Football Park

AAMI Stadium
Location	Turner Drive, West Lakes, SA
Coordinates	34°52′48″S 138°29′44″E / 34.88°S 138.49556°E / -34.88; 138.49556Coordinates: 34°52′48″S 138°29′44″E / 34.88°S 138.49556°E / -34.88; 138.49556
Broke ground	1971
Opened	1974
Owner	SANFL
Operator	SANFL
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	AU$6.6m
Architect	Various
Capacity	51,515
Field dimensions	177 x 145 m
Tenants
Adelaide Crows (AFL) (1991-present) Port Adelaide (AFL) (1997-present) Woodville-West Torrens Eagles (SANFL) (1991-1992)

Football Park (presently known as AAMI Stadium due to a naming rights arrangement; colloquially known as Footy Park) is an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It was built in 1973 by the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and is now the home ground of both the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power. AAMI Stadium is the fourth largest Australian Rules Football stadium in Australia in terms of crowd capacity, behind Etihad Stadium, ANZ Stadium and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

[edit] History

Football Park hosted its first event, an SANFL match between Central District and North Adelaide, on 4 May 1974.

In addition to football, AAMI Stadium has also hosted cricket matches, most famously for the Kerry Packer-run World Series Cricket competition of the late 1970s, International rules football and rock concerts. Presently the only sport played at the ground is Australian rules football.

[edit] Transport

AAMI Stadium has a bus terminal for public buses from Adelaide and surrounding suburbs; approximately 1,000 buses are in service to transport spectators to and from the stadium for football games. For "Showdown" matches (local derbies) the number of buses is doubled.

There is no railway line directly serving the site, but there have been plans to build a spur from the Grange line. The nearest station is Albert Park, but Seaton Park, East Grange and Grange itself are all a similar distance from the stadium, and all are equally inconvenient.

[edit] Concerts

Major artists have held concerts at AAMI Stadium, including ABBA, Dire Straits, U2, The Rolling Stones and Robbie Williams.^[1]

[edit] Highest attendances

Panorama of the U2 Vertigo Tour stage, 16 November 2006.

The stadium has an absolute seated maximum capacity of 51,515, about 5% of the population of the Adelaide metropolitan area.

[edit] Upgrades

Since it was built, Football Park has had many additions including:

• In 1984 the Light Towers were installed.

• In 1985 alcohol was banned from the seats. Alcohol could only be consumed in the bar areas. In 2009, this ban was removed.

• In 1997 the stadium opened new corporate facilities, with suites at the southern end of the ground.

• In 1998 the superscreen was added to the NE side of the ground.

• In 2001 the balcony upper level of seats was extended towards the Northern End of the ground.

• In 2004 the existing aluminium bench seating on the lower deck was replaced with plastic bucket seats.

• In 2007,
  • The Sound System was upgraded with new plastic PA speakers installed all around the stadium.
  • A new and louder siren was added.
  • Another superscreen was installed at the Southern End of the ground to aid viewers sitting under the existing superscreen on the North East side of the ground.
  • The existing main scoreboard is still used, but also started its use for advertising.
  • New scoreboards were built under both superscreens.

• On June 1 2008, Premier Mike Rann announced that the Government will provide $100 million to upgrade AAMI Stadium. Among the several options considered were:
  • a Medallion Club on the eastern side roof,
  • the members grandstand roof raised with 2,000 extra seats,
  • better lighting and
  • new umpires' change rooms.
  • There was also a push to build a grandstand on the eastern side of the stadium (like the northern grandstand), bringing the capacity to around 60,000. From AdelaideNow polls, it appeared the majority of the general public preferred the construction of a new stadium, closer to the city, to host most sporting events.^[2]
• As of 8 January 2009, it has been decided^{[by whom?]} that AAMI Stadium will undergo redevelopment. Confirmed^{[by whom?]} upgrades include
  • better traffic flow to and from the stadium
  • better public transport access to and from the stadium
  • undercover walkways and concourses
  • new seating throughout the stadium, with spectators in the first level as close as 10 metres (33 ft) to the playing field and 16 metres (52 ft) on the upper level
  • new entrances, combined with more flowing concourses and walkways, which will reduce the time it takes spectators to travel to and from the stadium gates.^[3]

[edit] Dimensions

A panoramic view of the AAMI stadium during Showdown XXIV between the Crows and Power on 6 April 2008.

The ground dimensions from fence to fence are 177 x 145 m (581 x 476 ft) and the playing area from the boundary lines is 165 x 133 m (541 x 436 ft). The goals run north to south.

[edit] External links

• SANFL AAMI Stadium site
• Football Park at Austadiums
• AAMI Stadium fixture for 2008

[edit] References