Sydney United Sports Centre

Former names	Sydney Croatia Sports Centre King Tomislav Park Edensor Park
Location	223-227 Edensor Road, Edensor Park, New South Wales 2176
Coordinates	33°52′33″S 150°52′27″E / 33.87583°S 150.87417°E / -33.87583; 150.87417Coordinates: 33°52′33″S 150°52′27″E / 33.87583°S 150.87417°E / -33.87583; 150.87417
Opened	1979
Renovated	1998
Surface	Grass
Capacity	12,000
Field dimensions	122 x 78 metres
Tenants
Sydney United SC

Sydney United Sports Centre, formerly known as Sydney Croatia Sports Centre and King Tomislav Park is a multi-use stadium in Edensor Park, Sydney, Australia. It is mainly used for football (soccer) and is the home ground for the Sydney United team. The stadium has a capacity of 12,000 people and was built in 1979 and upgraded in 1998.

In 2006, Sydney United played in front of their largest home crowd in the New South Wales State League (the Vodafone Premier League), prior to 1979, of 6,219 against old rivals Marconi Stallions, when they were comprehensively beaten 3-1. There are plans to increase the seated capacity of the stadium from 8,000 to 11,000, as currently only hill surrounds one end of the ground for what could potentially be the best stadium in the NSWPL competition.

It was argued that the ground should have been used as the venue to host the Vodafone Premier League Grand Final, in which Sydney United FC defeated Blacktown City Demons FC 4-0. This was because the ground that was used, Marconi Stadium, had a lesser capacity and its home team, Marconi Stallions FC, were not even playing in the final, albeit the ground was an all-seater.

At the Northern end of the ground, nicknamed "Queen Tomislav", sit over 1,000 hardcore fans who are constantly singing humorous and lifting songs to inspire the team, create a great atmosphere for the game and to amuse themselves. These fans, along with many other supporters of the club, have generally been of Croatian origin. However, with the increase in popularity of the New South Wales Premier League, and football in Australia and New South Wales in general, and with Sydney United FC appealing more and more to locals and fielding more and more Australian-influenced teams, this ethnicity is declining.^{[citation needed]}

Naming rights of the stadium are set to be sold to BOKA, the primary sponsor of Sydney United FC. The money gained from this deal is to be used for minor upgrades to the stadium- such as improved dressing rooms, a higher-quality surface and even a video screen if possible.

Over the years, this picturesque stadium has seen many current Australian International stars, including Everton's Tim Cahill.

[edit] External links

• Official Website of Sydney United FC

This article about a sports venue in Australia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e