Almost 700 fans turned up on Saturday afternoon at Wollongong’s WIN stadium to see Perth Glory youth defeat the sky blues 1-0. This was followed by the W-League clash with Adelaide United won 4-1 by Sydney FC women. 

The day was part of an alliance between South Coast Football – the organisation behind the region’s ongoing A-League bid – and Sydney FC.

And after the weekend games a stroll on the WIN Stadium surface revealed a ground in superb condition and clearly of A-League standard.

What's more, groundwork has begun on a new 9000-seat western grandstand which will take capacity to around 23,000 (three sides are all-seaters with the eastern side remaining as the Hill).

South Coast Football representatives say an upgraded stadium remains a key part of their strategy to keep their bid in the A-League loop.

“The future for us is a step by step approach,” Bill Drossos a director of South Coast Football, told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“We keep ticking the boxes as we go with the National Youth League and Westfield W-League – they both play an important role for us and the region.

"And obviously the stadium’s a big issue for us. It’s now sorted.”

The dilapidated old western grandstand was an issue in the past but has been knocked down and by mid-2011, the first phase should be complete.

By the first quarter of 2012 the new grandstand is set to be officially unveiled.  

“The plan is to attract A-League matches after the new grandstand has been opened and we keep going from there,” added Drossos.

Last week, Sydney FC CEO Edwin Lugt told this website he felt A-League stadiums were generally too big for the competition. Drossos agrees and sees a 23,000 capacity in Wollongong as the right fit for a regional team in the A-League.  

“You need to generate some atmosphere in our grounds which is very difficult to do in a 50-60,000 seat stadium," he said.

"WIN Stadium will be a great little facility with great atmosphere. You can’t get much better in terms of picturesque positioning [adjacent to Wollongong beach] and the surface.”

Drossos confirmed the Hill on the eastern side would remain and it forms a key part of the stadium’s family atmosphere. It all ties in with the bid’s on-going community ownership plan, similar to the one unveiled by North Queensland Fury last week.

“Our model when going through the bid process was very much similar to that," said Drossos." It was a part consortia part community model that we put up.

"It was generally regarded as pretty strong and I still believe that’s the model to go forward with.”

South Coast and other bidders were passed over by FFA in favour of Sydney Rovers for the 12th expansion club. However, that troubled franchise is still locked in talks with FFA about their future with a crisis meeting held last Friday at head office.

There was a glimmer of hope according to FFA regarding Rovers. In the meantime, South Coast Football host another NYL-W-League double header on December 11 at WIN Stadium.  

Drossos added: “Up until we have our own A-League club, we keep building on our relationship with Sydney FC to get more and more A-League games and maybe some Matildas matches, too.”