Rob Reacts to... A-League 2021-22 Stadiums 

They also play in summer to avoid competition with the AFL and NRL but it then competes with Cricket and the Big Bash League so they can’t win essentially

Most matches are played in the evening for the A-league. Generally the open stands are quite nice allowing the breeze and blocking the low sun. The enclosed stadiums do play some games during the day but even then fans tend to be on the shaded side.

Whilst the heat can be a factor, A-league kick off times are usually 5.30pm or later and mostly avoid the hottest part of the day

As a Central Coast Mariners member i can tell you that our stadium is excellent. You have a great view from every seat. You definitely got the wrong impression from the pictures you looked at as we are very close to the pitch in all seats.

The Australian National Soccer League use to be played during owe winter up until the early 1990s, it was changed to a summer competition in the early 1990s to avoid losing crowd's to the AFL & NRL, if you play at any level below the A-League you'll be playing in owe winter. The A-League is a really new competition with every club being a new franchise, before the A-League was founded in 2004 , there was a league called The National Soccer League (NSL) full of clubs that are no longer allowed to play in the top flight, the reason the old league was scrapped by Football Federation Australia was because of ethnic tensions between the club's, in you remember from your video about Australia qualifying for the World cup, the only people who really use to follow and play football in Australia were continental European immigrants, so every club in Australia was dominated in there support base and on there playing roster by a different ethnic immigrant group, the crowds would regularly brake out into massive fights verging on riots over histochemical European ethnic clashes, I'm most familiar with the Melbourne club's, but you would have club's named things like South Melbourne Hellas (Greece), Melbourne Croatia or Preston Macedonia, if South Melbourne Hellas would play Preston Macedonia as just one example, you would get mass ethnic based violence because of the political situation between Greece and Macedonia. In 2004 Football Federation Australia scraped the NSL and created the A-League with newly created franchise for all the big cities. Not something to react to just a news story to show what I mean. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2iMJk5qga84.html

AAMI park also looks pretty from the outside at night - they have colour changing lights at every curve intersection, and get a great reflection off the Yarra.

Fun fact, Australia has more snowfall than Switzerland.

Queens Wharf Tower, in Newcastle, was affectionately known by locals as "The Giant Penis" It is no longer there as it was removed During construction of the light Rail.

The Matildas, the National Aussie Women's team just played two friendlies against Brazil at the new Commbank Stadium and it looked amazing! The games were amazing too 😊

Leichhardt Oval nothing beats it when it’s full ,just need the tigers to start winning

There are two reasons why A League Football/Soccer is played during the Summer Months in Australia. 1. To match up with the European Football Calendar so the FIFA World Cup tournaments won't clash. Except for next years Qatar that is going to be hosted during November and early December 2022. 2. Australia already has AFL/NRL and Super Rugby during the Winter and most of the stadiums used for A-League are the same stadiums already used for the other Football codes during Winter.

Hey Rob, Brisbane Roar fan here. Our stadium switch happened for primarily for financial reasons. The rent for Suncorp Stadium is huge (most expensive in the country for a single matchday) and the break-even point for a matchday crowd is around 18k, which the roar just can't get. Redcliffe has an amazing atmosphere, but is hard to get to for most people in Brisbane. On to your adopted team. Adelaide are a consistent mid-table side that for the most part have played an attractive, possession-based brand of football. This is reflected in their recruitment of many Spanish players with La Liga experience (A-League clubs are restrcited to 5 foreign players). Adelaide also has a really good crop of youth players coming through and the club isn't afraid of promoting them to the Senior team.

Been to AAMI park a few times and it has a really great atmosphere for football. Gets very good attendances too.

Most games played at night, evening, particularly in Adelaide where day temperatures can be 40 degrees plus...still an evening at the soccer when it's 28 degrees at night.. means more cold beers.

I would say Adelaide is a mid-sized club in the A-League. They are at least known for having good (by A-League standards) atmospheres at their matches, even if Hindmarsh Stadium isn't the most beautiful to look at.

I can understand why the Roar left Suncorp due to Suncorp holding 52,500 capacity where Moreton Daily holds 20,000 or so. Also the Redcliffe Dolphins were announced earlier this month as being the 17th team in the NRL they will play out of Suncorp but will train at Moreton Daily, they will enter the NRL in 2023.

