FWIW - the coldest I’ve ever been at the footy - anywhere ever - was a Friday night North v Richmond game in Hobart
I was at the game. Steve Morris did his ACL.
Yes it was freezing standing on the hill with very little protection from the elements. But I am advocating placing grandstands on the Eastern side of Bellerive.
All this money spent on sport but we can still dont have a decent stadium that would let us host more than 1 Matilda's match and 2 early knock out games at the World Cup.
I was arguing this very same point with “Sports Industry” on Twitter last night.
We are hosting the third biggest sporting event in world sport and none of the major games are being played in Melbourne, despite the fact that we like to call ourselves the sporting capital of the world.
When the tournament is in full swing next winter, every Victorian will be wondering why the hell Sydney has all of the big games and we don’t. It’s a lost opportunity.
Of course, this comes down to the fact that its impossible to deal with the AFL on stadium use… as well as state politics on both sides… AFL always gets priority.
The NRL are much more amenable on this issue. Suncorp, Allianz, Accor stadium will be unavailable for 6-7 weeks, but they have found other options to during that time… so they get awarded the big games (Sydney gets a quarter final, semi-final and final, Brisbane gets a quarter final and third place playoff).
Ground rationalisation in Melbourne in the 90s has been disastrous for Melbourne sporting infrastructure. So has the lack of investment in rectangular sports infrastructure.