Sampling some of the fare at the AFC Women's Asian Cup (March 3)

It has been somewhat of a holiday over the last week. On Monday (March 2) I wandered off to a mate's place in Ourimbah so that we could travel together for our first pair of matches at the Asian Cup. When ticket packages became available last year I quickly opted for a pair of affordable seats (in the same spot) for all six matches at Parramatta Stadium which consisted of five Group B matches and one from Group C.
On the first day of attendance, our two games were Uzbekistan vs North Korea and China vs Bangladesh. Strangely enough, at the men's AFC back in 2015, one of just two games I attended was Uzbekistan vs North Korea. I felt it was a rather unique double to achieve. We were joined by a couple of English gents, one whom I met at a Mariners match played at Wollongong in August 2023 (during the Women's World Cup), and proceeded to watch a rather one sided contest, won comfortably by North Korea. In-between matches we met up for a few drinks at a local pub – the Woolpack Hotel. The hotel has a special significance for this pair of coasties. We had quite a few drinks there before and after the June 2023 A-League Grand Final which was won quite handsomely by the Mariners.
Second match, just as one-sided and won by China. Before the game, we decided to grab a bite to eat at the stadium. A helpful staff member informed us that there was a limit of the number of food and beverage options open seeing only a crowd of 8,000 was expected. (In end it was just over 6,000.) After a short exploratory walk, we settled on burgers.

It was quite simple. You walked in, you grabbed a burger at the back, with sides and a drink, then proceeded to the check-out. If your burger of choice wasn't there you really didn't have to wait that long. We both chose a Chicken Parmi, which wasn't that bad. A schnitzel, a slice of cheese, a spicy red paste to give it that Parmi taste and some green leaves on a bun. With a 600ml drink and a standard cup of hot chips I wound up paying $26. It was a lot better than some of the fare I've sampled at the Central Coast Stadium but roughly the same price for a burger meal.

It was a long day. We were on a 9.45am train from Ourimbah and returned to that station at 11.30pm. Yesterday (March 6) I made the journey down by myself seeing I was meeting up with a Sydney mate near the station, then stayed at his place in Kellyville that night. On both trips we had lunch in the food court at Westfields in Parramatta (covered in a separate post) before walking to the stadium. It's a pretty easy walk which leads across the Parramatta River and at a casual pace you can get there in 10-15 minutes. Even better that you can amend the stroll via a certain pub for a pre or post match beverage.

P.S: Almost had a little disaster on the second day when the battery was running out on the tablet. With only electronic tickets accepted, we almost didn't get in for the second game on March 6 seeing the power bar was in the red. Thankfully it lasted long enough for us to get through the gate. There was a solution. Not far from the Gate A entrance/exit were a rack of portable power-banks which you could rent by the hour. I also took the further precaution of buying one, charging it up at the first opportunity to make sure that this didn't happen again.

Links correct at time of posting.

Pictures taken by Geoff G Turner (c) 2026.