The more Aussie footy grounds you go to, the more you realise that size, huge price tags and the latest in technology and amenities are no guarantees of quality.
Truly great stadiums often feature some or all of those things.
But there are also arenas that might not look like much, but they have that elusive quality that gives them unforgettable atmosphere, a magnetic personality that’s based as much on their shortcomings as their good points.
They’re the sorts of places you want to keep going back to, even if your team got smashed off the park when you were there – and there are more than a few of them on our list.
Daily Mail Australia’s reporters have compiled these rankings at great cost to our wallets, social lives and liver health, with the result featuring more than a few surprises…
Not to mention a bit of a shock at the top of the ladder.
Pictured: Josh Addo-Carr and Cameron Smith celebrate on the surface of Accor Stadium at the end of the 2020 grand final, with the crowd in the background virtually indistinguishable from what you see on TV during regular-season games at the ground
Built for the 2000 Olympics, the ground that played host to Cathy Freeman lighting the flame now plays host to the South Sydney Rabbitohs, who want to get the hell out of there
26. Accor Stadium
Location: Homebush, NSW Opened: 1999 Capacity: 83,500
It’s known to fans as the stadium where atmosphere goes to die. But Accor doesn’t just kill atmosphere; it tortures it to death, buries its remains in a shallow bush grave, then goes after its children.
The stadium only works twice a year for sport: during State of Origin and the NRL grand final, when it actually gets packed out. But go there for an NRL club match and you’d think you were back in 2020 when the pandemic lockdowns were on.
Small groups of spectators end up sitting in narrow strips near the halfway line, with the gentle slope of the lower deck and the big sideline areas making them feel like they’re miles from the action. It looks awful at the ground and bloody awful on TV, like you’ve just tuned in as the facility is being evacuated.
Souths are desperate to jettison Accor as their home ground after nearly 20 years there, and no wonder. The NSW Government is refusing to break the bank to update the stadium, which is fair enough – the only way it could really be fixed is by knocking it down and starting again.
One of Daily Mail Australia’s Sport team made the mistake of taking an English colleague to his first game of rugby league out at Homebush. He thought he was at a school athletics carnival due to the complete lack of noise and character in the joint.
And he was right.
There are few places to find shelter from the biting cold at GIO Stadium, which the home fans seem to love but visitors hate
25. GIO Stadium
Location: Canberra, ACT Opened: Capacity: 25,011 Opened: 1977
Everything about Canberra is a little bit different to the rest of the country. The streets are clean and the housing neat, it’s planned to within an inch of its life and there are sustainable innovations everywhere you look. Hard to believe this was the same Canberra Todd Carney tore a swathe through.
Not everything is different for the better, though. The casino is tiny and only has table games. There is little nightlife – when the sun goes down (early) so do the shutters of most places. It is highly politically charged as well. And it is cold – bitterly cold.
The Viking Clap was invented in Scotland and popularised in Iceland, where Canberra fans holiday to keep warm
You would think that would have been taken into consideration when GIO Stadium was originally designed. But nope. In fact, the designers seemed to have ignored the local weather conditions completely and gone for the direct opposite, a vast and open stadium without a shred of cover to shield you from the cold, rain, sleet and even snow.
That’s right, snow. Ask the Raiders and Wests Tigers who had to play in the mess back in 2000, or the numerous reserve grade matches that have trudged through despite atrocious conditions.
And the Canberra Raiders fans just sit there and take it. Maybe they are literal vikings. But for anybody outside of Canberra, it is the worst way to spend a night in the nation’s capital… unless you are Todd Carney.
24. 4 Pines Park
Location: Brookvale, NSW Opened: 1947 Capacity: 20,000
Pictured: The newest addition to 4 Pines Park – a.k.a. Brookvale Oval – is the Bob Fulton Stand, which came after a campaign to save Manly’s home from just about literally falling down
Brookie is extremely bloody hard to get to, and even harder to endure if you’re barracking for the away team
And the award for worst name for an Aussie footy stadium goes to…
Formerly known as the equally bad ‘Lottoland’ from 2017 to 2021, 4 Pines is correctly called ‘Brookvale’, ‘Brookie’ or even ‘Fortress Brookvale’, although that last nickname was wildly inaccurate for a long stretch because the stadium was literally falling apart.
The away team’s locker room was known as the worst in the game for years, the home team’s wasn’t much better, and back in 2007 the joint was in such bad shape that a ‘Save Brookie’ movement held a rally after the CEO said the side might have to pack up and move to Gosford so they could play in a ground that actually had structural integrity.
Big-name Manly fans like former PM Tony Abbott waded in and millions of dollars were set aside to bring Broo… sorry, 4 Pines up to standard, with the Bob Fulton Stand the latest addition in 2022.
