A-League club Western Sydney believes it is "on track to become the first team in the history of Australian sport to sell out all their home games in a season," according to Sebastian Hassett of the CANBERRA TIMES. On the eve of Western Sydney's "second home game of the campaign against Adelaide United -- for which a few tickets remain -- the Wanderers are confident there won't be a spare seat by kick-off for every match at Pirtek Stadium." The "main reason for the scarcity of tickets" is because the Wanderers "sold 16,100 memberships, leaving about 4000 tickets for the general public each week." As of Wednesday night, "the only tickets available for the match against the Reds on Friday were single seats in the east stand and in the unreserved area at the stadium's southern end" (CANBERRA TIMES, 10/31).
FFA CONSIDERS LARGER VENUE: The AAP reported the FFA is considering "shifting the A-League Sydney derbies to a bigger venue next season and have already booked ANZ Stadium should the cross-town rivals meet in this campaign's grand final." Last week's "first clash of the season between Western Sydney and Sydney FC was a sell-out," amassing a record crowd of 40,388 at Allianz Stadium -- trumping Sydney's "largest crowd for regular-season game and far exceeding last season's best figure for the derby of 26,176 at the same ground." With the Jan. 11 fixture "between the two sides also sure to be a sell-out," the debate has again been raised "over moving it from the 20,000-seater Pirtek Stadium to a larger venue like ANZ Stadium," which can accommodate more than 80,000 fans. A-League President Damien de Bohun, while "open to the possibility for next season, has all but ruled out a switch of venue for the two remaining Sydney derbies this campaign." De Bohun said that besides the "Wanderers' contractual obligations to play their home games at Pirtek Stadium, they also wouldn't want to do wrong by their 16,000 members" (AAP, 10/30).
