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 Interior view | |
 Interactive map of Western Sydney Stadium CommBank Stadium | |
| Former names | Bankwest Stadium (2019–2021) |
|---|---|
| Address | 11-13 O'Connell St Parramatta Sydney New South Wales 2150 Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°48′29″S150°59′59″E / 33.80806°S 150.99972°E /-33.80806; 150.99972 |
| Public transit |  Prince Alfred Square |
| Owner | Venues NSW on behalf ofNSW Government |
| Operator | VenuesLive |
| Capacity | 30,000[1] |
| Record attendance | 29,372 (Parramatta Eels vs.Brisbane Broncos, 15 September 2019) |
| Field size | 140 × 80 metres |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 2016 |
| Opened | 14 April 2019 |
| Construction cost | $300 million |
| Architect | Populous |
| Main contractors | Lendlease |
| Tenants | |
Parramatta Eels (NRL) (2019–present) New South Wales Waratahs (Super Rugby) (2019–2021) Western Sydney Wanderers (A-League) (2019–present) | |
| Website | |
| commbankstadium | |
Western Sydney Stadium, also known asCommBank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is amulti-purpose stadium in the suburb ofParramatta,Sydney,New South Wales, Australia. It replaced the demolishedParramatta Stadium (1986) which in turn was built on the site of the old Cumberland Oval, home ground to theParramatta Eels since 1947. The current stadium opened in April 2019 and has a 30,000-seat capacity. The stadium is owned by theNSW Government and built at a cost of $300 million.[2][3] The stadium hosts games across the major rectangular field sports inSydney.
The primary uses of the stadium are to hostrugby league,association football,rugby union as well as concerts and special events. The foundation teams areNational Rugby League club Parramatta Eels andA-League clubWestern Sydney Wanderers. Other tenants include NRL teamWests Tigers who have used the stadium as an alternate venue between 2019 and 2023 and again for the2025 NRL season onwards.
The area on which the stadium is, was used for leisure and horse racing in the British colony atParramatta, that was founded along with the harbour settlement ofSydney in 1788. GovernorCharles FitzRoy approved the creation of a racecourse on the site in 1847, with a cricket field grown within the racetrack and opened in 1863.[4] After numerous name changes the local cricket club settled on the name Central Cumberland Cricket Club, and from there the site gained the Cumberland Oval name.
Cumberland Oval was used variously for horse racing, cricket, athletics, rugby union, rugby league and motor sports. When in use for motor sports the site was named the Parramatta Speedway, holding events from 1930 through to 1959. When theParramatta District Rugby League Club were admitted into the NSWRL Premiership in 1947, Cumberland Oval became the club's home ground. In 1981 after Parramatta won their first-ever rugby league premiership supporters packed into the oval and proceeded to burn the grandstand to the ground, and shortly after a decision was made to build a modern stadium.[5]
Parramatta Stadium was designed in 1984, built in 1985 and opened by QueenElizabeth II on 5 March 1986. The new rectangular stadium continued to host local, state and national sports events as well as concerts. It was converted into anall-seater stadium in 2002, with a reduced capacity of 21,000. In 2012, with the success of the newly formedWestern Sydney Wanderers, which included hosting a sell out crowd for the2014 AFC Champions League Final, and the ongoing desire of the Parramatta Eels to replace the nearly 30-year-old stadium, the NSW Government canvassed expansion options including an increase to capacity in the north and south ends with a second tier or a successive rebuild of all four sides. A minor redevelopment of the main stand was completed in early 2015. In September 2015 the decision was made for a knock down rebuild of the entire stadium.[6][7]
Parramatta Stadium's lastA-League match was a semi-final between theWestern Sydney Wanderers andBrisbane Roar where the Wanderers came from a 3–0 deficit to win the game 5–4 in extra time.[8] TheParramatta Eels hosted the final game of rugby league, defeating St George Illawarra 30–18, with Bevan French scoring three tries.[9]
Parramatta Memorial Swimming Club was also demolished to make way for the expanded stadium. It was replaced by the Parramatta Aquatic Centre, built on vacant Parramatta Park Trust space that hosted the 9-hole Parramatta Golf Course until the member funded club went into administration and closed in 2015.[10]
In September 2015, the New South Wales Government announced that the stadium would be replaced with a new 30,000-seat venue on the same site.[11] Expressions of interest were requested in June 2016, with four shortlisted to bid:[2] The four groups werePopulous &Lendlease, Cox Architecture &John Holland,Hassell &Brookfield Multiplex and, lastly, BVN &Laing O'Rourke. The contract was awarded to the Populous and Lendlease consortium in December 2016, withAurecon enlisted as engineering consultants.[2][12]