And getting there if you’re not driving? Good luck. The fact that part of the world is known as the ‘Insular Peninsula’ isn’t just down to the locals’ famously standoffish attitude – it’s also a public transport black hole.
The Sea Eagles are arguably the club fans most love to hate, and the fortress is a shocking place to be on gameday unless you’re barracking for the home team. Inhospitable doesn’t do it justice – but watching your side rack up a win in Manly’s backyard is rugby league bucket list stuff.
23. Sharks Stadium
Location: Cronulla, NSW Opened: 1960 Capacity: 15,000
Shark Park is currently in the middle of a terrific growth spurt that has turned one of the grandstands into a building site
The phrase ‘Shark Park in the dark’ is supposed to send chills through opposition teams, but it also terrifies fans who have to make the trek to Cronulla’s home ground.
Located on the banks of Woolooware Bay in Sydney’s south, it’s got one of the best views in the NRL – unless you’re looking east at the building site that currently passes for one of the grandstands.
The Sharks had to relocate their home games while the massive redevelopment first got off the ground, and when it’s finished the stadium will form part of an immense complex featuring the team’s leagues club, shopping, a hotel and apartment blocks.
But we can only judge the stadium on how it is right now, and to be polite, it’s an acquired taste.
If you’re a Sharks fan, you’ll love it for its shortcomings, not in spite of them, as it’s up there with 4 Pines as one of the most intimidating NRL grounds for opposition spectators.
Getting there on public transport is an absolute punish, and walking back to the nearest train station in the rain on a cold Saturday night after your team has just been flogged by the Sharks is one of rugby league’s most depressing experiences, as Daily Mail Australia knows first-hand.
22. Campbelltown Sports Stadium
Located: Campbelltown, NSW Opened: 1955 Capacity: 17,500
Take the train to Leumeah station, take a short walk across the road, scan your ticket and be prepared to go back in time by about 35 years when you visit Campbelltown
Campbelltown might be neglected and bare-bones, but it’s not without its charms
Cambo has three things going for it: location, location and location.
You can kick a footy from the entrance of the ground to Leumeah train station just across the road, and the Wests League Club is right next door. You could not be better situated if you want to get a few beers in during and after the match before getting chauffer-driven home in a CityRail carriage.
One of three Tigers home grounds, it’s part-stadium, part-time machine. Walk through the turnstiles and you’re transported back to the early ’90s, with seats that look like they haven’t been replaced since ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ was at the top of the charts, refreshingly neglected food, drink and toilet facilities, and grandstands with roofs that keep… oh, about 138 fans dry.
All it’s missing is a bunch of cigarette advertising hoardings.
But like most things from those carefree days long before anyone had heard of Facebook, it’s not without its charms. Watching kids kick the Steeden on the two big grassy hills at the ends of the ground is peak footy nostalgia, and the whole joint has a stripped-back, no-nonsense feel that goes right to the game’s working-class roots.
If Campbelltown was a car, it’d be a 1986 Toyota Corolla: dependable, cheap, but something you’d never let your crush sit in on a first date.
21. AAMI Park
Location: Melbourne, Victoria Opened: 2010 Capacity: 30,050
The Storm’s old home venue was built on a running track and was about as basic as it gets when it comes to design, features and comfort
AAMI Park gave the Storm a home more suited to an NRL powerhouse
Coach Craig Bellamy’s team rarely have their colours lowered on home turf
The Melbourne Storm have been the benchmark of the NRL since the club won its first flag in just its second year of existence. But their old venue at Olympic Park didn’t really live up to the standards of a blue-chip NRL side.
So in 2010 the gates opened at AAMI Park, the purpose-built rectangular stadium designed just for the Storm – even though it is oddly green instead of purple. But it features a specially designed roof that means clear views from every seat, accessibility for all and the trademark Melbourne touch – first-class food and drink.
But you can’t ignore the elephant in the room, this is AFL territory. Even when the Storm are flying (which is often), AAMI Park is rarely sold out. It can lack soul compared to other NRL venues and doesn’t hold a candle to the big Aussie Rules venues.
However, its location in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct means that it is available for all and the sport is building all the time.
20. ENGIE Stadium
Location: Homebush, NSW Opened: 1998 Capacity: 23,500
ENGIE is next door to Accor in the soulless concrete wilderness of the Homebush Olympic precinct in Sydney, where the only atmosphere is the air you breathe
There’s a lot to like about the GWS Giants. They have put the Gold Coast to shame in terms of success for a recent expansion team, their hard-nosed, swarming style of play has won them the nickname ‘The Orange Tsunami’ and the team’s social media department wins the premiership for hilarious posts.
But their home ground is nailed to the bottom of the ladder when it comes to AFL clubs.
