Soccer-Wanderers to stay home for first leg of AFC Champions final

MELBOURNE, Oct 7 (Reuters) - The Western Sydney Wanderers will play the first leg of their AFC Champions League final against Saudi side Al Hilal at their home Parramatta Stadium, the team announced on Tuesday, ending speculation of a move to a bigger venue. The Wanderers have turned the 20,000-seat stadium in Sydney's working class west into a fortress during the tournament and knocked out FC Seoul from the semi-finals there last month with a rousing 2-0 win in the second leg. Local media had speculated that Asia's football bosses might demand a shift to the 45,000-capacity Sydney Football Stadium, but the Wanderers said the decision had come down to a vote by the clubs' members. Over 70 percent of the 3,000 respondents had voted to stay at the team's home ground, nicknamed "Wanderland", the team said in a media release. "Reaching the final of the biggest competition in Asia is an amazing achievement and playing at our home ground will give the team a huge lift as we know a packed Parramatta Stadium will give us the extra drive that our whole club experiences every time we open the doors to Wanderland," club CEO John Tsatsimas said. "While a bigger venue may have given us the ability to pack in a larger audience, the opportunity we have before us to win the ACL on our maiden attempt is one we will need every possible advantage in achieving." The Wanderers take on Al Hilal in the first leg on Oct. 25. The second leg will be played in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 1. (Reporting by Ian Ransom. Editing by Patrick Johnston)