ANZ Stadium (Stadium Australia)

Stadium Australia, presently known as ANZ Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct of Homebush, Sydney, Australia. The stadium was completed in March 1999 at a cost of A$690 million to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. The stadium held the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup Final.

	Capacity		83,500
	Opened		March 1999
	Owner		Stadium Australia Group
	Operator		Stadium Australia Group
	Construction cost		$690 million AUD
	Architect		Bligh Lobb Sports Architects

The stadium was originally built to temporarily hold 110,000 spectators, making it the largest Olympic Stadium ever built as well as the largest stadium in Australia. In 2003 reconfiguration work was completed to shorten the north and south wings, and install movable seating. These changes reduced the capacity to 83,500 for a rectangular field and 81,500 for an oval field. Awnings were also added over the North and South stands, which means that now most of the seating is under cover.

The first sporting event held at the stadium was on March 6, 1999 when a then record rugby league crowd of 104,583 watched the NRL first round double-header, featuring Newcastle v Manly and Parramatta v St George Illawarra Dragons.

The stadium was not officially opened until June 1999 when Australia played the FIFA All Stars. Australia won the match 3-2 in front of a crowd of 88,101. ANZ Stadium also played host to Australia’s historic playoff win over Uruguay in November 2005, a victory which granted Australia FIFA World Cup qualification for only the second time in the country’s history. The event attracted a virtual capacity crowd of 82,698.

The 1999 Bledisloe Cup rugby union match between the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks attracted a then world record rugby union crowd of 107,042. In 2000 this was bettered when a crowd of 109,874 witnessed the ‘Greatest ever Rugby Match’ when a Jonah Lomu try sealed an All Blacks win over the Wallabies 39-35. The All Blacks had led 24-nil after 11 minutes only to see Australia draw level at 24 all by half time.

On August 7, 1999, a National Football League (American Football) exhibition game was played between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers, bringing home former AFL player Darren Bennett, the Chargers’ punter. The Broncos won the game 20-17. This was Australia’s first, and currently only, American Bowl game.

The 1999 National Rugby League Grand Final, played on the 26th of September, between the Melbourne Storm and the St George Illawarra Dragons, broke the rugby league world record crowd previously set earlier in the season when 107,999 came to watch the Storm defeat the Dragons 20-18.

During the 2000 Olympics, the evening track and field session on day 11 attracted 112,524 spectators. Also during the Olympics, the association football (soccer) final attracted 104,098 to witness Cameroon defeat Spain for its first ever Olympic gold medal.

The Opening ceremony for the 2000 Olympics the stadium was completely sold out all 110,000 seats which bore witness to the World’s Largest Marching band consisting of 2150 members.

The highest attendance ever recorded was 114,714 during the Closing Ceremony.

Reconfiguration

In October 2001, major reconfiguration work on the stadium was commenced to allow for sports that require an oval field, such as cricket and Australian rules football to be played at the ground. The two wing stands were removed as well as the athletics track and a movable seating section was introduced in its place. New roofs were built over the two ends and seats that had a poor view of the field were removed. The reconfiguration reduced the capacity to 83,500 for the rectangular field and 81,500 for the oval field at a total cost of $80 million.

The reconfiguration work was completed in October 2003 in time for the 2003 Rugby World Cup where the then Telstra Stadium hosted the opening game, two other groups games, both Semi-Finals, the third place play-off and Final matches of the competition. In the first Semi-Final on November 15, 2003, Australia beat New Zealand 22-10 and then in the second Semi-Final the following day England beat France 24-7. In the final, on November 22, England beat Australia 20-17 in extra time.

The Sydney Swans v Collingwood AFL match at the Stadium on Saturday 23 August 2003 set an attendance record for the largest crowd to watch an AFL game outside of Victoria with 72,393 spectators (near capacity) attending and was the largest home-and-away AFL crowd at any Australian stadium for 2003.

October 2, 2005 saw 82,453 attend the NRL grand final in which the Wests Tigers defeated the North Queensland Cowboys 30-16.

On October 1, 2006 the official attendance at the NRL grand final was 79,609 people. This is the first grand final played by two non-NSW teams. The Brisbane Broncos defeated the Melbourne Storm 15-8.

November 16, 2005 saw 82,698 attend the second leg of the Oceania-South America Qualification Playoff game for qualification to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Australia defeated Uruguay 1-0, which led to a penalty shootout as Uruguay had won the first leg of the playoff 1-0. Australia won this shootout 4-2, and the penalty spot where John Aloisi’s spot kick secured victory is to be permanently preserved and publicly displayed to commemorate this occasion.

Regular Events

The National Rugby League (NRL) holds its Grand Final at the stadium. Premiership games are also played throughout the regular season. The ground is the home ground for the Bulldogs and since 2006 the South Sydney Rabbitohs. The Wests Tigers have used the venue as one of their home grounds since 2005 while the St George Illawarra Dragons play some home games there during the 2008 season.

The stadium is also one of the hosts for the annual rugby league State of Origin series between New South Wales and Queensland. The stadium hosts one State of Origin match in odd-numbered years and two in even-numbered years, although in 2006, a NSW allocated “home game” was taken to Melbourne’s Telstra Dome, as part of National Rugby League initiatives to make inroads into the state of Victoria.

The Sydney Swans Australian Football League side plays several games at the venue each season, as well as the Sydney Cricket Ground. At least two Rugby Union tests a year are also played at the stadium – usually a Bledisloe Cup match, and a tour match. In the near future the New South Wales Waratahs will play some of their home fixtures at the stadium. The NSW Blues also play limited Ford Ranger Cup matches at the stadium. The stadium has also hosted Speedway Grand Prix of Australia on one occasion in 2002.

(source .. wikipedia) reproduced under GFDL

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ANZ Stadium website
Australian Rugby Union
ANZ Stadium wikipedia entry
Sydney Swans
redandwhiteonline.com
Canterbury Bulldogs
The Kennel
West Tigers
weststigersonline.com
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Rabbitoh Warren
NRL website
AFL website
Football Federation Australia

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