It’s smack bang in the soulless Homebush Olympics precinct, so while other fans have pre-match rituals like the stunning walk from the Melbourne CBD to the MCG, or the stroll over the Torrens to the Adelaide Oval, Giants die-hards get to meander through empty concrete canyons after getting off the train at Olympic Park station.
We’ll give it marks for the food, which is as good as you’ll find anywhere, and the toilets, with plenty of them about, possibly to deal with the big crowds the arena gets during the Sydney Easter Show.
However, like its big brother Accor Stadium, ENGIE – which is better known as Sydney Showground Stadium – has about as much atmosphere as a Westfield car park on Christmas Day.
19. Marvel Stadium
Location: Docklands, Victoria Opened: 2000 Capacity: 53,359
Show this photo to anyone who’s not from Melbourne and they’d assume a state-of-the-art, purpose-built stadium in the CBD would be a winner with the locals. And they’d be wrong
The upper sections at Marvel are sometimes closed off so that the crowd looks far bigger on the television broadcast
It’s got a retractable roof that only takes eight minutes to fully open or close, movable seating sections, is a stone’s throw away from one of Melbourne’s biggest public transport hubs and had a $225million refurbishment that was completed just last year.
And thousands of footy fans hate it.
Ask those fans why and they’ll probably tell you it’s hard to explain, that Marvel has awful atmosphere despite the boxed-in surroundings amplifying crowd noise; that it ticks all the boxes but leaves you cold, like it was made by a bunch of soulless corporate types who have no real feel for the game – like the people who work at AFL headquarters.
Last year, it was revealed the Bombers, Blues and Saints had asked the league to reduce the number of games they play at what was originally known as Docklands.
Collingwood are playing two home games there this season and they were so desperate to reduce that, they wanted to switch one to the Gold Coast.
That has a lot to do with how much money the clubs get from home matches compared to hosting clashes at the MCG – but it’s also no coincidence that the only ground owned by the AFL was nicknamed ‘Darklands’.
19. UTAS Stadium
Location: Launceston, Tasmania Opened: 1921 Capacity: 19,500
Jacqui Lambie wants to install a tent-like roof over the Launceston ground instead of spending a gazillion on a Hobart stadium. She should be prime minister
Hawthorn (pictured playing in Launceston) have turned UTAS into a no-go zone for other sides
Hawthorn have played at Tassie’s York Park since 2001 and they boast a record of 63 wins and 20 losses there, possibly because they add a bit of antifreeze to the water bottles before every match. Yeah, it gets a bit cold.
But when a whole state only gets about four AFL matches per season, you can count on bumper crowds and a depth of feeling that ranks up there with any other ground on the mainland.
York has a reputation for having a fair bit of a country footy feel in that it’s a bit basic, with nothing like the sort of foodie-pleasing tucker you get in flash inner-city stadiums like the SCG. Public transport is also pretty scarce in that part of the world, but the fact you can head over to Lonnies Niteclub after the siren more than makes up for that.
Of course, this could all become a bit redundant if the covered stadium in Hobart ever gets built at a cost of roughly a gazillion dollars. Independent Apple Isle MP Jacqui Lambie is deadset against that, and has proposed building some sort of tent roof at York so the Tassie Devils can get off the ground.
A tent roof at a venue known for savage winds whipping in off the Tamar and North Esk rivers? Count us in.
18. Cazalys Stadium
Location: Cairns, Queensland Opened: 1957 Capacity: 13,500
The famous Gabba western grandstand lives on at Cazalys Stadium in Cairns that regularly hosts AFL matches
It may come as a shock to Victorians that people in Cairns and surrounds are Aussie Rules mad, despite it being a well-known rugby league nursery
As far as yarns go, the story behind Cazalys in Cairns is a gold medal winner. The sport of Aussie Rules is massive in the FNQ city of Cairns and it regularly attracts AFL matches, which meant a revamp of the old footy ground was required.
In the late 1990s, the Gabba in Brisbane was redeveloped into a modern bullring to elevate it as one of the top cricket venues in the country. That meant the main western grandstand, with its 3000-odd seats, had to be torn down. But it was valued at $2.5million and had plenty of sentimental value, so footy fans didn’t want to see it demolished and lost forever.
The history books say that the Queensland Government spent $200,000 in 1998 to painstakingly dismantle the grandstand and transport it to Cairns. But the locals have a different, and infinitely better story of what really happened.
According to footy fans up north, the Cairns footy association approached Queensland Cricket when the news broke that the Gabba would be demolished and then rebuilt. They wanted to know what was happening to the famous western grandstand and if they could get a slice of it.
As folklore goes, Queensland Cricket allegedly told AFL Cairns they could have the grandstand for just $1 – but there was a catch. AFL Cairns had to find a way to transport it to FNQ themselves, which would have cost millions.
