The Australian
Wanderers won't shift on Del Piero match
by: Ray Gatt
From: The Australian
September 12, 2012 12:00AM
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THE Alessandro Del Piero phenomenon has not budged new A-League entity Western Sydney Wanderers, with the club refusing to switch the derby against Sydney FC to a bigger venue.
Despite fears thousands of fans could be locked out when the Italian legend plays for the Sky Blues against Wanderers in the third round of the competition on October 20, Western Sydney officials will leave the match at Parramatta Stadium.
The venue can hold only 20,000 and, with suggestions double the amount would attend the game because of the Del Piero factor, there were calls for the club to move it to the 80,000-capacity ANZ Stadium.
However, executive chairman Lyall Gorman said the Wanderers were determined to keep faith with their fans.
"We listened to the football community of western Sydney and they voted overwhelmingly in favour of Parramatta Stadium as the Wanderers' home ground," he said.
"We understand that our first ever match, against the Mariners (October 6), and the first ever Sydney derby will be hot tickets and that some of the public may miss out, but our commitment to our members comes first."
Gorman suggested the best way not to miss out was to become a foundation member of WSW. "Anyone thinking about becoming a Wanderers foundation member should move quickly," he said.
"Once the national on-sale commences, I think the Wanderers' home matches, particularly the Sydney derby, will be in high demand."
The Wanderers yesterday added two foreign players to their squad, boosting numbers to 18.
Italian Iacopo La Rocca and Dutchman Youssouf Hersi have signed one-year deals.
La Rocca, 28, a defensive midfielder, has had one trial and impressed coach Tony Popovic enough to earn a contract.
The Italian has has had stints in Italy and Switzerland.
Hersi, 30, adds experience to the Wanderers' defence after stints in The Netherlands, Greece and Cyprus.
Meanwhile, Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond is understood to be looking at signing former star striker Joel Griffiths, who is playing for Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua.
However, the club is also believed to be chasing a marquee player after seeing the reaction to Del Piero's signing at Sydney.
Griffiths, 33, has played 11 games this season with Shanghai and scored three goals.
