 The western stand at Marconi Stadium | |
 | |
| Location | Marconi Rd, Bossley Park |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°51′49″S150°52′49″E / 33.863485°S 150.880362°E |
| Capacity | 9,000 |
| Field size | 120m x 88m |
| Surface | Grass |
| Opened | 1972 |
| Tenants | |
| Marconi Stallions, Western Sydney Wanderers | |
Marconi Stadium is a soccer stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is the home ground for Marconi Stallions, as well as regularly hosting matches for the Western Sydney Wanderers FC including their National Youth League and W-League teams.
Although a soccer pitch had existed on the site since the start of the soccer club in the 1960s, Marconi Stadium itself was built in 1972 with a capacity of 11,500 and used for Marconi Stallions matches within the NSW State League soccer pyramid. In 1977 the team joined the newly formed NSL and played in that competition until it ended in 2004 and the team re-joined the NSW State system. The stadium currently hosts Marconi games in the NSW Premier League. Marconi Stadium hosted the 2006 NSW Premier League final between Sydney United and Blacktown City.
During the peak of the club success in the late 1980s to early 1990s the stadium earned the nickname "The Palace", being set alongside Club Marconi, the large licensed venue which generated significant financial support for the soccer club which helped them acquire a large number of talented players & staff. [1]
In November 2006, Berti Mariani ran for election to the board, on a platform of Marconi Stallions making a bid to join the A-League, and rebuilding Marconi Stadium into suitable venue. [2]
After the end of the NSL and the failure of Marconi to enter the new national competition the A-League, the full capacity of the stadium was no longer needed. The Eastern stand in particular fell into disuse and was eventually declared unsafe due to a shifting foundation. By 2018 the seating had been removed, the foundation repaired, a raised structure built containing a box for commentary or camera operators, with the rest of the former grandstand area being converted into a basic grassy hill.
The venue was used as a training camp for Australia as part of their preparation for their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. In 2007, the stadium hosted a match in which Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola made a guest appearance in a game between APIA Leichhardt Tigers and the Marconi Stallions.
The ground record crowd for Marconi Stadium was set in 1993 when 14,220 fans attended to see the Australian under-20s take on the Brazil under-20s side in a warm up game for the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship held in Australia later that year. [3] The stadium also hosts play-offs & grand finals for various youth & amateur competitions including the Churches Football Association of Sydney, as well as one-off charity & special events.
In 2023 the venue was the training facility for the Colombian 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup squad.
With the introduction of the Western Sydney Wanderers FC into the A-League, Club Marconi and the Wanderers began an association that has seen matches for the Western Sydney Wanderers FC Women's, Youth and NPL sides played at Marconi Stadium. The Marconi social club has also hosted Wanderers supporters viewing important away games & hosted club supporter forums. On Saturday 27 September 2014, a W-League Sydney Derby match between the Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC resulted in a record stand alone W-League regular season crowd of 3,084 to watch Sydney FC win the match 2–0.
In the 2018 season of the FFA Cup the Western Sydney Wanderers were drawn to play an away game against Bonnyrigg White Eagles. Due to a poor surface and a general lack of facilities to host the game at the Bonnyrigg stadium, the fixture was moved to Marconi Stadium and played 29 August 2018, the Wanderers winning 2–1 with a crowd of 5,137. From 2019 onward the opening of the Wanderers Football Park boutique stadium at the Blacktown International Sportspark has seen the club cut back the amount of games played at Marconi Stadium.
The Wanderers were drawn to host Adelaide United FC in the Round of 16 of the 2023 Australia Cup with the match taking place on 29 August 2023, the Wanderers won the game 5-1 with Marcus Antonsson and Brandon Borrello both scoring twice and Milos Ninkovic scoring his first goal for the Wanderers. The crowd was reported at 2,490. [4]
In 1996, the stadium hosted a Rugby league sevens match between Italy & Lebanon. In October 2009 the stadium hosted the rugby league Mediterranean Shield, involving Australian local players split into 4 'national' teams based on Portuguese, Maltese, Italian and Greek heritage, with Greece winning the final 34–14 against Italy.
Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but it was renamed in 1993 as Sydney United after having the name Sydney CSC for a season.
The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales. The league is a subdivision of the second tier National Premier Leagues (NPL), which sits below the national A-League. Prior to becoming a subdivision of the NPL in 2013, the league was previously known as the NSW Premier League.
Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The club was founded as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in 1957 by Greek immigrants. In 1977, the club changed its name to Sydney Olympic and became a founding member of the Phillips Soccer League, later named the National Soccer League (NSL), the inaugural national football league of Australia, remaining a member of the competition until its demise in 2004.
Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Fairfield, Sydney, New South Wales. The club has been crowned Australian champion four times.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Bonnyrigg, Sydney, New South Wales, currently playing in the NSW League One. The club was founded in 1968 as Avala Sports Club and took its current name in 1992.
Bankstown City Lions Football Club, commonly referred to as Bankstown City Lions or simply Bankstown City, is an Australian football club from Bankstown, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the NSW League One Men's, playing their home games at Jensen Oval.
Rockdale Ilinden Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Sydney suburb of Rockdale. Founded in 1969, by Macedonian Australians, the club competes in the highest men's competition in New South Wales, the National Premier League NSW. The club's home ground is Ilinden Sports Centre, located in the suburb of Rockdale, New South Wales.
Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta Eels of the National Rugby League and the Western Sydney Wanderers of the A-League.
Soccer, also known as football, is the most played outdoor club sport in Australia, and ranked in the top ten for television audience as of 2015. The national governing body of the sport is Football Australia (FA), which until 2019, organised the A-League Men, A-League Women, and still organises the Australia Cup, as well as the men's and women's national teams. The FA comprises nine state and territory member federations, which oversee the sport within their respective region.
St George FC, commonly called Saints or Budapest, is a semi-professional Australian soccer club based in the St George district in the south of Sydney. The club was founded by Hungarian immigrants in 1957 as Budapest Club and by 1965 was renamed to St. George-Budapest Club.
Gary Rudy Peter van Egmond is an Australian former soccer player and former head coach of Newcastle Jets in the A-League Men and Women.
Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP) (formally known as Blacktown Olympic Park) is a multi-sports venue located in Rooty Hill, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The venue includes two cricket grounds, which have also been used for Australian rules football, an athletics track and field, three baseball diamonds, two soccer fields, four softball diamonds, administration centers and park land.
The 2009 TeleChoice Premier League season was the ninth season of the revamped National Premier Leagues NSW. This season also marked the addition of the Bonnyrigg White Eagles Football Club, promoted from the Super League.
Joseph Arthur Gibbs is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays for Blacktown City in the NPL NSW.
The 2011 NSW Premier League season was the 11th season of the revamped NSW Premier League.
Michael Gibson is an Australian soccer player who represented the Australia national soccer team on 7 occasions.
Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). formerly under licence by the Football Federation Australia (FFA). The club had established itself as a major force in both Australia and Asia, having won one A-Leagues Premiership and an AFC Champions League title in its history.
Sydney Football Club Youth is the youth system of Sydney Football Club based in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. The team referred to as Sydney Youth play in the Y-League and consists of u23 players, the highest level of youth soccer in Australia. The club also competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW, the top competition of Football in NSW, however this team is known as Sydney U21, and is not to be confused with Sydney Youth which is a completely different team, involving different team selection and age group.
The 2016 FFA Cup was the third season of the FFA Cup, the main national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. 32 teams again took part in the competition proper, including the 10 A-League teams and 21 Football Federation Australia (FFA) member federation teams determined through individual state qualifying rounds, as well as the reigning National Premier Leagues Champion.
The 2004–05 NSW Premier League season was the fourth season of the revamped NSW Premier League.