Johnny Backs World Cup Bid

“There is no world event that is beyond the capacity of Australia to organise superbly,” John Howard told ABC radio. That proves John Howard miniscule understanding of the World Cup Finals. There are 8 groups, each with 4 nations. Where are the 8 large stadiums, each with an excellent grass surfce to cope with skillful players of football’s best players, and also to accommodate all the spectators and the games? Please do not mention cricket ovals which have those rectangular sections of hard mud in the centre, nor rugby league ovals where the pitch is only fit for grazing cows, after a few games of that game which should be called handball.

I thought it was 10 venues needed. What have we got? MCG (Melb), Telstra Stadium (Syd), Subiaco (Perth), Gabba (Bris), Football Park (Adel). As yet nothing good enough in Tassie (Aurora Stadium in Launceston? Not without a renovation). Or NT. Or Canberra, really (Manuka Oval would need some work. So that’s 5. Ish. Also Docklands in Melb and SCG in Sydney. 7.

I’d say we’ve got a bit of work to do before we’ve got 10 world class football venues. Still, might as well have a crack. It won’t be the white elephant that the preposterous Commonwealth Games were for Melbourne.

I should say, though, that the hard centre is a thing of the past – most venues use drop-in pitches for cricket these days.

If it’s ten venues, Peter, then that is worse. You have come up with only five respectful stadiums and I can’t see any State Government building a stadium, it would have to private and who would take such a gamble when the end result will be one huge white elephant. Australia is good for one stadium events such as Olympics Games, State of Origin, Aerial Ping Pong, and that other handball game, called, umm, what is it now, oh yes, rugby thug union.

There is also Aussie Stadium in Sydney. There are football stadiums like Hindmarsh in Adelaide and the new one they are building in Melbourne for the Victory. In Brisbane there is Suncorp Stadium also.

I think it could be done. There are enough venues which have capacity to hold games. I’m sure if we won they would put state and federal funding into refurbishing grounds that need it.

You can’t tell me South Africa have better stadiums than us?

It’s not really about the stadiums we already have. Once you win the bid, then you start building…. no country is ever ready at bid stage in terms of their facilities.

Much like the IOC, FIFA is determined to rotate the tournament and get to all 4 corners of the globe. It’s inevitable that at some stage it will end up down our way – if we want it.

Hell, they gave it to the USA despite massive distances to cover and few football-specific venues.

I used to think they could hold an Aus-NZ Oceania-based World Cup (like they did with Sth Korea-Japan) but I’m not sure that would work anymore. Technically we’re in Asia now, and they just had a WC, while NZ is stuck in Oceania.

the mcg, aami stadium, subiaco oval, the scg, telstra stadium, the gabba and the telstra dome are the easiest to make world cup standard. but on the outside choices i would think a few of the big rugby league stadiums would be renovated to increase seating. probably find they would combine with some soccer clubs as home grounds. the problem is that its a summer competition. australias summer is way to hot to host the tournament and cricket will rule out some stadiums. my thinking is have an october competition, increase the capacity of aami stadium, subiaco, the gabba, and some of the rugby ovals. we could easily have the best world cup attendance capabilities. we already have two 100+ capacity stadiums. i dont think you need ten stadiums anyway. i think that germany like many european countries are spread out, so they can spread the love around. as australia is heavily populated in the 5 major cities. australia loves a party. i think every match would be a sell out easily. even angola and iran. the world would love to come to australia. bring it on i say. who didnt see the olympics in sydney. however doubt that australia would get the cup straight after south africa. but to state that south africa could win it before australia says something about government support for australian soccer for a long time. australia should have hosted this tornament years ago. we need politicians who are soccer supporters and not occasional band wagon jumpers. i bet they jump of pretty quick after the world cup. once australian soccer isnt in the headlines untill we qualify for asia finals.

It could not go to Aus/NZ joint-
the kiwis just aren’t good enough (bar Nelly). There would be cricket scores.

Whoops I forgot about the host country automatically qualifying.

Mind you, South Africa isn’t setting the world on fire either and they won it.

Pardon my ignorance!!
Why do Australia’s national teams (all sports) wear yellow and green?

Because pretty much every other country in the world has red white and blue as its colours.

