My rant today is that I am super annoyed and frustrated after reading the proposal that the eels are looking for upgrades to Parra stadium and the likely hood that the state government is looking at that as an option. Other options include building a new stadium in the west or further upgrades of other existing grounds including Penrith’s home ground. I’m not begrudging these teams or western Sydney money to do this, but why is it that these grounds, plus the continue upgrades of other NRL grounds (some of them part time grounds) such as WIN Stadium and OKI Win stadium and the SCG when Brookvale has trouble getting anything but token band aid petty cash. None of the options include Brookvale oval, a ground that requires it more than any.
Like all true Manly fans I bleed Maroon and white and love everything about the Sea Eagles club. But Brookvale oval, in its current form is simply not good enough. It’s not just that Brookie is 30 years past its use buy date, that in its self is enough to warrant for redevelopment. It’s an embarrassment that we have a world class sporting team whom over the last 40 years has been one of the most successful club in the domestic and world stage, yet we still play at a ground that is looking like it is about to fall down and is nothing even remotely resembling a professional facility.
I know a Brookvale oval rant is nothing new on this site but unless something is done and done fast I have a real fear that we will have to be either relocated to the central coast , to the world worst stadium at Homebush (SFS would be the best of a bad situation if this was the case) or the worst of fates be dead as a club in the next 5-10 years because our ground is consider unsafe in its current condition. Don’t get me wrong I love a suburban ground, they are great, but the reality is that they are a dying breed in today’s modern pro sport for many reasons and unless something can be done we are going to be left behind as other clubs are handed new or improved grounds that are in keeping with the standards of a modern sporting competition.
I was born and bred in Wollongong, I fell in love with the Sea Eagles because Bob Fulton was the star of the day and who also came from the junior club I had just started playing at as a 7 year old. I was not alone, 2 of my best mates did the same and we now sit together in the Jane Try Stands, two of us coming from the eastern suburbs and the third still coming up from Wollongong. My dad when he was able would make the long trip to Brookvale oval and as a kid it was up there with him taking me to the SCG to watch the cricket. But the gloss has well and truly worn off now.
I have sent several emails to the club and have always received prompt replies assuring me that they are working towards a solution but I’m worried that due to inaction from all levels of government means that this is never going to happen on the scale required. We need a new stadium, and dare I say it more manly fans need to become members and go to as many home games as possible to support the club. For me, nothing short of a completely new, modern all (or at least 90%)seating stadium similar to the one on the gold coast will do. I know some of you love it on the hill, but those days are gone. To keep the club going financially it needs to be playing in a modern, corporate and family friendly facility that all manly fans and those living on the northern beaches can benefit from. Unless this is achieved at Brookvale or somewhere else in the northern beaches it is likely that the club will be based somewhere else or dead. Sad but true
Like all true Manly fans I bleed Maroon and white and love everything about the Sea Eagles club. But Brookvale oval, in its current form is simply not good enough. It’s not just that Brookie is 30 years past its use buy date, that in its self is enough to warrant for redevelopment. It’s an embarrassment that we have a world class sporting team whom over the last 40 years has been one of the most successful club in the domestic and world stage, yet we still play at a ground that is looking like it is about to fall down and is nothing even remotely resembling a professional facility.
I know a Brookvale oval rant is nothing new on this site but unless something is done and done fast I have a real fear that we will have to be either relocated to the central coast , to the world worst stadium at Homebush (SFS would be the best of a bad situation if this was the case) or the worst of fates be dead as a club in the next 5-10 years because our ground is consider unsafe in its current condition. Don’t get me wrong I love a suburban ground, they are great, but the reality is that they are a dying breed in today’s modern pro sport for many reasons and unless something can be done we are going to be left behind as other clubs are handed new or improved grounds that are in keeping with the standards of a modern sporting competition.
I was born and bred in Wollongong, I fell in love with the Sea Eagles because Bob Fulton was the star of the day and who also came from the junior club I had just started playing at as a 7 year old. I was not alone, 2 of my best mates did the same and we now sit together in the Jane Try Stands, two of us coming from the eastern suburbs and the third still coming up from Wollongong. My dad when he was able would make the long trip to Brookvale oval and as a kid it was up there with him taking me to the SCG to watch the cricket. But the gloss has well and truly worn off now.
I have sent several emails to the club and have always received prompt replies assuring me that they are working towards a solution but I’m worried that due to inaction from all levels of government means that this is never going to happen on the scale required. We need a new stadium, and dare I say it more manly fans need to become members and go to as many home games as possible to support the club. For me, nothing short of a completely new, modern all (or at least 90%)seating stadium similar to the one on the gold coast will do. I know some of you love it on the hill, but those days are gone. To keep the club going financially it needs to be playing in a modern, corporate and family friendly facility that all manly fans and those living on the northern beaches can benefit from. Unless this is achieved at Brookvale or somewhere else in the northern beaches it is likely that the club will be based somewhere else or dead. Sad but true