Football Park

Infobox_Stadium
stadium_name = Football Park
nickname = AAMI Stadium


location = West Lakes, Adelaide
broke_ground = 1971
opened = 1974
owner = South Australian National Football League
operator = South Australian National Football League
surface = Grass
dimensions = 177 x 145 m
construction_cost = $6.6 million
architect = Various
former_names =
tenants = Adelaide Crows (AFL) (1991-present)
Port Adelaide (AFL) (1997-present)
seating_capacity = 51,515

Football Park (presently known as AAMI Stadium due to a naming rights arrangement) is an Australian Rules Football stadium located in West Lakes, Adelaide, South Australia. It was built in 1973 by the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and is now the home ground of the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power. AAMI Stadium is the fourth largest Australian Rules Football stadium in Australia in terms of crowd capacity, behind the Telstra Dome, ANZ Stadium and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

History

Football Park hosted its first event, an SANFL match between Central District and North Adelaide, on May 4, 1974.

In addition to football, AAMI Stadium has also hosted cricket matches, most famously for the Kerry Packer-run World Series Cricket competition of the late 1970s, International Rules and rock concerts.

Transport

AAMI Stadium has a bus terminal for public buses from Adelaide and surrounding suburbs. For home and away matches an approx 1000 busses are in service to take and bring spectators to the stadium. For showdown matches (local derbies) the number of busses are doubled. There is no railway but there have been plans to build a spur from the Grange line. The nearest station is Grange. Many people also drive with their cars to AAMI Stadium on game day but finding a parking spot can be difficult, especially if people are going to a Showdown (AFL) or a concert involving big name performers. The Robbie Williams concert caused major controversy because spectators were in traffic jams until 2 - 3 am into the night.

Concerts

Major artists have held concerts at AAMI Stadium, such as: ABBA, Dire Straits, U2, The Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams. [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20737054-2682,00.html]

Highest attendances

The stadium has an absolute seated maximum capacity of 51,515, about 5% of the population of the entire city of Adelaide.

Upgrades

Since it was built, Football Park has had many additions including:

*In 1984 the Light Towers were installed.

*In 1985 alcohol was banned from the seats. Alcohol could only be consumed in the bar areas.

*In 1997 the stadium opened new corporate facilities, with suites at the southern end of the ground.

*In 1998 the superscreen was added to the NE side of the ground.

*In 2001 the balcony upper level of seats was extended towards the Northern End of the ground.

*In 2004 the existing aluminium bench seating on the lower deck was replaced with plastic bucket seats.

*In 2007, the Sound System was fully upgraded with new plastic PA speakers installed all around the stadium. A new and louder siren has also been added and a new super screen has been installed at the Southern End of the ground to aid viewers sitting under the existing superscreen on the North East side of the ground. The existing main scoreboard is still used but also started its use for advertising and new scoreboards were built under both superscreens.

On June 1, Premier Rann announced that the Government would provide $100 million to upgrade AAMI Stadium. The upgrade might include a Medallion Club on the eastern side roof (the Sun often shines towards this direction), the members grandstand roof raised with 2,000 extra seats, upgraded lighting (like at Adelaide Oval), and upgraded umpires' change rooms. There is also a push to build a grandstand on the eastern side of the stadium (like the northern grandstand), which would bring the capacity to around 60,000. [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23792187-2682,00.html Rann's AAMI Upgrade] ] If AAMI Stadium is to host FIFA World Cup games if Australia wins the bid, then the playing surface has to be levelled, the possible 2-tier eastern grandstand would need to be built, and public transport needs to be improved. There has recently been suggestions to build a new multi-purpose stadium with at least 60,000 seats closer to the city (Adelaide),Fact|date=May 2008 but nothing has been announced.

Dimensions

The whole ground dimensions are 177 x 145 m and the playing area is 165 x 133 m. The goals run North to South.

External links

* [http://www.sanfl.com.au/aami_stadium/about_aami_stadium/ SANFL AAMI Stadium site]
*Austadiums|id=1
* [http://www.sanfl.com.au/files/_system/File/PDFs/AAMI%20/AFL%20Program%202008.pdf AAMI Stadium fixture for 2008]

References