The Western Grandstand at EnergyAustralia Stadium

[Cheesie-the-Pirate]

I'll give this a bump, because I'm interested too and there seems to be nothing out there at all.

All I've been able to get is Nearmap.

http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-32.91878,15 ... d=20100821

[Maddog88]

Drove past on the weekend and they have started to put up some of the framework for the top tier and have made a fair bit of progress since the end of the NRL season.

[danny]

good news to come out of the motocross brouhaha.

Pitch Transformation For Galaxy Game

EXCLUSIVE: EnergyAustralia Stadium pitch is set to undergo a transformation with a whiz-bang new grass for Newcastle Jets' glamour tie with LA Galaxy, with tickets now on sale.

Following a purchasing window for Jets Members, around 10,000 public tickets went on sale yesterday morning for the Saturday November 27 clash.

Prices for a family on the “Picnic Hill” are set at $30 while general admission on the Hill is at $50. At the other end of the scale premium tickets are going for $175.

And in further good news, the damaged EA stadium surface is set to rival the pristine pitch at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.

Hunter Venues, through the assistance of the NSW Government, have begun replacing 4200m2 of the stadium turf extensively damaged after a SuperX event on October 16.

EA Stadium is taking this opportunity to invest in a special sports turf call StaLok. This is the same turf used at Melbourne’s AAMI Park and they say it will allow for a quick turnaround from laying to playing through incorporation of UV resistant fibres within the profile beneath the turf.

StaLok also provides additional load bearing capacity to the surface with stadium bosses boasting the ground will be ready for the Jets’ home game on November 13.

“The focus for this project has been to achieve a result that caters to the busy schedule at the Stadium over the coming months, and guaranteeing the safety of all who play on the surface. Our expert advice suggests that once laid, the surface will be suitable for play within a couple of days,” said Hunter Venues Chairman, Ted Atchison.

It all points to a very special night in the rich history of football in the Hunter. And if there’s one person who knows what is about to hit, it’s Newcastle-born former Sydney FC defender Robbie Middleby.

The now retired footballer lined-up against Beckham’s LA Galaxy in late 2007 in front of over 80,000 fans at Sydney’s ANZ stadium.

The A-League team won 5-3 in an entertaining encounter. Aside from the goals – including a stunning free-kick from the England midfielder that bust Clint Bolton's net - many remember the game for a Middleby hip and shoulder which resulted in the England superstar breaking a rib.

The subsequent on-field spat between the pair followed by hugs also made headlines.

Middleby – now football operations manager at North Queensland Fury – has fond memories of that night.

“You know what? That first year it happened so many people asked me exactly what he whispered in my ear. It was fabulous but more than that, just to be in that game with the crowd and the atmosphere and with his free kick. I just hope this one is as entertaining as that one," he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“It lived up to the everything that it promised to be. It was absolutely incredible - just the hooplah that goes with it. And it wasn’t just the football men it was the women who wanted to be there and get a glimpse of him.

“We did a function the day before the game with the Sydney FC players and all the media and I just remember that day you had all different rugby league players and guys from different sports all lining up just to get a picture with them and David Beckham."

Middleby also paid tribute to the new ownership of the Jets for their efforts to lift the game and club in such a traditional football base.

Middleby added: “Beckham brings so much to the game. He might not be at that level as a player any more but what he can do off the field is absolutely tremendous.

"To bring someone like that out here again is a magic thing.”

FourFourTwo

[timmers]

“The focus for this project has been to achieve a result that caters to the busy schedule at the Stadium over the coming months, and guaranteeing the safety of all who play on the surface. Our expert advice suggests that once laid, the surface will be suitable for play within a couple of days,” said Hunter Venues Chairman, Ted Atchison.

Lets hope thats not the same expert advice they got before allowing the Super X to take place

[gyfox]

Hunter Venues, through the assistance of the NSW Government, have begun replacing 4200m2 of the stadium turf extensively damaged after a SuperX event on October 16.

Interesting that they are only replacing part of the pitch.

[AussieSox]

I was amazed with the progress of the new stand when i was up there this week!

[timmers]

I was amazed with the progress of the new stand when i was up there this week!

Looking forward to checking it out myself when I'm watcing the F3 derby on Wednesday night

[Adelaide_United_Red]

@Timmers...Can you get some pictures please, its been ages since we got those low-def pics in the Terror after the K-niggets ruined the turf with a super-X event. cheers:)

[timmers]

@Timmers...Can you get some pictures please, its been ages since we got those low-def pics in the Terror after the K-niggets ruined the turf with a super-X event. cheers:)

I'll see what I can do. Will most likely be of poor quality, I don't have a great camera, but better than nothing I suppose

[timmers]

@Timmers...Can you get some pictures please, its been ages since we got those low-def pics in the Terror after the K-niggets ruined the turf with a super-X event. cheers:)

I'll see what I can do. Will most likely be of poor quality, I don't have a great camera, but better than nothing I suppose

Rightio, I've got the pics, now how do I upload these bad boys?

Anyone's help will be much appreciated. I don't think my facebook's privacy settings will allow you to see them through a link to that.

[beastjim]

Well load them up onto something that does allow free sharing ect. I tend to use www.imageshack.us, if you haven't resized them off the camera then imageshack provides an inbuilt thing to do that (ps 800x600 will do us nicely if you're unsure). Then it will give you a link to the photo in a big box, copy that link. Over here on Austadiums, in a reply hit the IMG button then just paste the link inbetween the two IMG tag boxes that pop up in the reply screen. Quite easy really.

[timmers]

Thanks for that Beastjim, now I know for future reference. Cheers.

So, here is the existing stand (Eastern Side) for a reference



New stand from the Southern End



The Southern End of the pitch. Are they hosting a hop-scotch tournament in the near future?


View from the outside


View across the front of the new stand, you can see the balconies for TV and corporates


Looks like a fairly wide concourse under the stand



Looking towards the pitch from within, showing how much further back the seats have to come. This is behind the current seating they have on the ends of the Western side, so they have a good 5 or 6 more rows I would imagine


This shows the back of the corner, significant foundations

[Boba Fett]

Thanks for those Timmers. So is the western stand going to be pretty much an exact mirror of the eastern one? With minor variations for TV, commentary/coaches boxes, etc?

[the crow]

I would say it is a better section as it dosnt have to deal with a close boundary like the east, so things like concourses, food and beverage will be better than the east, same roof, generally similar section except for a bigger corporate deck and more seats + media and camera positions....all in all (when it is finished) it will be a good example of how to do a cheap RP stadium.


but come on...finish it all ready.

When Americans see it from the wekends game (all 17 of them) they will wonder what we have for a WC bid if that is the state of one of our future WC stadiums.

[cam]

Pretty sure the top deck is a bit bigger as well. Will be great when finished! They still need to do a bit of work on the area surrounding the stadium by the looks of things. Would love to get there one day.. only driven through Newcastle once though.
Great pics btw!