What did you think of our Asian Qualifers draw, Japan & Ubeckies not half bad sides.

Midfielders, jimbo ‘s reply to Redb ,pretty much sums up what I would have said.
I only quoted the research of the marketing company,which I knew to be true as far as football went.

The A-League has started with a bang but to maintain the momentum the FFA will have to invest more money in the game and come up with some better marketing ideas.

AFL have the money and the media and its going to make it nigh impossible to take over from them as the number 1 Australian sport (however you want to define that) in the near term, but this does not concern me.

FFA can still achieve all its objectives (as outlined by Midfelder) without being the number one sport within the next ten years.

I don’t think that is what Dave or the research is saying. In all codes emotion is at the core of why a sport is followed.

However even in AFL there are some who are there because of the hype (to strong a word) but overall media given to a code.

Given football has never had much good press, that part of a codes support that is media driven has a potential to get support.

Simply the media coverage given to any sport helps it, as more media comes to football it will get extra support.

But your point on emotion there is no doubt that AFL crowds and the emotion they bring are a large part of why AFL is so successful of this there is no doubt.

your comment: “It is quite simple really and was shown to me a few years ago when a marketing firm found that support for football at that time(I think early 2005) was from an emotional & personal perspective whereas in other sports their support was on a media & commercial level. They found that football had the most potential to grow because it had not yet tapped into the media/commercial support.”

This is untrue of AFL support in Melbourne, it is very much an emotional and personal connection and yours perhaps is an outside view that is it purely media and commercial. i think Dave despite his allegiances to the round ball code would back me up on this point. I’m trying to be objective here but I think your perspective could not be more wrong about other codes but specificially AFL.

I’m not suggesting that the Socceroos dont invoke the same connections for some people but to think that AFL is just a media contrived commercial entity is wrong. Emotion and passion run deep and our ingrained within heartland AFL followers.

Redb

The bloke that FL is trying to get for the gong bid ………..Bruce Gordon (I think) …………… I guess we all knew he owns WIN TV ……….. all well and good what that could do for regional football.

WELL GUESS WHAT ………. A mate who works in the stock exchange says he now owns 15% of Channel 10 and has asked permission to own up to 20%. Football could be getting its own Kerry Stokes as Bruce is a football man through and through.

Has the potential to make life very interesting especially in the news / sports reporting !!!

Good to see such positive thoughts & ideas from football fans. That to me is the major change in football in Australia ,positivity,albeit with caution regarding the things that are still needed to be done.
What I see as one of the major changes is the FFA recognising & using footballs International identity as per the UNICEF deal to further its profile. If it also helps a good cause ,all the better. In the middle of arranging my Roar season tickets at the moment.

Your cautionary note and comparison to the J League is very relevant. Same happened in the MLS where after promising early seasons the league began to plateau then slip backwards re attendances etc. Japanese were helped by WC 2002 with new stadiums, renewed interest etc. MLS began to build own stadiums with ownership rights etc. Both seem to be travelling very well now. So expect a levelling off with HAL although WC qualification may well prevent this particularly if some HAL players are in SA 2010!

Just bought the MV memberships for self and son. A mate who refused to even attend MV games even though he is a football person (West Ham???) has just called to say he had finally relented from my hassling and bought his 1st MV membership. Now there will be 5-6 of us going to games! Small but important steps. Keep up the good words.

Articles like this will help ………this is a great cause ………. but should do a lot to promote both football and the Socceroos.

From 442

Socceroos Team With UNICEF

THE Socceroos will appear in a new TV advertisement for UNICEF as part of the “Together We’ll Level The Playing Field” campaign.

Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill, Mark Schwarzer and Mark Bresciano appear in the commercial which is part of the FFA’s landmark strategic partnership with UNICEF announced today.

Cahill and Harry Kewell also spoke via video link at today’s launch where they lent their support to the initiative.

This community strategic partnership is not a financial commitment by the FFA, rather, the national body is expected to be involved in UNICEF projects in South East Asia as well as in Indigenous communities in Australia.

John Stewart, UNICEF’s deputy chair in Australia, told au.fourfourtwo.com that only football in Australia offers the synergies with a worldwide organisation like UNICEF.

“It’s the number of people who play football, the type of people and it’s the reach. We don’t want money from the FFA, we want opportunities and the reach they can give us.”

Stewart was unequivocal thatr UNICEF was more of a fit with football over Australia’s other more established codes.

“We’ve got to match the values as well,” he said. “We think football in Australia, and the people who play football in Australia, can help us in this way.”

