Football Federation Australia (FFA) has today announced changes to the Newcastle Jets’ Round 11 fixture against Adelaide United at Hunter Stadium and the Round 21 fixture against Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
The Round 11 match between the Newcastle Jets and Adelaide United will now be played on Friday, December 19 at Hunter Stadium (kick-off 7:40pm AEDT). The match was originally scheduled for Saturday, December 20 at 5pm.
In addition, the date and kick-off time for the Round 21 fixture between Melbourne City FC and Newcastle Jets at AAMI Park has also been changed, with the match to take place on Saturday, March 14 2015 (kick-off 7.30pm AEDT). The match was originally scheduled for Sunday, March 15 at 5pm.
The changes to the fixture have come about as a result of Western Sydney Wanderers qualifying for the FIFA Club World Cup 2014 in December.
The Western Sydney Wanderers FC round 10 match against Melbourne City FC will now be played on Wednesday 11 March 2015 at Pirtek Stadium, Parramatta (kick-off 7:30pm AEDT), whilst their round 11 match against Brisbane Roar will be now played on Wednesday 25 March 2015 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane (kick-off 7:00pm AEST, 8:00pm AEDT).
The Round 21 matche between Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar FC has also been switched due to the unavailability of Allianz Stadium on Saturday 14 March 2015. The two sides will now meet at Allianz Stadium on Sunday, March 15 at 5pm.
Speaking in relation to the fixture updates, Head of Hyundai A-League Damien de Bohun congratulated the Western Sydney Wanderers FC on their outstanding achievements and also highlighted the issues related to changing the schedule of matches.
“Firstly, the Western Sydney Wanderers achievement of becoming the first Australian club to win the AFC Champions League is fantastic for their members and fans, as well as the entire football family,” de Bohun said.
“Secondly, with the Wanderers participation in both the 2014 AFC Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup, Australia hosting the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in January, the scheduling of the 2015 AFC Champions League and venue availability, we were left with an extremely difficult task to reschedule their matches within the time frame available.
“We have planned meticulously and made allowances in our initial scheduling for the Western Sydney Wanderers qualifying for the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco, with three of their four rescheduled matches being Wanderers home matches. Ultimately, though, there are only so many weeks in each season and one of the challenges of being as successful as the Wanderers have in their short history is a hectic and demanding schedule.
“We understand that with these fixture changes, the time between certain matches for particular Clubs is less than we normally aim to provide, however we had no other option under these exceptional circumstances.
“In regards to the round 21 fixture changes, originally FFA had written confirmation that Allianz Stadium was available on Saturday 14 March 2015, but we were subsequently advised that the venue was not available due to other contractual obligations.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the clubs and venues involved for their cooperation in resolving these fixture changes, ostensibly on the back of the extraordinary success of the Western Sydney Wanderers,” concluded de Bohun.
For the complete Hyundai A-League 2014/15 Season Draw, please visit www.a-league.com.au
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