A-League side Sydney FC CEO Danny Townsend took a "potshot" at National Rugby League CEO Todd Greenberg and Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop for "backing an ANZ Stadium upgrade ahead of an Allianz Stadium redevelopment," according to Andrew Clennell of THE AUSTRALIAN. Townsend "weighed into Sydney’s stadium wars, saying he had robust discussions" with Gallop on the "need for an upgrade of Allianz Stadium first, but the pair had agreed to disagree." Townsend also suggested Greenberg "had outsized influence" on the NSW government. The Sydney FC exec said, "From our perspective, we believe that the stadium we’re currently in is well past its use-by date. We play in the worst stadium in the A-League." Townsend said that he would "find it hard to believe the government was to first knock down and rebuild Allianz" given that then-NSW Premier Mike Baird said in April '16 that ANZ "would be first." Townsend: "What we have said is that the FFA should be supportive of one of its major constituents in the A-League, which is Sydney FC. Our ... attendance is larger than all of the NRL teams that play at Homebush. Why don’t we get the same voice as Todd Greenberg?" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 11/7).
