Olyroos to play in Gosford

The match is part of the international football package announced by the NSW Government through Destination NSW and Football Federation Australia in August 2011.

The package includes two Olyroos qualifiers for the 2012 Games, the first of which was played last November at Parramatta Stadium and the second is to be played at Bluetongue Stadium, which is to be called Central Coast Stadium for the occasion due to AFC requirements.

Hartcher said the announcement that Gosford would host the Australian Under-23s v Iraq Under-23s was a fantastic achievement for the region and an exciting addition to the 2012 NSW Events Calendar.

“This is great news for the Central Coast and reflects the NSW Government’s desire to take international football to as many parts of the State as possible.

“Pending the outcome of other London 2012 qualifiers during February in Australia’s group, the match against Iraq could be crucial to our hopes of London 2012 qualification.

“The NSW Government is committed to supporting events in regional NSW as they play an important role in driving tourism and generating economic benefit for the State and local community.”

Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley said he was greatly appreciative of the support from the Government for this match and other football events within NSW.

“The support from the NSW Government for these Olympic Games qualification matches and the Socceroos' 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers provides fans with fantastic opportunities for them to support our national teams at top quality stadiums,” he said.

“The Central Coast area in particular has a great tradition of supporting our national teams when they have played at Central Coast Stadium and I’m sure that our upcoming match against Iraq will be no different.”

Tickets for the match will go on sale from 9am on Friday 3 February.