To see today's poltical media circus at Leichhardt...

 

With a state election on March 26, O’Farrell visited  the home of Leichhardt Tigers Lambert Park this morning and said the announcement was good news for the inner-west of Sydney.

Additional to the surface upgrade, the funding is slated for new field perimeter fencing, new amenities, change-rooms and storage.

“As part of our commitment to establish a $47m new sports facilities fund, we’re committing $2.2 to again revitalise Lambert Park to make it the centre of soccer in the inner-west," he told the media.

O’Farrell added that the Keneally state government had slated the Lambert Park ground for demolition as part of Labour’s botched Rozelle Metro, that ended up costing taxpayers over $400m, he said.

Tigers president Tony Raciti told au.fourfourtwo.com that the proposed funding was vital for a club that’s produced more Socceroos than any other. 

“This is incredibly important. We’ve got 107 teams, it allows our feeder club Balmain to come back home. It allows us to hire fewer grounds and consolidate a lot of the teams at Lambert Park," he said.

As for a synthetic surface at a ground where the Tigers have been based at since 1954, Raciti argued that it was financially smart.

“It’s the way to go, giving us an opportunity to utilize the facility 365 days of the year," he said. "Football is now a 12 months a year sport."

Fellow NSW side Sutherland Sharks also play on a synthetic surface at their Seymour Shaw Park base.

Raciti added. "Barry is a champion and he understands funding for sports is super, super important to the community.”

In other news, Newcastle Jets striker Sasho Petrovski will return to his former club Wollongong in the NSW Premier League.

And Ufuk Talay will also play in the league, joining up with his former Sydney FC team-mate Mark Rudan at Sydney United. The NSW Premier League kicks off later this month. 

 

To see today's poltical media circus at Leichhardt...