Sydney records biggest non-Vic AFL Crowd

Austadiums • Sunday 24th August 2003

A near sell-out crowd of 70,000 started filling Telstra Stadium after lunchtime yesterday for last night's AFL clash between the Sydney Swans and Collingwood.

Qantas offered extra flights for fans coming from Melbourne and AFL chiefs claimed a victory in the war to win the heart of rugby league-loving western Sydney.

"There will be a lot of people going to the footy tonight from western Sydney for the first time," AFL chief executive officer Wayne Jackson said.

"It's a watershed for us because it's the first time we have sold out in Sydney - and it's a stepping stone in the process of marking AFL in Sydney as a premier winter sport."

The match promised to be "the game of the round", according to Collingwood's general manager Neil Balme.

"It is not as if there is a particular grudge (between Sydney and Melbourne) - the players will certainly not feel that - but it is good for the spectators to feel it because it makes them come to the game," he said. "It will be a tough game . . ."

The manager of the 1000-strong Swans cheer squad, Cathy Marney, from Prospect in Sydney's west, said many in the rugby league heartland were turning to AFL.

"We're all people from all backgrounds, from all over Sydney," Ms Marney said.

"It's rubbish to say all Swans supporters are from the eastern suburbs."

Ms Marney said last night's capacity crowd was helped by the Swan's recent good form, including their toppling of defending champions Brisbane last week.

"There have been a lot of people coming back lately to the games, people who had stopped coming over the past couple of year," she said. "In the last three matches, with it looking like we will make the finals, the excitement has come back."

Research by Swans management the last time Sydney played at Telstra Stadium showed 20,000 of the 54,000 crowd were first-time AFL spectators.

Among those arriving at Sydney Airport yesterday were Michael O'Keeffe, a Swans supporter from South Melbourne, with his Collingwood-supporter children Chloe Noonan-O'Keeffe, 12, and neutral Dominic Noonan-O'Keeffe, 10.

"My family are Swans supporters from South Melbourne - we have kept it in the family for the past 70 years," Mr O'Keeffe said.

"I was in Sydney last month to catch the Swans versus Essendon match, which was great.

"I have had great times through the years.

"I didn't wear my Swans scarf in Melbourne, though - I just put it on as I came off the plane."

Four radio stations broadcast the game live last night in unprecedented coverage for a Swans game but Network 10 was forced to stick to its delayed coverage, broadcast 30 minutes later.

Network 10 spokesman Sam Heard said the AFL had to approve a live broadcast of a game, which could only occur after the game was sold out.

"We've been promoting it at 7.30pm for the past two weeks about 30 times a day and if we changed it now, a lot of people would miss it," he said.

Accor Stadium

More News

A near sell-out crowd of 70,000 started filling Telstra Stadium after lunchtime yesterday for last night's AFL clash between the Sydney Swans and Collingwood.
The Austadiums website is made possible by displaying some advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker, whitelist us, or DONATE TO US