they were the "best Olympic Games ever".

I repeated the post below.

Besides, Athens is over, time for Beijing now.

Oh yea, lol. Sydney has been over for 4 years but you Australians never stopped talking about it.

Greeks have every right to talk about their Olympics they were hailed a an 'unforgettable dream games", and "one of the greatest of all time" by the IOC, and shut up all the critics big time. So much that atleast in the U.S., and Canada scores of news agencies are admiting they were wrong about the Athens games, and that they were great. :banana:

Stop clumping 20,000,000 Australians together as one single entity.

I said it only so that I could try to put an end to this endless bickering by people saying that Athens is crap.

Oh yea, lol. Sydney has been over for 4 years but you Australians never stopped talking about it.

LOL. They'll probably be arguing that the Kuala Lumpur Olympics in 2020 are NOT as good as the Sydney Games were.

In reality, the Sydney games were great. The Barcelona games were great. The Athens Games have been great as well and they brought the Olympic games "back to ground", which was sorely needed in this age of rampant commercialism. If I could pick one single thing, it would be the shotput contest in ancient Olympia! That was just awesome!

As for Atlanta, it was a friggin disaster and I'm an American! The rampant commercialism and amateurish organization really soured many fans of the games.

As to who's games were THE greatest, thats entirely subjective. Each brought their own embellishment to the Olympic Spirit. But I have to confess that the 90% negative commentary from Australian posters about the Athens Games and venues has really soured my image of them as fair-players. It's really quite petty and mean-spirited. The funny thing is, some of the greatest folks I've met are Australians when we were both on vacation in Athens, Greece. When I went there last, 3 years ago, I met a nice Australian family from Melbourne. The father worked for Holden, which is a division of GM who I work for. We did some bus tours together and had a great time. Maybe we're just getting the spoil sports in this forum, who knows?

Here is a description of facilities at Darling Harbour.

Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour located in the heart of the city centre, hosted six sports within the precient. Sydneysiders also flocked to Darling Harbour to take advantage of the daily entertainment and activities including screens broadcasting events. The venues for the sports at Darling Harbour are listed below

Aerial of Darling Harbour

http://www.airviewonline.com.au/photos/0309/0362/0309-0362-40.jpg

Sydney Convention Centre
Sports: Weightlifting

http://www.pianc-aipcn.org/pictures/figs/syd2002/190902-001.jpg

Sydney Exhibition Centre
Sports: Judo, Boxing, Wrestling, Taekwondoo

http://www.hakane.com/australia/sydney030.jpg

Sydney Entertainment Centre
Sports: Volleyball

http://www.rogerwatersontour.com/Roger%20Waters%202002%20Tour/images/show12/05sydney_ent_ctre.jpg

AAMI Stadium

Nothing Special Here......Just a nice shot of my hometowns largest stadium
http://www.hawkeye.com.au/images/blimp/football-stadium.jpg

Capacity: 51,300
Sports played: Australian Rules Football (AFL)
Home teams: Adelaide FC, Port Adelaide FC (both AFL)
Other: The pic you see above was with the old aluminium benches. These have sice been replaced with individual bucket seats. The ground also still plays host to some of the South Australian state league games (SANFL), mostly for finals.

A couple of things you should add:

Capacity: 51,300
Sports played: Australian Rules Football (AFL)
Home teams: Adelaide FC, Port Adelaide FC (both AFL)
Other: The pic you see above was with the old aluminium benches. These have sice been replaced with individual bucket seats. The ground also still plays host to some of the South Australian state league games (SANFL), mostly for finals.

Stu

Added your info to main post....thanks

Here are two pictures. One's Telstra Stadium and the other one is the superdome

http://home.exetel.com.au/miliux/forumimage/Tel%20Stadium.jpg

http://home.exetel.com.au/miliux/forumimage/Superdome.jpg

Theres always been something that plays with my eye when i see Telstra Stadium. to me theres something not quite right and i cant put my finger on it. It looks somewhat, generic. btw, whats the Four Round things at each corners? an after thought?

they're ramps to get up to the higher levels of the stadium. Suncorp Stadium has the same type of thing, but with stairs. i.e. in the corners to get to the top.

One thing I've always wondered is what are those things in the plaza outside the stadium???

Those are actually solar towers. Generate solar energy so it can light up the whole Stadium. We have around 26 of em.

here are some more

http://home.exetel.com.au/miliux/forumimage/Dome%20back.jpg

http://home.exetel.com.au/miliux/forumimage/Dome%20ped.jpg

http://home.exetel.com.au/miliux/forumimage/ParraOlyCity%20013.jpg

oh here we go again comparing athens to sydney, and th return of Landos again uurrgh, anyhow,im sure ive given my opinions before in the infamous athens vs sydney forum or well one of the many..

since when did this become athens vs sydney? thsi has nothing to do with athens

The facilities in Sydney Olympics were some from the worst of the last 3 olympiads.The tennis center,the olympic stadium ,the weightlifting centre and the velodrome looks like nothing. Im Athens are just monuments of modern architecture. The Sydneys olympic stadium is not something special. Look at the old fashioned Barcelona s stadium,its too old but it is still a brilliant and unique stadium, so unique, Athens one has also a monumental character, no matter if u imagine it without the roof,the total result is too perfect..

The facilities at Homebush Bay are simply world class...

...but IMHO they dropped the ball when they decided to run with the current design of the main stadium. They went for the glory of having the biggest stadium to ever host an Olympic games knowing too well that it couldn't be sustained post games and since the reduction in capacity, the low end stands have made the place look very odd.

Athens one has also a monumental character, no matter if u imagine it without the roof,the total result is too perfect..
Perfect??? Way too much patriotism for you...The roof is the only thing that impresses me in an otherwise unimpressive stadium.

The facilities in Sydney Olympics were some from the worst of the last 3 olympiads.The tennis center,the olympic stadium ,the weightlifting centre and the velodrome looks like nothing. Im Athens are just monuments of modern architecture. The Sydneys olympic stadium is not something special. Look at the old fashioned Barcelona s stadium,its too old but it is still a brilliant and unique stadium, so unique, Athens one has also a monumental character, no matter if u imagine it without the roof,the total result is too perfect..
Bleh......

I'd like to say The Olimpic Stadium has designed by mr Obiala from Poland, who was born near the city where i live :D
I loved , how this stadium looks like while Olimpic Games- with this enormous grandstand without the roof :cheers:

Its not any kind of patritism,its my personal aesthetic criterion.

I'd like to say The Olimpic Stadium has designed by mr Obiala from Poland, who was born near the city where i live :D
I loved , how this stadium looks like while Olimpic Games- with this enormous grandstand without the roof :cheers:

Yeah, they were only ever temporary though. Sydney just had no need for an 110,000 seater after the olympics. It'd get filled maybe twice a year.

.............................

are we still on this aesthetics thing? Modern, super-functional venues > cheap and pretty.

Sure we are still on "aesthetic things" in stadia constructions in Greece, at least the last 2.500 years..Its matter of every personalitie's culture.

Yeah, they were only ever temporary though. Sydney just had no need for an 110,000 seater after the olympics. It'd get filled maybe twice a year.

I'd say around 10 times. You have the state of origin series, tri nations, Rugby League finals, cricket, Bledesloe Cup and so on.

However, Superdome is used quite a lot. Many events are queing up to host it there because of the flexibility it has. Two Tribes was held there and we had 4 nightclubs played simultaneously. One at the sports training area, main venue, the foyer and the other at a hall.

Awesome facilities....Best ever for the best ever games

Best games ever in the Southern Hemisphere. There was nothing spectacular about the Facilitys except the Stadium which wasnt that hot either...

Sydeny 2000: Five Years ago....Get over it!

Record crowd - 66,897 for the 1976 SANFL Grand Final between Sturt & Pt. Adelaide.

and may i add -> average attendance per game of AFL

33,000

Some recent photos

http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/photos/aami4.jpg

The new 7,000-seat Northern Grandstand, completed in 2001

http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/photos/aami5.jpg
http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/photos/aami6.jpg

lol who in the world pulled this one out of its grave? been dead for a month.

thnx for the contributions

I'm new to this forum but haven't seen a thread on the 10 largest Australian Stadiums so deceded 'why not'. These are actually Australia's only stadiums that can hold 40,000+ people.

In order.....

1. Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne. Capacity 100,000 (when finished) Record 121,696
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3408/mcg0607be.jpg

2. Telstra Stadium, Sydney Capacity 83,500. Record 112,524
http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/5434/telstrastadium0012yc.jpg

3. Telstra Dome, Melbourne Capacity 53,399. Record 56,734
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/3844/telstradome0822vz.jpg

4. Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Capacity 52,579. Record 52,496
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8596/suncorpstadium0614pg.jpg

5. AAMI Stadium, Adelaide Capacity 51,300. Record 66,897
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9977/aamistadium0113se.jpg

6. QEII Stadium, Brisbane Capacity 49,000. Record 58,912
http://img302.imageshack.us/img302/4973/qeiistadium0015wc.jpg

7. Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Capacity 44,002. Record 78,056
http://img302.imageshack.us/img302/5672/scg0513yz.jpg

8. Subiaco Oval, Perth Capacity 42,922. Record 52,781
http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/4049/subiacooval0012sm.jpg

9. Gabba, Brisbane Capacity 42,000 (when finished). Record 47,096
http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/8800/gabba0124kl.jpg

10. Aussie Stadium, Sydney Capacity 41,159. Record 43,967
http://img323.imageshack.us/img323/2847/aussiestadium0243kk.jpg

wow, i never knew adelaide had a stadium that could hold 50000.

The gabba has been finished recently (the upgraded section), the sold the first tickets for the new seats a couple of weeks back.

Anyone have any pictures of the recently completed Gabba?

^^^ You also need updated pics for AAMI stadium (it no longer has aluminium benches, it is fully individual bucket-seating now) and the MCG (The Northern stand is actually stretching all the way around now, with essentially only the top tier and roof + seats to be done).

Stu

im honored that AAMI is in top 5!

^^^ You also need updated pics for AAMI stadium (it no longer has aluminium benches, it is fully individual bucket-seating now) and the MCG (The Northern stand is actually stretching all the way around now, with essentially only the top tier and roof + seats to be done).

Stu

lol i think he knows that. he Hails from adelaide....

