A-League

Victory eyes larger stadium

Austadiums • Sunday 24th September 2006

Melbourne Victory officials are gambling that large crowds for their six home A-League matches at Telstra Dome will force the State Government to rethink the 20,000 capacity for the new purpose-built soccer and rugby stadium in the Olympic Park precinct.

Victory has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bracks government over occupying the new $190 million venue -- which it is scheduled to share with NRL club Melbourne Storm and the Victorian Rugby Union -- but, crucially, has yet to sign a contract binding it to the ground.

While Melbourne Storm boss Brian Waldron has gone on the record publicly to oppose any expansion (the Storm, which currently shares Olympic Park with the Victory, rarely attract the crowds the soccer club does), Victory officials have been lobbying behind the scenes for a rethink over the new venue's size.

They hope that if the Victorian public votes with its feet and turns up in large numbers at the Dome then the government may consider increasing the capacity, perhaps up to 30,000.

Victory chief executive Geoff Miles confirmed that the club was well down the road on negotiating a contract to use the new venue but had yet to sign off.

"We are still negotiating to play there, that's right," Miles said.

"The discussions have gone a long way and they are close to completion, but they have not been finished yet.

"There is a provision to move blockbusters elsewhere.

"The growth of the game during the World Cup probably surprised people -- huge crowds watching the Socceroos in the middle of the night at Federation Square was not something Melbourne was used to.

"Since the A-League season kicked off that demand has been higher. I don't think anyone expected our crowds and interest in the Victory to be at the level it is now quite so soon."

Miles is reluctant to speculate whether the club might have outgrown the new stadium before it is even built, but it is a moot, though hypothetical, question. If demand for the club and the game stays at current levels, Victory is likely to play most of its home games over the next few seasons at Telstra Dome.

If it was to average between 25,000 and 30,000 a game there would be plenty of supporters wanting to know why in 2009-10 it moved back to a ground with much smaller capacity which could not accommodate thousands of regular fans.

The Government has played a straight bat to claims that the ground could be obsolete before construction gets under way.

While the original capacity is 20,000, there is a provision to increase it to 25,000 if warranted.

Sports Minister Justin Madden said more evidence was needed of a sustained increase in supporter numbers before the government would consider any changes. Much would also depend on the stadium's financial situation.

"Victory are riding a wave of popularity at the moment from the recent World Cup and their early-season success," Madden said. "They also had a strong on-field start to the 2005 season with good average attendance figures before experiencing a series of losses, which resulted in a decline in average attendance.

"Melbourne Victory has signed an MoU with Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust to use the new stadium. No changes to capacity are being considered at this stage.

"Any decision to increase the capacity of the new stadium would come after examining a combination of factors including sustained sell-out crowds by at least one of the tenants over consecutive seasons and the financial performance of the stadium."

More News

Melbourne Victory officials are gambling that large crowds for their six home A-League matches at Telstra Dome will force the State Government to rethink the 20,000 capacity for the new purpose-built soccer and rugby stadium in the Olympic Park precinct.
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