Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008)
|
|
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008) |
| AAMI Stadium | |
 |
|
| Location | West Lakes, Adelaide |
|---|---|
| Broke ground | 1971 |
| Opened | 1974 |
| Owner | South Australian National Football League |
| Operator | South Australian National Football League |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | $6.6 million |
| Architect | Various |
| Capacity | 51,515 |
| Field dimensions | 177 x 145 m |
| Tenants | |
| Adelaide Crows (AFL) (1991-present) Port Adelaide (AFL) (1997-present) |
|
Football Park (presently known as AAMI Stadium due to a naming rights arrangement) is an Australian Rules Football stadium located in West Lakes, Adelaide, South Australia. It was built in 1973 by the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and is now the home ground of 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 the Telstra Dome, ANZ Stadium and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Contents |
Football Park hosted its first event, an SANFL match between Central District and North Adelaide, on May 4, 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 and rock concerts. Presently the only sport played at the ground is Australian rules football.
AAMI Stadium has a bus terminal for public buses from Adelaide and surrounding suburbs. For home and away matches an approx 1000 busses are in service to take and bring spectators to the stadium. For showdown matches (local derbies) the number of busses are doubled. There is no railway but there have been plans to build a spur from the Grange line. The nearest station is Grange. Many people also drive with their cars to AAMI Stadium on game day but finding a parking spot can be difficult, especially if people are going to a Showdown (AFL) or a concert involving big name performers. The Robbie Williams concert caused major controversy because spectators were in traffic jams until 2 - 3 am into the night.
Major artists have held concerts at AAMI Stadium, such as: ABBA, Dire Straits, U2, The Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams. [1]
| Three highest attended events | ||||
| Number | Event | Type | Attendance | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robbie Williams | Concert | 80,000 | 5 December 2006 |
| 2 | Sturt v Port Adelaide | SANFL Grand Final | 66,897 | 28 September 1976 |
| 3 | U2 | Concert | 60,000 (approx) | 16 November 2006 |
The stadium has an absolute seated maximum capacity of 51,515, about 5% of the population of the entire city of Adelaide.
Since it was built, Football Park has had many additions including:
On June 1, Premier Rann announced that the Government would provide $100 million to upgrade AAMI Stadium. The upgrade might include a Medallion Club on the eastern side roof (the Sun often shines towards this direction), the members grandstand roof raised with 2,000 extra seats, upgraded lighting (like at Adelaide Oval), and upgraded umpires' change rooms. There is also a push to build a grandstand on the eastern side of the stadium (like the northern grandstand), which would bring the capacity to around 60,000.[1] If AAMI Stadium is to host FIFA World Cup games if Australia wins the bid, then the playing surface has to be levelled, the possible 2-tier eastern grandstand would need to be built, and public transport needs to be improved. There has recently been suggestions to build a new multi-purpose stadium with at least 60,000 seats closer to the city (Adelaide),[citation needed] but nothing has been announced.
The whole ground dimensions are 177 x 145 m and the playing area is 165 x 133 m. The goals run North to South.
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