Whichever version is true, the famous old stand has a permanent home in FNQ and it really is a unique way to watch Aussie Rules away from Melbourne, in a part of the world where you wouldn’t think the AFL would ever tread.
17. Belmore Sports Ground
Location: Belmore, NSW Opened: 1920 Capacity: 17,000
Belmore: Where the term ‘close to public transport’ takes on a whole new meaning
You could barely see a blade of grass on the hill when the Dogs played their only game of the 2025 season at Belmore back in March
Bulldogs’ fans biggest complaint with Belmore is the fact their team is only playing there once this season.
Not many grounds can compete with it on sheer personality. One grandstand, stuff-all seating at the ends of the ground, a hill with 1970-style light towers and a scoreboard so old it could be fossilised, a train line that looks like it runs about three metres behind the northern end – there’s nothing else like it. Yeah, it sounds run-down and outdated, but it just works.
There was even a James Bond-style touch to the facilities back when footy’s mad scientist Des Hasler was the coach about 10 years ago, with players and staff needing to have their palms scanned to get into the top-secret training and rehab section underneath the grandstand.
But what really sets the old girl apart is the fans and what happens after a Bulldogs win. When the Berries beat the Titans back in round two this year, they took over the surrounding streets, blasting music for hours after the siren had sounded, with a DJ even getting cops to dance as he played a set over speakers being wheeled around on a shopping trolley.
Seeing that outside Accor is about as likely as the Gold Coast breaking St George’s record of 11 straight grand final wins.
16. WIN Stadium
Location: Wollongong, NSW Opened: 1911 Capacity: 23,750
The sporting pride and joy of Wollongong has one strange feature you won’t find at any other NRL ground – and it’s a journo’s delight
Speaking purely as a journalist, WIN is hard to top because of one incredible feature: the wall separating the press box from the coach’s box next door is about as thin as a sheet of paper, meaning you can hear every word the coach of the St. George Illawarra Dragons is screaming at his players.
Sure, the new grandstand was in danger of collapsing back in 2011, when the ground was hit by gale-force winds and both ends of the roof buckled. But whatever they did to fix it has worked and the grandstand has one of the best views of any ground Down Under, looking directly east to the Pacific and the never-ending procession of cargo ships off the NSW south coast.
It’s the only NRL ground where the dressing rooms are located behind the goalposts instead of along the sideline, and the amenities aren’t exactly what you’d call uniform. The western grandstand is shiny and relatively new, with corporate boxes, dining and lush seating. The southern grandstand is more of a relic from the ’90s, housing dressing rooms that wouldn’t look out of place in a maximum-security jail.
She’s a short walk from the train station and the centre of town, there’s a brewery just around the corner, and did we mention that view?
15. Cbus Super Stadium
Location: Gold Coast, Queensland Opened: 2008 Capacity: 27,500
Cbus Super Stadium, opened to the public in 2008, was ahead of its time, pre-dating modern venues like CommBank Stadium and QCBS Stadium in Townsville
The Gold Coast Titans are the core tenants of the venue, but it also hosts plenty of other sporting and entertainment events
The home of the Gold Coast Titans is often dubbed mini Suncorp Stadium, for good reason. It was one of the first regional/suburban grounds to abandon the hilled areas and go for a completely enclosed approach that was fully seated.
It was a modern approach from the get-go which has paid dividends for the Gold Coast, with the venue hosting events including State of Origin, rugby league Test matches and other sports including rugby and a short-lived A-League football side.
Accessing the venue is simple, there are amenities close by no matter where you sit, the bullring-type design creates an excellent atmosphere and its remote location means there is ample parking and easy access to buses and trains.
However, this remote location is the only negative we have to say about this joint. It is a very long way from the coastal hotspots like Surfers Paradise and Burleigh, which can be a deterrent as Gold Coast public transport can be scratchy at best.
If getting to Robina is no issue, then this is the perfect venue for you. Otherwise be prepared to spend an hour or so on a bus there and back.
14. Barlow Park
Location: Cairns, Queensland Opened: 1987 Capacity: 15,000
Barlow Park in far north Queensland might not be the flashiest joint, but it has authenticity
The North Queensland Cowboys regularly hold trial matches and NRL games at the venue
There wouldn’t be many outside of Queensland that have ever heard of this joint. Maybe a handful of diehard Bunnies supporters who have made the long trek to FNQ for games they have sold to the venue.
It is easy to forget that the North Queensland Cowboys represent more than just the regional city of Townsville. And every now and then, rival city Cairns gets to host a Cowboys match as well.
What you get is an authentic rugby league experience. There is more hill than grandstands, parking is wherever you can find space around the fence, and there are kids kicking balls around the joint left, right and centre.