I do know that but there are none floating around since the buckets seats have been installed. If anyone has any aerials of AAMI Stadium with all bucket seats then please share. Same with updated MCG pics.

And don't forget VFL Park (aka Waverley Park) in Melbourne that held 75,000 officially, but squeezed in over 90,000 for one game I think. All but the main 3 level grandstand have been demolished for a bewdiful Mirvac cookie-cutter dream estate.

just a few random pics of subi from the 3 teir stand at the dockers vs richmond game (sorry bout quality)

http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/2651/subi9fk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/592/subi18fi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

and some from austadiums

http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/photos/subiaco1.jpg
http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/photos/subiaco3.jpg

http://www.antiskid.com.au/images/subi_oval.jpg

Can you even get a good view of the other side of the field in a cricket game?

Hell, from the last photo, I can't see where the ball is.

An aerial of Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9329/suncorpstadium9cx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
pic courtesy of zumtobel group

here a few photo's that I took from inside the MCG when I visited melbourne last April
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Melbourne/MCG1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Melbourne/MCG2.jpg

http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/5411/mcg14a6bm.jpg

Can you even get a good view of the other side of the field in a cricket game?

Hell, from the last photo, I can't see where the ball is.

it was an AFL Game, i was sitting on the highest level because it was pretty packed and hard to get good tickets,

*BTW I ZOOMED OUT TO FIT IN MORE OF THE STADIUM, it looked a lot closer up than the photos.

That last Suncorp Stadium pic is one of the best pics Ive seen of that venue!..Great stuff!

Yeah, photo's can be very deceptive... if you have decent eyesight it is no problem to follow the football or cricket at Subiaco, MCG, AAMI, etc.

Stu

i thought i'd bump this thread back up to the top of the pile, seen as i've just posted an "england's 10 biggest stadiums" thread, and it looks like we're both gonna fight it out for the world cup in 2018. :)

some pictures i found of the mcg. :D pics are couple of weeks old.

http://www.afana.com/album/stk_syd_pf05/DSCF2501.sized.jpg
http://www.afana.com/album/stk_syd_pf05/DSCF2500.sized.jpg
http://www.afana.com/album/stk_syd_pf05/DSCF2502.sized.jpg

http://www.afana.com/album/stk_syd_pf05/DSCF2855.sized.jpg
new members area.

http://www.afana.com/album/stk_syd_pf05/DSCF2642.sized.jpg

Waverly . (gone)

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/6033/waverley2gj.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^^The original plans for Waverley (VFL Park) were for a 160,000 seater stadium. :drool:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/Hornet/waverley.jpg
Sorry about the pic quality...

omg i know, it would've been the best stadium in the world by a long way...

None of them are architecturally compelling. I suppose they're adequate to while away an afternoon guzzling Foster's and watching Australian Rules Football. :cheers:

lol^^Maybe we should get Calatrava to put a roof on all of them.

Apparently his success rate with non Architecturally compelling stadia is legendary :cheers:

lol it premises a good taste in architecture to get Calatrava,something that australians never had!

VFL Park had too many flaws but would have been something if they ever got the thing finished. I am in two minds about the place to be honest. I was pretty upset at the time the league dumped it but they really didn't have too much of a choice and the deal they got as a parachute out was very impressive to say the least.

#They could not make it bigger than 75,000 because the state government refused the league(VFL) planning permission on countless occasions in order to protect their buddies at the MCC/Melbourne Cricket Ground. I remember the VFL President at the 1983 GF saying that the 1984 GF would be staged out at Waverley at the presentation ceremony of the cup and everyone 'booed'. John Cain, the then premier and also an MCC person personally stomped on the VFL and its plans. So essentially the VFL(AFL now) has to deal with the MCC who have been the bone in the throat of the league since day one(1896). The whole point of building its own ground was to build a football owned and run ground.

#The flaws were no public transport, which just about every government from the 1950's onwards promised they would build and it never happened read above why. Melbourne and 'old school ties' is a very strong force and still is today. If you want to get something done, like building your own casino in an underpriveleged area get someone like Walker, Fox, or Pratt in your corner and it is practically a given.
#Playing field was too large, you were 20 metres from the boundary line if you were sitting in the front seat. Then you had the 20 odd metre camber of the oval to look over. The other side of the ground only above the knees was visible.
#They built the place in a rain belt. It was a mud heap for the first 20 years. I remember they used to refer to it as the cow paddock. It was a disgrace until the mid 80's. Great after that mind you.
#The car park was larger than a lot of cities in Europe so you can imagine how long it took to actually escape. You were looking at about 2 hours when 70,000 plus rocked up. They got 92,000 to a game in the late 70's. People were still just getting home when the 80's arrived.
#They didn't build the stands steep enough, but in all fairness it was designed to hold 150,000 to accomadate every single VFL member of every club a ticket to the grand final, plus the blow ins. Now you get the MCC members first, then the blow ins, and then if there is anything left some seats for the actual real followers of the sport.

The reasons it was dumped was a lot to do with the above, but you can also throw in
the fact the interstate clubs didn't need it or play matches there but still had to pay for it as being members of the league.
The AFL got its own chunk of the Melbourne CBD for 'free' and could sell VFL Park off, pay off all its debts and be stinking rich for ever after. This is pretty good considering that in 1986 it couldn't throw the tv rights away and was skint.

All very sad for people who live out east but that business. :cheers:

the concept sounds awesome, the only real footy purpouse built stadiums is AAMI and Subiaco oh and Optus Oval but thats not in AFL anymore.

Maybe we should get Calatrava to put a roof on all of them.

Wouldn't help. Not even Calatrava can make a silk purse out of a sows ear. :bash:

None of them are architecturally compelling. I suppose they're adequate to while away an afternoon guzzling Foster's and watching Australian Rules Football.

Landos, do you know why Australia exorts so much Fosters? Becuase no one who lives here is stupid enough to drink that shit. Hell, if it came to a taste test, us Aussies would pick cats piss over Fosters any day. And we're not about to drink cats piss so what does that tell you about Fosters?

the only real footy purpouse built stadiums is AAMI and Subiaco oh and Optus Oval but thats not in AFL anymore

AAMI was built in 1974 as the home of Australian football in South Australia. Subiaco is has been the home of Western Australia's football since 1908. I would say the only other purpose built grounds in use in the AFL these days are Skilled Stadium in Geelong and Aurora Stadium in Launceston. The rest are multi purpose And even Subiaco is to a point also as its being used as a Rugby international & Super 14 venue now.

but its purpose built for AFL , eg. ground shape and size, i forgot about skilled.

and wat aussie drinks fosters at a footy game, they dont even sell it.

Could these stadiums be adapted to play football though? MCC is quite circular.

yer, they played soccer at subi once, for the perth glory Grand final in the NSL a few years ago, crowd was about 43,000

Here are some renders of the 25,000 seater stadium which will be built for the new NRL Rugby League club Gold Coast Titans.
It will start construction mid next year and be ready for the start of the 2008 NRL season.

http://www.titans.com.au/images/pictures/large/GC-Stadium-Aerial2.jpg

http://www.titans.com.au/images/pictures/large/stad1.jpg

http://www.titans.com.au/images/pictures/large/stad2.jpg

http://www.titans.com.au/images/pictures/large/stad3.jpg

http://www.titans.com.au/images/pictures/large/stad4.jpg

http://www.titans.com.au/images/pictures/large/stad6.jpg

http://www.leagueunlimited.com/images/uploads/NRL_Titans_logo220905_trans.gif

Nice stadium! It is looking like Melbourne will be getting a new 25'000 seater of similar design for the Melbourne Storm League and Melbourne Victory football clubs too, also to be complete by 2008.

But c'mon, Gold Coast Titans? The team would be soooo much cooler to be called Gold Coast Buccaneers or something similar.

Stu

looks good

another one for melbourne ?!?

anyone got pics of Carrera? ive got no idea what it looks like and there playing a few games there next year in the afl.

Titans dont wear armour :bash:

Hmm, why would another Gold Coast sporting franchise work now?

A list of the failed teams:
1. Brisbane Bears, relocated to Brisbane and merged with Fitzroy.
2. Gold Coast Giants league
3. Gold Coast Seagulls league
4. Gold Coast Chargers league
5. Gold Coast Rollers basketball
6. Gold Coast Dolphins baseball

p.s. nice stadium although you would hope the Gold Coast Council wouldn't waste a penny of rate payers money on it. News Ltd/NRL/Titans should pay for the place.

p.p.s. Carrara basically looks like a county 'showground' and that is actually being polite.

it's a good stadium

I like it. Is this for a new 'franchise' or is there an existing team looking for promotion?

I think this is the future for Australia, the more stadia of this size / spec the more chance there is of one day being able to bid for a football world cup.

Melbourne has enough stadia (2), so does Sydney (2) Brissie is OK (1), Perth can get some up to scratch (1)

Then you have

Adelaide (1)
Gold Coast (1)
Central Coast (Newcastle) (1)
Canberra (1)
Townsville (1)

That is 11 stadia and they are mostly rectangular stadia (save Melbourne and Perth and Adelaide)

I reckon Aus should bid along with England and use it as a dry run, for a successful bid after that! Although being a good as you lot are at bidding for competitions I reckon you could give England a fright!

I think this is the future for Australia, the more stadia of this size / spec the more chance there is of one day being able to bid for a football world cup.

Melbourne has enough stadia (2), so does Sydney (2) Brissie is OK (1), Perth can get some up to scratch (1)

Then you have

Adelaide (1)
Gold Coast (1)
Central Coast (Newcastle) (1)
Canberra (1)
Townsville (1)

That is 11 stadia and they are mostly rectangular stadia (save Melbourne and Perth and Adelaide)

I reckon Aus should bid along with England and use it as a dry run, for a successful bid after that! Although being a good as you lot are at bidding for competitions I reckon you could give England a fright!


Wow, this idea comes up a lot. To host the world cup you need 8 40k stadiums, and only one city can have two stadiums. If FIFA relax that law a little Sydney & Melbourne are fine. Brisbane is also great (Suncorp holds 52k). That gets us to 5 venues.

Then it gets a lot harder.
There is no room to expand the gosford venue to 42k, nor the demand. Hindmarsh (In Adelaide) holds 18K, and again there is not the room (Nor the demand) to expand the ground.
I really doubt the demand to expand the Gold Coast stadium to 40k.

