Huge weekend at Patersons StadiumMonday, September 23, 2013 - 3:43 PM

MORE than 63,000 spectators attended Patersons Stadium for the AFL Preliminary Final and WAFL Grand Final on the weekend, setting new retail records in a huge double-header for WA football.

The West Australian Football Commission congratulates Fremantle Football Club and West Perth Football Club on winning their respective finals and also wishes Fremantle the best for this weekend’s AFL Grand Final against Hawthorn.

Fremantle defeated Sydney in front of 43,249 fans at Patersons Stadium on Saturday night, which saw the venue operating at 99.5% capacity.

Another 20,008 people attended Patersons Stadium on Sunday afternoon to see West Perth defeat East Perth in the 2013 WAFL Grand Final.

Both events were also popular on social media, with #patersonsstadia, #waflgf and #purplehaze all trending across the weekend according to Trendsmap Perth (@trendsmap).

Patersons Stadium General Manager Gavin Taylor said the delivery of both events in the space of 24 hours was a challenge for the West Australian Football Commission but said each event was very well executed.

“Any Stadium at that capacity is under significant pressure and we have to work harder on trying to create great fan experiences through our customer service, safe event strategies, presenting clean facilities and providing great food experiences,” he said.

“The stadium set a new food and beverage sales record for an AFL game on Saturday whilst at the same time seeing queue times reduced from previous years through improved service strategies.

“The WAFC is experienced at managing the largest events in WA including back-to-back U2 concerts (105,000 people in 2010) and the AFL and ARU games last year (70,000 at back to back events), so we definitely draw on that experience. I also need to give special credit to the turf team who worked through the night and storms to turn the venue from an AFL match to a WAFL match.

“I would like to thank everyone who was involved in making the weekend such a great success, including the fans, and look forward to welcoming even more patrons back to Patersons Stadium for bigger and better events in the future,” he said.