yeah fair enough. hopefully someone or something will come and be willing to put money into re developing or improving it, however unlikely that is. but yeah your right in that other clubs have maintained or kept a decent standard for their home grounds. but its scary when you consider the likes of sydney united and marconi cant keep their actual pitch decent. the stands are great, but the actual playing surface sometimes is shocking

I see where youre comming from and I'd hate to see a ground with history go, but fact is that ground is a relic and IMHO is unsuitable for future football. Im talking about bringing up footballers throught the club all the way up to the premier league first team.

Other clubs have done a much better job in keeping their facilities up to date(doesnt need to be state of the art) and they are benefiting by retaining their heritage + moving the club forward. Lambert Park is way too far behind and doesnt look like being able to keep up, let alone move forward.

nah honestly i havnt seen it in years.
but i just dont want to loose a heritage field. it seems that teams are moving away from their perferred grounds. but i suppose FNSW would know if its suitable or not. just a pity to see a bit of football heritage geting demolised for a road

Have you seen the place? Firstly, yes, itis run down like an Charles Dickens style poorhouse. Secondly, its prime real estate. Sell it off for a bundle to the govt and build a better place with the cash in a less congested area of Leichhardt. Thirdly, there is absolutly no room to upgrade the place. Southern end has wharehouses/factories, western end has a canal, northern end has a prime road and the eastern end has a fancy pants park, which no one will allow them to touch. They are painted into a corner and cant do shit with it. The only one which comes close, in constraints terms, is your Gabbie Stadium, but at least its not run down(not great, but not the worst either, and still in a much better position than Lambert park).

Have you seen the place? Firstly, yes, itis run down like an Charles Dickens style poorhouse. Secondly, its prime real estate. Sell it off for a bundle to the govt and build a better place with the cash in a less congested area of Leichhardt. Thirdly, there is absolutly no room to upgrade the place. Southern end has wharehouses/factories, western end has a canal, northern end has a prime road and the eastern end has a fancy pants park, which no one will allow them to touch. They are painted into a corner and cant do shit with it. The only one which comes close, in constraints terms, is your Gabbie Stadium, but at least its not run down(not great, but not the worst either, and still in a much better position than Lambert park).

tbh i dont care how run down the place is, they shouldnt destroy it.
fair enough if they want to rip it up and update it. but to rip it up and build a road??? cmon thats not right.
it seems the NSWPL teams are having some issues with keeping their traditional home grounds.

Leichhardt Oval is definitely the better option and one APIA should take up. I don't know anything about the club finances but maybe they can't afford the move to Leichhardt or is FNSW helping them out? My Uncle used to be a big fan of their's and was gutted when they got kicked out of the then premier soccer comp.

I dont mind the club at all. They have produced som good players before and provide good football for kids to develop with. Problem is their home ground is not up to scratch with the majority of the other fields in the NSWPL, hence FNSW telling them to move their games to Leichhardt Oval.

Very true. Lambert Park and APIA are relics from the past now and unfortunately relics that are not valued make way for what some people call progress.

It'll be a shame, for history's sake, but Lambert park eats shit anyway. The place is run down, seats look like they were flogged off a school playground, changerooms like an Afgan prison and the pitch looks like a mud pit with dry grass springled abouts the sides.

Im sitting on the fence for this one.

Metro shapes up for an own goal
Andrew West Transport Reporter
August 13, 2009

THE proposed West Metro train between the city and Parramatta could wipe out two of the most popular sporting venues in Sydney, a draft environmental impact statement for the project has revealed.

The construction of the $8.3 billion metro, for which there is not yet funding, would involve digging up playing fields at Lambert Park in Leichhardt, the home of the Apia soccer club, and Algie Park in Haberfield, where thousands of junior soccer players practise and play.

The president of Apia - one of Sydney's oldest football clubs, with deep roots in the Italian community - says the plan to use the two fields as construction sites for up to five years would displace 1147 registered players and up to 5000 family members and club supporters.

''We are very upset and I have been taking calls all day from our members,'' Tony Raciti told the Herald last night.

Mr Raciti said the Sydney Metro authority - which oversees the 24-kilometre West Metro and the seven-kilometre, $5.8 billion CBD Metro between Central and Rozelle - had not consulted the Apia Club before drawing up its preliminary environmental assessment. ''This club has been on this ground since 1954 and it's a Sydney institution,'' Mr Raciti added. ''There is no alternative site if we are to remain an inner-west club.''

The former Socceros captain Paul Okon honed his skills at the oval at Lambert Park, as did soccer legend Johnny Warren and champion Joe Marston.

Ten teams train at Lambert Park, Algie Park and at other grounds that Apia rents, every night.

The plan is a potential nightmare for the local MP, the Education Minister, Verity Firth, whose seat of Balmain is under threat from the Greens at the 2011 election.

The Greens Mayor of Leichhardt, Jamie Parker, has suggested the metro construction site could move 300-400 metres away from Lambert Park to a council-owned depot currently used to store gravel and sand. ''Open space is a premium in Leichhardt and these are very popular venues,'' he said.

A spokesman for Sydney Metro told the Herald the two parks had been identified only as ''possible construction site options''. The authority was willing to consider alternative sites, such as the council depot.

''Sydney Metro's first priority has been to contact affected owners, whose properties might be required for the West Metro project,'' he said. ''Tenants are also regarded as a high priority and, following contact with affected owners, Sydney Metro is beginning the process.''

http://www.smh.com.au/national/metro-shapes-up-for-an-own-goal-20090812-eidq.html