Canberra's stadium holds 25k, and could be expanded, while in Perth MES is currently an 18k venue, and might have the room to expand (I have not been there yet). In Newcastle the ground holds 26k, and there is the room to expand. That just gets us to 8.

If you compare our grounds to the German 2006 bid, at this time they just don't stack up. Then there is the issue of moving several 100 thousand people around Australia. At this stage we should just focus on bidding for the Asia Cup.

But what a location Australia would be!! The problem with an England bid is that apart from London, their cities are miserable and depressing! The idea of a holiday in Manchester is laughable!! You would be better off with a weekend in Beirut!

But Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne etc......you can count me in!

But what a location Australia would be!! The problem with an England bid is that apart from London, their cities are miserable and depressing! The idea of a holiday in Manchester is laughable!! You would be better off with a weekend in Beirut!

But Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne etc......you can count me in!

A well thought out and constructive post there.

You are being a bit harsh there mate, whilst Manchester doesn’t have the natural beauty of the great barrier reef on its door step, you have the Yorkshire dales and the lake district near by, Manchester’s music, dance pub and club culture is fantastic and the SALFORD area is really up and coming.

Oh and if it is your type of thing Manchester is the gay capital of Europe!

You are also forgetting that the WC in the UK (and England in particular) would be a festival of football like no other, England hosted the Euro championships in 96 and are generally considered to be the bench mark with which other competitions should be compared!

Anyhow Canberra, Newcastle and Surfers are not exactly places of beauty either are they?

Anyway with the introduction of this stadium I think Australia are heading in the right direction to bid for the WC soon! How about this for controversy, how’s about a joint bid with your cousines across the Tasman, could be vaiable if they can build a decent stadium in Auckland and Christchurch, oh and remove the advertising from their stadia

A well thought out and constructive post there.

You are being a bit harsh there mate, whilst Manchester doesn’t have the natural beauty of the great barrier reef on its door step, you have the Yorkshire dales and the lake district near by, Manchester’s music, dance pub and club culture is fantastic and the SALFORD area is really up and coming.

Oh and if it is your type of thing Manchester is the gay capital of Europe!

You are also forgetting that the WC in the UK (and England in particular) would be a festival of football like no other, England hosted the Euro championships in 96 and are generally considered to be the bench mark with which other competitions should be compared!

Anyhow Canberra, Newcastle and Surfers are not exactly places of beauty either are they?

I'm just saying that I would much rather travel to Australia for a trip than England. 2 weeks holidaying in the land of Chavs just ain't my cup of tea!

It's probably because I live in an idustrial chav/ned based city that I can't wait to go on holiday to chav free countries!


"THE CLOSING CEREMONY -

Entertainment will include formation rave dancing by members of the Salford Health in the Community anti-drug campaigners, synchronized rock throwing and music by the Stockport Community Choir"

http://www.lotsofjokes.com/cat_275.htm

http://www.scarrott.org.uk/funny/mancholy.htm

Oh well agree to disagree then, cos living in Sydney a trip to Manchester is more attractive to me than visiting Canberra!

Anyway with the introduction of this stadium I think Australia are heading in the right direction to bid for the WC soon! How about this for controversy, how’s about a joint bid with your cousines across the Tasman, could be vaiable if they can build a decent stadium in Auckland and Christchurch, oh and remove the advertising from their stadia

FIFA have already said they will not accept a joint Australia - NZ bid. We are now in different confederations.

nice, but i think it can still be better for a city like gc..

No, come on you guys, this stadium is a really good thing. It has a much better location. Right near Robina Train Station, which of course links into the Brisbane train network, the line which is to be extended to Reedy Creek by 2008 and to Elanora and Tugun by 2011 and possibly down to Gold Coast Airport and the Tweed. Also, it's not in the middle of nowhere like Carrara is. For those of you who wouldn't know, Carrara stadium is in the middle of the Carrara-Merrimac floodplain and the only things near it were caravan parks. There weren't any public transport links to Carrara either. The new Gold Coast Stadium will be at Robina, a major growth centre for the Gold Coast.

Ok, next the stadium is being built by the Queensland Government and the land has been provided by the Gold Coast City Council (Robina Land Corporation gave them a good price).

Also, yes, many of the Gold Coast's sporting teams have collapsed. The Brisbane Bears didn't. They moved their home ground. But with the Giants and the Seagulls, they were both located down at Tweed Heads where once again, they were out of the way and the Chargers were a victim of the SuperLeague War. They were one of the richest and most successful(not in the games, but off-field) teams in the league. Also, none of those teams had anywhere near the support from either the public or the business community that the Titans do. The titans will be successful

I'm just saying that I would much rather travel to Australia for a trip than England. 2 weeks holidaying in the land of Chavs just ain't my cup of tea!

It's probably because I live in an idustrial chav/ned based city that I can't wait to go on holiday to chav free countries!


"THE CLOSING CEREMONY -

Entertainment will include formation rave dancing by members of the Salford Health in the Community anti-drug campaigners, synchronized rock throwing and music by the Stockport Community Choir"

http://www.lotsofjokes.com/cat_275.htm

http://www.scarrott.org.uk/funny/mancholy.htm




well,they do have their equivalent of chavs on Oz,believe me.

What is a "chav"? Is it a way of describing the kind of people you get in the classic tv series "Shameless"?

That is fantastic stuff. Neighbours wishes it had half the stuff that goes on in that show.

But what a location Australia would be!! The problem with an England bid is that apart from London, their cities are miserable and depressing! The idea of a holiday in Manchester is laughable!! You would be better off with a weekend in Beirut!

But Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne etc......you can count me in!

Well you can't blame cities North of London for their weather thats a natural occurence, although it does seem to rain a lot up north and in London were in a drought :eek2:

What is a "chav"? Is it a way of describing the kind of people you get in the classic tv series "Shameless"?

That is fantastic stuff. Neighbours wishes it had half the stuff that goes on in that show.

yep,classic chav's in Shameless.Vicky Pollard(little britain) is another good example,as is Catherine Tate's "am i bovvered" character

^Vicky Pollard rocks!!! I love Little Britain!

http://www.mvfc.com.au/_content/image/00002848-image.jpg


Today’s announcement of a new $190 million rectangular stadium for Melbourne was warmly received by one of the proposed major tenants of the facility, Melbourne Victory.

Stadium plans announced by the Premier Steve Bracks today reveal a state-of-the-art design with the capacity to accommodate 20,000 spectators purpose-built for rectangular sports including football, rugby league and rugby union.

Having achieved sellout crowds in its opening season in the new Hyundai A-League, Melbourne Victory can look forward to greater capacity and better supporter facilities when the new stadium opens in 2008.

Club Chairman, Geoff Lord, described the stadium as world class and befitting a professional club such as Melbourne Victory.

“As a club we have embarked on a long term strategy for excellence,” Lord said. “To have a stadium with such an iconic design mirrors what we are trying to achieve as a club. We want to build an iconic club for Melbourne, and to play in this magnificent stadium will be marvelous for us.”

Melbourne Victory Football Operations Manager, Gary Cole, was delighted with the plans for the new Olympic Park Stadium.

“I think this stadium is fantastic for Melbourne,” Cole said. “We’ve never had a modern, purpose-built football stadium before. I played for Heidelberg, Victoria and the Socceroos at the old Olympic Park and with a full house it was fantastic; but 20,000 fans in a modern stadium built for football with the sound of the crowd reverberating will be exciting for players and fans alike. I couldn’t think of a more perfect place for Melbourne Victory to call home.”

Interim Melbourne Victory CEO, John Harris, saw the stadium as a symbol of how far the club and the Hyundai A-League have come in such a short time.

“This stadium, our new home, heralds the renaissance of football in Melbourne,” Harris said. “The success of Melbourne Victory and the Hyundai A-League would have been a compelling aspect in the ultimate scope and design of Melbourne’s new stadium.”

Coach Ernie Merrick indicated that the stadium would play a major role in attracting quality overseas players to Melbourne, as well as providing inspiration to local players.

“Football really has come of age. Interest in the sport is enormous, which is reflected in the Australia versus Greece game being sold out in less than two hours,” Merrick said.

“With the State Government committed to building a world class stadium, the future for our game is very bright. We’ll certainly be using the stadium as a tool for attracting high quality international players, and I’m sure the stadium will also serve as a focal point for football for local youngsters in the same way as the MCG does for cricket.”


http://www.mvfc.com.au/_content/image/00002851-image.jpg

http://www.mvfc.com.au/_content/image/00002849-image.jpg

http://www.mvfc.com.au/_content/image/00002856-image.jpg

http://www.mvfc.com.au/_content/image/00002853-image.jpg

i believe it will be designed for capicity to be added at a later date, when required, to 25,000 seats, which i think is a good size.


Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

looks like London's Olympic Stadium..

I'm not totally convinced on the design as yet but I'm glad this project is finally under way. At last soccer and the rugby codes will have a quality dedicated stadium for their needs. Until now it's also been the missing link in this world class sports precinct which includes the MCG, Rod Laver Arena, Vodaphone Arena and Olympic Park.

More facts and figures (http://www.melbournevictory.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=3743&pageid=71)

I'm not totally convinced on the design as yet but I'm glad this project is finally under way. At last soccer and the rugby codes will have a quality dedicated stadium for their needs. Until now it's also been the missing link in this world class sports precinct which includes the MCG, Rod Laver Arena, Vodaphone Arena and Olympic Park.

More facts and figures (http://www.melbournevictory.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=3743&pageid=71)

Navyblue,can you tell we what the differnace is between the Rod Laver arena and the Vodaphone arena?Aret theyboth part of the Australian Open Tennis.
And what purpose does the Telstra dome serve,surely the MCG can do most things that the dome can?

Looks like crap, it will spoil Melbourne, it has such cool stadiums now if they build this one it will be like a wart in Melbourne an ugly thing that no one wants. Make it look better.

Design is great but those light towers....god...ugly as hell.

Navyblue,can you tell we what the differnace is between the Rod Laver arena and the Vodaphone arena?Aret theyboth part of the Australian Open Tennis.
And what purpose does the Telstra dome serve,surely the MCG can do most things that the dome can?