As a requirement of the expanded footprint of the stadium, the adjacent Parramatta War Memorial Pool was also closed and demolished. A small group of protesters disagreed with the decision, gaining a measure of local media coverage to promote their anti-stadium online petitions. A replacement for the pool was announced in March 2017, with the NSW Government confirming that a new aquatic centre would be built on the old Parramatta Golf Course site.[13]
The key features of the stadium are a 10,000 increase in capacity from the old stadium, a major increase in corporate facilities, steep grandstands, integrated pedestrian and transport links, local landscaping, a premium field-level members club and a high-qualitypublic address system. The first major installation of modernsafe standing in Australia is included in the design, with three bays totalling 1,000 capacity in the Red & Black Blocactive support area, using an interchange system that allows regular seating to be installed during the winter rugby code season before being swapped for the summerA-League season for the Wanderers.[14] It is also designed to have aLEED Gold Energy rating.[15][16]
Demolition work on the old ground began in early 2017 and was completed in February 2017. Site cleanup, excavation and preparatory ground work finished in August. Construction started with concrete foundations being laid down in September 2017, with the main stand complete by mid-2018. The first roof section was assembled and lifted into place at the south end of the ground on 12 February 2018, and complete by late 2018. The structure as a whole was complete in early 2019, with the final internal and landscaping work being completed prior to the opening. The stadium officially opened on 14 April 2019.[17]
The stadium's main purpose is hosting games for the three major football codes in New South Wales. The two major tenants are theWestern Sydney Wanderers and theParramatta Eels. The Wanderers host all A-League home matches,FFA Cup home games from the quarter-finals onwards andAsian Champions League games in the seasons they qualify. The Parramatta Eels host most of their NRL matches, including finals, at the stadium. TheWests Tigers andCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs also use the stadium as an alternative venue while Canterbury ended using the stadium as an alternate venue in 2022. These clubs, alongside theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs, confirmed they'd use the stadium as a temporary home ground from mid 2020 while Stadium Australia is redeveloped.[18][19] However, this redevelopment never occurred due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the Sydney Football Stadium redevelopment, theNew South Wales Waratahs played 3Super Rugby matches at the new stadium in their 2019 season.
The dimensions of the pitch meet international standards for soccer and both rugby codes. For rugby union the touch in-goal areas will be 10 metres, at the lower end of the acceptable range of 10 to 22 metres. The stadium is rated to host international matches across the sporting codes. The first rugby test match at the venue took place on 7 September 2019 with theWallabies playing againstSamoa in the lead up to their2019 Rugby World Cup campaign.[20]
On 2 June 2019,Rugby Australia, the country's national governing body for union, announced that the stadium would become the new host ofthe country'sstops in the men'sWorld Rugby Sevens Series andWorld Rugby Women's Sevens Series from the 2019–20 season forward.[21]
On 31 August 2019,Football Federation Australia announced that theAustralia women's national soccer team ("the Matildas") would play an international friendly match againstChile at the stadium on Saturday 9 November 2019.[22]
The stadium also hosts concerts, the first beingCold Chisel, theHoodoo Gurus andBirds of Tokyo held on 24 January 2020. This was followed by the final stop ofElton John's Australian tour on 7 March 2020. The Western Grandstand is capable of event hosting on each of the four levels with a maximum single-room capacity of 700 in Level 1 function room.
When the stadium opened in 2019, it was known as Bankwest Stadium, afterBankwest signed a seven-year deal for the naming rights.[23] In September 2021,Commonwealth Bank, the parent company of Bankwest, secured the naming rights agreement, and the stadium was renamed as CommBank Stadium.[24]
The stadium opened with arugby league match between theParramatta Eels and theWests Tigers on Easter Monday, 22 April 2019. EelshalfbackMitchell Moses scored the first try, conversion and field goal in the stadium atNRL level. Parramatta won the game51–6 in front of a sell-out crowd of 29,047.[25] The first official try to be scored at the ground was whenBevan French scored for theWentworthville Magpies against Western Suburbs in theCanterbury Cup NSW game which was played before the main game.[26][27]
The first NRL finals match at the stadium took place on Sunday, 15 September 2019 with Parramatta defeating theBrisbane Broncos by a record finals margin of 58–0 in front of a stadium-record crowd of 29,372.[28]
International Rugby League hosted theRugby League World 9s tournament on the weekend of 18 & 19 October 2019.
