HIRE GROUND!
Michael Finch is Curator at the Sydney Football Stadium in Australia. Here, he gives an insight into the hectic schedule at the most utilised stadium in the country
S
ydney Football Stadium (SFS) is one of the most utilised rectangular sporting venues in Australia. It is part of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust which also
includes the world famous Sydney Cricket Ground. Our hirers include the Waratahs (NSWRU), Sydney Roosters (NRL) and Sydney FC (Hyundai A League). Our other hirers include the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), Australian Rugby League (ARL), Football Federation of Australia (FFA) and Cricket NSW. In October and November we will be one of the hosts for the Rugby League World Cup. The Trust will host the opening ceremony as well as a semi final. The stadium was designed by Philip Cox, Richardson and Taylor and was built on the old Sydney Sports Ground site between 1986 and 1988. Seating capacity has increased over the years from the original 40,000 to the current 45,500.
Grass Area and Soil Type
Due to the increase in seating capacity the actual ground grass coverage has decreased over the years. In 1988 it was 12,000 square metres and now in 2008 it
is 10,500 square metres. Grass type is Greenlees Park couch which is oversown with Arena ryegrass. The area also includes six full length turf practice wickets at the southern end. We are also trialling a new couch grass called Grand Prix. It has been installed at the southern end of the Stadium covering 1500 square metres.
Soil type on the main field of play is a 85:15 mix, with no reinforcement, to a depth of 300mm. There is then a gravel layer with a herringbone drainage system installed. Beneath the drainage layer lies the natural sand base.
Soil type on the turf practice wickets is 65% clay called Oberon.
Usage
In 2007 the ground was utilised in the following manner: 54 games, 101 training sessions, 37 events and 22 others. These figures do not include training sessions on the turf practice wickets which are utilised from October to February. Part of the agreement the Trust has with hirers is that the ground is available for training sessions. This can range from one hour to two and a half hours per session. We have had instances
whereby the ground has been set up for rugby training in the morning then changed over to soccer training in the afternoon. Training has also been conducted on game days. Over the years SFS has gone from just being a football ground to a multi purpose stadium. This is now common practice in all the major venues within Australia. The ‘others’ includes film shoots, promotions and large concerts. Generally, we have two large concerts per year. In 2007 we were the Australian host for Live Earth. Some other major artists have been Robbie Williams and U2.
Ground Set Up For Match Day
This mainly depends on what code we have on a particular day. Each hirer has certain requirements including ground markings, cutting patterns, height of grass, logos and perimeter set up. It is common practice to have two codes on a weekend. There is always training on the day/evening before, for which the hirer requests all field markings to be in place. On match day the ground is cut to the specified height of the hirer. This can vary between 25mm and 35mm. If we have two codes on the same weekend with different heights of cut then we do a
Many years ago the time frame for doing major renovation works was from October to March. It has now been reduced to three weeks in December!
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