Ballymore Redevelopment

[Adam84]

As an aside, I haven't followed the A-League in many, many years and had no idea crowds had dropped that low. Pretty incredible considering where they once were and that, in many respects, they would still be considered one of the country's premier professional sporting competitions.

I feel somewhat less glum about Reds' attendance figures.

It’s the W-League and was a record for a standalone Roar W-League match

 

[Wilson]

From what I've seen the roar fans were pretty happy with Ballymore yesterday:

Definitely doesn't hurt that their team got off to a winning start, but it's good signs going forward.

 

[Wilson]

Probably also worth mentioning they've started up an Instagram specifically for Ballymore here:

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

instagram.com

Love to see them leaning in and really looking to make the most of the opportunity

 

[redstragic]

I was just looking at the schedule and looks like many 3pm games over the season....which would expose many of those fans to the viciousness of the sun. You wonder what sort of impact that has on attendance.

 

[LeCheese]

It’s the W-League and was a record for a standalone Roar W-League match

Yep, I'm an idiot - this is why I shouldn't jump on here after a few beers.

Awesome that they're setting record numbers

 

[Adam84]

Roar unhappy with the standard of Ballymore training pitch. I had noticed during a recent visit all the fields were looking a little weary with all the traffic that’s been through them recently.

Problem for soccer is that they need a higher standard of field then rugby typically needs.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/football/ballymore-surface-not-ideal-and-not-up-to-scratch-for-brisbane-roar/news-story/e93bc26f87fc7519765cf0397bd3f016

 

[Sully]

The Reds have also moved because of the pitch.

 

[LeCheese]

Not a great start. A bit of a cop out for a professional sporting org to be, in part, blaming the lack of rain

 

[Sully]

I've never understood the need to be on a perfect pitch. If you're the best it shouldn't matter that much.

 

[LeCheese]

I've never understood the need to be on a perfect pitch. If you're the best it shouldn't matter that much.

If I understood correctly from the article, I don't think they're asking for it to be perfect, but have concerns around the 'bumpiness' of the pitch - understandably, this isn't ideal for a sport where the ball spends a large amount of time rolling across the ground. Also an increased risk of injury, I guess

Really mustn't be too great if the Reds have also moved temporarily

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

A professional Soccer team does need a good surface to be able to train properly.

Good point about the potential for injury. We've all seen players go down on dodgy surfaces. Remember the original Suncorp. That thing was taking ACLs for fun.

Seems like it's just copped a flogging. With the increased demand the justification is there for it to be improved which will be a good thing in the long run.

 

[Wilson]

A professional Soccer team does need a good surface to be able to train properly.

Good point about the potential for injury. We've all seen players go down on dodgy surfaces. Remember the original Suncorp. That thing was taking ACLs for fun.

Seems like it's just copped a flogging. With the increased demand the justification is there for it to be improved which will be a good thing in the long run.

Yeah, I imagine the load over the last year or 2 while work has been going on has increased a bit on the training surfaces as well, not to mention it's not that long since the whole precinct was underwater.

 

[RugbyReg]

Statement from the Roar.

Another article focused on the relocation of the men’s team from Ballymore to the Queensland Sports and Recreation Centre. I’d like to make it clear that this is a short-term shift in our men’s training venue and a decision that was made in conjunction with the Queensland Rugby Union. The Ballymore field that the men’s squad uses requires some rehabilitation and rest, and we look forward to returning to Ballymore in the coming weeks. The main stadium field at Ballymore that saw a fantastic win by our Roar Liberty A-League women’s team last weekend remains ready for match-use and will see two more exciting games at the venue during November. We thank the QRU for their ongoing support as part of the collaborative partnership between the two organisations.

 

[Adam84]

I've never understood the need to be on a perfect pitch. If you're the best it shouldn't matter that much.

I disagree.. It's about replicating match day conditions as best as possible and all professional teams attempt this; ground condition impacts soccer more then others because grass can impact the speed of the ball, and obviously trajectory as well if its chopped up.

If the speed of the ball is impacted because of ground conditions, then you can't practice plays as you would on match day and adjust timing of runs, passes etc.

 

[Ignoto]

I've never understood the need to be on a perfect pitch. If you're the best it shouldn't matter that much.

To give some context Sully, at the Fifa world cup here in Aus, Fifa had complete control over the pitch. No other sport could be played on the surface almost a month out and only specific people could go onto the pitch on non match days ie those doing pressers at Suncorp couldn't go on.

Compare that to the French world cup, and the Stade De France still had football lines on it from a mid week football match.

I don't blame the Roar for moving and going forward it may so the limitation between co-sharing facilities.

 

[liquor box]

I've never understood the need to be on a perfect pitch. If you're the best it shouldn't matter that much.

The best team will win a game on a poor pitch, but will refuse to train on it due to injury risks, too many injuries and they may no longer be the best.

 

[liquor box]

Not a great start. A bit of a cop out for a professional sporting org to be, in part, blaming the lack of rain

Surely they purchased sprinklers during the upgrade?

 

[Adam84]

Looks like Ballymore might have survived the 60 day review, outside of the changes made in regards to the Gabba/QSAC, the QLD Govt press release listed Ballymore under the category of ‘no change to previous plans’, despite the opposition of Hockey and Football fans

 

[LeCheese]

Looks like Ballymore might have survived the 60 day review, outside of the changes made in regards to the Gabba/QSAC, the QLD Govt press release listed Ballymore under the category of ‘no change to previous plans’, despite the opposition of Hockey and Football fans

You have to wonder whether the proposed Victoria Park stadium eats into Ballymore's potential use case and funding allocation - not apples-to-apples given the proposed size and supporting infrastructure, of course.

Does seem a bit bizarre to propose a ~55k seat stadium about 800m up the road from another ~55k seat stadium though, but I digress.

 

[liquor box]

You have to wonder whether the proposed Victoria Park stadium eats into Ballymore's potential use case and funding allocation - not apples-to-apples given the proposed size and supporting infrastructure, of course.

Does seem a bit bizarre to propose a ~55k seat stadium about 800m up the road from another ~55k seat stadium though, but I digress.

That's not going ahead but it kind of makes sense, Sydney Olympic park was great because multiple venues were close together and shared train lines.

My preference would be to build 80000 seat stadium with a roof at Victoria Park, this is big enough for all makes sports finals and can attract entertainment that is not cricket or AFL. I would then sell and demolish the Gabba for high rise social housing. This would begin as the olympic village then become housing. The sale of the Gabba would offset some of the new stadium costs.