We like to be different, and its the colour of the wattyl and the gum. or something.

Flemington Racecourse Melbourne Cricket Ground Victoria Melbourne 100,000 16/06/06
Telstra Stadium New South Wales Sydney 83,500 18/03/06
Telstra Dome Victoria Melbourne 56,347 10/01/06
Suncorp Stadium Queensland Brisbane 52,500 09/12/05
AAMI Stadium South Australia Adelaide 51,515 07/12/05
Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre Queensland Brisbane 48,400 07/12/05
Sydney Cricket Ground New South Wales Sydney 44,000 16/06/06
Subiaco Oval Western Australia Perth 42,922 16/06/06
Aussie Stadium New South Wales Sydney 42,000 16/06/06
Gabba Queensland Brisbane 42,000 09/12/05

Sorry, dunno how Flemington snuck in there, but we’ve got 10 up there, – Flemington, and 11 if you include princess park with 35,000, which will be redeveloped by 2014.

So, I volunteer Canberra Stadium to be rebuilt so John Howard only has a 25 minute drive from Parliament house up to Belconnen to watch Iran vs Iraq in the 2014 world cup

P.S. Germany had 12,

Jose Miguel,

Our (I’m anm Aussie living in the US) national colours are green and gold, the colours of our national floral emblem (acacia pyncnatha, the Golden Wattle). It’s been that way pretty much since we became a single nation in 1901 but it wasn’t official until fairly recently.

Blue is also used on our national coat of arms so it’s a convenient “third” colour for away strips.

An even trickier question is why Italian teams always wear blue, but I guess that’s a question for another forum

I thought Australia were planning to bid for the 2018 tournament ages ago. So not really surprised with the form of the Socceroos that they would bring that bid forward. Australia has held almost every major event from the Olympics,Commonwealth games to the Cricket and Rugby worldcups. The Soccer Worldcup-the biggest sporting event in the world is a step up but would not really be a problem for Australia. We had the best Olympic games ever, so why not the best FIFA world cup ever?

[...] Australia are pondering a bid to host the 2014 World Cup. [...]

Just a couple of thoughts.

@troy
I’m pretty certain that because of football leagues in Europe, the tournament must be held in June-July during their season break, which means it would be winter in Australia, but that is ok because it doesn’t get too cold down here. However, it will interfere with the local NRL & AFL, so those might have to be put on hold, although that might not make many of their fans happy.

@Luc
I’m not sure if this is relevant, but the SCG and Aussie stadium are right next to each other. Would that be a problem regarding parking and logistics (twice as many thousands of people in the same place)? I guess matches are hardly on at the same time, so they could be used in an alternating manner anyways.

I thought the 2014 World Cup had already been awarded to South America – it is my understanding that as of now it is supposed to be Brazil – at least as a temporary place-holder – if they can’t make it, there will be a combined bid from Argentina and Chile.
Australia would be quite cool, and a good excuse to finally go visit, but by 2014 it will be 36 years since Argentina in 1978!!! It is OUR turn!!! DAMMITT!!!

Michael J,

Thanks for the info.
I have been curious about countries who wear uniforms that do not match their flags.

Italy wears blue because it’s the color of the House of Savoia, which ruled Italy from 1861 to 1946. However, if you look closely there’s a thin blue border on the left side of the flag. A new “presidential flag” was designed in 2000 includes a blue border in all 4 sides.

And in case you were wondering, the dutch wear orane because the royals are from the “house of orange”, so it is also a representation of their rulers.

Diego,
You are right, South America has been awarded the 2014 cup. Brazil will most likely be the host because FIFA does not want another “joint” cup. Colombia was supposed to host the cup in 86, but it was unable to do it, so Mexico was the replacement host, they also want to be considered for 2014 if Brazil or Argentina cannot do it.

I think the problem is that not one single South American country can afford the investment that will be required for upgrades to existing stadiums and/or building new ones by itself.
That is of course, unless we get Hugo Chavez to contribute some of his petro dollars. But then again, we don’t want to have the Cup in Venezuela.

Venezuela cannot host the cup because they have never been to one.

I think Brazil and Chile have the money, but I’m not sure about the infrastructure. I think Australia would be a perfect choice.

I think FIFA would probably want Australia to host the Asian cup or something first.

