Matildas on the move? Football Australia eyes new venue as ticket sales for Olympic qualifiers explode

The Matildas return to Australian shores next month and such is the demand for tickets, their Olympic qualifiers could be moved.

Fans at the FIFA WomenÕs World Cup 3rd place playoff between Australia and Sweden at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Pics Adam Head

Football Australia is considering moving the Matildas’ Olympic qualifying matches to a bigger stadium as ticket allocations at HBF Park in Perth have sold out more than a month in advance.

The Matildas are due to play Chinese Taipei, IR Iran and Philippines in the round robin Asian Qualifiers from October 26 to November 1.

On the back of a successful Women’s World Cup campaign which saw record crowds flock through the gates at Stadium Australia, Suncorp Stadium and AAMI Park to watch their Matildas stars in action their much anticipated return to Australia in October has again proved a hit with fans.

Tickets were quick to sell with all matches featuring the Aussies now considered sellouts.

HBF Park holds just 20,000 fans.

Tickets for the Matildas’ upcoming Olympic qualifiers have sold out.

Football Australia CEO James Johnson told Code Sports they were exploring moving the games to a bigger venue. The pinnacle in Perth would be Optus Stadium – which seats 60,000.

According to Optus Stadium’s website there are no events currently scheduled for the week of the qualifiers.

“We have a huge challenge ahead of us and that is not having enough tickets available for the demand at HBF,” Johnson said.

“We’re trying to solve that at the moment.

“I’m not afraid to make those sorts of calls, we did that with the opening match of the Women’s World Cup – moving from Sydney Football Stadium to Stadium Australia.”

Johnson said that decision was a “risk at the time” but it paid off with 75,784 fans watching Australia beat Ireland.

The Matildas captured the hearts of the nation with their stirring World Cup run. Picture: Lachie Millard

“We need to really analyse and weigh up what sort of numbers beyond the 20,000 that we get at HBF when we make that call because we don’t want to be stopping tens of thousands of fans from being able to see the Matildas, that’s important to me.”

The games will be the first time the Matildas have played in Perth since 2018 – when they did battle with Thailand in a friendly in the lead up to the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

It will be the first competitive Matildas match played in Perth.

The matches are being played in Perth with the support of the Western Australian Government.

Originally published as Matildas on the move? Football Australia eyes new venue as ticket sales for Olympic qualifiers explode