Background in 1937 Prior to its construction, major events were usually held at the
Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), as it was the largest stadium in Sydney. Although it was used many times for such events, the SCG's oval shape meant it was not ideal for sports like soccer, rugby league and rugby union that require a rectangular field. Sydney Football Stadium was built upon the former
Sydney Sports Ground in
Moore Park, and the former SCG No 2 adjacent to the existing SCG. Both were owned by the
Sydney Cricket Ground Trust. It was built by
Civil & Civic and officially opened by
Premier Barrie Unsworth on 24 January 1988. The first sporting event was a rugby league match between the
Eastern Suburbs Roosters and
St George Dragons on 4 March 1988. Its
seating capacity was 41,159, but after numerous expansions, finally stood at 45,500 , although the record attendance for a sporting event was 44,380 , set on 22 September 2018 for, ironically, the last sporting event it ever held: the
2018 NRL Finals Series match between the
Sydney Roosters and
South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Use The Sydney Football Stadium was the
Sydney Roosters' home ground from 1988. It was built on the site of the old Sydney Sports Ground which served as the Roosters home ground for decades, and the old SCG No 2 which served as a secondary ground for some state cricket matches, an additional training ground, and athletics. Both grounds were demolished in 1986 to make way for the SFS. The first event held at the venue marked the beginning of the 1988 rugby league season, with a match between the then Eastern Suburbs Roosters and the St George Dragons on Friday 4 March 1988. St George won the game 24–14. The Roosters had to wait until Round 5 that season for their first win at the venue, defeating the Gold Coast Giants 28–10. From 1988 to 1999 and from 2002 to 2005, it also served as the home ground for the
South Sydney Rabbitohs. The Rabbitohs returned to the ground with a one-off game against the Broncos in Round 25 of the
2015 NRL season. The SFS has hosted rugby league football
test matches since its opening in 1988 starting with two matches in Australia's
1988 Ashes series win against
Great Britain. The first game of the series saw the
Wally Lewis captained,
Don Furner coached Australians christen their new Sydney home with a 17–6 win in front of 24,480 fans. That game was also the 100th test match between Australia and either Great Britain or
England. The record international Rugby League crowd at the stadium was set for the first Ashes against Great Britain on their
1992 Australasian Tour when Australia won 22–6 in front of 40,141 in what was the first time a test in Sydney had attracted over 40,000 fans since 1974. The stadium has also hosted the
Rugby League Tri-Nations, including the Final of the
2006 tournament in which Australia triumphed 16–12 over
New Zealand in
Golden point extra-time thanks to a try by captain
Darren Lockyer. Rugby league also had some memorable moments including: The first grand final in
1988 saw
Canterbury-Bankstown defeat
Balmain 24–12 in front of 40,000 fans to send former club captain
Steve Mortimer into retirement with a premiership. The match had its controversial moment when Bulldogs
Terry Lamb hit Tigers English import
Ellery Hanley with a high tackle out of the game before the 30th minute: The
1989 NSWRL grand final which was won by the
Canberra Raiders over the
Balmain Tigers 19-14 thanks to a try by replacement forward
Steve Jackson in extra-time for their first premiership: The
1991 NSWRL grand final won by the
Penrith Panthers over Canberra 19–12 in which Penrith's
Royce Simmons scored 2 tries in his final match giving the Panthers their first title:
Brisbane's maiden premiership with a 28–8 win over
St. George in
1992 NSWRL grand final, highlighted by a 95-metre try to Broncos
Steve Renouf: and the
1997 ARL Grand Final between the
Newcastle Knights and the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, with the Knights winning their first title with a 22–16 win following a try to
Darren Albert in the dying seconds of the game after the Knights had trailed Manly since early in the game. Manly had won their previous 11 games against the Knights prior to that Grand Final. The last grand final played at the SFS was the
1998 NRL Grand Final between Canterbury and Brisbane. In front of 40,857 fans, the Broncos ran out easy 38-12 winners to win their fourth premiership from four grand Final appearances. Two standout State Of Origin matches in which
Queensland triumphed over
New South Wales with last-minute victories in
1994 and
1998, as well as
