It was a question Gloucester resident, Ray Fitzgerald started to ask after hearing on the news that the NSW Government intended to replace the Sydney football stadium with a new one.

The State government started talking about the conversational decision under the leadership of premier Mike Baird in late 2015. This has since been confirmed and now under the current premier, Gladys Berejiklian works are ready to commence.

In light for the pending demolition, Ray thought it would be a waste to simply throw out the 45,000 seats, so he decided to write a letter asking if Gloucester could have some of them.

In September, he emailed off the same letter to Ms Berejiklian and the State’s Minister for Sport, Stuart Ayres.

“I sent a request for seating and seat railing,” Ray explained. “To be given to our local sports field that has been half finished for many years, so we can now have somewhere to sit undercover to watch our local sports games.”

He pitched the idea based on the need for undercover seating in the grandstand at the Bert Gallagher Oval, prior to the October funding announcement for the grandstands upgrade.

On October 22, Ray received a reply from the Sydney Cricket Sports Ground Trust that basically said that if you want them, come and get them. Obviously there are a few legal requirements, waviers and things to be sorted, but otherwise the letter stated:

“Can you please confirm: preference of which seating system you would prefer, and quantity of seats required.”

The two types of seating available are: cantilever or pedestal.

Ray believes this is an opportunity that many of the Gloucester sporting clubs should take advantage of, so he wants to know who’s interested. He plans to attend the next Gloucester Sports Committee meeting to see which clubs might want some, but time is of the essence. 

If you’re interested in a few chairs or are able to help pick them up, contact Ray on 0417 250 937 or email ecogreengloucester@gmail.com.