The end of Allianz Stadium
A record crowd of 44,380 attended the final sporting event at Sydney’s iconic Allianz Stadium on Saturday with the Sydney Roosters defeating the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL Preliminary Final.
The attendance eclipsed the previous Rugby League crowd record at the stadium of 42,482 for the 1997 ARL Grand Final and the previous ground record of 44,085, set in June 2018 for the Wallabies v Ireland Test match.
Michael Bublé will bring the curtain down on the 30-year-old venue, with a special concert on October 5, the last event to be staged before the bulldozers are called in to commence demolition.
The Moore Park venue will be bulldozed and replaced by a new Sydney Football Stadium and while plans are yet to be finalised, it’s expected to have a similar capacity as the existing venue.
Allianz Stadium is now the oldest top-tier rectangular stadium in Australia, with significant safety, compliance and patron safety issues, together with insufficient female toilets and inadequate provision for disability access.
The NSW Government will rebuild the venue with substantially improved sightlines, a roof that covers all patrons, with vastly improved amenities, food and beverage options and accessibility. Work is expected to take just over three years, with the new stadium to open in 2022. ANZ Stadium will also be redeveloped as part of the Government's vision to improve Sydney stadia.
The venue is the current home of the Sydney Roosters, NSW Waratahs and Sydney FC. During construction of the new stadium, the majority of games will be played next door at the Sydney Cricket Ground with other Sydney venues also picking up the slack.
Since its opening in 1988, the stadium has hosted many memorable events and just shy of 11 million fans have attended sports events at the venue since the Austadiums database commenced in 2003, with the highest (prior to the final event) being 44,085 for the Rugby Test Match between the Wallabies & Ireland in June this year. In fact, the top four attendances are all Wallabies matches, with the next three highest being A-League Grand Final’s. View attendances here.
The venue was the former home of the ARL/NRL Grand Final before it moved to ANZ Stadium, as well as State of Origin, Bledisloe Cup, many soccer games including the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, just to highlight some.
The venue has been posting highlights from its 30-year history on Twitter – we’ve highlighted some of them below.
What’s your favourite memories of the Sydney Football Stadium? Tell us on our Facebook page >
The SFS was the main venue for football in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, hosting 10 games and attracting nearly 230,000 spectators.
— Allianz Stadium (@AllianzStadium) September 14, 2018
The stadium also hosted an Australia-Paraquay friendly and the Pacific women's tournament that year. What's your favourite #Allianz30 moment? pic.twitter.com/7BHIKqwkVG
Fairy tales don't come better than this. In our latest #Allianz30 moment, we throwback to the '97 ARL GF between the @NRLKnights and @SeaEagles.
— Allianz Stadium (@AllianzStadium) September 14, 2018
Andrew Johns set up winger Darren Albert to give the Knights the winning try and send fans at the SFS into a frenzy. What a moment! pic.twitter.com/U4T8T6Apsj
Another #Allianz30 moment and perhaps one of the venue's best. We have a look at that @GeorgeGregan tackle on Jeff Wilson in the 1994 Bledisloe Cup.@SMHsport photographer Tim Clayton captured the effort on camera. Watch the video here: https://t.co/MJtV4uVHlI pic.twitter.com/quxXrurdKW
— Allianz Stadium (@AllianzStadium) September 8, 2018
Game two of the 1991 State of Origin series was a venue highlight.
— Allianz Stadium (@AllianzStadium) September 7, 2018
A brawl on halftime threatened to explode as Wally Lewis and Mark Geyer traded insults and later, Michael O'Connor kicks a sideline goal for a 14-12 win to NSW.
What's your top moment at the ground? #Allianz30 pic.twitter.com/RwjGDKCMv5
Thanks for the memories, @AllianzStadium �'��'��'� pic.twitter.com/sLvMdf7LCI
— Telegraph Sport (@telegraph_sport) September 22, 2018
