Stadium Australia, presently known as ANZ Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct of Homebush, Sydney, Australia. A modern stadium (plural stadiums or stadia in English is a place or venue for (mostly outdoor Sports Concerts or other events consisting Sydney Olympic Park is a 640-hectare site located in the Suburb of Homebush Bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The stadium was completed in March 1999 at a cost of A$690 million to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD) is the Currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever The stadium held the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup Final. "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby union world cup and was won by England. The Rugby World Cup Final is the most important Rugby union match in the world

The stadium was originally built to temporarily hold 110,000 spectators, making it the largest Olympic Stadium ever built as well as the largest stadium in Australia. The Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the big centrepiece Stadium of the Summer Olympic Games. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. In 2003 reconfiguration work was completed to shorten the north and south wings, and install movable seating. Movable seating is a feature of some modern Stadiums often known as convertible stadiums, or moduable stadiums. These changes reduced the capacity to 83,500 for a rectangular field and 81,500 for an oval field. Awnings were also added over the North and South stands, which means that now most of the seating is under cover.

Naming rights history

The stadium lacked a naming rights sponsor in its formative years, bearing the name Stadium Australia between its opening in 1999 and 2002. In 2002, telecommunications company Telstra acquired the naming rights, resulting in the stadium being known as Telstra Stadium. Telstra or Telstra Corporation (often abbreviated as Telstra Corp) () is an Australian Telecommunications and media company formerly Naming rights are the right to name a piece of Property, either tangible property or an event usually granted in exchange for financial considerations On December 12, 2007 it was announced by the Stadium Australia Group (SAG) that the stadium's name was to be changed to ANZ Stadium after concluding a deal with ANZ Bank worth around AU$31. Events 627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II 's Persian Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited () commonly called ANZ, is the fourth largest Bank in Australia, after the National Australia 5 Million over 7 years. ^[1] This change took effect on January 1, 2008. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common

Confusion with the Stadium's current naming rights relates to the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in Brisbane, which was also formerly known as ANZ Stadium. The QSAC was formerly known as ANZ Stadium ANZ now holds the naming rights for Sydney's Stadium Australia. Prior to Telstra's naming rights agreement in 2002, the venue being named as Stadium Australia had led to confusion by many with the Sydney Football Stadium, which was formerly known as Aussie Stadium. The Sydney Football Stadium (colloquially known as SFS, and formerly known as Aussie Stadium between 2002 and mid-2007 is located in Moore Park, in

Event history

Large Crowds

The first musical act to have been held at the newly built stadium was the Bee Gees consisting of Barry Robin & Maurice Gibb in March 1999. The band had embarked on what would be their final world tour as a group before the death of their brother Maurice the culmination of the tour ending in the newly built Olympic Stadium. The turnout crowd was 105,000+. The first sporting event held at the stadium was on March 6, 1999 when a then record rugby league crowd of 104,583 watched the NRL first round double-header, featuring Newcastle v Manly and Parramatta v St George Illawarra Dragons. Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional Rugby league football team based in Newcastle New South Wales. The Manly - Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional Rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional Rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The St George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional Rugby league football team

The stadium was not officially opened until June 1999 when Australia played the FIFA All Stars. The Australian national football team represents Australia in international association football competitions Australia won the match 3-2 in front of a crowd of 88,101. ANZ Stadium also played host to Australia's historic playoff win over Uruguay in November 2005, a victory which granted Australia FIFA World Cup qualification for only the second time in the country's history. The Uruguay national football team is controlled by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol. The FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international Association football The event attracted a virtual capacity crowd of 92,698.

The 1999 Bledisloe Cup rugby union match between the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks attracted a then world record rugby union crowd of 107,042. Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in Rugby union. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The All Blacks are New Zealand's national team in Rugby union, the country's National sport. In 2000 this was bettered when a crowd of 111,874 witnessed the 'Greatest ever Rugby Match' when a Jonah Lomu try sealed an All Blacks win over the Wallabies 39-35. Jonah Tali Lomu, MNZM (born 12 May 1975 is a New Zealand Rugby union footballer The All Blacks had led 24-nil after 11 minutes only to see Australia draw level at 24 all by half time.

