No mention of any upgrades to hunter stadium, need to have a big push for the facilities. Cooks hill should be pushing for that upgrade they just got knocked back on.Asian Cup legacy needs to be facilities
By JAMES GARDINER
March 27, 2013, 11 p.m.
HUNTER Stadium was confirmed on Wednesday as one of five venues for the 2015 Asian Cup, offering the city an unprecedented television reach of billions in 84 countries.
Two pool games, a semi-final, possibly featuring the Socceroos, and the play-off for third place will be staged in Newcastle during the three-week festival from January 9 to 31.
The Asian Cup is the biggest sporting event in Australia since the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the biggest football event the nation has staged.
More than 500,000 spectators, including 45,000 from overseas, are expected to attend 32 games, pouring millions of dollars into the economy.
Newcastle, which will host pool games on January 12 and 17, is the only non-capital host city. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra are the other venues.
Hunter Stadium will host a semi-final on January 27 and the third-place play-off on January 30.
The semi-final will feature the Socceroos if they finish second in their pool and win their quarter-final.
The tournament comprises 16 national teams from Asia and the Middle East.
Japan, South Korea and North Korea have already qualified.
‘‘Our major trading partners, and over half of the world’s population will be focused on Newcastle,’’ said Newcastle MP Tim Owen, who was part of a joint delegation between state and federal governments, Newcastle City Council and Venues NSW, which formulated the successful bid. ‘‘This is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our city and this magnificent region.’’
Newcastle has a long and proud football heritage.
Minmi Rangers, formed in 1884 at what was then known as Kelly’s Paddock, was the region’s foundation club.
A year later, Lambton Park hosted the first recognised match between teams representing south of Lambton and north of Lambton.
Northern NSW Football, in which Newcastle is central, has developed into one of the most influential regions in Australian football, boasting more than 50,000 registered players and an honour roll of 97 Socceroos and 27 Matildas, headed by Ray Baartz and Cheryl Salisbury.
The Newcastle Jets, with 11,311, have the second largest membership in the A-League behind Melbourne Victory.
The Socceroos beat New Zealand 3-0 in 1997 at Breakers Stadium, now The Gardens greyhound track, in the last international played in Newcastle.
Australian Asian Cup organiser Michael Brown said the hosting rights recognised the region’s importance on the football landscape.
‘‘I was asked ‘Why Newcastle?’’’ he said.‘‘The answer was very simple: 30,000 participants, two A-League teams this side of the Hawkesbury, a really engaged community and people passionate about their sport.
‘‘If the event is going to leave a legacy, it needs passionate people driving that through communities and business opportunities.’’
Newcastle federal MP Sharon Grierson said the global audience presented an unprecedented opening: ‘‘It will leverage economic, diplomatic, trade and social benefits if we get it right.’’
Northern NSW Football chief executive David Eland said the timing of the event was ideal.
Northern is lobbying the state government for $7.3million for its proposed $11.3million elite training centre at Speers Point Park.
‘‘The enduring legacy of the Asian Cup needs to be in facilities,’’ Mr Eland said.
‘‘We certainly hope that Wanderers Oval (at Broadmeadow), which has been identified as a training venue, gets a significant investment.
‘‘The other massive opportunity for us is the pre-competition camp.
‘‘Now we have games and there is going to be a semi-final, I hope we have some of the big nations fighting each other to be based here.
‘‘That is why the elite facility at Speers Point is vital.’’
http://www.theherald.com.au/story/13...lities/?cs=305
So Magic will get a ground upgrade provided by the government?
I'm sure the seating will be there.....I'm far more excited about the probability of a new surface, tempered by the fear that the turf won't "take" four weeks before the tournament.
Jets probably won't be allowed to play at home for a couple of months either !
stop complaining about the facilities at newy, there have been some real tinpot stadiums used in previous asian cups.
lol at the deluded fools thinking heaps of money is going to flow from this. dreaming if you think stadiums are going to be upgraded using the pittance made. australia was the only bidder for the 2015 asian cup.
willing to bet anyone on here $50 that temp or permanent seating won't be put over the hills in hunter stadium.
on the schedule;
the first game in newy is D1 v D4 so one of the seeded teams will be playing in newy (s korea, n korea or japan)
the second game in newcastle will be on at the same time as the australia game in brisbane, who is going to watch this?
makes logistic sense that all the teams fly into NSW/sydney after the quater finals. scg trust must have put fvck all effort into trying to win games.
Pfft, Corroba Oval represent.
going to be doing the quadruple header.
canberra - 10th
canberra - 11th
newy - 12th
canberra 13th
taking the whole month off i think.
imagine if korean peninsula is reunited by then and they send a unified team. history in newcastle.
Top seeds FFS.The Socceroos are confirmed as the top seeds in the draw for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia, organisers have announced.
Postecoglou: Unite for the Asian Cup
Iraq, China through to Asian Cup
The tournament kicks off on 9 January next year and reaches its climax with the final at ANZ Stadium on 31 January.
Ange Postecoglou's Socceroos will be joined by Iran, Japan and Uzbekistan as the highest seeded countries in the 16-team tournament.
The Socceroos could face old rival Korea Republic, which is seeded fifth, in its group.
The Asian Football Confederation has released the seedings and mechanism for the final draw to take place in Sydney on 26 March.
There will be four pots with Australia occupying the A1 position of Pot 1 and the rest of the countries receiving their respective positions based on the latest FIFA rankings released this week.
The highest ranked four countries will be slotted in Pot 1 and the rest will be slotted in Pots 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
Each one of the four groups in the finals will contain a team from each pot.
The seedings are:
Pot 1 (teams ranked 1-4): Australia, Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan.
Pot 2 (teams ranked 5-8): Korea Republic, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia.
Pot 3 (teams ranked 9-12): Oman, China, Qatar, Iraq.
Pot 4 (teams ranked 13-16): Bahrain, Kuwait, DPR Korea and 2014 Challenge Cup winner.
The draw at the Sydney Opera House will feature the 15 confirmed sides, with the winner of the Challenge Cup which takes place in the Maldives in May, to take the final position.
Oman, Bahrain, Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia all qualified as qualifying group winners, while Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Iraq progressed as runners-up.
China earned its ticket as the best third-place finisher among the five qualifying groups.
Defending champion Japan, host Australia and Korea Republic received direct entry to the finals by finishing first, second and third respectively at the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar while DPR Korea sealed its place courtesy of victory in the 2012 Challenge Cup.
The Socceroos have taken part in two Asian Cup tournaments since it joined the AFC in 2006.
Australia reached the quarter-finals in 2007 where it lost to Japan on penalties in Hanoi.
Four years later it went all the way to the final but again fell to Japan 1-0 after extra-time in Doha.
Japan and Sth Korea are definitely superior to us
I think its only coz we're hosts