The Vodafone and Rod Laver Arenas are both used for tennis during the Australian Open but other than that, they're two multi-function arenas that spend most of the year in a concert configuration - but it's possible to play basketball there. Gymnastics were held at Rod Laver Arena and they're putting a pool there for the swimming world championships next year.

Vodafone Arena's seats lift up to make space for a stage or a cycling track.


The MCG can do most things that the Telstra Dome does (the Telstra Dome also does concerts and even had a LAN once) but the capacity can be a bit high sometimes. But with 9 AFL clubs based in Melbourne, none of which still use their own grounds (which are in a bad state these days), two stadiums are needed to get through a round.

The Vodafone and Rod Laver Arenas are both used for tennis during the Australian Open but other than that, they're two multi-function arenas that spend most of the year in a concert configuration - but it's possible to play basketball there. Gymnastics were held at Rod Laver Arena and they're putting a pool there for the swimming world championships next year.

Vodafone Arena's seats lift up to make space for a stage or a cycling track.


The MCG can do most things that the Telstra Dome does (the Telstra Dome also does concerts and even had a LAN once) but the capacity can be a bit high sometimes. But with 9 AFL clubs based in Melbourne, none of which still use their own grounds (which are in a bad state these days), two stadiums are needed to get through a round.


Invincible,thanks.It seems that melbourne went staduim/arena crazy during the last few years.its a pity that a lot of the AFL teams have let their own grounds go,in favour of sharing the Telstra Dome and MCG.Don't the fans sometimes want a little variety,instead of watching games in the same staduims all the time.Seems to take away from each teams identity,plus,you end up always going to the same part of Melbourne to watch a game,
The thing i love about watching my team in English footbal is all the differant ground you get to visit,plus visiting a differant town/city(i'm just over halfway from doing the full 92)

also,what happened to the where the Aussie Tennis open used to be played?

^^
Flinders Park is where the Australian Open is held, it's just been renamed Melbourne Park. In 2000, the centre court was named "Rod Laver Arena".

The Australian Open was held on the grass courts at Kooyong before that. Kooyong is still there, in fact i'm sure Australia is playing Belarus in a Davis Cup QF there this weekend.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Your joking arne't you? Surely someone from London, of all places, understands how rare tickets can be to big sporting occasions and even rarer when you continue to play at outdated, tiny stadia, like Loftus Rd. Stamford Br., Whitehart La. etc..

Wouldn't you actually prefer to actually attend a match in the flesh rather than only see it on Sky TV.

Bizarre mentality the England have.

p.s. The old Oz Open courts are being used tomorrow for the Davis Cup. Why on earth they are playing out at Kooyong is beyond me when you have Rod Laver sitting there gathering dust. Kooyong has those old wooden benches, open to the elements, and really annoyingly located if you are not from the inner east of Melbourne. They will lose about 10k from people refusing to go out to that shithouse tennis club. That is before you factor in that it will be freezing there with snow in the mountains surrounding Melbourne to give you an idea how lousy it will be there. Thank the lord for covered stadiums, dunno how we lived without them.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Your joking arne't you? Surely someone from London, of all places, understands how rare tickets can be to big sporting occasions and even rarer when you continue to play at outdated, tiny stadia, like Loftus Rd. Stamford Br., Whitehart La. etc..

Wouldn't you actually prefer to actually attend a match in the flesh rather than only see it on Sky TV.

Bizarre mentality the England have.

p.s. The old Oz Open courts are being used tomorrow for the Davis Cup. Why on earth they are playing out at Kooyong is beyond me when you have Rod Laver sitting there gathering dust. Kooyong has those old wooden benches, open to the elements, and really annoyingly located if you are not from the inner east of Melbourne. They will lose about 10k from people refusing to go out to that shithouse tennis club. That is before you factor in that it will be freezing there with snow in the mountains surrounding Melbourne to give you an idea how lousy it will be there. Thank the lord for covered stadiums, dunno how we lived without them.


as a QPR fan,i never have any trouble getting into Loftus Rd.And getting tickets to White Hart Lane is also normally quite straight forward.Went to see Spurs play last season.What do you suggest,QPR move into Wembley?that would be good,20k in a 90k staduim,about as much atmosphere as playing on the moon
all of these teams have plans to expand over the next few years,which will allow more fans to attend the big games,but the danger of that the bubble may well burst,attendances fall,and teams are again(like they were in the 80's)in half empty stadia
i know you think that the big London teams should share Wembley,but who wants to go to Wembley every other week,the place is a hole.Going to Wembley should be a special experience.Thats what made the fa cup final what it was,for some,a once in a lifetime chance to play under the Twin Towers.
if we went the Aussie route,we'd lose the likes of Craven Cottage,walking down the River at Putney,going through Bishops park,having a drink on the River.
Thats just the way we are here,we like each team to have its own unique ground,to go with its own individual identity.I dont want to share with Foolham,(didn't like it when they came to Loftus Rd)or Chelski

I'm not totally convinced on the design as yet but I'm glad this project is finally under way. At last soccer and the rugby codes will have a quality dedicated stadium for their needs. [/URL]

I'm not sure it meets any needs as far as rugby union is concerned - it's too small for Test matches, and Victoria failed to win the new Australian Super 14 franchise. All I can imagine is that there might be the occasional Australia A game there, or maybe in 2013 the British Lions might play Victoria...

a rip off of londons olympic stadium?

^^^^^^^^^^^

London hasn't even begun building anything yet. Melbourne's soccer ground will be in use before London even breaks ground.

Super 14 won't be played there, but NRL will be. The Storm plays there home matches there.

The MCG or Docklands are where Wallaby matches take place. My personal preference is the MCG as Docklands is too small a capacity. You get the All Blacks down you will sell 100,000 tickets.

^^^ yeah but the design was finalized before this one even started

i love the desing but it's would be kool with out light tower

some its look like plastic bag

a rip off of londons olympic stadium?
At least it has a nice design? :|

And how can it be a rip off? London is an Olympic stadium, this is a nice little soccer field.

Super 14 won't be played there, but NRL will be. The Storm plays there home matches there.

The MCG or Docklands are where Wallaby matches take place. My personal preference is the MCG as Docklands is too small a capacity. You get the All Blacks down you will sell 100,000 tickets.

Yeah, that's why I questioned the statement "the rugby codes will have a quality dedicated stadium for their needs"...

Back to the stadium now..................................
Its still looks like shit :)

Yeah, that's why I questioned the statement "the rugby codes will have a quality dedicated stadium for their needs"...The Storm (league) will play there and Melbourne are rumoured to bid for a super 14/15 rugby team in the near future (within 5 years), for which this 25k stadium will be a perfect size...thats why the size of the Pitch is 136 x 82m. For some reason, Union seems to be more popular than League in this town.

Internationals will be played at bigger venues.

.....anyhow they had a fly over 3d of the stadium on last night's Footy Show. Looks magnificent and will stand where the old greyhound track used to if you know that part of Melbourne.

It will be a pleasure to attend matches there. Even though Olympic Park was a great ground over the years.

Okay apart from this new stadium looking shit, does melbourne need another stadium? dont get me wrong, I love stadiums, the more the better I feel.

whats this stadium used for?
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2008/st4lu.jpg

Okay apart from this new stadium looking shit

that's great champ. you've said it in about 3 posts already. move on mate. once is plenty really. everyone now knows you hate it. you seem to be the only one.

whats this stadium used for?
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2008/st4lu.jpg

That's Princes Park, which was the home ground of the Carlton Football Club until last year. 35,000 all seater - but you can see it's not the most modern thing in the world. It's currently a training and administration base, although the AFL might buy the ground off the club.

Melbourne needs this stadium because our main rectangular stadium is Olympic Park (built for the 1956 Olympics) which has an athletics track around it.

^^ cool thank for that.

Now that I think about it, Melbourne does need a proper rectangle stadium, with all of your grounds having either athletes tracks or round fields, howcome your'll have 2 race courses so close to one another? theres flemingtons & theres that other one, with the inner dirt track?

Man you hit the JACKPOT! Thats the home of the mighty Blues up on Royal Parade in North Carlton. The club is the equivalent of AC Milan, Manchester United and the New York Yankees all rolled into one. It is a great old ground, better than most cricket grounds in England. The only cricket ground better was Lord's I thought and Princes Park actually has a capacity of 36,000 compared to Lord's 28,000.

- It is where the 1945, "Bloodbath - Grand Final" was staged between Carlton and South Melbourne before 65,000 people.

- More legendary matches in the VFL/AFL over the years than I can possibly remember. The 1986 Hawks/Cats game where most of the players ended up before the Supreme court for brawling including current Lions coach, "Lethal" Leigh Matthews.

- Great Britain played the Australians in a rugby league test back in the late 1980s there.

- AC Milan played Australia there in the early 1990s as well.

- In the late 1980's "Aida" that opera of the pharoahs, with elephants and lions was held up there on the biggest stage for opera of all time.

- Jeff Fenech fought Azumah Nelson for a world title there in the early 1990s before 40,000 people in a record boxing attendance in Oz.

It was a sad day last year when they played the final game. Carlton v. Melbourne with the great John "Big Nick" Nicholls holding the ball aloft to the crowd for the final time.

Melbourne has a lot more than 2 horse racing tracks btw.

The ones I "know of" within Melbourne itself are Flemington, 100k capacity, Caulfield, 50k cap., Moonee Valley, 50k cap(trots and gallops). Sandown, 50k(at least) and also used for motor racing, Werribee, 15-20k, Cranbourne ??? and a few others that I cannot think of. They are the famous ones.

If you are going for a day, I would recommend Flemington and Caulfield as very good facilities with the hottest "tottie" in the grandstands. The "Whips and Spurs" young member days are particularly good.

Victoria has 64 country tracks plus more for "picnic racing".

Golf is far better in Victoria however. Even Tiger Woods said he would base his golf course designs on those in and around Melbourne.

Navyblue,can you tell we what the differnace is between the Rod Laver arena and the Vodaphone arena?Aret theyboth part of the Australian Open Tennis.
And what purpose does the Telstra dome serve,surely the MCG can do most things that the dome can?
Each venue fills specific functions well.