To help support the FFA’s work with UNICEF, the public can call 1300 884 233 or visit either http://www.footballaustralia.com.au or http://www.unicef.org.au.

Me thinks the next 10 years and next five in particular are going to be very hard ……….. to create the youth league, women’s league, 12 team A-League, have in place more than likely if not finished close to it a B-League of between 8 to 12 teams P & R set up ready to go, run 10 international sides including the new U 14 level, qualify for world cups at both junior and senior levels in both mens and womens, quality for Olympics, this takes heaps of money,……………. money that even today can only be dreamed about. FFA has to find the money.

Further but equally is to bring about a a fundamental shift in junior football from competitive games to essentially training sessions, from U 5 to U 10 and maybe to U 12. This will require park teams to find more volunteers at a time when it is hard to get people in there busy lives to help.

There are battles ahead as you point out …………. perhaps the biggest will be for the elite sportsman, and with big money on offer the AFL are in a strong but not dominate position. For mine the battle stretches between Wollongong and the Sunshine Coast whoever wins here will be the winner, don’t disregard football in this market it is strong on the ground …….. poor at converting those ground numbers into A-League supporters …….. they already are Socceroo supporters but not football supporters. Another battle will be in time to get the EPL & Champions League watches to the A-League.

Converting those who play the game for fun, and watch the Socceroos into football people, this is where the A-League clubs need to answer the call, and SFC should hang its head in shame at its woeful ability to connect to the football family to date, however if a Gong and WS team come in then the Sydney associations can be looked after with the Mariners to the north, Gong southern, WS the west and SFC the inner city and east.

If FFA get through the next five years and have all the above in place, then the next five year stage will come and that will be an FA cup style competition between A-League. B-League and state teams, also the adding of the Pacific Island Team and even have an A-League team playing out of Singapore. This would open the A-League to a population base of over 40 million. Products on offer after 10 years,…. 14 / 16 team A-League …. 14 team B league………. Womens league …… Youth League ………… Socceroos having made 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 WC, Womens team similar, both make Asian Cup, Australia win Asian cup, Mid Week FA cup, P & R in place, Make 2008, 2012, 2016 Olympics both mens and womens, Four Asian Champions league spots and matches, 40 million potential viewers.

The media after the ten years then would be IMO worth more than AFL & NRL combined.

But to get there ………… boy what hazardous and lie ahead……….. hard work / patience / trust / support ………. all this an more will get football through …………MAYBE ………………. We have to last next year, then the next year.

IMO each year until the next media deal is made will be harder than the one before ………… little funds thus small budgets ……. expect to be attacked by vested media interest. However football’s media is slowly growing and in print there are a number of clever jurnos especially in the local papers waiting for there turn in the mainstream press.

Me I just hope that Obie One (Frank Lowy) can make the next 7 years at least, and I am glad we have BB on board as he brings AFL thinking and thus hopefully will be able to anticipate AFL moves.

Me I will keep going to Mariners games and get as many as I can to do likewise.

TBH despite our poor history, and small budgets and all the problems that lie ahead ……….. maybe I am foolish …….. I used to be blonde before I went grey ………….. but I think we will get there.

If you look at what happened in the MLS & the J-League the next 5 years or so are crucial. This is the period after the honeymoon ends & reality takes over,particularly re the A-League.
Which is after all where all the players from the structures you mentioned should be starting their football career.
You state “All this with small budgets, with little media support”. A very interesting point.
Some people are puzzled as to where the support for football comes from in Australia given in comparison to other sports the amount of money spent on advertising and lack of media support.
It is quite simple really and was shown to me a few years ago when a marketing firm found that support for football at that time(I think early 2005) was from an emotional & personal perspective whereas in other sports their support was on a media & commercial level. They found that football had the most potential to grow because it had not yet tapped into the media/commercial support.

We started off with 46 Asian nations vying for a South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup finals qualification place – only 10 remain. 36 Asian nations already eliminated and amongst others, Iraq (Asian Champions) and China (most populous) are out.
We’re still in there. The next 8 Footballroos games will decide the 2 Asian qualifiers from our group.

Pimbo, we remember what happened in the Asian Cup. We were arrogant and impatient and offended our Asian neighbours. We have learnt our lessons. These games are going to be very difficult and there won’t be any dead rubbers at the end of it all.

The best available team will be chosen to play in every game and all home games will be sold out in advance. The last 2 home games for the Footballroos will decide the 2 qualifiers from our Group of Death. Only after the last game in Sydney will we humbly and graciously accept our place amongst the FIFA World Cup Finalists in South Africa, with no malicious thoughts of inflicting football revenge on Italy and Brazil.

