World Cup Soccer at the MCG???

[meltiger]

A world cup final played at the G would open us up to international ridicule.
It's just not suitable as a soccer venue. Crowds are too far from the action.

Nothing that needs to be worried about. liverpool hit the nail on the head and it was what I was alluding to earlier in the thread.


Frank will ensure the final is in Sydney.

 

[AngryAnt]

A world cup final played at the G would open us up to international ridicule.
It's just not suitable as a soccer venue. Crowds are too far from the action.

 

[Liverpool]

Disagree mate.
It would have been a ludicrous waste of taxpayer money to build a stadium that high. Firstly, neither the Storm nor the Victory nor the upcoming 2nd Melbourne A League side are ever going to attract 40,000 to EVERY game. Therefore, the smaller 'boutique' nature of the stadium allows for both a better viewing experience for the fans and a better atmosphere for the players. A packed house of 25-30,000 will generate a better atmosphere than a 25-30,000 crowd in a stadium a quarter empty.

Its easy to say that now....but the population here is growing and it would be logical to think that membership would also grow for both Victory and Storm.
You only need to look at AFL membership figures to see that in the last 20 years, memberships have quadrupled for many clubs.
I think if I remember right (maybe someone here can find the figures and post them?) wasn't Richmond's membership numbers around the early-90's about 8,000?
Now we're talking nearly 4 times that.

So let's build a stadium to stand the test of time and think ahead...instead if building one for today and then spend shitloads renovating it and knocking down stands to build bigger ones in 20 years time.


Antman,
The bottom pic is the MCG...whats the top one? the Maracana or something?

When it comes to ovals being famous soccer stadiums, you only need to look at some of the biggest clubs in Europe using similar sized stadiums for soccer matches.
The Olympic Stadium comes to mind for Roma/Lazio....the Olympic stadium in Munich was the home ground for Bayern for many years until 2006 when they got that new one.....Hampden hosts all of Scotland's matches.....and of course, who can forget the old Wembley that hosted the FA Cup final for years.

While I agree with Poppa that the MCG isn't a really good viewing stadium for soccer matches (just like its a joke not having the seating moved in at the Dome for Victory matches ) ...I do disagree with you Poppa in that it won't open us up to international ridicule because we host it at the MCG.

 

[AngryAnt]

Yeah, the Maracana in Rio.

 

[Ian4]

It would have been a ludicrous waste of taxpayer money to build a stadium that high. Firstly, neither the Storm nor the Victory nor the upcoming 2nd Melbourne A League side are ever going to attract 40,000 to EVERY game. Therefore, the smaller 'boutique' nature of the stadium allows for both a better viewing experience for the fans and a better atmosphere for the players. A packed house of 25-30,000 will generate a better atmosphere than a 25-30,000 crowd in a stadium a quarter empty.

agree. the melbourne victory supporters are gonna make the new rectangular stadium the most intimidating/hostile environment for visitors than any other stadium or sports team in this country. and i for one cant wait.

 

[brigadiertiger]

I don't really care for soccer yet I really love Aussie Rules as a result I would much rather see Aussie Rules played at a ground that is as famous for Aussie Rules as it is for Cricket. Also don't the AFL and MCG have some sort of contract? If so then surely the AFL should take precedence.