Adelaide has one of the most iconic Football stadiums in Australia. the atmosphere created at Hindmarsh is quite unique and is probably the only purposely built stadium for Football.

However, our irresponsible politicians are letting it run down. They had spend $641 Million on the AO and $85 million of that was to bail SACA out. I mean I don't mind and I am a SACA member. But I wouldn't go to an AFL game if you paid me.

And you got to wonder, that $85 million they gifted to SACA could have been used to do a world class upgrade to Hindmarsh stadium and even add a roof.

My thinking is that a new re-vitalized Hindmarsh will attract many more patrons to the A League and AUFC, especially with the club's recent success and performances in the league.

I know Government's are doing it tough and there are budget deficits, but soccer deserves a leg up as much as cricket and AFL.

So what do you guys think. Should Hindmarsh be upgraded?

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/coopers-stadium-75m-upgrade-plan-includes-covered-roof-link-to-adelaide-oval-host-rugby-and-commonwealth-games/story-fni6uo1m-1226828298953

I think the stadium can be upgraded relatively cheaply just by filling in the gaps in the corners. Do you guys have any other ideas?

10,948 - Season 1
12,165 - Season 2
12,697 - Season 3
11,713 - Season 4
10,765 - Season 5
11,552 - Season 6
8,829 - Season 7
9,592 - Season 8
11,225 - Season 9
12,637 - Season 10
11,287 - Season 11

How bout you get a better crowd attendance first for a couple seasons to show the government you deserve an upgrade.

Edited by Gazzza: 10/4/2016 02:37:38 PM

Sell out every home game for a couple of seasons, like Wanderers did at Parramatta or Victory at Olympic Park and that will prove that Adelaide need a capacity upgrade.

Seating capacity is 15,000. At around 12,000 people the stadium feels very full and it's facilities start to feel the strain. I'm a rusted on that attends rain hail or shine but I can see casual supporters being turned off by attending when it gets up to those sort of figures.

Did you guys sell out your games?

I think it is unrealistic to expect a Sports Club to sell out a stadium all the time, but AUFC crowds are pretty good and climbing and if there was a world class facility, you will find that more patrons will come and Adelaide will be able to host great shows and concerts as well.

That's correct! At 80% capacity, I think the venture to expand is viable.

If you build it, people will come!

i think so but lets get parramatta nuked and then rebuilt before we worry about other upgrades

Where are these magical fans going to come from? Its a perfect size stadium for a small supporter based club, should be happy.

Edited by Gayfish: 10/4/2016 02:52:28 PM

The supporter base is not small at all.

AUFC has quite a large market, and Soccer is the most popular participation sport.

Particularly, in the outer Northern and Southern suburbs. So much so, someone could easily set up a second club there and also attract 12,000 per game but there is no backer for it.

Look at it this way, AUFC attracts 30,000 + at the AO. So I argue, build a facility everyone is proud of, and the patrons will come.

Edited by Aikhme: 10/4/2016 03:03:59 PM

Should Can the Iconic Hindmarsh be upgraded?

It can. There is quite a lot of scope where it can be expanded to 25k quite easily and very cheaply.

But should we just expand it or have a visionary venue for the future with rooftop and all should be the question. A venue to be used as a multi-purpose rectangular stadium able to host shows and concerts and whatever else.

Edited by Aikhme: 10/4/2016 03:07:17 PM

Edited by Aikhme: 10/4/2016 03:14:33 PM

Pissant stadium for a pissant club.

But they are Premiers, which makes your club something worse than the dog shit under our boots! :lol:

Pissants with a Premier's Plate.

they moved the two local afl clubs out of their old stadium at west lakes for less crowd averages
and gifted them adelaide oval...
nothing about capacity or filling the stadium
politics.

Plus an $85 million bail out to SACA which would have gone bankrupt otherwise.

But unfortunately, there are too many politicians who are SACA members and get warm fuzzy feelings of exclusivity from this snotty nosed boys club. I am a member and know the truth as fake as it all is. It really is fake...

And probably, tax payers money should never have been used to bail SACA out. Not when there are deficits and the money could be applied to Whyalla to save some jobs.

Also
the govt (* state alp * ) wont fund an upgrade. They are against football... Never mind the liverpool game coming here, it is all about maximising their return on Adelaide oval. That stadium is world class ( what the media tell us everyday )

Edited by nachoman: 10/4/2016 03:35:55 PM

The biggest issue Hindmarsh has is that any stadium in Australia that hasn't had a reno in 10 years is old by comparison

AAMI, Etihad, MCG, Kardinia Park, Lakeside, Parramatta (pending), SFS, Homebush, SCG, Sydney Showgrounds, Lang Park, Carrara Stadium, Manuka Oval, Blundstone Arena, Perth Oval, Adelaide Oval are all the ones I can think of that have had major upgrades (or newly built) in that time frame, and as mcjules pointed out, with brand spanking new amenities that help the match day experience, where as (in my experience) places like Central Coast and Hunter stadium feel archaic

If your state government will pay for it then yes. If not, no.

We don't have the political power (if any) to push for an upgrade. We'd have to get 16k EVERY game for a season before its even possibly considered

An upgrade of Hindmarsh Stadium will probably never happen, for political reasons.

Also, "filling in the corners" would be a difficult engineering feat to achieve without obstructing the surrounding streets. And Hindmarsh Stadium is in an awkward location as far as traffic and parking conditions go.

"You never get capacity crowds" is a stupid argument. How many clubs around the world do? If Hindmarsh was enlarged, the average attendances would be bigger. Doesn't matter if they are capacity or not.

As another poster said, Hindmarsh currently looks full with 12-13k there. That is an ok attendance for Hindmarsh- boosted by a few 25k plus crowds at AO for some big matches and everyone is happy.

I will vote Libs just for this reason alone.

Can never support a Government with that attitude against Soccer.

No they wouldn't, what is stopping those people coming to the game now?

Edited by Gazzza: 10/4/2016 03:59:51 PM

I had a thorough walk around the stadium once just to check this out. My conclusion was that 3 of the 4 corners could be filled in easily, as well as a second tier on both sides of the Grand Stand on the west side. I believe the Manton Street corner where the SA soccer federation is the one that would pose the greatest difficulty but it is still possible considering the advances in building of recent years.

Not many clubs get full houses every game apart from 1 or 2 countries, and even there it is only the top clubs which do.

Look at it this way. The GAYFL Crowes and Power crowds have been boosted by the AO development. But how long will it last? After just one bad season, you will see average crowds plummet to 25k or less in a 55K stadium.

Edited by Aikhme: 10/4/2016 04:00:33 PM

They can't fill the current one

Maybe a build a new 25k near adelaide oval ? would a central location be a good or bad thing ?

The size of Hindmarsh. Like I said, if Hindmarsh was bigger, the average attendances would be bigger.

The 442 obsession with "capacity crowds" is really weird. This is Australia ffs, and soccer is not the major football code:lol:

No not a bad thing but it would be expensive. So considering the fact that they are not wanting to develop Hindmarsh which is easily the most cost effective, I think it is safe to say we would have Buckley's chance of getting a new stadium.

You don't have to fill a stadium to warrant a development. The Crowes and Power are not filling the AO.

I agree with that. How many countries in Europe where Soccer is the main sport have capacity crowds week in week out? not many.

Some stadiums are nearly empty.

There is room for 3k more people at the moment even if you say there average is 12k which it rarely is, only in 3 seasons has the average been on 12k or more. Why do you think your crowd will increase because you expand it?