Stadium Australia (Sydney)

Stadium Australia, known as Accor Stadium from 2020 in a sponsorship deal, was originally Sydney Olympic Stadium when it opened in 1999 and for the following couple of years.

Its first football saw the group games in the women’s tournament in the 2000 Olympics, as well as several men’s matches, including the final, which saw Cameroon defeat Spain in a penalty shootout. The stadium then closed for a year as its capacity decreased, but its roof extended.

In 2001, it became the Telstra Stadium and staged its first games of the Australia men's national soccer team, known as the Socceroos, who played several matches at Stadium Australia over the years. From 2001 through to 2017, they played twelve competitive international matches there.

Among the notable games was a 1-0 win against Uruguay in 2009, as John Aloisi’s famous penalty sent Australia to their first World Cup since 1974 at the rebranded ANZ Stadium. In 2013, a 2–2 draw with Oman and a 1–0 win against Iraq, with a Josh Kennedy header, clinched qualification for Brazil 2014.

The 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final saw Australia beat South Korea 2–1 in extra time to win their first Asian Cup. A Mile Jedinak hat‑trick in 2017 against Honduras was enough, along with a 3-1 extra time win against Syria for Australia to reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Since those games, the Socceroos have not returned to Stadium Australia for senior men’s matches beyond 2017. Subsequent qualifiers and friendlies have been played at other venues such as CommBank Stadium, Western Sydney Stadium, Canberra, Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, and more. 

In 2023, the stadium attracted a crowd of over 75,000 for the opening game in the Women’s World Cup as Australia defeated Ireland, as well as a semi-final and then the final when Spain defeated England 1-0. Several prestigious club touring friendlies have also been hosted.

The stadium has hosted cricket, regular NRL rugby league home games of several clubs, as well as the annual Grand Final, along with AFL Australian Rules football, rugby union, and concerts among its other events.

My visit

Sunday 7th January 2007

I was in Sydney, nearing the end of my Ashes cricket tour, which I had travelled with a party organised by Middlesex wicket-keeper David Nash. England had capitulated in the two Tests we went to, at Melbourne and then the SCG, leaving us time to contemplate the performance and do some sightseeing.

Being the type to get out and about, I decided a trip on the train out to Olympic Park was in order, so I left my room at the Sheraton Grand Hotel and had a walk about, dropping my belongings at the Y (YWCA) hotel in Wentworth Avenue, which was somewhat of a downgrade for a couple of nights.

At Circular Quay, I grabbed a lovely pie for the ferry ride to Homebush, home of the Olympic Park. I went to the top of the Novotel ($4) to get a great view of the impressive area. Its drawback for me is that it was 15km from the city and it took an hour to get there. 

The stadium tour, which I decided to go on, was OK, as was the stadium, but I’d seen better. The guide was a reasonable sort, but obviously not a cricket fan and was brainwashed with the idea that big is best, regularly waxing lyrical about how he worked at the MCG during the Commonwealth Games.

He told me that they wanted Test cricket at Stadium Australia. We had an honest exchange as I put him straight. I attempted to explain the words “history” and “tradition” to him, but I was wasting my time. He may as well of been American. 

I was given 2 complimentary tickets for the 20/20 game between NSW and Tasmania the following Wednesday. The stands cleverly moved on hydraulics, so the playing area changes from rectangle to oval, although the playing surface was predictably awful because of this.

It was something that the designers of London’s Olympic Stadium had in mind, and is used at Stade De France. After a potter around looking at the rest of the rather desolate area, as it was at the time, I took the train back into town, requiring a change at Strathfield.

My original plan had been to go to watch Sydney FC in the A League, but unfortunate circumstances had meant a friend had to return home suddenly, so I made use of his concert ticket to accompany another pal and go and see a Roseanne Cash gig at a beautiful, intimate theatre as part of the Sydney Arts Festival.