I’d love us to host it, but frankly its pretty shit trying to watch football matches at cricket grounds, so I think we’d lose out to established football nations with purpose built stadiums.

@ Gus
I guess matches are hardly on at the same time, so they could be used in an alternating manner anyways

- Correctamundo

Gus FTW

fifa has a fat bank account. i think there would be a few grants here and there. it would be good to have a south american tornament.

true south america more than deserve the 2014 tournament Australia should get the 2018 one.

who cares if it is on a cricket ground. remember the $$$ are in the TV rights. One of the german stadiums has an atheletics track around it – who’s complaining? Why do we need 10 grounds? i’ve notices the max games on in a day is 4. so i think 4 venues would be sufficient. 1 – MCG. 2 – telstra dome. 3- melbourne victories new stadium 4. Olympic park. there is only one city capable of putting on a world class performance.

the major host cities would have to be melbourne, sydney, brisbane, perth and possibly adelaide

games that might not attract as large crowds could be played in smaller cities and in melbourne and sydney at a secondary venue.

major venues for 2018:

melbourne – mcg (only because it has 100,000 capacity) and docklands / telstra dome (it is ok as a small field, and 50,000 capacity is more than the 20,000 of the new olympic park, which wont be redeveloped twice – and other grounds like princes park are no chance)

sydney – olympic / telstra stadium (80,000) and sfs / aussie stadium (40,000) (both purpose built for soccer / rugby and scg is no chance because it is not – the sfs was built for that very reason)

brisbane – lang park / suncorp stadium (50,000) (also brand new, award winning, purpose built for soccer / rugby – the gabba and qe2 stadium / qld sports and athletic… built for the commonwealth games are no chance)

perth – the new subiaco (60,000) or a purpose built soccer / rugby stadium (couldnt be more than 35,000 / 40,000 in a aussie rules dominated city)

adelaide – tricky, same thing, a smallish purpose built stadium? (upgrade hindmarsh stadium from 15,000 to 30,000) or football park / aami stadium? (has too large a field, despite its 50,000 capacity) (and adelaide oval, used in the rugby world cup, wouldnt be a chance)

so thats five or so venues, and then you are stuck.

the rugby world cup successfully shared games with smaller cities. but the soccer world cup will have larger demand for tickets because of international tourists. the smaller cities grounds would not be able to cope. they could be made larger, but they would probably be bigger white elephants than many of the olympic venues.

possible other host cities could include:

capital cities, darwin (no suitable stadium), and canberra (bruce / canberra stadium could be expanded from 30,000 to 40,000 but crowds average 15,000 so why? – also note manuka oval is only used for aussie rules and cricket)

and then regional cities like wollongong (wollongong sports ground / win stadium is 20,000 and old but could be upgraded), gosford (central coast stadium is new, and regularly hosts international fixtures including the rugby world cup, despite being only 20,000 – this is probably because it is owned by the very rich john singleton), newcastle (newcastle international sports… / energy australia stadium at 25,000 is in major need of refurbishment), gold coast (the new gold coast / robina stadium will be 25,000), and townsville (dairy farmers stadium 25,000, but basic) all would struggle to justify stadiums larger than 30,000 with average crowds also at 15,000 – but are these capacities big enough for a world cup?

and even more of a problem southern cities like geelong, launceston and hobart, dont even have good facilities at their aussie rules grounds – it would be hard to justify upgrading them for the world cup (because it would be hard to justify using them at all when the fields are so large), and it would be even harder to justify building new, purpose built soccer stadiums larger than 20,000 (because they would have no use after).

oh and fifa standard grass got layed in all olympic venues in 2000. even in canberra where it died because of the cold (causing much last minute panic).

Come on, fair go! If Kaiserslautern can be a venue for the World Cup in Germany, there is no reason why a city like Newcastle can’t host a game. Newcastle/Hunter has a population over the 400,000 people. We have one half of a stadium that is totally state-of-art, while we are waiting for funding from the federal government for the other half. (which keeps coming up with excuses because it is a safe labor seat.)

It would seem totally appropriate for Newcastle to host a game, as it was through the Hunter area that soccer founded its roots in Australia. Working class migrants who worked in the coal mines of England started a football regular footballs between different coal mining companies.