Just to mention with Adelaide, a lot of the other grounds that are larger and more developed are so due to being multi-sport stadiums. South Australia doesn’t have a strong rugby following, and no team in the NRL or Super Rugby. When Adelaide played in the A-league final a few years ago, they did so in front of over 50,000 fans, but played at the Adelaide Oval. It’s more of a boutique stadium, but it’s physically limited by roads and buildings. It regularly fills out it’s ground, unlike a lot of other clubs. As others have mentioned the games are normally at night, so the openness is fine without the sun. Adelaide’s in the driest state on the driest inhabited continent on earth. It’s temperate climate means it rains mostly in winter

Most of our stadiums have been upgraded bit by bit over the years. Hence why the odd tacked on bits like Campbelltown and Adelaides grounds. You can picture what it originally looked like (just the main stand) then all the other bits added.

It's to avoid AFL, that has the 4th highest sport attendance in the world.

“Hopefully this stadium gets filled” made me laugh hahaha

My NRL team the Wests tigers play at Campbelltown Stadium. It’s horrible in winter. Only the corporate seats are covered. Campbelltown (on the south west fringes) is often colder than the rest of Sydney. Needs a rebuild like the Gold Coast’s Robina Stadium.

Hindmarsh stadium [AKA coopers stadium ], is one of the first purpose build football grounds in Australia, not dual purpose that are longer for rugby, also it is being upgraded to host women’s World Cup games. It’s also a fan favourite as you get close to the action. Most games on hot days are played at twilight so it’s quite nice.

Hey Rob nice video mate. I'd consider researching Sydney FC's new stadium the 'New Sydney Football Stadium (2023)' and Western United's new stadium that they are planning on building - 'Wyndham City Stadium'. These two grounds will make for some awesome football viewing. Myself, living in Adelaide and being an Adelaide United fan, Coopers Stadium has a terrific atmosphere, even when there are only 8 or 9,000 people at the ground. It's football-purpose which is the main thing, and is going under a redevelopment to put a roof on the other side of the ground, along with other small upgrades such as new video screens, lighting, etc.

Adelaide United’s stadium (Coopers Stadium is about to be redeveloped on the eastern side the opposite side of the big grand stadium and have a roof put on plus upgrade all facilities around the ground etc. The upgrade was an agreement and part of the Women’s World Cup deal in 2023 Also welcome to the Red, we are more of a middle of the road team smaller than the big clubs and bigger than a few smaller ones.

Just thought I would mention, Coopers Stadium (Adelaide United home ground) is getting upgraded during 2022 to become a venue for the 2023 Women's World Cup when it comes to Australia.

AAMI Park is regularly filled by Melbourne Victory. Take a look at the 2015 Grand Final for the best example

AAMI is a fantastic park. I've watched NRL, A League and Super Rugby there. I've watched Richmond at the MCG in the arvo then walked across and watched Melbourne Storm in the evening as a surprising number of people do. Good sight lines, good F & B all round a great place to watch sport.

They play in summer because the old league used to compete with the NRL and AFL and lost by a mile - this was the same time as the TV rights holder was found to have deliberately buried the "soccer" to protect the AFL. Stadium access can be difficult, especially considering Super Rugby and other, lower leagues alongside the NRL/AFL, use some of those grounds as well.

The hot weather and shade are not an issue as most games are played in very late afternoon or early evening. I have fond memories of Jubilee Oval, we use to have our school sports days there. Plus the home of St. George Dragons NRL.

Actually the games over the season in the summer months get rain, hail and shine, cold and hot, a diverse mixture of weather across the entire season . Its not just sunny and hot mate, you'd be very suprised. Also check out the Australian ski season, its very impressive (NSW, VIC & TAS).

As he alluded to with Brisbane Roar’s stadium The Redcliffe Dolphins have literally in the last week or two been accepted as the 17th Rugby League team in Australia

Adelaide is a hot city (gets up to 49C on the hottest days) and traditionally the games at Hindmarsh (Coopers Stadium) were played on a Friday night around sunset (they have lights). Adelaide is a small city, about 1 million people.

Fun fact - with the ALeague starting three weeks, all of the referees are on strike. FFA Cup matches are being refereed by referees from the state competitions.

Most A-league games are played at night or twighlight in the middle of the Summer so that's how they get around playing during the Summer.

UTAS stadium in Tassie is even big for an AFL ground. In fact it's the biggest ground in the AFL

Hopefully we do qualify for Qatar, because we will be more adapted to the heat.

we love the a-league, us passionate aussie football fans wish it was obviously bigger but this upcoming season has more hype than usual due to new broadcast deals and some good signings

It does rain quite a lot in Summer as Summer is Storm Season in Australia, Winter is the Dry Season

7:51 they’re building a roof on top of the eastern stand so that should make the stadium a bit better

Adelaide United Are in like in the middle of popularity in the league, our stadium doesn’t really look picturesque but it is a very suitable Soccer ground. The reason why the stadium isn’t really designed well is because Adelaide is a very small city, and the Grand Stand is off centre due it the Road making it difficult. In a few or more years they are planning to add another Grand stand on the opposite of the Main stand too.

