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Football fever runs high in Sydney. Football in Sydney is actually Australian Rules Football and it attracts the highest number of crowds to the grounds in Australia. Australian Football is also one of the most popular of all the sports in Sydney. But that’s pretty much evident from the frenzied football crowds that gather to cheer their teams at the various sports venues in Sydney. About Football In Sydney Football in Sydney is today virtually ruled by the Sydney Swans and it also happens to be the only Australian Football League (AFL) club that is based in the state of New South Wales. The Sydney football scene apart, Sydney Swans is also one of the most successful teams in the AFL, making to the finals in most of their appearances. Sydney had been late in arriving on the scene of football in Australia and even after it debut way back in 1877, Australian Rules Football had always played the second fiddle to rugby. It is worth mentioning in this context that it was the Sydney Swans football club and their AFL triumphs alone that spawned an interest in and a passion for the game amongst the Sydney folks. Amongst the various other Sydney football clubs, the Sydney Football Club definitely deserves a mention. It takes part in the A-league which is the premier football tournament in Australia. The Football Venues In Sydney Sydney can boast of some truly world-class Australian Football venues. The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), albeit oval, was once the venue for many AFL games but that was before the Aussie Stadium (formerly the Sydney Football Stadium) was built. This 41,000-plus seater stadium is home to the Sydney Football Club and hosts many A-league matches. The Telstra Stadium, within the Sydney Olympic park premises, is another of the popular sports venues in Sydney that plays host to a lot of AFL matches. Besides this stadium is also the base for the Sydney Swans football club. This 83,000-plus capacity stadium holds quite a few records for the largest football crowds. For instance, on August 23, 2003, the AFL game between Sydney Swans and Collingwood drew in almost a sellout crowd of above 72,000, the largest for an AFL game outside Victoria. This was also the highest home-and-away AFL turnout for any Australian stadium for the year 2003. Rugby may have a slight edge over football in Sydney but that’s really hard to gauge from the frenzy that football fans amongst the Sydneyites.
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