On August 7, 1999, a National Football League (American Football) exhibition game was played between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers, bringing home former AFL player Darren Bennett, the Chargers' punter. Events 322 BC - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon following the death of Alexander the Great. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league. American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego California. The Australian Football League (AFL is both the professional Australian national competition in the Sport of Australian Rules Football and its highest The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego California. A punter ( P) in American or Canadian football is a Special teams player who receives the snapped ball directly from the line of scrimmage and The Broncos won the game 20-17. This was Australia's first, and currently only, American Bowl game. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The American Bowl was a series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States between 1986 and

The 1999 National Rugby League Grand Final, played on the 26th of September, between the Melbourne Storm and the St George Illawarra Dragons, broke the rugby league world record crowd previously set earlier in the season when 107,999 came to watch the Storm defeat the Dragons 20-18. A Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sporting term used to describe a final that decides a league champion The Melbourne Storm is a professional Rugby league football club based in the city of Melbourne, Australia The St George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional Rugby league football team

During the 2000 Olympics, the evening track and field session on day 11 attracted 113,524 spectators. "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever ^[2] Also during the Olympics, the association football (soccer) final attracted 104,098 to witness Cameroon defeat Spain for its first ever Olympic gold medal. The football tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics was the 20th official Olympic Games football tournament The Cameroon national football team, nicknamed Lions Indomptables (Indomitable Lions, is controlled by the Fédération Camerounaise de Football and is Africa's The Spanish National Football Team, commonly referred to as La Selección, is the national football team of Spain and is controlled by the es [[Spanish

The Opening ceremony for the 2000 Olympics the stadium was completely sold out all 110,000 seats, while the highest attendance ever recorded was 114,714 during the Closing Ceremony of the same Games.

Reconfiguration

In October 2001, major reconfiguration work on the stadium was commenced to allow for sports that require an oval field, such as cricket and Australian rules football to be played at the ground. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Australian (rules football, or simply known as football, footy or Aussie rules, is a Team sport played between two teams of 18 players The two wing stands were removed as well as the athletics track and a movable seating section was introduced in its place. Movable seating is a feature of some modern Stadiums often known as convertible stadiums, or moduable stadiums. New roofs were built over the two ends and seats that had a poor view of the field were removed. The reconfiguration reduced the capacity to 83,500 for the rectangular field and 81,500 for the oval field at a total cost of $80 million.

ANZ Stadium before the Los Angeles Galaxy - Sydney FC match. Los Angeles Galaxy (aka LA Galaxy) is an American soccer club based in Los Angeles California. Sydney FC, founded in 2004, is an Australian Association football (soccer club based in Sydney and competes in Australia's premier competition

The reconfiguration work was completed in October 2003 in time for the 2003 Rugby World Cup where the then Telstra Stadium hosted the opening game, two other groups games, both Semi-Finals, the third place play-off and Final matches of the competition. The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby union world cup and was won by England. In the first Semi-Final on November 15, 2003, Australia beat New Zealand 22-10 and then in the second Semi-Final the following day England beat France 24-7. Events 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. In the final, on November 22, England beat Australia 20-17 in extra time. Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran

The Sydney Swans v Collingwood AFL match at the Stadium on Saturday 23 August 2003 set an attendance record for the largest crowd to watch an AFL game outside of Victoria with 72,393 spectators (near capacity) attending and was the largest home-and-away AFL crowd at any Australian stadium for 2003. The Sydney Swans is an Australian Football League (AFL club based in Sydney, New South Wales. Collingwood Football Club, officially nicknamed The Magpies is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The Australian Football League (AFL is both the professional Australian national competition in the Sport of Australian Rules Football and its highest Events 79 - Mount Vesuvius begins stirring on the feast day of Vulcan the Roman god of fire Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.