Rod Laver Arena 14,800 - Primarily used for Tennis, Gymnastics and Basketball.
Vodafone Arena 10,400 - Primarily used as a Velodrome, Netball, Basketball and to a lesser extent Tennis No2 Court.
Telstra Dome 56,000 - Melbourne's number 2 stadium is used primarily for Australian Rules football, Rugby, concerts, and occasionally for cricket.
The MCG 100,000 - Everything and anything when ever you need a big arena, and a venue that holds more than 56,000.

Telstra Dome replaced a much larger (Now demolished) stadium that used to be in the suburbs. It has filled a particular requirement in that many Aussie Rules home games outgrew the old suburban grounds in terms of crowd sizes but you could only play on the MCG so much during one week. Average crowd attendances in the Dome are likely to be between 35-50,000, and 56,000 capacity was what was believed would allow the Dome to be run economically back when it was built in 2000.

On the other hand the MCG earns it's money and place in Melbourne at least once or twice a week during the footy season when crowds way exceed Telstra Domes capacity. Certainly the one day cricket games throughout summer the Melbourne crowds average 70-80,000 and international soccer games are normally big crowd pullers as well.

I think that the new venue will provide a better seating configuration for Rugby league Games and for local soccer competition. A 20-25,000 seater is more economical for Rugby League and Soccer. Also it adds another string to Melbourne's bow as Melbourne doesn't have a large field hockey stadium. The best it has is the 6000 seat State Hockey Centre.

Melbourne needs a venue of this capacity because the way that Telstra Dome is configured and operates, you need to have a crowd of 30,000 in there in order to break even with costs. The MCG is also a similar story and plus the ground is too vast to watch Rugby or Soccer games on. The play tends to dissappear into it's vastness. As Dean says, the venue won't go unused nor will it become a white elephant, Melbourne is a big city and accommodates all sporting interests and tastes.

Cheers :cheers:

Okay apart from this new stadium looking shit, does melbourne need another stadium? dont get me wrong, I love stadiums, the more the better I feel.

whats this stadium used for?
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2008/st4lu.jpg

The old Princess Park is little more than a cluster of Grandstands of various vintages ranging from the 1920's to the late 90's.

Princess Park was used during 1942-1946 to play all AFL Grand Final Games as the MCG was annexed during those years as the world's biggest Army and Airforce barracks. In the 1945 AFL Grand Final Princess Park held 66,000 people (A ground attendance record).

It was almost demolished in 1952 when the State Government of Victoria were going to build the 1956 Olympic Games Stadium on the site. Works commenced but were stopped two months into preliminary earthworks with a change of Government. The new Labor Government led by John Cain (Senior) decreed that building a new stadium was a waste of money when the Melbourne already had the MCG. The MCG had been previously not considered because there were powerful forces in the Melbourne establishment who believed that the MCG should only be used for Cricket and Football. The AFL and the Melbourne Cricket Club had a very uncomfortable relationship in those days but the AFL paid the bills. The Cain government told the Melbourne Cricket Club that they would recieve no funding for future development from the State Government unless they allowed for redevelopment of the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the staging of the Olympic Games. Since then the MCG has been totally rebuilt and hosted many other events other than cricket and football. And the rest as they say ... is history.

:) :) :)

Back to the stadium now..................................
Its still looks like shit :)
What makes it look shit?
Someones jealous....

looks like a cross of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Stadiums to me

but good

Here's a cool short video...looks better than most of the pics.

A virtual flyover the stadium (http://www.mvfc.com.au/_content/video/00000026-source.wmv)

nice vid, love the design ! looks kinda like...Alianz Arena doesnt it? can wait to be in there cheering on Victory when we cane Sydneys ass again !! :) :) :)

Ahh if only Princess park was still used for AFL matches, i attended the final match, too bad about the outcome. Damn you John Elliot, ruining the club for a few years.

I like this stadium, it will be good for the local soccer fans who support Melb Victory. It will be good, seeming groundworks will start in a month or so.

And about the hockey, this will be grass, you can't play feild hockey on this type of grass, you may as wlel add an extra stand onto the state hockey centre, thats quite a good facility played on it once.

If only it were made to expand to 30k not 25k.

At the heart of the design is the Bioframe, a lightweight steel design based on the inherent structural efficiencies of the dome. This uses 50% less steel than a typical cantilever roof structure. This structure is then skinned in a triangular panelised façade that can be made up with a combination of glass, metal and louvers, as well as potential for photovoltaic cells. Together, the Bioframe and the skin form a highly sculptural, non industrial object. A new image for a stadium that moves away from industrial aesthetic to sculptural design. Solar panel roof anyone?

^^^^^^^^^

Damn Ian Collins more like it. He has been running the club for 5 years and done nothing but go further into the shit. He has dragged the club away from Princes Park when all the members were against it to further line the pockets of shareholders of Telstra Dome, his ruddy employers.

Collo was there during the Elliot dynasty too, so his hands are covered in blood as well.

It is a joke, a number of board members are now trying to toss Collo out on his arse.

']What makes it look shit?
Someones jealous....
Yes, I'm jealous of that

Man you hit the JACKPOT! Thats the home of the mighty Blues up on Royal Parade in North Carlton. The club is the equivalent of AC Milan, Manchester United and the New York Yankees all rolled into one.


No, Carlton are a corrupt, almost bankrupt team consistantly on the bottom rungs of the ladder. I dont get it Carlton cheat by a whopping amount yet they still manage to finish last, some real skill required for that feat of hopelessness.

Essendon Bombers FC are the Manchester United of Australia, with the history, recent success, fan base, money, marquee players, and under the salary cap-ness to prove it. In fact essendonFC and MU have a partnership for marketing and professional development, we truly are the MUFC of Down Under.

If anybody else comes close it would be Collingwood, but lets both reject them shall we ;)

See the Bombers fly UP! UP!



Oh, and the new staium looks ugle, overpriced, and does not have enough room for expansion. Once again a horrible design choice by the Bracks government to go with Fed Square and Spencer Street station.

everyone now knows you hate it. you seem to be the only one.


Oh, and the new staium looks ugle, overpriced, and does not have enough room for expansion. Once again a horrible design choice by the Bracks government to go with Fed Square and Spencer Street station.

you see I am not the only one!

another thing i dont like about it is the clear roof. Considering the A-League is during the Australian summer, Victory fans need shade from the unforgiving sun, yet the build the bloody roof clear?

It will be good to have a decent rectangle stadium in the city, lord knows the storm and the victory deserve it, but they could not have picked a worse design.

^^^^^^^^^^

They play at night and it can snow in Melbourne during the summer. Then again it could be 45 too. It is a wacky world we live in down here.

Yes, I'm jealous of that
dont worry he hates most projects that arent in durban..

dont worry he hates most projects that arent in durban..
Hey, I didnt say that, I like.........Mm.......let me think..........

just kidding, i dig all projects, its the design that get me edgy.

Man, this thread just cracks me up LOL. :) Having sat as a Victory member watching Sydney FC getting thrashed 5-0 I paused at the time enjoying the atmosphere in the stadium. Olympic Park has poor facilities, seating, and athletics track but that day 18206 people created a magical presence which was worth every cent (dollar!). I hope the new stadium will imprint an similar atmosphere on my psyche. Is there technology that could change the amount of light coming through the roof, ie opaque to transparent? This technology could be used at Docklands and the MCG. Let the grass grow!

I'm sure the technology is out there (think glasses that become darker in the sun) but it'd probably be really expensive.

And people in Australia will complain no matter what or how much the government spends money on.

There is an office I work in which uses natural light rather than artificial light. It is pumped through optic fibre cables(essentially glass fibres) to special bulbs which have natural light. It is a Swedish company that makes them, but it got me thinking that it has all kinds of great practical uses on a far larger scale. Namely fixing the problems at Telstra Dome. The only problem is, how far can these fibres take natural light and re-transmit them and will that natural light be strong enough to help grass grow? In theory I cannot see why not.

Whatever happens I am sure the local hydroponics operations are already onto it. Using power 24 hours a day off the mains is the way most "cultivators" in the weed game get busted. With this technology no-body knows what you are growing because natural light is free!

The other problem with optical fibres is that you cannot bend them at large angles or else the light refracts out of the cable.

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2teZtHcWZKyizniM8w1Giykezm0-flZj4OVYrctu2qtRxF-9K1PG_CUwNs7c4z_k4gu6_S7ZwgA_RQdZMYU2Com4S-Bh4zQ6yBh45eqsAaexyd1MNsUR50j

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2sNK_L8tbDNB6vQWRB08Vn6Ghfxg7q_KyFtfCYv7xxE77C65ZA0rLEem45H1pxOyyyVSgNAFt5ts043-d3pSX4aafY2UImWFFWYenZNIJ83H5wg-SoB3ABI

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2s-hY9taNe9sPo8_KwigFbmF0NeZCAgE0328iNMU6GUbQrBZ5QfLw4_VkSecb-hRosODxA225IYbQtVkhJPml9Fee_rMmdkYvs6r7CPtqtHrtMwC7HT5rqC

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2uFY-MLh9FIVh6qBnKHh4lSM_HILwted2dQyYd62z2-kPS0s_4mBCn43uI5KorCMSkS_Jyz9qBtR0hQHARSQvsTZjybWKq5-f5u34o1uXglYQ

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2uSwCtkCI-D6agJL9GOYbIx-AuwPSSsMbnANQYGfdfM-N-RVURUMJ4GqV7gdse-uoBjWAuV_HrIyrgD00LCV8lTHjeYTf3deBxI8TpIW7kxJtUrmybOPgZ4

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2ucfNYGjzW0C62goJ06jQr_NFBjNjpY06aJZ1746DIAzYwFNBNvJmCf7C8suEZjkgr8u_9ZbcIYMkk7QOUc3csQWnqdk48tWXHGQqsZNs0X41fR4tvxj5S8

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2vhQikF9o7mNZzej8ZrQASzh7oOeZV0YP_D52L0rKo0VuYv7dslEWrGbvh7N0x_-A8uXSvIIQVujnRdp9iYKiOX8d_q_4YwloKoVNRPtTmIbqabR4I-pk9T

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2ugCdZ6yeplDe2CWR5mfE8FJEaaVmm4QHrEEngfQVelTziDj7MSZxA_1WeOHAdQohHkRlpqJTivr6eHTIFVUkNxIuP4gNDAn45n3PCJeb9fUQ5NouGZDNr3

