Allianz Stadium

No cold beer?! Lines in excess of 40 minutes during the rugby 7s. What is this … a centre for ants? Comeon Allianz put your name to a classy venue and bring on some capable staff please. On the upside the rugby is awesome!

Wrap it in whatever sponsor’s name you like, this will always be the Sydney Football Stadium to me.
Sure, it lacks a nickname that strikes fear into opponents hearts — like The Crucible, or The Garden of Pain, or The Devil’s Playpen, you see where I’m going with this — but it’s one hell of a ground, and it’s basically IN Paddington, meaning it’s easy to get to and there are about a billion great pubs within a 5min walk of the ground, unlike, oh, say, Homebush, where you need to endure a 40-​min drunken try-​not-​to-​fall-​asleep train ride back to the city at which point you’re too tired to keep partying.
Go the Tahs.
Go the Swans.
Go Sydney FC.
In that order.

August 17 1994. Australia v NZ, Bunt has got us tickets but they are on the fence behind the dead ball line on the south west corner. He is being mercilessly pizzled for getting such lousy seats before kick off. 20 seconds after the whistle Jason Little soars above the All Black defence and plants the ball RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES. Fast forward 80 minutes — Jeff Wilson has the try line to himself and the match and the Bledisloe in his grasp until a small black hitherto unknown halfback dives kamakazi style with no thought of self preservation and the ball spills RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES.
Australia win the game and the Bledisloe and history is made. George Gregan goes on to become one of the best playing referees in the sport and retires with both the most games and the most taunts of NZ rugby teams in the history of rugby.
The whole match seemed to be played in our quarter of the ground. It was amazing!
Then — in those days everyone would wander around Paddo having a drink in one of the forty thousand pubs that were filled with rugby fans and fun. It was all atmosphere.
I joined the Olympic Stadium as member for the World Cup — it was OK but there is nothing to do afterwards except catch a bus home and hope you got on the right one. There is nothing in the world better designed to deflate the joy of a great match than a bus ride home. By the time I gave it up membership was about $ 800 on ebay and the annual subs were $ 700 — if I cant get a couple of tickets to test match rugby for $ 700 then … (insert something unlikely, my minds a blank)
I was at the Footy Stadium on Sunday with GHB and his Grandad and his uncle to watch the Tahs. What a great footy stadium! And what a great part of town.
If a tub of chips didn’t take 15 minutes to make and cost $ 5.50 it would be 5 stars.
and George… go you good thing.

This review is based solely on Allianz Stadium as a music concert venue, not a sporting event venue.
I won’t be ashamed to admit that I went here last week to watch my girl Taylor Swift in concert :) I showed up two-​hours early in case the cheap ticket I purchased off Gumtree wasn’t legit. Thank goodness it was! The place was a complete mad house with Swifties and their parents, but I was surprised to see how much order there was. Police officers directing traffic, concert goers patiently queuing up, portable toilets conveniently located around the perimeter of the stadium…
Once I got inside, I took my time roaming the stadium to snap any pictures I could. Everyone was so courteous and helpful. Since I was there so early, I thought I’d enjoy an adult beverage and a pizza. One of ticket attendants saw me struggling trying to balance my pizza with my drink so she told me to go sit her section at one of the empty seats to enjoy my meal. SUCH A SWEETHEART!!!
Once the concert started, way too many kids were standing on their chair. I had some pretty crappy floor seats in the back, so my view was limited. I managed to bypass security and swoop my way to the front by the stage and life was grand again. And now an Aussie T-​swift fanclub started following me on Instgram. oh hey! :)

I went there a few years ago for a game between Sydney and Melbourne in the National Soccer competition, and the atmosphere of the ground was electric, especially when the crowd was more than half full
It was as close to replicating the atmosphere in European football

