FOR the first time in more than 60 years, the round ball game will take over from rugby league at WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah, the home of St George Illawarra Dragons.
St George Football Club, just promoted to the Football NSW Premier League first division, will play all their 11 home games at Jubilee Oval, which in the past decade has benefited from $37 million in government grants — aimed to improve facilities for the mainly larger rugby league crowds.
As well as hosting Premier League matches, Sydney FC will again play pre-season games at Kogarah before the 2014 A-League season begins, along with guest appearances by the Australian Socceroos, who beat Costa Rica 1-0 on Tuesday night and who will continue to use Kogarah as a Sydney training base leading up to the World Cup, as will the women's national team, the Matildas.
In comparison, St George Illawarra Dragons have been savaged by fan reaction to their decision to play only three or four of their 12 home games at Jubilee Oval, their spiritual home since 1950.
On Monday, the club announced a "right game, right venue" strategy, which moves four home games from Kogarah and Wollongong to the bigger Sydney stadia for at least the next four seasons as the club searches for greater membership numbers — and more dollars.
The Dragons will host traditional foes South Sydney in a heritage round match at the SCG, continue to alternate hosting rights for the Anzac Day clash with the Roosters at Allianz Stadium; play the Bulldogs home-and-away at ANZ Stadium each year, and welcoming the Tigers or Eels to Homebush.
In 2013, the Dragons home crowd average fell to 12,422 (13th out of 16 in the NRL) in line with their lack of success last year (finished 14th).
And only two months ago, it was announced that St George District Rugby League, 50 per cent stakeholders in St George Illawarra Dragons, owed Kogarah Council more than $250,000 in rent for the lease of Jubilee Oval, and had entered into a new repayment plan, after falling 18 months behind. So the Dragons decided to take the $100,000 carrot to transfer home games to the major stadia where the likes of South Sydney and Canterbury Bulldogs play their home games.
Dragons CEO Peter Doust said: "We would ask people to understand this is a decision for the long-term viability of the Dragons and it's for the long-term continued investment in our communities across our region.
"Give us the opportunity to prove that and not look at it superficially being a couple of games from our traditional venues."
St George FC, home of the late, great Socceroo captain Johnny Warren, is thrilled about "taking over" Jubilee Oval, where they say they only need 200 paying fans to break even next year.
‘‘It is a bit surprising the Dragons have done that, because you always have to appeal to your local fan base,’’ said longtime St George FC president Ross Gardner. ‘‘But we’re more than happy to fill the void. ‘‘We will be building a new home ground but in the meantime we applied [to the council] and was granted approval so we could kick off our return to the Premier League.
‘‘We’ve managed to keep our team together which won the State League, and we’re in the process of finding Premier League players to add to our squad. It is a very exciting time for us and for football in general.’’
Kogarah Jubilee has been the home ground of St George rugby league since 1950 after it was constructed in Kogarah Park for Kogarah’s jubilee celebrations in 1936.
Saints were based at Kogarah during their world record-breaking 11 successive premierships (1956-1966).
Since their return to Kogarah in 2003, league crowds have benefited by large grandstand and ground extensions, and more recently the ‘‘boutique’’ ground has hosted the Australian Socceroos, the Kangaroos, Manchester United, Sydney FC and St George Football Club (soccer).
What do you think about St George Ilawarra's decision...will you watch St George Football Club home games at Jubilee Oval next year?
