The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that a $500 million development at Penrith could see the Panthers playing out of a 35,000 seat indoor stadium.
The proposal apparently hinges on the the proposed Badgerys Creek Airport. There is still some sections of the community in western Sydney that are opposed to the airport. No doubt this is see as the carrot for the wider western Sydney region to get them backing the airport being build in exchange for the building of a new stadium.
Bloody politicians….
There is a lot of development being planned for the Penrith region at the moment and the Penrith Panthers are being really proactive so they don’t miss out.
A few weeks ago Panthers GM Phil Gould started to make some noise about the region needing a new stadium to keep the Panthers in the area and I felt that plans for a new stadium then would come up in the near future.
The Sydney Morning Herald article suggest the new stadium would not only host the Panthers but could also be used by the Western Sydney Wanderers A League club.
As a Penrith Panthers supporter myself, this is awesome news! I believe that like most Sydney based clubs the facilities at Penrith Football Stadium, while not too bad, do see some people stay away and watch the games at home.
With stadium rationalization a big talking point at the moment I have always felt that the Sydney Football Stadium, Parramatta and Penrith should all receive upgrades of some type due to their locations across the wider Sydney region.
I tend to also think that down the track Campbelltown will also get a stadium upgrade to cater for what is a fast growing area of the city.
There was one a time when the Penrith Panthers were a real hub of activity in the general Penrith region. That is something that changed over time, mostly because the club was run so poorly. You can see that changing slowly though. These plans for a new stadium show that the Panthers, as well as the local government, have big plans for the future.