October 2, 2005 saw 82,453 attend the NRL grand final in which the Wests Tigers defeated the North Queensland Cowboys 30-16. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Wests Tigers are a professional Rugby league football club in the National Rugby League (NRL the premier Rugby league competition in Australasia The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional Rugby league football team based in Townsville Queensland.

On October 1, 2006 the official attendance at the NRL grand final was 79,609 people. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. This is the first grand final played by two non-NSW teams. The Brisbane Broncos defeated the Melbourne Storm 15-8. The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional Rugby league club based in the city of Brisbane Queensland. The Melbourne Storm is a professional Rugby league football club based in the city of Melbourne, Australia

November 16, 2005 saw 82,698 attend the second leg of the Oceania-South America Qualification Playoff game for qualification to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Events 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th instance of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament Australia defeated Uruguay 1-0, which led to a penalty shootout as Uruguay had won the first leg of the playoff 1-0. The Australian national football team represents Australia in international association football competitions The Uruguay national football team is controlled by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol. Penalty shootouts, properly named kicks from the penalty mark, are a method sometimes used to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament (or wins the tournament Australia won this shootout 4-2, and the penalty spot where John Aloisi's spot kick secured victory has been permanently preserved and is on public display at the stadium. John Aloisi (born 5 February 1976 in Adelaide, Australia) is an Australian Football (soccer Striker who most recently plays for A-League ^[3]

Regular sporting events

Track and Field events at Stadium Australia during the 2000 Summer Olympics

The stadium's main entrance, seen from the adjoining street (Olympic Boulevard) at its East side. "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever

ANZ Stadium, Sydney.

The National Rugby League (NRL) holds its Grand Final at the stadium. Premiership games are also played throughout the regular season. The ground is the home ground for the Bulldogs and since 2006 the South Sydney Rabbitohs. The Bulldogs Rugby League Football Club (formerly Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and "The Berries") are an Australian professional Rugby league The South Sydney Rabbitohs, also known as Souths, The Bunnies, SSFC or The Rabbits, are an Australian professional Rugby league The Wests Tigers have used the venue as one of their home grounds since 2005 while the St George Illawarra Dragons will play some home games there during the upcoming 2008 season, due to re-developments at OKI Jubilee. The Wests Tigers are a professional Rugby league football club in the National Rugby League (NRL the premier Rugby league competition in Australasia The St George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional Rugby league football team The 2008 National Rugby League premiership (known as the Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons was the one hundred and first season of professional The stadium is also one of the hosts for the annual rugby league State of Origin series between New South Wales and Queensland. History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games State of Origin is an annual best-of-three series of Rugby league matches between the Maroons, representing the state of Queensland, and the Blues Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent The stadium hosts one State of Origin match in odd-numbered years and two in even-numbered years, although in 2006, a NSW allocated "home game" was taken to Melbourne's Telstra Dome, as part of National Rugby League initiatives to make inroads into the state of Victoria. Docklands Stadium, known as Telstra Dome, and originally as Victoria Stadium and Colonial Stadium, is a multi purpose sports and entertainment The Sydney Swans Australian Football League side plays several games at the venue each season, as well as the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Sydney Swans is an Australian Football League (AFL club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Australian Football League (AFL is both the professional Australian national competition in the Sport of Australian Rules Football and its highest The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG is a sports Stadium in Sydney. At least two Rugby Union tests a year are also played at the stadium - usually a Bledisloe Cup match, and a tour match. In the near future the New South Wales Waratahs will play some of their home fixtures at the stadium. The New South Wales Waratahs (referred to as HSBC Waratahs for sponsorship reasons the Waratahs or simply the ' Tahs) are an Australian The NSW Blues also play limited Ford Ranger Cup matches at the stadium. The New South Wales Blues (referred to as the Speed Blitz Blues for sponsorship purposes are an Australian first class cricket team based in The stadium has also hosted Speedway Grand Prix of Australia on one occasion in 2002. The Speedway Grand Prix of Australia was a speedway event that was a part of the Speedway Grand Prix Series

Seating capacity and other records

Notes and references

External links

• ANZ Stadium official website
• Stadium Australia at Austadiums