FFA Urges Fans To Arrive Early To World Cup Qualif

Football Federation Australia has urged fans to arrive early to tomorrow night's Powerade Series match between the Socceroos and Uruguay for a place at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Football Federation Australia has urged fans to arrive early to tomorrow night's Powerade Series match between the Socceroos and Uruguay for a place at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.   With a capacity crowd in attendance, a live site nearby, people heading home from work and other events, there will be a huge amount of people converging on the precinct and fans are encouraged to arrive as early as possible and enjoy the spectacular pre-match entertainment.  Gates open at 5.30pm.   While the match kicks off at 8pm, the show starts at 7pm including the pre-match warm up and an exhilarating fly-over by a Qantas 747-400 at 7.40pm.   FFA CEO Mr John O'Neill (pictured above right) said fans should take advantage of free public transport which has been integrated with the purchase of the ticket.   "The best way to get to the stadium is to use the public transport system," said Mr. O'Neill.   "CityRail is running direct shuttle services every five to ten minutes between Central and Olympic Park Station from 5.00pm until 12.30am."   "So the key messages we want to get out the public are to arrive early, use public transport and support the team by wearing gold."   These services also stop at Redfern and Strathfield stations.   Customers travelling from Inner West, North Shore or South Line stations should travel to Lidcombe Station and change for the Olympic Park Sprint, departing every ten minutes from 3.00pm.   After the match, CityRail services will run from Olympic Park to Lidcombe every five to ten minutes until 12.30am. These services will continue to Granville, Parramatta, Westmead, Seven Hills and Blacktown stations.   Some areas (Illawarra Line, Bankstown Line, Airport & East Hills Line and Northern Line) are also serviced by the Sydney Olympic Park Major Events Buses, which provide direct services to and from Sydney Olympic Park.   Wheelchair access facilities are available at Central, Strathfield, Lidcombe, Parramatta, Blacktown and Olympic Park stations.   For further details on wheelchair accessible stations, use the CityRail facilities guide or call the Transport Infoline on 131 500.   All public transport enquiries should go to 131 500 or www.131500.com.au