- Western Sydney Wanderers defeated the Central Coast Mariners 2-1 at Bankwest Stadium
- A brace from captain Mitchell Duke, including a penalty awarded following a VAR call was enough for the win
- After three years of displacement, the Wanderers returned back home to a brand new stadium
The Wanderers opened their season with a win against the Mariners in their first ever regular season game at the brand new Bankwest Stadium (Western Sydney Stadium), which opened in April 2019. It followed the demolition of the old Parramatta Stadium. After three years in the wilderness and playing out of two stadiums, the Wanderers finally returned to their spiritual home.
The passionate crowd filling up about 56% of Bankwest was a good turnout considering the poor Sydney weather for the most part of the day. Recently the A-League overall has been struggling to draw in new fans and crowd numbers have been dwindling, dropping for the last five years straight.The Wanderers averaged just 9,313 last season so almost double that for the season opener should be seen as a success. At the old Parramatta Stadium the crowd would have been around 85% of capacity however at the expanded 30,000-seat Bankwest, it was only about 56% full.
After experiencing Bankwest for the first time, the crowds will only grow especially if the Western Sydney can string a few wins together. Wanderer’s fans have had a waning interest over the last few years as the team was effectively homeless, which seemed to have an adverse effect on performances on the field.
The RBB back at home was in full voice and sounded amazing. The atmosphere created was like that of an EPL crowd. Watching a football match in a rectangular stadium in the country’s steepest tiered seating is an experience I won’t forget soon. Even the southern standing terraces added a level of European authenticity and a dedicated area for the RBB to do their thing.
This was my fourth A-League game and despite the crowd of only 17,000, the atmosphere created in the arena was similar to that of the 2013 A-League final I experienced which had over 42,000 people at the now demolished Sydney Football Stadium which was against the Mariners. The fact that all the seating is undercover perhaps allowed the noise to echo off the roof and amplify across the ground.
The drama of the match helped fuel the atmosphere thanks to an 82 minute stadium. Following a cleared cross into the box there were shouts for a handball and after a few replays the VAR signal popped up on the big screen. After the review the fans went ballistic as the referee ran from the technical area toward the Mariners penalty box where a penalty was awarded and converted, the eventual winner.
I’m a fan of watching games on TV instead of attending stadiums but from the steep tiered seating, to the modern amenities and even the ease of exiting the stadium, a lot of thought went into planing it. It was also the first game I took my three-year old son too, and the chants of the RBB were more contagious for him than the daycare viruses he brings home. We’ll definitely be going back!