They’ve renamed the SFS the «Allianz Stadium». Sigh. Anyway, it’s still the same. It’s a solid, medium sized football stadium, and the visibility is decent, even from the wacky high up corners.
If you come here when there are more than 35,000 sardines in the can, you get the feeling that the infrastructure is not quite up to the task. (The place can take 45,000 … or so they say.) When it’s over 35,000, simply leaving the stadium and getting out onto the street can be a 60 minute crawl of human shufflers. I’d hate to see this place dealing with an emergency evacuation. And it is still a stadium that people drive to, so that adds to the craziness.
I once cycled here, and when I was unchaining my bike I was verbally abused by several groups of people: apparently unlocking your bicycle is way more offensive than driving your car to Moore Park, go figure. Anyway, that’s Sydney life for you. Final tip for cyclists: this stadium does not have bike racks. The idea that people might cycle here is apparently unthinkable…
Ok, stepping off my soap box and continuing the review:
I love the fact that this is a stadium in the middle of the city (pretty much), that is a 15 – 20 minute stroll away from Central Station. When the Swans are playing, or the Rabbitohs, or Sydney FC … and everyone is wandering down Foveaux Street in matching jerseys, there is such a buzz in the air. On the calmer days (with 11,000 to 15,000 punters), the place functions very well. For Sydney FC matches, there is always the entertainment of watching The Cove (or being part of it, depending on how much fun that sounds for you…)
One final note — Seaton sums it up best, so I’ll just quote him:
«The SFS suffers from the same infliction that many, if not all sporting grounds suffer from: the expensive drinks, overly greasy food and lack of full strength beer.»
— I couldn’t agree more, except I might have said «affliction».

I saw the greatest soccer/​football match ever here: the Norway vs US Women’s Gold Medal game. A spectacular match, which included a last minute tying goal, going into overtime. When you have the eyes of the world watching it, is thrill to be there in person. Even though neither team was Australian, the City and Residents of Sydney know how to provide great energy to a tournament.

Situated right next door to the Sydney Cricket Ground (the only thing that separates them are 4 tennis courts), the Sydney Football Stadium (now known as SFS after a few sponsor-​orientated name changes) is home to a number of Sydney-​based sports teams as well as being a venue for some big music events.
Although it struggles to be regularly fill its 45,000 seats for the NRL, A-​League and Super Rugby games, it still manages to generate a decent atmosphere with only half/​quarter of the seats filled. The immovable plastic seats are looking a little worn these days, but the stadium itself still has a modern feel about it, but without the soulless-​ness of some modern stadia.
Keep an eye out as although a couple of teams call this stadium home (Sydney FC, Sydney Roosters, NSW Waratahs), a few other teams do play the occasional game here, for instance, West Tigers and South Sydney Rabbitohs (NRL) so there are regular matches that you can attend.

Even if you’re not particularly interested in sports like Rugby League, AFL or Soccer, it’s probably a good idea to head along to a game, just to understand what people go on about.
The Sydney Football Stadium, or SFS for short, God knows what it stands for, (Editors Note: Um, Seaton… Are you serious?) is the venue in Sydney to see it. Mind you this isn’t necessarily because it’s the best venue, but it’s the venue that sees the most action. With a capacity for 80,000 people, it houses the all of the Sydney Swans home games as well as a selection of League teams, including; South Sydney and the Roosters, as well as the A-​Leages Sydney FC and the occasional international and exhibition game.
The primary problem with the ground is that if it doesn’t fill its 80,000 seats, the ground can feel rather empty and the energy and excitement somewhat diminished. Unfortunately, in the regular season this is somewhat of a common occurrence, however recently when I went, and my enjoyment was somewhat dampened by my team, the Wests Tigers being beaten in a preliminary final of the Rugby League, the stadium was near full and thusly the enthusiasm in the bleachers was where it need to be.
The SFS suffers from the same infliction that many, if not all sporting grounds suffer from; the expensive drinks, overly greasy food and lack of full strength beer.
Being that the ground is in Moore Park, it is only a short walk from several local pubs where one might go for a pre game drink or dinner. Public transport is available to and from the grounds.