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2t7mtGGi3gd6J1XBsG8_1i9VM1Iykymiy8XH-wqzD98c4KzL1ATvzVsUE39nThg2zf2NP-itjH46KGiAl55BKhnR1hdIb91-bgNSSgCF-nKXQ2ElREnFat_

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2unzfJdGbGM8X24-h7yMahNVw4UMysNUht7O8saVVeBFV5ougtXA6y7j9Drc67bJ6f7hGBxROW0xRVqqUrCRSVwYB-3aGjJQhjxixJ-ktgqKhG6SLrSB-Ol

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2sDznaoZ_TEppeBqgaoek6m6So6ubhM5f8qR3HMhd-WVYcYsd2-TDs7SxjPnYpe_6392qw1-J-_8JIaxehfwdHTwKmaDJDjbvi9cLnC4FFv5fNgb4OyCkHC

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2tFkFnuMW3sXLSukA_uTUE7utqdvPmoeVnO6PUnkFd4i5wnpKfj_cYaGbcUMvgIC3aWaPUtvxoTOpzmkrxpE7TbO4eIGz2C88kscBnDehPwGDlZCNEpT_UA

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2vcPoY9kU03p9uRrYnjKbqYnkQdQhBBcoMoC8quk9GYUORtxsmUFKlBW3WYLzPhq2u6alV1GmDT3w2_vv2c4XoZB6oqhb1bKn9OnTq6bJp9_7GAPQ-B1wML

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2ubO1F-r3S04lFo9lmF3BxJ9c1IpKpnsz5t3hu9UK5RHF7afgrLsBvo0nPIJW1LwksWfE_xWfFC5Gy2kiD-W1z7D9Eci_kg2id87nmUIkg6J58-QHpuYxd0

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2vaR-czTH4nfK3Br-MUeuQOgM6w1rFK3vIh_Bt51soT8b1GMXcjVa8O9A83und9Mc8Ze1SD3Hjj_9OKyO7o9k6TdsOWMf0tZxL6hN6LI_m_gUh6ROWq_3uh

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2t6qCJDycpLwfy85ydh9bIBp7mmMPY36aaSsv1hMa7pl8FCmELbaF5B1nIxodebXAyTfX9bHN9aYye1U7kVO6HlYOdaTLie-iV0Flv3Mb02tVep0cXv-JOC

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2uifYiq4on_SeH76OoyhTDtWP3jN8Jy61olTbAwmGexmmn6MEzv2mFHSn2Vu22TuoM6-5OXLPmdox9ySoecuWod6OoNI0B2kAYTpsg2aXVtmW8iI8JSWPXh

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2trg3-yrf4tuNnZX4g_ZZ4IUOqNxNLCKrTa0grqmoyUPhlaa12LIF7qK_Go65vSB32NxYbSd74wsbC4admEXumU-n2sdP0wOd2P7MlyMz9lvXo_zt4ZZ8u8

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2vujoJRg9idHcAFBU4SKl55pFXfZ6CFho4cLgPeOpTig6PX2GeYr6qbJKo4EXbm8ztkmPaEbA0WmxLrNF3xpvqvOUiTx3AlQjYm0usaZitikH4m07KS3Ru3

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2sugLjhF3b8by1SgmHPIe1U64o7ZBAFvhA0YpWVUj16fL4pJlmo8BUl1zwS8K7cRcyDt8AzuBtlp6tSAFwkAltM-D2hKBj_-1DZo-EIJh4BGI1bZzW9ZA47

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2sFioDAFMEybJaUb-11rhFTkIulUVBjc1cn1RaJlmnOZb-zuvtiN4DRJ60onQIrWP6Q-rdF95an2ZfjRDUfHUqGPShdM-KQvrS0-rvfM-0s6CyLBrcgJORb

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2tycFdrFZ6x0NBDiJ292sB2RMOIW8mBUI8n3dO4T_JAtHCze24fGtr2lYbLN9ctk1_CYmg_lqKMHlXjJCLv30kCGX3uoM0xlkeLozW98Z5UpGjmn5tIalGC

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2tRhZqNPWX2ChUnYh9gk0EFdlVb6lxUZ6FWKefj5CsxsdHAI35o_YLDp7BFyjFa3rbdLyO5l53iACofG-46b1RNhgL16F-NXZB79is199p4cg

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2uxYKmQawT8c3o7aq5QDsgqBo2vFgSMlStQnFIEyyjCIjb5azCQDah7iXj3ikPItEAu_s3BElakhrUGddRnH9T1XYK22ThaG-hpV9CI1UfcV3uHn6hMM0Jx

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2s1dXHe72ZvBckiTbC0DUcEQz-uACLMf2TZ9f-qCHnILJbn8WN7awb9NgZdab5SVuRFDwBGOHMYWt0e50vwHVRBFF333O6E4yhGorj_zIAVTQ

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2vhwh3AAPB_j3v44RaIly3xk7HxYl8-t2xrZwWa2wU07sNYNng8O-M7hb1R4Fu_uaQrOn9BsYpTaePiRmwaSmu2sWG1Z-aDtGVUDplnrvY6BM74m99K2JKu

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2sS2-6Ptlg2c1xIQFomZZzhgO471kqC0cnP00zjTnjoQPqgvINwkTt-sL3336vVlvSP2sNpEo5GHdTNiktY72-SxgwcnQL6Gx7rfTI-ekk7vnBtMBCHEhzs

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2uYCwz4RY7CIbLRbm5OS5v-HALm9mBGdatCJqP3KoeMqJOXfH7Jq4EwtUNfOOS45g_2fM5JMxaWEKyJkwjETvx7GXc8k7dXDZ3DLXFwc6Ubc7bgludsAvuS

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2vWiuv8fJVhPneV3iJ8XbyO58FeHi_yihKE4S0IoN9iIxN1HsPnaOoB_UPn4McYlwiTdZ3bx2VxRhupr5IokF5bTn2mdjxwsGW5ZfDyXdaBCqbnmeFar6ob

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2t1SoPAWVc1U_9mVtrUJtlxloTIVyqugk8XnC2OmklTZ42eslAQBN1aXXvQVf1FCwRhyI1RwsTF6YuMFEIegy4KyxIc6pMLR4NBQHG5c9g312L_N9Fkt_w4

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2uU6ZDapjqezbaaWN746y75xyDbOK1xEebJMeZS7lCh9p7EjrlpWupLaEzrKSfKraz386IhqMkkpjVGAc49uxPMJ8GxDisFRuG7Gu297HhtQ_5tUJ4PrIT8

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2s4x_L5wmnjSqxMVOpdBdHUMq2fi0bM7PvV5nKX018PEzr0Y6tmqZQNHgn1q2JHStJGd7J5rigy0qyThLlEsSuqlsD0VeURBPxxgK8z81tKsh6RhaJzSxjt

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2sxhqFGfsPPoVxyR2viLJsTa9quZkchdmSWxnljfc-cAJxYYHh9w8rd2ZGx-uYSkF5yXvwQWWCE2VCkubiaYx1FHK19MBnGjkeV7NHb8WiH9eC379R5Gij1

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2uLCwo1yWgclTVKuAHTXhV8ZAIwbXN2D02toMH_2p2_d2_0F7XDa-jWKvtP0y5WoLHmwaEGTcklwz-TAJteWIOS_qyFHLWKWLr_WRG3QZwbFGv_TXciojij

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2ttuxhGDYUfrOEkhrxwQ50d_ldedA-F1eL-4-2WIIZrwLXoM-pzuH-18NVy7kNvEtQxcEFXnIR3hC29lT4aPcUmp2akC9RYKoh88FWJwIAth4iKhMO39dGY

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2tbmdyF00ZUhIIuWVRrUuwCq2H3_Et5H-U1zQMNht8dSsWQg0eg6wlzx11MxDTzAbq60QRgcAItIDDB89rnqBAE8dn3Yakmh3Q0QYG2u4JmJhBlZs6Aautu

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2tOh796tslHH_uAFZLo5dy3jex_fPJsWwY1h3FnwbbFqlThllU1gMmaFLCIrsZqHuWg-0yOHbXVUu2vDxQTyWXoK5MLMdLgGEcQrp-23Uok0XlD6LdZJTIU

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2v3qIH2L1qE2gn098cv9IqvJUel7vyUxwLI9mR_ToQm8TRd9kGBX2xwLPbOsWWem6p22D2Uoj9emaiRYdRY-e4ObKrZtcF5rdDcm7JwlJu8Ks_QcHe924JH

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2tfk9uJ6LXxgVQxjZ_FVIcLLQJIbfrNBg-NC3uWrWUV-SfeG8AeRiqs8Z_5FlxkTtTzMB-C86OClXZtCsDVBau0jNKAu0v3f7wjfSLSfvNqe68EgBmlkPxd

THOSE PICTURES WERE TAKEN IN JANUARY IN A MATCH BETWEEN QLD AND VICTORIA

WHICH SAW A RECORD PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MIKE HUSSEY AND CAMERON WHITE

Stop shouting!

^^
Is it hurting your ears? Lol

i think brisbane bid for the olympic games a many years ago...do u guys know any of the plans that were proposed back then?

i don't know much about an olympic games bid but they hosted the commonwealth games in 1982

Brisbane bid unsuccessfully for the 1992 Olympics, which of course went to Barcelona.

I love the Gabba it reminds me of a mini MCG

Sorry, but the Gabba is a hole.

If you're going to have a small cricket ground, make it like the SCG or Adelaide, and if you're going to have a symetrical concrete bowl, make it huge, tall, and so intimidating that the fear is it's character (like the MCG), and dont have one of the world ugliest seating patterns.

The Gabba has the worst of it all.

Yeah, great one!

Every time I see this place it reminds me of the "cookie cutter" baseball stadiums in the US, especially before the hole was filled in a few years back.

Apart from the vomit coloured seating pattern, I like it and the capacity seems about right for Brisbane.


@Rexfan2 . . . you need to supply some pics of a Lions home game.

i don't have any of a lions home game

Sorry, but the Gabba is a hole.

If you're going to have a small cricket ground, make it like the SCG or Adelaide, and if you're going to have a symetrical concrete bowl, make it huge, tall, and so intimidating that the fear is it's character (like the MCG), and dont have one of the world ugliest seating patterns.