All we need is Johnny to give us the remaining cash and change the redevelopment plans and we would have a stadium, with a capacity of 40,000.

enzo you right john coward i mean howard is a stupid f**k who dosent familiarise himself with the event enough and whats needed but your wrong to say we cant have it here the rugby grounds can be used the grass can be changed how in the world did they have theworld cup on nfl grounds in usa 94 i would like to know how there going to have it on rugby grounds in south africa and the round playing surface can be transformed into rectangle playing surface by adding more seats and dismantling the fence and repositioning it into a retangle theres a ground in brazil thats round even alot of the grounds in europe are round because of athletics tracks we could also put the playing field in the midle of ground and put concrete where its round and fake grass over the top thats what some of the playing fields in the 2006 world cup have at the moment in that space security guards patrol the area and ball boys retreave the ball we could easaly have it here

mr canberra thats the biggest load of shit ive heard ive said it before about a million times and i’ll say it again the crowds are going to come from around the world to whatch you dont have to have australia playing in those cities and im sure for a once in a lifetime event they will come from different parts of the country and im sure the locals will enjoy having them and get into the spirit of it all just like mr newcastle said the towns in germany are in a simaler way to herelets have it here who gives a shit if its a failier wich i know it wont be we might as well find out and theres only one way to find out and thats have it surely one shit world cup in its entire history wont what diference is it going to make the world cup in south africa is going to be shit anyway do you think theyve got the money or enough suport for the sport or the world cup anyway rugby and cricket are there greatest sports football is last there just givin it to them because there the most wealthiest african country and and africa is a zone wich hasnt had it yet

canberra it dosent matter that the playing fields to large you can use the extra space for security and ball boys thats what they have done with some of the grounds in the german world cup that area has been layed with fake grass or purpose biuld extra seats it will still be good for rugby afterwards

how can it die if the sports played in other parts of the world where it below freezing you can put proper grass that fifa will aproveall the climates of the world where they have had world cups are diferent

magic i ttaly agree but we do need 10 grounds at least thats the fifa requirements otherwise some of the country would have nowhere to play and its also requiremnets that you only have two stadiums in 1 city only

how can south america more than deserve the world cup it goes europe south america europe south america and the trend never changes the only diference is europes had it more times than it should have

fair enough point about south africa having a shit world cup. and no money to make facilities better than they are now. south africa has many huge stadiums for rugby. maybe not 10, but i would be surprised if they used many cricket grounds.

we can do that too. we can host a world cup as we are. we can put some games in shit stadiums.

or we can make our stadiums better. maybe economically these improvements can be justified by long term benefits to tourism.

thats what they did with olympics. but if flopped because of september 11.

anyway i think there are too many hang ups about economics. i am sick of capitalist pigs who only care about money. i think we should get the world cup here no matter how much money we lose doing it! there. how about that?

i think newcastle should have games. you have a population bigger than canberra, darwin and most other regional cities. you need a better stadium is all.

some cricket and aussie rules grounds are very big ovals. this is shit for spectators. maybe this doesnt matter – because its all about money, and therefore tv right?!

some grounds like telstra dome, and the grounds in germany with athletics tracks are not ideal – spectators are closer, but they would be cheaper to use than building a new stadium.

big ovals like football park are not great for spectators, but as said maybe it doesnt matter. the mcg is also a large oval – but it is used and would be used in the world cup. because it has such a large capacity and is so famous.

hey and the thing i was trying to say about most rectangular grounds in australia is that they are too small, for precisely the reason that there will be so many fans from other countries.

and the grass. i am sure the olympic embarrassment wont happen again. maybe the specified grass wasnt fifa grass, maybe it was ioc grass? or maybe fifa in the 7 years since has developed better grass?

so what all my long ramblings comes down to? we have 2 stadiums in melbourne, 2 in sydney, 1 in brisbane, and 1 in perth. that totals 6 world class stadiums suitable for soccer.

questions for the next decade – where will the others be? and how will we get them? 1 will be in adelaide, but will it be football park? then at least 3 more, probably in smaller cities. which cities? darwin, townsville, gold coast, newcastle, gosford, wollongong, canberra, geelong, launceston, hobart, or others?