A lot of the battle lines would be lost. Terrible idea. Any traditionalist afl fan would want there old grounds back. The same will apply here.

Nope. These days clubs wouldn't be able to fit the people into the grounds. My club (Richmond) has the VFL side playing at Punt Road with a capacity of 2200. With membership approaching 64,000 it doesn't make sense to move back there and off the top of my head all clubs would be the same.

1+1+1 (with ownership of the ANZ game to rotate annually between the clubs) is the way to go.

People keep on saying that the atmosphere at ANZ is crap. Which it certainly is for nrl games with 15k fans, or even socceroos/swans games where most fans just watch the game quietly.

The fact is the stadium is a great stadium when you get more than 30-40k, which this fixture certainly would. Having active fans from 2 clubs, as opposed to no active fans at Socceroos games or other sports will also make a HUGE difference! The sound echoes around the stadium really well and the atmosphere at the derby with 40-50k would be amazing. Get 50-60k and it provides the opportunity for casual fans to experience the atmosphere too.

ANZ has never held a match of any kind with 2 sets of active supporters involved, so how can anyone comment on how crap the atmosphere would be?!

The atmosphere at the Tigers v Parra game was excellent and that didn't involve any active support other than the occasional "parra/tigers clap, clap, clap"

And they would have trains direct frmo Central/Parra for a game like this so there wouldn't necessarily be the need for Lidcombe shuttles for most. The march become a train ride and a walk from the station to the stadium. Not the end of the world when you consider the commercial benefits the league and the clubs would get from this move!.

A one off there out of the three derbies wouldn't ruin the allure, and it would be a good gauge as to how many the FFA could get there. As I said previously, if they could get > 60,000 the atmosphere would be great, and would be a great statement for the league's popularity. If they could sell it out it would be MASSIVE for the whole league.

With one derby each at Parramatta and SFS, per season, the authenticity won't be ruined.

Completely agree. When both supporter groups are begging for their own home game, you don't screw them over by moving all three games to an oversized, sterile fishbowl

I agree, all three at ANZ is stupid.

But I still think an annual third match at ANZ could become an absolute must see on the Sydney sporting calendar. And as an annual one-off it can be a full house almost every season.

We alternate who has the first and second game, and the third at ANZ. FFA, ANZ, Cove and RBB can work together to establish who has the which end, etc, to ensure the atmosphere is the best it can possibly be.

I think it could end up being one of the biggest derby games in all of AFC. And that's something I'd be prepared to sacrifice a home game for every two years.

Very well reasoned post.

Yeah, nobody knows the difference between AC Milan and Inter.

Edited by paladisious: 2/5/2014 04:31:58 PM

To be fair, the San Siro is the permanent home to both clubs, whereas I'm saying take both Sydney and WSW out of their homes for 1 match a season and put on an absolute extravaganza. I agree that with both sets of active supporter groups the occasion would be electric.

I'd go so far as to say that the atmosphere would be something Sydney has never seen in its history, not even the Uruguay game (as we were all in the same boat that night). Two sets of fans wold provide a night to remember. Plus our games are usually very tight anyway so plenty of onfield action.

But I would still like it to be an annual one-off rather than all three at ANZ.

lol Indeed. Atleast ADP will be 'all-but' guaranteed to be there, nice 'send-off' opportunity too (Cue late injury pull out - fingers crossed NOOO! :x :p) - To 'appease' the masses they will seek to secure the likes of Heskey, Broich and co too this time, surely - 'learning' from last time (Gallop put in some 'guarantees' in the aftermath of the last 'All-Stars'). It was a little farcical setting it up as they did, building the expectations and even 'All-Stars' name, to then have half the squad pull out. They may aswell have called it an 'A-League Select XI' or some such! :p It's still a Mickey Mouse exercise we all recognise - but hopefully it rakes in the dollars once more and helps boost the interest in the league, if even minimally, via varying measures.

Edited by GloryPerth: 2/5/2014 07:40:42 PM