Stadium Australia (Sydney)

Ground: Stadium Australia - Accor Stadium

Capacity: 83,000

Opened: 1999

When Sydney was awarded the 2000 Olympics, it meant the city needed to build new facilities. Among them was Stadium Australia, which has held sponsors' names and has staged several football matches.

Stadium Australia Background

The venue, originally Sydney Olympic Stadium, has been known as Accor Stadium since 2020. It staged group games in the women’s 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 was extended.

In 2001, the Telstra Stadium, under its sponsor's title, staged its first Australia men's national soccer team games. The Socceroos have played several matches at Stadium Australia over the years. From 2001 through to 2017, they played twelve competitive international matches there.

An image sourced online of football at the stadium

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 competition title. Mile Jedinak's hat‑trick in 2017 against Honduras was enough, on top of an extra-time win against Syria, for Australia to reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

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, like CommBank Stadium, Western Sydney Stadium, Canberra, Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, and more. 

In 2023, the stadium attracted over 75,000 fans for the opening game of the Women’s World Cup, when Australia defeated Ireland, as well as a semi-final and the final, when Spain defeated England 1-0. Several prestigious club friendlies continue to be played in the stadium as sides from Europe visit Australia.

The stadium has hosted cricket and is the regular NRL rugby league home ground of several clubs. It stages 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 on 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. 

I decided to go on the stadium tour, which 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 have 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 could change from a rectangle to an oval, although it clearly affected the quality of the playing surface.

It was something the designers of London’s Olympic Stadium had in mind. The system is used at Stade De France. After a potter around 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.