STADIUM AUSTRALIA is the scene of some of the greatest Australian sporting events of the 21st Century.
But this name is long since forgotten for this venue as naming rights have been sold a couple of times now and it has been known better by other names.
Currently it is known as ANZ STADIUM but has also previously been known as TELSTRA STADIUM.
STADIUM AUSTRALIA is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, west of Sydney in Homebush Bay.
The stadium was completed in March 1999 at a cost of A$690 million to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. Every year since the stadium was built, the New South Wales rugby league team's home games in the State of Origin series have been played there as well as the annual National Rugby League grand final. ANZ Stadium also hosted the 2003 Rugby World Cup finals and Bledisloe Cup matches as well as regular Sydney Swans and Greater Western Sydney Giants AFL matches.
The stadium was originally built to temporarily hold 110,000 spectators, making it the largest Olympic Stadium ever built as well as the largest stadium in Australia. In 2003 reconfiguration work was completed to shorten the north and south wings, and install movable seating. These changes reduced the capacity to 83,500 for a rectangular field and 82,500 for an oval field (making it the second largest stadium in Australia, after the Melbourne Cricket Ground). Awnings were also added over the North and South stands, which means that now most of the seating is under cover. The stadium was also engineered along sustainable lines for example with the low use of steel in the roof structure in comparison to the Olympic stadiums of Athens and Beijing.
International Cricket made its debut at the venue on 1 February 2012 with an International Twenty20 cricket match between Australia and India.
The first sporting event held at the stadium was on 6 March 1999 when a then-record rugby league football crowd of 104,583 watched the NRL first round double-header, featuring Newcastle v Manly and Parramatta v St George Illawarra Dragons. The attendance broke the old record of 102,569 set at the Odsal Stadium in Bradford, England for the 1954 Challenge Cup Final replay between Warrington and Halifax.
The first musical act held at the newly built stadium was the Bee Gees consisting of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb in March 1999. The band had embarked on what would be their final world tour as a group before the death of Maurice, the culmination of the tour ending in the newly built Olympic Stadium. The turnout crowd was 105,000+.
The stadium was not officially opened until June 1999 when the Australian National Soccer team played the FIFA All Stars. Australia won the match 3–2 in front of a crowd of 88,101. Stadium Australia also played host to the national side's historic playoff win over Uruguay in November 2005, a victory which granted Australia FIFA World Cup qualification for only the second time in the country's history. The event attracted a virtual capacity crowd of 82,698.
The 1999 Bledisloe Cup rugby union match between the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks attracted a then-world record rugby union crowd of 107,042. In 2000 this was bettered when an almost capacity crowd of 109,874 witnessed the All Blacks win over the Wallabies 39–35.
On 7 August 1999, a National Football League (American Football) exhibition game called the American Bowl was played between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers, bringing home former Australian Football League player Darren Bennett, the Chargers' punter. The Broncos won the game 20–17 in front of 73,811 spectators. This was Australia's first, and currently only, American Bowl game.
The 1999 National Rugby League Grand Final, played on 26 September between the Melbourne Storm and the St George Illawarra Dragons, broke the rugby league world-record crowd previously set earlier in the season when 107,999 came to watch the Storm defeat the Dragons 20–18 to win their first NRL Premiership.
During the 2000 Olympics, the evening track and field sessions on day 11 attracted 112,524 spectators on the night that Cathy Freeman won the Olympic Gold Medal for the Women's 400 metres.
The opening ceremony for the 2000 Summer Olympics at the stadium completely sold out all 110,000 seats, while the highest attendance ever recorded was 114,714 during the closing ceremony of the same Games.
I myself enjoy heading out there 12 times a year as a member of the Bulldogs and watch 10 home games and 2 reciprocal away games against the Eels and the Rabbits.
A quick 5 minute train journey from Lidcombe station gets us to the precinct followed by a short walk to the stadium.
This Saturday night it will host one of the greatest nights of Rugby ever to be seen when the Wallabies take on the British and Irish Lions in the series decider of their Australian tour.
It's another sold out blockbuster, but Stadium Australia is no stranger to these huge spectacles.
J G S
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