This is why:
www.austadiums.com
I'm not sure how true it is. But I've heard that a huge part of why the Oasis project died off was that a significant number of council members in Liverpool at the time had interests in ensuring that the RSL there didn't have competition emerging for where people dropped their money in poker machines. From the teams perspective it's a huge pity. We haven't had a home ground advantage since Belmore became too outdated to be viable for more than an occasional game.
It's highly speculative if any of this goes beyond the discussion stages.
I’d rather that than Belmore too mate
Yes u make some valid points,there was some talk of putting 2 grandstands at either end of a reconfigured Belmore ,all seated and undercover,with a maximum 20k capacity and new toilet facilities,would also bring extra income to the league’s club,before and after games.
the problem is most dogs fan are closer to ANZ or Bankwest than Belmore.
Yes but Belmore sits in tightly held Labor seats - why would a Liberal Govt. bother when they can't buy the votes nor a Labor Govt. bother when they won't lose those seats. Parking at Belmore is generally terrible - so they'd have to solve that. It's fine if you catch the train but that doesn't work for all. I also think you'd have to have dual tenants. I'm not a fan of a Liverpool solution personally but it would likely capture the Dogs and Tigers and maybe has some appeal for the NRL. Belmore is the same as why even with the Concord Oval redevelopment NRL games won't be played there, it will only be the Tigers home base and shared with the Pirates Rugby. After all the money spent on Bankwest I just can't see another ~20k stadium being built relatively not far away - so that's why Brookvale, Kogarah, Penrith etc have likely been flagged - further spread out. I'd love our own place, but just can't see it being at Belmore for a number of reasons.
We will agree to disagree,but remember it was fine for the many years we played there,we regurlary had 15 to 20 k crowds,certainly things have changed,in as far tv coverage,crowd safety concerns,I livid in Ashbury for many years,and went to the games and never had issues with parking,even to recent home games,I parked at club,for game against Melbourne,walked down,came back to club had a couple of beers went home,also good for the schools in the area,etc,food for thought,I believe the club is currently doing a feasibility study of the ground,b very interested in the outcome.
Yes, but the last time we regularly played at Belmore was 1998. I've watched countless games there over the years and have great memories but the fact is the facilities are not up to scratch today, so beyond grandstands they'd have to improve a number of facilities. I agree about the upside for the league club/parking, but the question is whether the club (football and leagues) can fund it themselves and I'd say that's unlikely, so what funding could they attract to build a next-gen Belmore fortress for the Dogs? As I said, I'd love it to happen, I just can't see a feasible path right now however.
The thing with Belmore is the joint would need to be levelled to make it worthwhile there's no point tacking on a grandstand here and there. As you say getting any outside funding is going to be near impossible for Belmore and then you weigh that up against the possibility of getting a new stadium funded by the government in Liverpool and its a pretty easy decision to make.
I think that we will be playing out of ANZ for quite some time.
That’s another thing working against Belmore when we are flying we get regular crowds over 20k which it just cannot cope with and even a new stadium there would struggle to fit more then 20k with the amount of land that they have to work with.
I don’t think the club would really want to play full time out of Belmore now either. They are quite happy to keep it at the training base and play elsewhere.
Why should the "West" Tigers , Penrith, Manly/Cronulla/StMerge have priority of a home ground grant above the Bulldogs? Fuck the Tiepies, they play at Campbelltown so why not give the pricks a grant to develop Campbelltown stadium and let us share Concord with the rugby flops as our home ground. When the Tigers want to play closer to Balmain they can play at Bankwwest.
I understand that a lot of people including myself have great memories from Belmore.
Couldn’t agree more Belmore has great memories and that’s about it now days. We should be looking to establish the club as the dominate team or any code in south west Sydney. We need to be playing out a 25k minimum stadium moving forward with modern facilities for corporates and fans. Who knows when the opportunity will come up with the government willing to throw the cash at building stadiums again we need to cash in.
100% used to be a great ground to play at and watch going back 20 years ago. But now with Bankwest we dont need a stadium, that ground is sensational to watch from. Id say it is central to most people also
I'm not sure BankWest is central for everyone at the minute I remember seeing some info a few years ago and the geographic spread of the supporters was very much focused on the south west. It's something that will need some detailed research and the club will have to find the trends for the next few decades.