I can confirm.. AAMI park is such a banging stadium, crazy when it’s full.

Just went and watched a pre season exhibition game of Brisbane roar vs Adelaide United on the weekend. My husband is a huge Adelaide United fan.

There have been some games.. (Adelaide) where start time has been delayed because it was still over 36 degrees at scheduled start time.

Yeah fair play to them playing in summer. I play local league AFL in Queensland and when we start doing practice matches in the middle of the day in March I damn well near die. The sport was invented to be played in Victorian winters, and yet we play it on the tail end of Queensland summers. Genuinely feels like a threat to life some days. But the A-league put up with it, and this years AFL-W is starting in January. It’s mental

Western United wanted to play at Lakeside south Melbourne's home ground but South see western as competitors so they said no,which was a problem as united had already announced their plans it was pretty amusing but disappointing too, as western were supposed to be building their own ground. South Melb will probably be in the new second division which will have probably more of the traditional teams, South, Heidelberg, Melbourne knights Marconi, Syd united, Syd Olympic ,etc etc there is sure to be competition for places as there are lots of teams.

Coffs Harbour for a long time was the training ground for The Wallablies, Australia's national rugby team, because it is between Sydney and Brisbane and near the country broarding schools that are the Rugby Union bases for Australia.

A League plays a "shoulder" season commencing last month of spring to get away from traditionally hot months of mid to late summer. High proportion of night games... Also mid week games of Asian championships and World Cup eliminations..Hardly worse than Jordan or Emirates or tropical Asian nations. AAMI Stadium is also used by Melbourne Storm NRL team...stadium is AWARD winning architecturally.

Can confirm, AAMI Park in Melbourne is a fantastic stadium to watch sport at. I don't think there's a bad seat in the place.

yes it does get hot during the season but only for a few gams you would really notice.Probably average 22-24 degrees

The rent at Suncorp is exorbitant with a huge break even

As a big Phoenix fan, and former season ticket holder (when I lived in Wellington), the Cake Tin is a great stadium, but is pretty average for Football given it's shape. But, because of travel restrictions between New Zealand and Australia, the Wellington Phoenix will be playing the start of the season at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, as they did last season because of Covid. It's quite a cool stadium, and is rectangular so that's a bonus! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wollongong_Showground

Yeap NRL and AFL have control of the stadiums as they are the original sports The NRL in particular because of Rectangle Stadiums , so i think the same in England Super League is played in the English Summer. Commbank is new to Soccer they came in the latter years of Parramatta Stadium which used to be Cumberland Oval so only Rugby League was played there until recently i mean last 20 years , its right next door to the Parramatta Eels rugby League club

Soccer in Australia uses a lot of the rugby stadiums because they're the same shape. The rugby is played in the winter so there are quite a few grass hills or stands without roofs. One other thing with Brisbane Roar moving is that Suncorp Stadium/Lang Park is state government owned and they have to actually pay rent to the state government whereas Moreton Daily Stadium is owned by the Redcliffe Dolphins a tier 2 rugby league club, that will be in the NRL from 2023 onwards

I believe Coopers stadium (then called Hindmarsh Stadium) was built for the Olympics in 2000 - definitely due for an upgrade.

I've been to Perth glory and Marvel Stadium, the MCG, the old Subiaco and the old WACA in Perth before they had Optus stadium

I'm Sydney FC all the way, btw UTAS in launnie holds about 20k and it's actually the longest ground in the AFL at 175m long and 145m wide. it has a great atmosphere when full or near full, also Daniel Sturridge signed for Perth Glory this season so I might watch a few of their games.

The summer thing is mainly because of the dominance of Aussie rules and rugby league, the national premier league plays in winter, I'd rather we played in winter, the old NSL used to be winter at first i think but they didn't want to compete with the other codes, football is much more popular than when i started following the game in the mid seventies.

Two main reasons for playing in Summer.... 1. It aligns with Europe for International play etc. 2. It only has to compete with cricket, in Winter it's up against the NRL and AFL. Also, most games are played at night or dusk, so not too much concern over the sun.

You should react to the new Allianz Stadium in Sydney? Great Video I liked!