Michael O'Connor's sideline conversion in driving rain for a NSW win in Game 2 of the
1991 series. Also of note was Queensland's backs to the wall win in Game 2 of the
1989. Despite losing
Allan Langer to a broken leg,
Mal Meninga with a fractured eye socket and
Paul Vautin with an elbow injury in the first half, plus losing winger
Michael Hancock to a shoulder injury in the second half, the Maroons triumphed 16–12 to wrap up the series. It was also found out after the game that Queensland's lock forward
Bob Lindner had played most of the second half with a fractured ankle. The Sydney Football Stadium has been the venue of some of Australian sport's greatest matches and moments. The final of the 1993 World Youth Cup between Brazil and Ghana was also held at the SFS, Brazil winning 2–1. The 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Australia and Argentina featuring Argentine association football legend
Diego Maradona, finishing in a 1–1 draw with goals to
Aurelio Vidmar for Australia and
Abel Balbo for Argentina. Despite the grounds increase in capacity since 1993, this match retains the record sporting attendance at the SFS and many more were actually in attendance as the gates were thrown open close to kick-off as a safety measure. It was used as the venue for the
2000 Summer Olympics Women's
association football gold medal match between
Norway and the
United States. Norway defeated the USA 3–2 in front of 22,848 fans. In 2002, the naming rights were purchased by Aussie Home Loans in a 5-year + 5-year deal. Due to this, the stadium was renamed
Aussie Stadium. On 7 July 2007 the stadium reverted to its original Sydney Football Stadium name after Aussie Home Loans and the SCG Trust mutually elected not to extend the naming rights deal. In 2003, the SFS hosted several matches in the
Rugby World Cup: (
Ireland v
Namibia), (
Argentina v
Romania), (
Scotland v
Fiji), (
South Africa v
Georgia), (
Georgia v
Uruguay; this match was notable for attracting a crowd of 28,576, despite the low profiles of both teams). In 2007 the Sydney Roosters High Performance Centre and Administrative departments set up their headquarters at the Sydney Football Stadium. The
2008 Rugby League World Cup's opening ceremony and
Group A match between
Australia and
New Zealand was played at the Stadium. The SFS also hosted one game from the
knockout stage: the second semi-final between Australia and
Fiji. In 2012,
Allianz Insurance secured the rights to the naming of the Sydney Football Stadium; the venue is now known as
Allianz Stadium. In 2018, Allianz Stadium hosted one of three AFL pre-season mini competitions called
AFLX.
Development In 2012
Sydney Cricket Ground Trust announced a master plan to redevelop Sydney Football Stadium, as well as
Sydney Cricket Ground and the surrounding area, with a vision "for the SCG and Allianz Stadium is to create an exciting new concept for Sydney’s central sporting precinct - a revitalised, world-class, sports and recreation facility for NSW and Australia". The development of Sydney Football Stadium would have included a new fully covered roof and a new
LED facade mesh for the stadium which would allow the exterior to change colours to suit the home team, similar to Munich's
Allianz Arena. As well, development to the surrounding area would have included a new public plaza between the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium, new transport infrastructure, new underground car parks (4,100 cars) and development of the surrounding parkland. The scheduled start date for the project would have commenced after the completion of the Sydney Cricket Ground redevelopment, in January 2014. In early 2015, the video screens were replaced with large High Definition screens similar to the one at the Dally Messenger Stand at the SCG. In September 2015, the New South Wales Government announced a proposal to replace the SFS with a new 50,000 to 55,000 seat venue. The proposed new stadium was cancelled in April 2016, with the SFS to be refurbished instead. On 8 March 2019, the New South Wales Government announced that the stadium would be completely demolished and rebuilt.
Rebuilding In 2017 the NSW Government announced that the Sydney Football Stadium along with
Stadium Australia would be demolished and rebuilt at a cost of $2.3 billion. The final event at the stadium was a
Michael Bublé concert on 5 October 2018. Demolition began in early 2019. In December 2019, the NSW Government awarded the construction contract for the new
Sydney Football Stadium to the John Holland Group, with a planned completion date in time for the September 2022 NRL Grand Final. The plan to demolish and rebuild Stadium Australia was later scrapped in favour of refurbishment. ==Sporting events==