CBD stadium a must for United but an Adelaide Oval move is flagged offside by Sports Minister
SOUTH Australia’s premier soccer club cannot grow without a new city stadium situated nearby Adelaide Oval, according to Adelaide United chairman Greg Griffin.
Mr Griffin said there was currently no incentive for the Reds to recruit a marquee player without a new stadium — located within the Adelaide Oval sporting precinct — that is capable of holding up to 30,000 people.
“Would we like a to recruit marquee player? Yes, of course,” Mr Griffin told the Sunday Mail.
“But we can’t get a return on investment because we’re going to sell out our stadium anyway ... we need a bigger stadium that needs to be filled and that’s what marquee players do — they put bums on seats.
“Overseas experience has shown us that unless you control or own your stadium, you stagnate.”
Yet, less than half (44 per cent) of respondents to the Sunday Mail’s Your Say survey were in favour of a new stadium for United.
Drawing comparisons with the now-abandoned Football Park, Mr Griffin said United’s existing facility at Hindmarsh lacks the required public transport connections.
“The problem with the location of Hindmarsh is that there’s nothing else there, it’s just not the right location to grow the game,” he said.
“Look at Port Adelaide, they couldn’t get a (good) crowd (at Football Park), now they get terrific crowds — what was the cause of that? They moved to Adelaide Oval.
“Being in the (Oval) precinct is an incredibly important part for us. If we were in it, you’d expect us to grow from the 15,000s, which is basically the capped level at Hindmarsh, to the 25s and 30s (thousand).”
The Reds currently use Adelaide Oval for a small number of key matches but Mr Griffin said AFL and cricket have a “stranglehold” over access.
“It’s almost wild luck (when United can use the facility),” he said.
Mr Griffin has his work cut out for him in convincing the State Government, with Recreation and Sport Minister Leon Bignell against the Oval move despite being a “huge supporter of soccer in SA”.
“A soccer stadium can’t be built within the Adelaide Oval precinct because it would prevent us from ever hosting a Commonwealth Games or World Athletics Championship,” he said.
“Both of those events require a warm up track next to the main stadium.”
Mr Griffin said this was flawed thinking.
“You can’t plan a city and put everything on hold in the hope of maybe getting the Commonwealth Games in 10 or 20 years’ time,” he said.
Almost 60 per cent of survey respondents were against Adelaide bidding for the 2026 or 2030 Commonwealth Games, believing it to be a waste of money.
NEXT GENERATION: Adelaide United fans Leo Ganama, Amelia Booth and Luca Mancini. Picture: Tricia Watkinson.
Mr Griffin estimated the cost of a new stadium to be $200 million, funded via a private-public partnership (PPP).
“I know it’s a lot of money ... every new stadium in the world gets a contribution from government, simply because of the benefits it brings to the city,” he said.
“I suspect the three parties would be government, city council and the private investment as part of a PPP, which I think is the right way to go.”
Opposition spokesman for Recreation and Sport Tim Whetstone said he looked forward to a public conversation around a city soccer stadium, which he said would be great for Adelaide’s sporting reputation.
“I note if Adelaide is going to host the Commonwealth Games we will need a multipurpose stadium and I expect that to be part of the dialogue,” he said.
Lord Mayor Martin Haese said his view was that a soccer stadium nearby Adelaide Oval was an “exciting idea”.
“We have seen the many positive social, cultural and economic benefits as a result of the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval,” he said.
“If a purpose-built soccer stadium in the city can also deliver similar benefits, I believe it’s worth considering.”
Mr Griffin said even “non-soccer people” agree that a rectangular stadium would be the “final piece in the jigsaw” for the precinct.
“What Melbourne has shown (with its sporting precinct) is that having ready access to public transport is crucial — we’d have that as well, you could have three events happening at once and people could still get in and out very quick,” he said.
“I think it’s pretty exciting and it could potentially be better than Melbourne, which would make me very happy.”
Other key infrastructure findings:
PEOPLE are split 50-50 on whether SA needs another major infrastructure project like the Adelaide Oval or new RAH to get the construction economy moving;
SIXTY per cent believe a permanent grandstand should be built at Victoria Park for the Clipsal 500 car race;
MORE than half (55 per cent) are against a $250 million modern art gallery being built, while 20 per cent want one included as part of the redevelopment of the existing RAH site; and
ONE quarter are in favour of road tolls for both passenger vehicles and freight transport to accelerate road construction, compared to 19 per cent who said tolls should only apply to freight transport.
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