Nothing beats Marconi Stadium full Great atmosphere King Tom as well

You have to remember these teams have no where near the budget compared in England to create good stadiums 😅 looking forward to Sydney's fc stadium to be finished, hopefully it brings the crowd back again

It's interesting that so many (perhaps all?) of these stadiums are shared with other sports. I suppose that's because association football isn't a primary sport in Aus & NZ. As a rugby league fan it's very noticeable that all of the stadiums in NSW & Qld are rugby league venues. Redcliffe are being added as another NRL team in 2023 and their stadium is even in there. There should be another one when the Roosters new stadium is finished next year too. Even the rectangular pitch stadiums in Vic, SA & WA are/have been used for RL. RL having a rectangular pitch like football probably means these are more suitable than the cricket/AFL grounds.

Adelaide are a pretty big and consistent team in the league it’s just that there’s not that much money compared to AFL and NRL so the A League teams don’t have very ‘appealing’ stadiums outside of Sydney/Melbourne based teams

They decided to play in the summer because in the winter time they had to compete for crowds and attention with the AFL Australian Football league and the NFL which is the Rugby Leage national league.. They decided to compete against Cricket in the summer instead hoping that they would pick up more support from people who do not like Cricket..

Games are , almost exclusively, played at night Rob , so , although it's still warm , the sun isn't an issue.

GMHBA is very good for AFL, amazing atmosphere when you get 20k+. However, it is very bad for soccer and has shocking atmosphere, mainly because Western United only attracts ~2,500 people. AAMI park is awesome, especially when Melbourne Victory plays, awesome atmosphere

Adelaide has an area called the snake pit. Its a standing area with a bar right on the pitch

I am Perth Glory fc supporter. We are celebrating 25th year. And I am a West Coast Eagles supporter as you know😉. 💜🧡💙💛

Rob, go find video released by Adelaide FC for something that shouldn't be ground breaking but is (posted in suggestions box). Seen nothing but support so far which is great 😄

I'm not really a fan of grass areas, not so many here in Melbourne, where all the state league(NPL)clubs have their own grounds but the A league teams use public arenas, AAMI, and Docklands, there are some cool little football grounds in Melb most need an update if they want to get in the second division.im a Melbourne City fan but prefer their old colours.

Also I get what you mean watching soccer in an oval ground. I imaging watching a NYC MLS home game at a baseball stadium like Yankee stadium. Not to mention that I once gone to SCG to see my team, Newcastle knights loose to Sydney roosters. And the view to watch the game is terrible. But both Sydney FC and roosters have their respective home grounds temporarily thank god until the new stadium in Moore park is completed.

Rob, you mentioned the distance from the stands to the pitch for one of the rectangular field stadiums (that's obviously always going to be an issue with cricket/AFL stadiums). A lot of these are rugby league stadiums - RL has a specific pitch size (68m x 120m - including in-goal) and while association football pitches are allowed to vary in size (am I right that 120m is the maximum allowed length?), 100m seems to have become pretty standard. The pitches are probably being marked out 68m x 100m, but it leaves a big gap where the in-goal is for RL. We have the opposite problem in the UK. A lot of our RL clubs sold off their grounds and moved in with the local football club - as a result it is a very tight fit for a RL pitch. You also mentioned it being odd that A-league is played in the Australian summer. You could be right that they want to align with the northern hemisphere season, but also there is no way that it could compete with RL in NSW and QLD and AFL elsewhere during their winter. When UK RL changed from a winter to summer season in the mid-90s three reasons were given - 1) to align with the southern hemisphere season. 2) To avoid competition for fans with football. 3) It's a lot nicer standing on the terraces on a sunny July evening than in freezing rain in a Yorkshire winter! I find it odd that they call the competition A-league (which I assume stands for Australian League) when there is a team from New Zealand. The NRL is the same - it stands for National Rugby League, but New Zealand Warriors mean that it is an international league!

Adelaide United’s stadium was upgraded early 2000’s by the state gov. But the most recent state Governments in charge of SA are not big fans of football (soccer) and there for don’t want to upgrade the stadium or build a new one for the club, unlike a lot of the other states where their governments have spent lots of money to build stadiums for the soccer/NRL… Adelaide is a mid-team! You never know where Adelaide will finish on the table each year 🤷‍♂️ we tend to surprise a lot of other teams and finish higher up the ladder then usual sometimes!! But more known for good atmosphere and pushing our younger players into the A-League more than other teams

The A League is your poor man's Premier League. They used to play it in the winter here, but they are no match for AFL and to a lesser extent NRL. They play in the summer now because they haven't got the competition of Aussie rules footy on T.V. AFL consumes everything, it's on T.V. in newspapers on the radio, around the water cooler on a Monday, we live AFL .........

