Western Sydney Wanderers chairman Lyall Gorman has continued his demands for an immediate upgrade to Parramatta Stadium, as a taskforce was formed to lobby governments to fund it.

Parramatta City Council has formalised a committee to help secure funding at both state and federal level to expand local sporting and recreation facilities, with the stadium upgrade at its centre.

While Gorman welcomed the committee's establishment, he said the Wanderers can't wait after the success of the club's debut season.

"The Wanderers' need for upgrades to Parramatta Stadium is now," Gorman told The Daily Telegraph.

"We had three sell-out games last season and we're expecting our numbers to surge next season. The current capacity of Parramatta Stadium is inadequate.

"We're fully supportive of the advisory committee and we are very focused on working with the state and federal governments to achieve upgrades at Parramatta Stadium, but as major tenants of the stadium we need to ensure its commercial viability.

"Upgrades wouldn't impact on the overall planning of the precinct because it's imperative anyway. We need an immediate, staged approach to the upgrade of the stadium and its facilities."

The stadium currently holds some 20,000 fans, and the Wanderers managed to average more than half that across their first season.

Both home derbies against Sydney FC, and the semi-final win over Brisbane, were effective sell-outs.

The club expects to better the near 7000 members it secured last season when 2013-14 packages go on sale next week.



Originally published as Wanderers seek urgent stadium upgrade