Games are usually held in the day because the lights are rubbish and it is almost impossible to make out the waffle crackling out of old PA speakers taped up around the place. The big screen is not very big and the running track has you miles from the action.
But it feels honest, and genuine, and tribal. It is the Cowboys’ home away from home and they love it because it brings them close to families living in the Cape, in the Gulf, in the Torres Strait and other far-flung FNQ places that they hail from.
Our resident North Queenslander even sat beside the former mayor of Innisfail for a match one time, on the hill, drinking tins of beer and cheering on the Cowboys. If you ever get the opportunity, it is worth the holiday, just don’t go expecting a five-star brand-spanking-new arena.
13. McDonald Jones Stadium
Location: Newcastle, NSW Opened: 1970 Capacity: 33,000
It’s hard to figure out which is higher, the Newcastle grandstands or the amount of money they had to pay to convince Dylan Brown to play for them
McDonald Jones Stadium is the home of dual premiership winner Andrew Johns and some other blokes
The home of the Johns brothers, the Eighth Immortal and the ‘better than Lego’ bloke, not the singer/guitarist from Silverchair, just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
While other regional centres and suburban teams have gone towards more modern, enclosed designs, Newcastle has embraced the old-fashioned grandstand and stuck with it like a dog on a bone.
The first, giant grandstand provided plenty of seats, cover and a roaring atmosphere that is daunting for opposition teams. Then they built another one, boosting the overall capacity to 33,000 and creating an intimidating assault from both sides for visiting teams.
While visiting fans might not like feeling terrified while watching the footy, you have to admire the sheer passion of the fans in the Hunter Valley, the numbers they show up in and the atmosphere they generate.
In hindsight, the double grandstand approach was a winner, despite the advent of more modern stadiums in other locations.
Go and check it out when the Kangaroos or Wallabies play there. It might be best to avoid if your team is playing Newcastle, though.
12. GMHBA Stadium
Location: South Geelong, Victoria Opened: In the 19th Century Capacity: 40,000
Pictured: One of the stands at GMHBA, which became known as Pork Barrel Park thanks to the huge amounts spent to transform the Cats’ stronghold
If there’s a better corporate box than the Cotton On suite at Kardinia Park, we’re not aware of it
Yep, you read that right: footy has been played at the Cats’ current home ground since the 1880s, when Scott Pendlebury was still in his teens.
The only AFL arena to get two visits from the Dalai Lama, it’s been called Skilled Stadium, Shell Stadium, Baytec Stadium and Simonds Stadium, but is best known as Kardinia Park – or, to non-Geelong fans, That Bloody Place.
No footy arena is more of a stronghold for the home team. The Cats didn’t lose at GMHBA from August 2007 to August 2011, which turned the stadium into one of Australia’s best-attended graveyards.
It’s not just opposition players who struggle there, either. You have to be born and raised in Geelong to withstand the deplorable conditions, with winds whipping straight off Mawson’s Huts making visiting fans feel like they’ve been locked in the cool room at their local bottle shop for a month with the sprinklers going off.
Kardinia has been spruced up beyond recognition since 2003, with about $340million sunk into new stands – so much that it became known as Pork Barrel Park.
Now it has the best corporate box in the country after Cotton On spent $1million on a palatial facility that’s full of coffered ceilings, custom Tasmanian oak joinery and black Cambrian granite benchtops. Whatever they are.
11. Suncorp Stadium
Location: Milton, Queensland Opened: 1914 Capacity: 52,500
Picturesque Suncorp Stadium is regarded as the best rectangular stadium in Australia by some, but it has its flaws
Drinking culture is a huge part of the game day experience at Suncorp Stadium, which will appeal to some and act as a repellant to others
Suncorp Stadium, better known as Lang Park, is considered the heart of rugby league in Australia. It routinely packs out for club games and goes off for State of Origin. Even Queensland Cup grand finals once drew crowds of 30,000.
The location is ideal – just outside Brisbane’s CBD, beside a train station and bus depot. Neighbouring Caxton Street is legendary, where fans drink, chant and sledge opposition buses in a carnival atmosphere. The NRL even bought a hotel there, it’s that ingrained in footy culture.
If you’re in your 20s or 30s and love sinking beers at the footy, it’s a 10/10 experience. But for older fans, families, or those wanting to actually enjoy the game, it’s a tougher sell.
Fights are common. Drunken fans can get abusive and violent. Many drink all day, ignore responsible service rules, and get kicked out. Parents might not want their kids around it.
There’s litter everywhere, seats get urinated on and the train station funnel is slow, claustrophobic, and filled with cigarette smoke.
For some, Suncorp is heaven; for others, it’s chaos. If getting blind and calling the opposition a ‘flog’ before passing out on the train is your thing, Suncorp delivers.