After the2020 NRL season restarted due to its stoppage for the COVID-19 pandemic, Bankwest Stadium was announced as one of the three NSW venues, alongsideCampbelltown Stadium andCentral Coast Stadium, which would initially host games.[29]
TheNew South Wales Waratahs hosted the first match ofrugby union at the venue against the South African team theSharks on 27 April 2019 in theSuper Rugby competition. The Waratahs lost 15–23 in front of a crowd of 10,605.[30]
TheWallabies played host toSamoa on 7 September 2019 in which the Wallabies won 34–15 in front of 16,091.[31]
On 1–2 February 2020, the venue hosted the2020 Sydney Sevens.
On 14 November 2020, the venue hostedArgentina versusNew Zealand in the2020 Tri Nations Series. This match was Los Pumas' first win over the All Blacks in 30 attempts.
The firstsoccer game held at the new stadium was on 20 July 2019 whenWestern Sydney Wanderers hosted English sideLeeds United.[32] The game was attended by 24,419 which Leeds won 2–1.[33][34] Leeds playerMateusz Bogusz scored the first goal at the ground,Kwame Yeboah scored the first goal for the Wanderers at their home stadium whilePablo Hernández scored the winning goal in the dying seconds of the match. The game was praised for its good atmosphere as both groups of supporters sang and cheered through the 90 minutes.[35]
On 31 August 2019APIA Leichhardt FC won the2019 Men's NSW National Premier League Grand Final at the stadium, defeatingSydney United 58 FC 2–1, withAdrian Ucchino scoring the winning goal in extra time.[36]
The Wanderers hosted their first A-League game at the stadium on 12 October 2019, a come from behind 2–1 win against theCentral Coast Mariners FC, with captain of the Wanderers,Mitchell Duke, scoring both goals.[37] The attendance figure was 17,091 which is the Wanderers highest-ever A-League regular season crowd, outside ofSydney Derby matches.
The Wanderers' largest crowd attended two weeks later on 26 October 2019 when they hostedSydney FC in the Sydney Derby. The game was played in front of 28,519 fans and was won by the Wanderers 1–0.[38]
In November 2019, the stadium held its first international game with theMatildas hostingChile in front of a 20,029 crowd, a record for an international women's game in Australia at the time.[39]
| Sport | Attendance | Date | Result | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rugby League | 29,372 | 15 September 2019 | Parramatta Eels 58–0Brisbane Broncos | 2019 NRL Finals Series |
| Rugby League | 29,171 | 9 March 2024 | Parramatta Eels 26–8Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 2024 NRL season |
| Rugby League | 29,134 | 16 September 2022 | Parramatta Eels 40–4Canberra Raiders | 2022 NRL finals series |
| Rugby League | 29,047 | 22 April 2019 | Parramatta Eels 51–6Wests Tigers | 2019 NRL season |
| Soccer | 28,519 | 26 October 2019 | Western Sydney Wanderers 1–0Sydney FC | 2019–20 A-League |
| Rugby League | 28,366 | 18 April 2022 | Parramatta Eels 20–21Wests Tigers | 2022 NRL season |
| Rugby League | 28,084 | 9 November 2025 | Kiwis 36-14Toa Samoa | 2025 Pacific Cup Final |
| Soccer | 27,998 | 2 March 2024 | Western Sydney Wanderers 1–4Sydney FC | 2023–24 A-League Men |
| Soccer | 27,496 | 19 October 2024 | Western Sydney Wanderers 1–2Sydney FC | 2024–25 A-League Men |
| Soccer | 27,288 | 6 May 2023 | Western Sydney Wanderers 1–2Sydney FC | 2022–23 A-League Men finals series |
| Rugby League | 26,912 | 29 July 2022 | Parramatta Eels 34–10Penrith Panthers | 2022 NRL season |
Parramatta railway station is serviced by trains of theNorth Shore & Western Line,Cumberland Line andBlue Mountains Line. TheParramatta River ferry route begins atCircular Quay in the Sydney CBD and includes stops along the river such asDarling Harbour,Meadowbank andSydney Olympic Park, terminating at theParramatta ferry wharf. TheParramatta Light Rail will also service the new stadium via thePrince Alfred Square stop.[40] All are located in the Parramatta CBD within a one-kilometre, 15-minute walking distance to the stadium.
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