A-League: Western Sydney Wanderers hoping new Bankwest Stadium will be a fortress
After three seasons of ‘homelessness’, the Western Sydney Wanderers are back where they belong, and hoping to again make their home ground a a nightmare for opposition teams.
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It’s back to where it all began for Western Sydney, and the glory days are beckoning.
On Saturday, Bankwest Stadium becomes the new Wanderland, the state-of-the-art facility the club hopes will yield results like their remarkable early success and lure back the fans that created the best atmosphere in Australian sport.
Already the Parramatta Eels have reaped rewards from the 30,000-capacity ground, winning eight of their 10 regular-season NRL games there this year before blowing the Brisbane Broncos off the park in a 58-0 elimination-final thrashing.
Now a revamped Wanderers squad are out to follow suit as football fanatics return to revel in steep grandstands and the country’s first safe-standing section.
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Three months after christening their brand-spanking new home against Leeds United, they begin a fresh A-League era against the Central Coast Mariners - the same club they hosted for their inaugural game at the old Pirtek Stadium back in 2012.
Wanderers foundation goalkeeper Ante Covic says the atmosphere that day was the catalyst for Tony Popovic’s new boys winning the Premiers’ Plate in their first season, making the grand final in their first and second and winning the Asian Champions League in their third.
And he believes it can turn the tide again.
“If you get the right stadium it can really emphasise what a crowd is,” Covic told The Daily Telegraph.
“When I started playing there, just about every player I know from other teams was envious. They saw what they were hoping Australian football could be like one day.
“With 30,000 fans sitting on top of each other, the noise will really echo. If they can bring that atmosphere back to what it was at the beginning it’s going to be a fortress again.
“The safe-standing area creates a different atmosphere. In football there’s song, there’s dance. If they can get that right it adds to the whole experience.”
Current Mariners midfielder Michael McGlinchey also played that first scoreless draw at Parramatta.
While he shared the park with future Socceroos stars Mat Ryan, Tom Rogic and Trent Sainsbury (Mariners) and Aaron Mooy (Wanderers), all he really remembers is the Red and Black Bloc’s deafening chanting.
“It was about 20,000 but it felt like 40,000,” McGlinchey said.
“It was so noisy the manager Graham Arnold was struggling to get instructions to players. It was an intimidating place to go. It felt like an extra man for them.
“The A-League has been missing that atmosphere the last few years.”
Western Sydney’s return to roots has been a long time coming after three unbearable seasons languishing at Olympic Park, where they twice missed the finals and averaged home attendances of less than 10,000.
Officials expect more than 20,000 through Bankwest’s turnstiles for today’s season-opener and the club has already signed up 16,000 members.
This month’s Sydney derby will likely sell out, and coach Markus Babbel on Friday pledged the team will repay the long-suffering faithful who "have been through many s*** things in the past".
“The Wanderers had so much success early on,” said former Mariners forward and current Wanderers skipper Mitchell Duke.
“So much has happened in the time since, and going back home it feels like exciting times ahead.”