10. Dairy Farmers Stadium/Queensland Country Bank Stadium
DFS: Location: Townsville, Queensland Opened: 1995: Closed: 2022 Capacity: 26,500
QCBS: Location: Townsville, Queensland Opened: 2023 Capacity: 25,000
The original North Queensland Stadium was almost obsolete from the moment it opened its gates
The new Cowboys stadium provides a more comfortable game day experience and is located in the CBD
Two venues for the price of one here. It is impossible to review the new stadium in Townsville without first acknowledging the old one.
North Queensland being admitted into the NRL for the 1995 season was a huge deal up north. It had long been known as a breeding ground for champions and deserved its own place at the big table.
But to say the original stadium, that was also known as Stockland Stadium, Malanda Stadium and 1300SMILES Stadium, was tossed together would be a massive understatement.
The vacant patch of land outside of town where the trots used to run seemed perfect. But the venue was outdated before it even held its first game.
The gym was in an old stables, the hill kept sliding away in monsoonal rain, coaches and media were shunted into demountables and you probably own a telly that is better than the old screen. Plus, it was a long, long way from the CBD which made getting there a big headache.
The new stadium, though, gets it bang on. Modelled on the success of CommBank Stadium, which became the benchmark for suburban and regional stadiums, QCBS provides a near-perfect game-day experience. And it is bang in the centre of the city, beside nightspots, restaurants, bars and hotels. So it is a dream for travelling supporters.
Expect more smaller venues to be modelled like this.
9. Industree Group Stadium
Location: Gosford, NSW Opened: 2000 Capacity: 20,000
You won’t find too many footy stadiums with views like this anywhere in Australia, or the world
Sitting underneath the palm trees with a cool ocean breeze rolling in… there are certainly worse places to watch footy
It would have been interesting to see the North Sydney Bears call Gosford home in a new Central Coast franchise, instead of moving to Perth which is what ended up happening. The Northern Bears seemed to make sense on paper – they had fans, an ideal geographic location and a ready-made stadium. But, ultimately, money talks.
While the Bears will never call Gosford home, Industree Group Stadium is not going to become a wasteland overnight. It is already a thriving home for several NRL games each year and home to the Central Coast Mariners in the A-League.
The backdrop is simply breathtaking. With the waterfront just next door and the open design of the venue, you are treated to one of the most picturesque stadiums in Australia.
Being a smaller town, transport and accommodation are not really an issue, so this is an opportunity to make a holiday out of it. If your NRL team is drawn to play in Gosford, pull out all stops to visit Industree Group.
8. Allianz Stadium
Location: Moore Park, NSW Opened: 1988 Capacity: 45,500
Located on the rich side of the Sydney ‘Latte Line’ that divides the haves from the have-nots, Allianz screams affluence and luxury
A brilliant place to watch footy, whether it’s NRL, rugby union or A-League soccer
Australia’s newest sporting palace has it all – incredible views from brand-new seating, gourmet food and top-shelf alcohol, corporate suites to die for… even the goalposts light up. And it has that new-car smell after it was completely rebuilt and re-opened in 2022.
And while that newness makes it one of the best places in the country to watch the footer, it’s also the stadium’s biggest problem.
It cost $828million to re-do what used to be known as the Sydney Football Stadium – but instead of creating a completely new rectangular arena with super-steep seating like CommBank in Parramatta, they spent all that taxpayer money on building what looks like a heavily modernised copy of its predecessor.
It’s kind of like a mate telling you they knocked down and rebuilt their home, only to discover it looks like they just gave the old house a fresh coat of paint, new lights and a new kitchen and bathroom – but also increased the value by about 240 per cent.
7. The Gabba
Location: Brisbane, Queensland Opened: 1895 Capacity: 42,000
The famous Gabba bullring located in the inner ring of Brisbane is an iconic AFL venue
The Lions have built a following of thousands who deliver a booming atmosphere at the venue
The Gabba had huge shoes to fill when it hosted the AFL Grand Final in 2020 – and it housed footy’s biggest occasion like it’d been held there for years
It is a crying shame that the Gabba has slipped down the rankings in cricket, because it is one hell of a venue for footy.
Other arenas like Optus Stadium and Adelaide Oval have surpassed the classic Gabba in the pecking order for Test matches. Which is a shame, because the Gabba is only a quarter of a century old.
Cricket snobs will tell you that it is rundown and behind the times. But footy fans will tell you that is a load of bulldust.
Would a rundown venue be able to host the entire AFL during Covid lockdowns? Would an obsolete footy stadium be able to step in and fill the game’s biggest shoes by hosting a AFL grand final away from the historic MCG?
The bullring style makes the Gabba a smaller-scale G. While it lacks the history of the SCG, the size and tradition of Melbourne’s famous ground, and the modern amenities of Marvel, it has carved its own niche in footy folklore.
