One stretch of land has created a tug of war between two football clubs, the A-League’s Sydney FC and local Sydney Olympic.
The two clubs are both looking to build a Centre of Excellence at Tempe Reserve, in an attempt to foster the world class football academy Sydney has lacked.
Sydney FC has its reputation as a top tier club training the country’s best, while Sydney Olympic has community support and a long running history of grassroots football training attached to its name.
The Reserve is currently in the Marrickville Council’s hands and they ultimately have the last say on who gets to develop the land.
The site sits near the foot of Sydney Airport and is one of the main spots Sydney FC is looking to build their new headquarters, training base and Centre for Excellence project.
They’re hoping to accommodate youth teams down to grassroots levels with the development, to mirror academies started by fellow A-League team Central Coast Mariners.
With the buy-out of Melbourne Heart, rumours have circulated that the club is considering creating a training academy at the grounds of La Trobe University to introduce the first A-League affiliated academy in Melbourne. The time is ripe and somewhat delayed for Sydney FC to start their own journey outside of
the A-League.
Sydney FC Chairman Scott Barlow has always wanted for the club to progress and sink its teeth into the neighbourhood, providing a more robust future for the club in its 10 year existence.
Sydney Olympic, on the other hand, has community support and a much longer running relationship with the area. Its longevity has been a testament to the Greek community that started and nurtured it.
Sydney Olympic vice president, Graham Athanaseris, says the community involvement Sydney Olympic has is one of the biggest positives for the club and its biggest asset in winning the building permits.
“We are a community based club, and we’re not about private enterprise, we’re about availing the opportunity to the greater community, and that’s schools in the area, public and private sector,” he tells Neos Kosmos.
“They’re looking at making money out of their Centre of Excellence, we’re doing this to create an opportunity, it’s not about making money, it’s about adding value.”
Private school Newington College who uses the Reserve first began talks with Olympic for a joint application to see them share the future facilities.
Sydney FC jumped on the bandwagon the minute Olympic made its intentions known, Mr Athanaseris says.
The school already has an existing relationship with Olympic regarding use of Tasker Park in Canterbury and past and present players have attended the school.
If Sydney FC fails to get its development at Tempe Reserve, it’s made no secret that it has been looking at plan B sites.
Leichhardt Oval was one such site, where the club approached the council last year to nut out if the plan was viable and would be met with council support.
If Sydney FC and Olympic get the green light, (and one moves to another site), will the business model be viable? Can two Sydney academies co-exist?
Mr Athanaseris believes the two Centres can and will co-exist, and won’t be hampered by one another so much. He believes demand is high and that the two academies will be vastly different.
“The growth of the sport constitutes having more than one facility,” he says.
“I think it’s been lacking in Australia for a very long time.
“The only common denominator we have is lending ourselves to a round ball, we’re going to have other programs in place and we’ve added different aspects
to our bid that Sydney FC wouldn’t have considered.”
The tug of war will continue, but at least it will be a win-win for the sport.