No, Eurocentric Rob. Its not to match up with Europe's season. Its to match up with Asia's season, because Australia is in the Asian Football Confederation and their club teams play in the Asian Champions League.

The dolphins just got approved for nrl 2023 season not far from my place,maybe another upgrade on a few years for Moreton stadium

Soccer is played in summer as AFL NFL is played in Winter and many of the same supporters go to both leagues, Where as the Cricket Mob dont tend to follow soccer so its not a huge clash in summer

Yeah we tend to avoid the midday kick offs you have in the UK so the Sun isn't too terrible.

Roar moved to Redcliffe because Suncorp cost 300K a game while Moreton Daily Stadium costs 50K a game

Did not Adelaide win the Asian Champions league under a salary cap, when the J League had no salary cap?

Preseason has already started called the FFA cup

It was a tough one with Brisbane Roar and Dolphin stadium. It's a much better fit for size and atmosphere, but it is 40km away from Brisbane.

The grass burns are great for families. Lay down a blanket and have a picnic while watching Football. Very relaxing and fun.. and away from the crazy Football fans :P

I crossed the ditch with some mates to watch West Ham United, Newcastle United, Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FC play a tournament... Great Stadium but they ran out of beer during the double header...

Before NIB stadium is was Perth Oval for the East Perth WAFL Football Club have been there many times pre A League ans saw Eric Clapton in Concert 2008 ish

We have this thing called night, the sun doesn't worry most people when it's not up.

Hindmarsh (Coopers Stadium) has been there for years so absolutely there has been add-ons'. Originally home to teams like Adelaide City from the national comp. One of which is a roof on the opposite to grand stand side which is being built right now. Also that picture is an utter disservice to the carpet that United put out 95% of the time. It is NEVER that dry. Normally about as good as any ground in the league.

That's nothing I played Football (soccer) in mid 30°C heat in dry season in Darwin Northern Territory every week from April to September

Most football leagues in the Southern Hemisphere (South Africa, Australia, Argentina, etc.) are in the summer.

Largest american college football stadiums is a good one to react to.

Really sad, Radelaide, not hot there anymore, or just Claustrophobic!?At least NSW Central Coast has a nice cross breeze, and two pretty and symmetrical nearby options! Malbon, great T20 Cricket Show, shame Australia didn't make the finals due to rain!! Yes, too big is arrogant, small is more friendly! 👍 My mum had a cake tin like that, Wellington is pretty cool and similar to Hobart! Sydney FC, picnic anyone! Geelong is warming up hard for the Commonwealth Games, big plans like Ballarat! Its just Aussie Rules and Cricket really in Tasmania! 🤗 Bring your binoculars! 😳 I might actually watch some, wow! 👍

Jubilee Oval - spot on sitting on the hill at that ground is a grey place to watch a footy game. Especially Rugby League

It's very much the poor relations behind the AFL and NRL a winter game played in an Australian summer, Perth Glory have a small compact ground although whether they get to play there due to WA's hard border stance with NSW, Victoria and potential SA and QLD we wait to see plus there huge investment in Daniel Sturridge given his past injury history and sometime poor attitude we wait to see. Throw in an Ashes series, the Big Bash it will be another tough season for them. Hopefully with the Women's World Cup shared with the Kiwi's here in 2023 some the rectangular stadium will get a spruce up.

I don’t think many stadiums that are for in you definition of football have grassy hills. Only Newcastle, suburban and regional stadiums. Not to mention that the A-league needs to promote expanding into more regional clubs as ATM, theirs only 2 of them. The central coast Mariners and my team. The Newcastle Jets. And I’m a Newcastle local here in Australia. So my team in the A league is the Jets.

A League is played in summer because no one would attend a game in winter. When up against NRL & AFL.. In Australia more people attend Netball than attend soccer.. they can't get attendances. Only those from Europe attend games.. so it's Spot The Aussie at each match...

My NRL team the panthers still have 2 grass hills. At least for a short time cause we are getting a new stadium 😳 as far as I know it’s gonna be a 30,000 seater so not too big. Currently its 22,000 is a full house.

Adelaide seems to have the Napoleon syndrome. Little city with not much playing itself up to feel important.

Sydney FC. The new SFS will be ready halfway through 22 I think. But for a suburban ground I’m a fan of Jubilee Oval just quietly.

The best stadiums in Australia were built for NRL and AFL the soccer one's are the small one's.

A league has heat rule and have drinks breaks if the the conditions over 36 degrees