It is where the Brisbane Lions rose from the ashes of the failed Brisbane Bears franchise, which actually played at Carrara on the Gold Coast.
It is where the Lions won three consecutive premierships. It is where legends of the sport came to prominence. It is probably the only place in the world where you can hear 30,000 footy fans all singing Take me Home, Country Road after a goal is scored.
It has soul, personality, atmosphere and enough modern amenities to make it perfect for footy. You can walk to the city, Fortitude Valley, or the iconic Pineapple Hotel.
Quite simply, it is one of the best footy experiences you can have outside of Melbourne.
6. Optus Stadium
Location: Burswood, Western Australia Opened: 2017 Capacity: 61,266
Is it blue? Is it red? Is it green? Thanks to Optus Stadium’s incredible, chameleon-like lighting system, the answer is yes
Western Australian taxpayers will be paying off Optus for about the next 187 years, by which time the Eagles might have made the eight again
It cost $1.6billion. For that sort of money you’d want every seat to be a massage chair with a built-in beer tap. What you wouldn’t want is a grand opening event that consisted of a Twenty20 cricket match between the Perth Scorchers and England’s second-tier team, but that’s what happened. Nothing less than a season-opening clash between the Weagles and Dockers could’ve done Optus justice.
It’s the Aussie footy stadium with the most picturesque location, nestled on a bend on the Swan River with a stunning view of the Perth CBD, and it’s connected to the city by the Matagarup Bridge, which looks like it belongs in the Louvre.
The roof is retractable. The stadium changes colours thanks to its state-of-the-art lighting. It also changes configuration. The sound system could peel the paint off your car. It has 748 male bathrooms, 781 for women, which makes it sound like it’s harder to avoid a toilet than it is to find one.
About the only thing Optus Stadium can’t do is host a West Coast victory this year.
5. Sydney Cricket Ground
Location: Moore Park, NSW Opened: 1851 Capacity: 48,000
The SCG has been the Swans’ home ground since 1982. Safe to say there have been one or two changes since then
Pictured: The members’ long bar at the SCG, which looks about the same as it did when Don Bradman was still walking out to take strike
Like Adelaide Oval, the 174-year-old mainstay of Aussie sport has retained important parts of its past while also being brought into the 21st century. There’s so much to like about the SCG, from the way it reeks of history before you even get through the turnstiles to its position close to the CBD in leafy Moore Park, the spectacle of a match under lights and the amazing facilities in the Victor Trumper stand.
But there’s a big problem if you watch an AFL match: the fans.
Daily Mail Australia’s scribe has been going to Swans games at the MCG since the mid-80s, when visitors from Melbourne would visibly cringe as Sydney fans yelled ‘Great catch!’ as Warwick Capper took a mark, and had absolutely no idea why or when to scream ‘Baaaaall!’
Things have improved a bit since then, but not enough. The atmosphere at the SCG is unlike any other ground in the country because the crowd is so… different. And by that we mean charcuterie boards in picnic baskets instead of footy franks hidden in a thermos, chenin blanc instead of Carlton Draught and social media influencers from Point Piper instead of electricians from Sunshine West.
And as for watching NRL games there? Forget it. The SCG used to be the home of rugby league, but hasn’t hosted a grand final since 1987, and when regular matches returned there in 2019 as the Roosters redeveloped their home next door, fans struggled to figure out how their grandparents dealt with being so far from the action.
4. CommBank Stadium
Location: Parramatta, NSW Opened: 2019 Capacity: 30,000
Watching footy at CommBank is like seeing it in ultra-high-definition 4K. There isn’t a single bad vantage point in the entire arena
The place looks brilliant even when there are about as many fans as a prop forward has teeth
When the gates first opened at the rebuilt Suncorp Stadium, it was praised as the best facility built expressly for rugby league anywhere in the world. That title now goes to CommBank, which is right at the cutting edge.
Parking is a breeze. So is public transport. So is getting a beer. Or food. Or free Wi-Fi. And if there’s a bad vantage point in the place, we’re not aware of it.
The stands are so steep you almost feel like you’re looming over the playing surface instead of sitting back from it. It’s almost enough to give you vertigo. Combine that with the skinny sidelines and you won’t find another arena that does a better job of putting fans close to the action. It’s like old stadiums are analogue and CommBank is bringing you the footy in 4K ultra-high definition.
Whoever designed the joint must have spent a lot of time working out what NRL fans whinge about when it comes to grounds, and meticulously made sure they can’t complain about any of those things when they go through the gates at Parramatta.
