Premier League superstars kicking goals for Perth in International Festival of Football blockbuster event
Four English Premier League clubs will bring their star power to Perth when they make our city their home for a blockbuster weekend of sensational matches before tens of thousands of fans at Optus Stadium in July.
This is yet another huge coup for the State Government's major events strategy to attract thousands of tourists and inject millions of dollars into the local economy.
The sporting blockbuster involves four of the biggest teams in English football history.
Leeds United will take on Crystal Palace on Friday July 22, 2022, while Manchester United and Aston Villa will face off on Saturday 23 July 2022.
All travelling clubs have committed to bringing their full first team to ensure top players participate in the matches. Both games will be played at Optus Stadium.
Bringing the A-list clubs for Perth's International Festival of Football, ICON, has been facilitated by the State Government through Tourism WA, in partnership with VenuesLive, VenuesWest, Left Field Live and TEG Live.
The matches are just the beginning, with a range of fan engagement opportunities bringing the capital city alive from the week commencing 18 July.
These 'More than a Match' events will take place at a range of venues around Perth and Fremantle for Club fans to get involved in.
The matches are expected to attract thousands of interstate and international visitors, support local jobs and businesses and see millions of dollars generated for the Western Australian economy, as well as generate extensive global media coverage and publicity for the State.
The events will also showcase Perth to hundreds of millions of sports fans around the world through social media accounts of both the celebrity players and their globally popular clubs. Manchester United alone has more than 200 million followers across 16 social media platforms globally, with many high-profile individual players across the four clubs also boasting follower numbers in the hundreds of millions.
The matches in Perth form the perfect start to pre-season training for the four clubs, who are able to take advantage of Perth's mild climate and state-of-the-art facilities in preparation for the next English Premier League season.
The game also marks a return to Perth for Manchester United and Leeds United Football Club, after each club's hugely successful pre-season tours in 2019, which drove $16.5 million in visitor spend and an additional 13,000 out-of-State visitors travelling to WA.
Tickets for the highly anticipated matches will go on sale to the general public on Thursday 5 May. There will also be options for visitors to select travel packages and stay in world class accommodation in Perth.
The matches will be broadcasted on free to air TV within Australia on Network 10, with the second match to be shown live on the MUTV network internationally (excluding Australia and Thailand, due to domestic broadcast rights).