Thanks Pimbo, we have been enlightened.

There may be some that will be disappointed and not want to pay to see the Socceroos next time. They are comparing the game v China to the one v Uruguay in 2005 and so there is no comparison. This is part of the education process of the new system. Some sports fans will drop off the Socceroos but as momentum builds l can tell you that many thousands more (if not millions) will jump on for the ride but…not every game will be a classic and there probably will be some draws and maybe a loss. It is just like any journey, season, qulaification will have its ups and downs. In the long run the downs make the ups even sweeter. Fans that just want the theatre will drop off here and there. The same happens in every sport but qualification to SA and then qualification into the knockout rounds will have everyone on the edge of their seats.
It all starts on Friday (live on Fox) with the draw for the next stage…cant wait.

One minor point I would disagree with is that “Pim has 100% qualification record for the Socceroos” – so far Pim Verbeek has not qualified the socceroos, we have at least one more crucial stage at best, maybe 2 or 3 more stages depending on results, before we can say if we have succeeded in qualification yet – as the Asian Cup campaign should have taught us, nothing is ever assured.

In other footballing terms, Pim does not have a great record by any means, only having won 3, drawn 1 and lost 2 – hardly 100% by any stretch…

Re your points ticked off.

That was the start of the process, we need a womens league, a youth league, a 12 team comp, a system in place quite soon to explain how P & R will operate in Australia, a new U 14 national team, play reasonably well in ACL, make the World Cups both mens and womens, make Olympics & Asian cup as well.

Add to this grow the player base, improve and develop a new way of playing sport in Australia for U 10 , maybe to U 12.

All this with small budgets, with little media support.

Essentially to get through the next five to six years will be difficult. By then assuming we achieve all above our media deal will take a lot of pressur off.

In the mean time fight against traditional media interests from other codes.

Its going to be a interesting ride ………….. but if Obie One can stay fit then I think we will get there.

Socceroos and football fans unfortunately will continue to turn up for the C and D grade games as it is part of our pain and suffering so we can really appreciate the good games. I should know have been to plenty over the years including Man U B vs Socceroos C at MCG in front of 70,000 in 2000, Melb Vic v Juventus D 43,000 last month, Soccerros B v Brazil Olympic team?? in early 2000s at the MCG in front of 80,000 etc etc. The good thing now is there will be a lot less of these games as real matches (qualifiers) have to be won. Another 4 home WC games in the next 14 months as well as Asian Cup.

Towser Slippery Jim dasilva

As has already been pointed out this is the first time through an Asian qualifying campaign. There needs to be some education and understanding of this new process. Now the last game may not be the do or die match as it always has been in the past. Wouldn’t it be great if qualification is completed before our last home game in the next stage (the last 2 games are in Oz for this campaign). l would certainly pay to still se that last game and would hope if that was the case the last game could be celebratory with many of the players performing who achieved qualification. In all honesty it is difficult to see what other options were available to Pim this time due to the Euro players being given a well desrved rest.

So far Pim has 100% qualification record for the Socceroos. l bet some other coaches wish they could say the same.

I seriously doubt it will dent the momentum of the Socceroos if they’re playing for WC qualification though, the crowds will still be big for qualifiers. The FFA maybe needs to better educate and manage expectations though – I doubt they will get 70,000 for a dead rubber and C grade players again though – or at least whilst memories are fresh.

Message for the FFA is the Australian public won’t keep turning up for low standard games, but if a ‘real’ game they will be their in droves. The FFA’s honeymoon with fans is over and they like the AFL, NRL and ARU are subject to criticism if they get it wrong.

Redb

Johnny Warren used to say before he passed away that in the future Australia will play China in a world cup qualifier and there will be 80 0000 fans there.These are gravy times for football supporters in Australia and win lose or draw a true fan will turn up and support his team. All the clowns that are crying because the didn’t see Lucas Neil or whoever will forget everything when Australia qualifies.

I just feel a little like a person who has recommends a band to his friends, and they all decide to go see them play live on a Saturday night and they turn out to play absolute rubbish and your music credibility is gone forever!

You took the words out of my mouth.
All I can add to that is that compared with the setbacks in the years that I’ve followed Football in Australia pre-Lowy Sunday night was Football nirvana.

As a coach, Pim “meets expectations” but has not “exceeded expectations”. I merely suggest that we should have a far higher standard if we want our game to improve.