3. Leichhardt Oval
Location: Lilyfield, NSW Opened: 1934 Capacity: 20,000
Its name is a lie, it’s literally falling apart… but Leichhardt is a peak footy experience
How could you not love a stadium where you can still buy four cans – yes, cans – of VB at a time and drink them responsibly with an old insane asylum just a short walk away
Nobody has ever summed up Leichhardt as well as former Wests Tigers star Beau Ryan, who told Footy Show viewers, ‘Leichhardt Oval is not in Leichhardt, and it is not an oval. It should be called Lilyfield Rectangle.’ He is right on all counts.
So many things about the ground should scream ‘stay away’ but they somehow combine to produce the best fan experience in Sydney.
The Keith Barnes Stand is so small it would struggle to accommodate a junior netball team. Part of a section at the Parramatta River end of the ground collapsed during a match in 2022, spilling fans onto the concrete in frightening scenes. Going to the toilet during a Tigers game is even more frightening. The hill turns into a giant, muddy slippery-dip on wet days. Under-9s croquet players have better dressing rooms.
But no matter how badly the Tigers are going, the place gets packed out with fans because you can feel the atmosphere building up from blocks away. If you enter from Glover Street – maybe after walking up via the old insane asylum next door – you crest a steep hill as you go through the turnstiles, and the entirety of the ground hits you all at once, a sea of die-hards in retro jumpers bellowing their larynxes out.
It’s footy nirvana, a throwback to everything good the game has shed in its relentless drive to modernise and sanitise, right down to the cheap cans – yes, cans – of VB and Carlton you can buy four at a time on the hill.
2. Melbourne Cricket Ground
Location: East Melbourne, Victoria Opened: 1853 Capacity: 100,024
Here it is: Australian sport summed up in one photograph
People think the Great Wall of China can be seen from space. They’re wrong. The Melbourne Cricket Ground, on the other hand…
If you had to use one photo to symbolise Melbourne to the world, it would have to be the G. Australia’s Colosseum is to the Bleak City what the Empire State Building is to New York, what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, what the Hollywood sign is to Los Angeles… what the Big Prawn is to Ballina.
The walk from the CBD to the sporting cathedral builds anticipation and a sense of wonder as it steadily grows and grows in stature – and like Uluru, once you’re finally up close, the sheer scale of it overwhelms you.
Walk inside and the stands rear up like cliffs. Get to a game with a huge crowd and it feels like everyone there has a microphone and an amp. Watching your team play a grand final at the G is footy’s version of winning Powerball. Daily Mail Australia’s reporter was lucky enough to do just that and the scene is so intoxicating we almost struggled to follow the game.
The MCG is so modern it uses AI to track what you’re buying so you don’t have to go through a checkout when you pick up food and drinks, but there are reminders of its immense history everywhere – although a statue of a divvy van out the front to pay homage to Bay 13 at the height of its infamy wouldn’t go astray.
So, with all that said, why is it ranked second on this list?
Choosing between it and our next entry was like picking a favourite from The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, or Gary Ablett and Gary Ablett Jr – for many people, there is no right answer.
1. Adelaide Oval
Location: North Adelaide, South Australia Opened: 1871 Capacity: 53,583
It might not have the in-your-face massiveness of the MCG, but Adelaide Oval doesn’t need it to give fans a footy experience that’s second to none
Pictured: Power skipper Connor Rozee (left) and his Crows counterpart Jordan Dawson pose with the Showdown shield ahead of one of the great events in Aussie Rules
One quick glance at this photo is all you need to know exactly where it was taken
No ground in the country does a better job of blending the old with the new than The Oval. Fans would’ve been justified in worrying about the extensive redevelopments that saw the additions of the Chappell Stands and new Western Stand, but in a rare-as-rocking-horse-crap instance of a government acing a series of major public works, the rebuild was a masterstroke.
The Western Stand is a great case in point; under the towering, modern structure sits big portions of the George Giffen Stand from the 1880s, and the Sir Edwin Smith and Mostyn Evans stands from the 1920s. And then there’s the old scoreboard, which remains one of the most instantly recognisable features of any Aussie stadium. The unusually long, narrow dimensions of the playing surface further set it apart from other arenas; idiosyncrasies and personality are everywhere you look.
Catching a Showdown match at The Oval between Port and the Crows is an out-of-body experience every footy fan should aim for in their lifetime. You don’t need that intense rivalry to see the place sing, either – the first Gather Round match this year between Adelaide and the Cats was seismic.
Located a short walk over the River Torrens from the CBD and mostly surrounded by lush, green parkland, The Oval was described as ‘the most perfect piece of modern architecture’ by commentator Gerard Whateley who, as he often does, hit the nail on the head.
So you take that architecture, fill it with fans who give new meaning to the word hardcore, surround it with beauty, throw in a dash of Coopers and smuggle in a pie floater, and there you have it – the pinnacle of Aussie footy stadiums.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .