Melbourne Rectangular Stadium

History

Prior to construction

Until 2010, Olympic Park Stadium was Melbourne's main venue for soccer, rugby league and rugby union; not purpose-built, it was an athletics stadium with the rectangular grass field set inside the running track, and it could hold 18,500 spectators, but only 11,000 seated. It had been the home ground of the Melbourne Storm since they entered the National Rugby League in 1998. The A-League Men's Melbourne Victory FC also used Olympic Park Stadium from 2005 to 2007 when they switched permanently to Docklands Stadium.

In 2004, as part of Melbourne's bid for a Super Rugby team, the Victorian Government prepared an economic impact study on the development of a world class rectangular stadium in Melbourne.{{cite web | access-date=2010-05-18}} But in late 2004, the bid lost out to the Western Australian consortium, which would become the Western Force.

On 6 April 2006 the Victorian Government announced that a $190 million 20,000-seat rectangular stadium would be built on the site of Edwin Flack Field and would be home to NRL team Melbourne Storm and A-League Men team Melbourne Victory. The stadium's planned capacity was increased to 30,000, with foundations capable of expansion to a capacity of 50,000 if needed. The stadium began construction in late 2007.

In November 2009, when the Super Rugby competition expanded to 15 teams, the Melbourne consortium won the 15th Super Rugby licence, with the new franchise intending to play their games at the new stadium.

The stadium's first match was the 2010 Anzac Test between the Australian and New Zealand rugby league teams on 7 May 2010,{{cite web |access-date=23 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509052719/http://sportal.com.au/league-news-display/anzac-test-opener-81759 |archive-date=9 May 2010 |access-date=23 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501043729/http://moreland-leader.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/field-of-dreams4/ |archive-date=1 May 2010 |access-date=2010-05-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100422075419/http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/126918%2Cheart-deal-or-no-deal.aspx |archive-date=22 April 2010

Notable events hosted: 2010s

Rugby league

The stadium held its first event, rugby league's 2010 Anzac Test, on 7 May 2010. The opening ceremony featured the NRL's all-time highest point-scorer, Hazem El Masri, who had retired the previous season, kicking a goal.{{cite web | last = Read | first = Brent | access-date = 11 May 2010}} The first points scored on the ground were from a Jamie Lyon penalty kick in the 32nd minute, and the first try was scored by Brett Morris in the 39th minute. Australia defeated New Zealand 12–8 in front of a sell-out crowd (near 30,000). Two days later the first National Rugby League match was played at the stadium when the Brisbane Broncos defeated the Melbourne Storm in front of a crowd of 20,042.

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium hosted international matches as part of the Rugby League Four Nations in 2010 and 2014, when Australia defeated England by 34–14 in front of 18,894 fans on 31 October 2010, and again when Australia defeated England by 16–12 on 2 November 2014 (attendance: 20,585). The stadium hosted two matches of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup: the opening match of the tournament between Australia and England, which saw the latter prevail 18-4 in front of a crowd of 22,724, and the quarter final match between England and Papua New Guinea, which saw the latter prevail 36-6 in front of a crowd of 10,563.

Soccer

On 5 August 2010 the stadium played host to its first A-Leagues match. It was also another first, as the newly formed Melbourne Heart FC played their first game in front of 11,050 fans against the Central Coast Mariners. The Heart lost 1–0, and Alex Wilkinson won the honour of scoring the first goal. The first Melbourne Victory match was played at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium v Perth Glory on 14 August 2010 in front of 21,193 fans.

The venue hosted the 2015 AFC Asian Cup opening ceremony and seven international matches including the tournament opener between Australia and Kuwait on 9 January, and a quarter-final match South Korea and Uzbekistan on 22 January.

From the 2020-21 A-League season to the 2023-24 A-League season, Western United FC began also playing home games out of the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, while they awaited the construction of their new home base, Ironbark Fields, in Tarneit. Western United's last home game at the stadium prior to the completion of Ironbark Fields occurred on 14 March 2024 against crosstown rivals Melbourne Victory, with the match concluding in a 2-2 draw in front of a crowd of 3058. On 28 October 2024, Western United announced that their 2024-25 A-League Men season home games against Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory on 4 November 2024 and 1 December 2024 respectively would be played at AAMI Park.

AAMI Park played host to 6 Matches as part of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 under its non-commercial name of Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. It also acted as a secondary live site for the Australia vs England semi-final match, as well as the primary live site for the third-place match and the final when Federation Square decided to stop showing matches.

The Stadium hosted two Open Training Sessions on 21 & 23 May 2024 as part of Global Football Week Melbourne. The Session on 21 May 2024 included Tottenham Hotspur and the A-Leagues All Stars Men, while the Session on 23 May 2024 included Arsenal Womens and the A-Leagues All Stars Women.

Rugby union

The Melbourne Rebels played their first Super Rugby match at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on 18 February 2011. The Melbourne Rising played their first National Rugby Championship match on 24 August 2014, defeating the North Harbour Rays by a resounding 55–34 score.{{cite web |access-date=24 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824092825/http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/nrc-north-harbour-rays-v-melbourne-rising-review/ |archive-date=24 August 2014 The Rising played a semifinal at the stadium on 25 October 2014, but lost by 29–45 to the Perth Spirit.{{cite web |access-date=27 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027051644/http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/nrc-semi-final-2-melbourne-rising-fall-perth-spirit-soar/ |archive-date=27 October 2014 The Melbourne Rebels played their last match at the stadium on 17 May 2024 against the Chiefs, with the Rebels losing 23–26.

Melbourne Football Club (AFL) training and administrative facilities

The Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) moved its indoor training facilities to the park in 2010, and train at their nearby outdoor training ground at Gosch's Paddock, with its administration staff continuing to be based at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Stadium design

Features

The COX Architecture designed stadium features a "Bioframe" design, with a geodesic dome roof covering much of the seating area, while still allowing light through to the pitch. The northern and southern sides of the stadiums are called the Olympic Side and Yarra Side respectively. The exterior of the stadium is covered in thousands of LED lights which can be programmed to display a variety of patterns and images.{{cite web | date = 2 August 2009 | first = Peter | last = Rolfe

The stadium includes training facilities and office accommodation for Melbourne Storm, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne Football Club, the Victorian Rugby Union, the Victorian Olympic Council, Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre (OPSMC), Imaging@Olympic Park Radiology and Tennis Victoria. The stadium is used by the Melbourne Demons as their administration headquarters. The team had wanted the stadium completed by 2008 to coincide with its 150th anniversary. It has planned to house public bars and cafes, 24 corporate boxes, a dining room with a capacity of 1000 people, a gym and lap pool.

Capacity

The stadium was initially proposed to have a seating capacity of 20,000, upgradeable to 25,000. This was due to both expected demand, as well as a state government agreement with Docklands Stadium that no stadiums with a capacity greater than 30,000 would be constructed in Melbourne before 2010. These plans were revised after the Victory refused to commit to playing at a stadium of such small capacity, having achieved an average attendance of over 27,000 since their move to the Docklands Stadium in the 2006–07 A-League Season.

Alternative plans put forward by the Victorian Government proposed a capacity of 30,050, on the condition that the Victory sign on as a tenant. An agreement was reached and the stadium went ahead at this capacity.{{cite web |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626081328/http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200705/s1931002.htm |archive-date=26 June 2007 | access-date=24 February 2008 | first=Peter | last=Rolfe}} the roof was not designed with this in mind, and so the stadium cannot be expanded without major construction work.{{cite web | access-date=18 September 2009

Upgrades

Following the stadium's opening in 2010, the stadium's features were first upgraded in early 2023, ahead of its fixtures for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The Victorian Government contributed $25 million to replace the old video screens with two new curved screens, install LED sports light technology in the light towers and under the roof canopy, and replace static advertising and wayfinding boards with LED. Player facilities, broadcasting and corporate facilities were also improved as a result of the upgrade.

Crowd records

Concerts

Sporting events

Rugby league test matches

The stadium has hosted six rugby league internationals. The results were as follows;

Men's national soccer team results

The stadium has hosted six Australian men's international soccer matches. The results were as follows;

Women's national soccer team results

The stadium has hosted four Australian women's international matches. The results were as follows;

2015 AFC Asian Cup

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup

The venue hosted six matches of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup – four group games and two knockout ones. Seating capacity for the matches was reduced to 27,706 due to media requirements.

Awards

In 2011 the stadium project was awarded the Australian Institute of Architects (Victorian Chapter) Melbourne Prize for contribution to the civic and public life of Melbourne.

In June 2012 the stadium won the award for the most iconic and culturally significant stadium at the 2012 World Stadium Awards, held in Doha, Qatar.

References

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614150831/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/bubbling-with-excitement-on-opening-night/story-e6frf9if-1225863869762 |archive-date=14 June 2011

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References

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11. (14 July 2023). "AAMI Park upgrades complete ahead of World Cup". Austadiums.
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27. "Melbourne Rectangular Stadium (AAMI Park) – Our past projects – Our projects – Major Projects Victoria". Majorprojects.vic.gov.au.