The Gabba has the worst of it all.
What a load of crap. Besides, there wouldn't be enough room for the Gabba to be too much bigger, the grandstands already overhang Stanley St.

that's correct

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2uFY-MLh9FIVh6qBnKHh4lSM_HILwted2dQyYd62z2-kPS0s_4mBCn43uI5KorCMSkS_Jyz9qBtR0hQHARSQvsTZjybWKq5-f5u34o1uXglYQ

^^^ then build it elsewhere


Its alright. Why choose that colour for the seats. Revolting! Not great.

^^^ then build it elsewhere


Its alright. Why choose that colour for the seats. Revolting! Not great.

1. Where will they build the stadium?
2. These are Queensland colours (maroon, blue and gold for the lions)

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2tFkFnuMW3sXLSukA_uTUE7utqdvPmoeVnO6PUnkFd4i5wnpKfj_cYaGbcUMvgIC3aWaPUtvxoTOpzmkrxpE7TbO4eIGz2C88kscBnDehPwGDlZCNEpT_UA

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2vcPoY9kU03p9uRrYnjKbqYnkQdQhBBcoMoC8quk9GYUORtxsmUFKlBW3WYLzPhq2u6alV1GmDT3w2_vv2c4XoZB6oqhb1bKn9OnTq6bJp9_7GAPQ-B1wML



whats the differ between the first and second teirs, it looks only 4m
and does anyone know how tall the gabba is?

clearance there is 3m

Suncorp is a great stadium. We should get one like that in Melbourne with soccer expanding and rugby league

i'd love to see that happen. I think that 20000 (i think) for the new stadium is a bit small

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2uhgtZ1McVYBZa8U2M7JUDi9mri6k63tRG566QWXYliIS21QcwKxIoAaOsKbvvuYpKtSo8hbWLseociZFOvFuaO-7ZHqXi4HXROoTxNj6mlEE7CTkyoWoKz

A wee bit small in my opinion

3m seems a little small. isn't there like saftey laws which are for good clearance and say for flags.

i don't see why that would be necessary at the Gabba. What could be taller than 3m going through there?

people waving flags, a person would be 1.7m with the hand up it would be 1.9m and then the flag to take it up to 3.2m and they could be on their seats for cheering.

What a load of crap. Besides, there wouldn't be enough room for the Gabba to be too much bigger, the grandstands already overhang Stanley St.


You may not agree with it, but that is my opinion and it is valid. I don't like the Gabba, i think it is trash, we could go on arguing the point, but not a thing you say will change my mind, so what would be the point. So you can either accept my view and I'll accept yours, or you can go on labelling all those who don't love everything you do "crap".

Suncorp is brilliant. It's undoubtedly the best pure rectangle stadium in Australia.



Slightly off topic, but there are plenty more soccer-specific stadiums in Australia other than Hindmarsh.

you're right there, victory

people waving flags, a person would be 1.7m with the hand up it would be 1.9m and then the flag to take it up to 3.2m and they could be on their seats for cheering.

They have limitations on the size of banners and flags at the gabba.Mine was 0.9 m tall and i had it taken away at the gabba

http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pbglk-vqL4BuLNRl7-jh9KIoSBfM5nLwcKykNAHYAr2uhgtZ1McVYBZa8U2M7JUDi9mri6k63tRG566QWXYliIS21QcwKxIoAaOsKbvvuYpKtSo8hbWLseociZFOvFuaO-7ZHqXi4HXROoTxNj6mlEE7CTkyoWoKz

A wee bit small in my opinion

The Victorian government is limited to no building any new stadiums over 20,000 until 2015, thanks to Telstra Dome. However, I think this new stadium should be expandable to 40,000.

I love the new Melbourne Stadium, i don't like the light towers though.

You may not agree with it, but that is my opinion and it is valid. I don't like the Gabba, i think it is trash, we could go on arguing the point, but not a thing you say will change my mind, so what would be the point. So you can either accept my view and I'll accept yours, or you can go on labelling all those who don't love everything you do "crap".
I'm sorry but i just couldn't see why you would call the Gabba a hole. It is clearly not a hole & is possibly one of the best venues in Australia to view AFL & cricket. About the size of the stadium, besides the fact it would be near impossible to build a much bigger stadium on the site, why would Brisbane need a bigger stadium?? The Lions don't fill it on a regular basis, there is usually only 2, sometimes 3 1 day internationals & 1 test match every year. I can't really see it being viable having a bigger capacity. The seats are okay, at least when the stadium is not full, the colours kind of make it look like it is.

And the fact that 44,000 is not really a small stadium - The 6th largest in the country as well. (Not to mention Brisbane also has Suncorp Stadium with 52,000 as the 4th biggest in the country.

I'm sorry but i just couldn't see why you would call the Gabba a hole. It is clearly not a hole & is possibly one of the best venues in Australia to view AFL & cricket. About the size of the stadium, besides the fact it would be near impossible to build a much bigger stadium on the site, why would Brisbane need a bigger stadium?? The Lions don't fill it on a regular basis, there is usually only 2, sometimes 3 1 day internationals & 1 test match every year. I can't really see it being viable having a bigger capacity. The seats are okay, at least when the stadium is not full, the colours kind of make it look like it is.

I was talking about it in reference to cricket, which is what the ground traditionally is. Like most people in the world I couldn't really care for AFL.

AFL and the Pura cup are the two competitions that occur at the Gabba the most. The size is adequate for the ODI. Yes you could fit in more people if there were a bigger stadium, but to do that you'd need to build a bigger stadium, and them you'd probably end up with a white elephant of a stadium. For an Olympics, that could be a different story, but not for international cricket matches.

AFL and the Pura cup are the two competitions that occur at the Gabba the most. The size is adequate for the ODI. Yes you could fit in more people if there were a bigger stadium, but to do that you'd need to build a bigger stadium, and them you'd probably end up with a white elephant of a stadium. For an Olympics, that could be a different story, but not for international cricket matches.

My point was not that it wasn't big enough, it was that for it's size it doesn't have enough character (especially for a cricket venue).

It is a featureless nothing of a venue. A Plain Jane.


I take that back, the seating pattern does give it something, but nothing good.

^^
Each to their own i guess. But if you look at the MCG, one could argue it has pretty much lost it's character now. Yes it's big, but it's just 2 big stands that go all the way around & don't match. Personally i still like the MCG & Gabba. The only ground in Australia with any real character is Adelaide Oval & to a lesser extent, the SCG.

So where does it get it's name GABBA?

The suburb name that the stadium is in is called Woolloongabba.

it's a brilliant design though

correct. it's a 5 minute drive from Suncorp Stadium when the traffic is moving.

I love the GABBA! I went to a lions match once and it was great atmosphere...Unlike that telstra dome place which i went to in melbourne for a match...that place is very cold and not didn't have a good feeling about it...

Ballymore has plenty of character too - I went to the Tens and a Super 12 game there in 1997...

^^2 questions. What is the capasity of Ballymore, and isn't the Rugby Union being played at Suncorp?

I love the GABBA! I went to a lions match once and it was great atmosphere...Unlike that telstra dome place which i went to in melbourne for a match...that place is very cold and not didn't have a good feeling about it...

Its a great ground, isn't it

^^2 questions. What is the capasity of Ballymore, and isn't the Rugby Union being played at Suncorp?

1. About 10000
2. Correct

Ballymore has a cpacity of 24,000.

Source: http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/stadiums.php?id=10

oh, my bad

The Victorian government is limited to no building any new stadiums over 20,000 until 2015, thanks to Telstra Dome. However, I think this new stadium should be expandable to 40,000.


doesnt the deal expire in 2010?

i think it may, 2015 would be what, 14 years after the Dome was opened

Expires in 2010.

Yep, it's definitely 2010. I wonder if the new stadium will be expanded after that? It's a ridiculous deal anyway, it's not as though they are willing to move the stands in at Telstra for rectangle field sports. It's not directly competing with it at all.

I remember when they announced the new Melbourne rectangular stadium, they said it would be upgraded as soon as the contract with Telstra ended.

this stadium is now under construction

Most soccer stadiums in Australia are too small, and the new ones they are building are also too small and don't appear to be designed with expansion in mind. It appears (I'm not a builder or an architect) that it tends to cost MORE to expand a 25k to a 40k, than it does to construct a 40k from scratch, so the arrival of new stadia on the Gold Coast and in Melbourne doesn't excite me.

Get it clear - the ONLY way Australia will host the WC Finals in our lifetime will be if FIFA relax their regulations and China decline to bid for 2022. Even then, we would end up with the Finals being played predominently on large oval fields more suited to cricket than football... Views from the front of the stands will be awful.

This stadium is being built for rugby league mate.

This stadium is being built for rugby league mate.

Interchangable in terms of use. Was beautiful seeing Suncorp almost full for a football match last week. Hope it's the shape of things to come for Australia... Personally think they should start changing the rules of AFL - first of all make it more like International Rules during the regular season, then phase out use of the hands altogether and gradually make the pitch rectangular rather than oval... In a decade you could have a dozen more well supported clubs competing with the existing A-League sides. Most AFL fans would follow their team whatever code they ended up playing, they've seen so many rule changes over the last decade anyway!

no pics of the Gold Coast Indy stadium ?

Personally think they should start changing the rules of AFL - first of all make it more like International Rules during the regular season, then phase out use of the hands altogether and gradually make the pitch rectangular rather than oval...

International Rules is a bizarre end-of-season semi-exhibition hybrid sport that gives Aussie Rules players the chance to play on the international stage - if they wanted to make Aussie Rules (NB not AFL - that's the name of the league) more like International Rules they would have by now...

Nice stadium guys but is it expandable easily. If you want the soccer world cup in Australia. I'm sure the gold coast would be the place where all the teams would like to prepare and I'll sure do the trip

What's the roof going to be made of?

And how much will it cost?

International Rules is a bizarre end-of-season semi-exhibition hybrid sport that gives Aussie Rules players the chance to play on the international stage - if they wanted to make Aussie Rules (NB not AFL - that's the name of the league) more like International Rules they would have by now...

It's changing. You can see it happening from season to season. Getting faster, less contact in the game. 10 years ago blokes were clattering each other on and off the ball, now you look at someone the wrong way and you're reported. They're chasing the kids who are into 'soccer' hard, they sense the danger of 'soccer' taking off and they are shi**ing themselves.

Personally, I'd have no problem hating Collingwood or Carlton whether they were playing 'Aussie Rules' or 'Soccer'. I'd have no problem watching St Kilda underperform in any code of the sport.

no pics of the Gold Coast Indy stadium ?
Indy is held on a street circuit, the stands are all demountable.

Melbourne the world's sporting capital

Melbourne has been named the world's top city for sports events in a new study, beating Paris and Sydney, which tied for second.

The study, by London consulting and research firm ArkSports, compared 20 top sporting cities that were selected based on their history of hosting events.

It measured factors such as events listed from 2002 to 2010, attendances and media coverage, the city's quality of life, facilities, transport and accommodation, government support, weather and tourism.

Fifty executives from the events industry, including major sponsors, were also polled.

As well as being overall winner, with 341.5 points – 29 points ahead of Paris and Sydney – Melbourne was tops for level of public interest in events, facilities, number of major events won and level of government support.

It came second in most other categories, including quality of life (behind Vancouver), accommodation (behind New York) and weather/tourism and legacy (behind Sydney).

It polled badly only for transport.

Berlin came fourth overall, and London fifth.

The coveted title is predicted to help boost tourism, bids for events, including soccer's World Cup and international opportunities for Melbourne's events planners and organisers.

The study said Melbourne had an "unparalleled track record reputation" for its sporting events, while industry heads praised its "versatility, stadia, city atmosphere and local passion for all sports".

The Top 10
1. Melbourne
2. Paris
3. Sydney
4. Berlin
5. London
6. Madrid
7. New York
8. Beijing
9. Tokyo
10. Cape Town

Survey was conducted by Arksports. http://www.arksports.co.uk/

Article came from austadiums.com http://www.austadiums.com/

No real surprises in my opinion.

Melbourne has been named the world's top city for sports events in a new study, beating Paris and Sydney, which tied for second.

2. Paris
3. Sydney

:nuts:

new york isnt even the sporting capitol of the US. That would go to somewhere like Los Angeles metro.

LA has hosted 2 olympics, two world cup finals (men and women), footie friendlies, numerous super bowls, the rose bowl game, numerous college football national championships, has two baseball teams, two basketball teams, two soccer teams, a hockey team, two high level college sports teams (football, basketball, baseball powerhouses), the racetracks for horse and motor sports, et al.

I know i'm not including a lot of other stuff because i'm going off the top of my head. NY as a sports town is NOT impressive.

No olympics, wold cup QF only, no superbowls or college national championship games or bowl games, no nfl team, one basketball team, two hockey (sort of), two baseball teams, no college powerhouses, no NCAA basketball tournament hosting, no tracks, etc etc etc.

If this is how the other cities on the poll are measured, i don't have a whole lot of confidence in the results.

I think if you base the result on International sporting events....Melbourne (pop.3.6million ) would be hard to beat. We have had an Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, the World Swimming Championships are early next year.The Australian Open is one of the 5 Grand Slam Tennis tournaments in the world....often breaking attendance records. A Formula 1 Grand Prix, many times voted best GP of the season,and Moto GP for the motorcycle fans.. The Melbourne Cup (The city even has a public holiday for the horse race! ) it has entrants from around the world and was won by a Japanese horse for the first time last week...... we also have major national events like the Australian Rules Football Grand Final, Cricket in the summer and regular Golf, soccer, rugby and many other local sporting events. I live here, I love the place.....The international events have left us with the legacy of wonderful stadiums and facilities, the MCG is a 100,000 seat stadium, Telstra Dome seats over 50,000 under a closing roof when required. Rod Laver and Vodaphone Arena's both 11-15,000 seats with retractable roof. Although other areas and cities of the world have much higher populations Melbournians embrace sport and these events like no other! Come and visit some time........!

I think if you base the result on International sporting events....Melbourne (pop.3.6million ) would be hard to beat. We have had an Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, the World Swimming Championships are early next year.The Australian Open is one of the 5 Grand Slam Tennis tournaments in the world....often breaking attendance records. A Formula 1 Grand Prix, many times voted best GP of the season,and Moto GP for the motorcycle fans.. The Melbourne Cup (The city even has a public holiday for the horse race! ) it has entrants from around the world and was won by a Japanese horse for the first time last week...... we also have major national events like the Australian Rules Football Grand Final, Cricket in the summer and regular Golf, soccer, rugby and many other local sporting events. I live here, I love the place.....The international events have left us with the legacy of wonderful stadiums and facilities, the MCG is a 100,000 seat stadium, Telstra Dome seats over 50,000 under a closing roof when required. Rod Laver and Vodaphone Arena's both 11-15,000 seats with retractable roof. Although other areas and cities of the world have much higher populations Melbournians embrace sport and these events like no other! Come and visit some time........!



sorry, just not buying it. I'm sure melbourne is a fantastic place, and a great place to catch as sporting event, but I'm really uncertain why it's considered the BEST. Most all major cities have that reportoire, hell even Phoenix hosts all 4 major american sports, the most golf courses per capita, a major D1 college powerhouse, consistent NCAA basketball tournament host, two Superbowls, Fiesta bowl, BCS college football championship, NASCAR, and 13 major league baseball teams for spring training. Yet i would rank Phoenix somewhere around 8th best in the US as far as sports cities.

What makes Melbourne so far ahead of everyone else? Serious question.

Actually read the first post 40acres. Then you might actually understand the rankings.

It measured factors such as events listed from 2002 to 2010, attendances and media coverage, the city's quality of life, facilities, transport and accommodation, government support, weather and tourism

I can understand why Melbourne came out ontop under those criteria but the title "sporting capital" to me means the city with the biggest teams and the most famous stadiums/events rather than the most pleasent place to watch sports. Under those criteria I think its hard to argue agenst London, 7 football teams in the most watched sports league in the world(including the last 3 champions), soon to become the first city to host the oylimpics for the third time plus arguebley the most famous football, Rugby, Cricket and Tennis stadiums in the world.

where's melbourne?

where's melbourne?

Ask the firm (from London) that did the survey. I'm sure they can tell you.

I can understand why Melbourne came out ontop under those criteria but the title "sporting capital" to me means the city with the biggest teams and the most famous stadiums/events rather than the most pleasent place to watch sports. Under those criteria I think its hard to argue agenst London, 7 football teams in the most watched sports league in the world(including the last 3 champions), soon to become the first city to host the oylimpics for the third time plus arguebley the most famous football, Rugby, Cricket and Tennis stadiums in the world.

Yes, i'm more inclined to go with London or LA. And of course i read the criteria ... it just doesnt make any logical sense. Just my opinion anyway.

40acres.......exactly ! I did say many other cities would outrank Melbourne if you took into account population.....look at the superbowl in the US or soccer (football ) in Europe etc millions watch live and on TV. But Melbourne has had and continues to have the most major 'International' events for one city.

Yes, i'm more inclined to go with London or LA. And of course i read the criteria ... it just doesnt make any logical sense. Just my opinion anyway.

your opinion, my friend, is correct.

I always like starting these type of threads. No matter what. It is like beating your head against a brick wall trying to convince anyone of anything.

Some of you disagree with the thread so be it. You can find your own stats or poll and start your own thread on any topic you like.

I'm sure most of you from the USA or England will disagree oh well.

melbourne's got the biggest cricket venue in the world - i'll give you that, but then again who gives a monkeys about cricket apart from a minority of mother-englanders and a few former british colonies, present company included?

melbourne stages rugby union and league, but again, see above.

as for the rest: tennis, swimming, golf, formula one, etc - honestly, who gives a shit? who doesn't stage those events?

the poll's laughable. there's no sporting capital of the world, and if there was it certainly wouldn't be melbourne, although having said that i'll readily admit that the MCG is the biggest, and arguably the best cricket venue in the world - and hats off to melbourne for it.

actually, thinking about it, with the ashes coming up, someone needs to bump that MCG thread up, or maybe start an ashes stadium thread! :banana:

come on the aussies, let's have an ashes stadium thread! :)

It's a twisty one, this.

Melbourne and Sydney regularly finish high on the list (like, top 2 or 3) of 'World's Most Livable Cities' due to standard of life, crime, environment, etc., and I can understand why (having lived in London, Washington, Belfast and Melbourne - there's no competition, Melbourne is a fantastic place). So the results of the 'sporting' city are skewed by the fact that Melbourne is already ahead of most of the others as a city (according to those damned statastics that no one should ever trust).

The fact that Australia only has a handful of major cities, and historically, most major events are focussed on three of them (Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne), means that 'we' were always likely to finish higher in a survey than a North American city (with so many major cities sharing the major events).

This being about the stadiums themselves, an interesting subject for discussion would be which city has the best facilities... On this basis alone, Melbourne would slide down the list a few places.

^^ Have to agree Benjuk Melbourne has to be one of the most livable places in the world. Having spent time down there I have to say Melbourne blows LA or NYC out of the water when it comes to atmosphere.

I think this survey may skew things away from actual individual sports and facilities and more towards the overall picture.

In which case like I said one has to agree 100% with the list.

where's melbourne?

lol. You should know, it was the brits that found and colonised Melbourne!

I think this survey may skew things away from actual individual sports and facilities and more towards the overall picture.
Well it's good to see somebody seems to understand the logic behind the survey.

It measured factors such as events listed from 2002 to 2010, attendances and media coverage, the city's quality of life, facilities, transport and accommodation, government support, weather and tourism.

People need to understand that being a "sports city" involves a lot more than the amount of soccer teams/stadiums in a city, which is just one part of this broad survey that encompasses the criteria above.

Well it's good to see somebody seems to understand the logic behind the survey.

People need to understand that being a "sports city" involves a lot more than the amount of soccer teams/stadiums in a city, which is just one part of this broad survey that encompasses the criteria above.

As I said though the title "world sporting capital" to me implies the most important sporting city in the world, I'd guess few would argue that Washington DC is the most pleasent place to live in the US.

lol. You should know, it was the brits that found and colonised Melbourne!

I thought it was some sheep from tasmania?

Condradiction to this thread look at my Sig. Hosting is ok but it's no good if u cant win anything. :lol: Though i like melbourne i never buy into there lunchbox world (east coast) domination claims > Sydney.