http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/2D0179A15287F5BFCA2574E400117321?OpenDocument

Participants, – By age

Age group (years)
15-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and over Total

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Participation rate (%)

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Soccer (outdoor) 15.6 6.3 3.3 2.1 *0.2 *0.5 – 2.6

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* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution

Soccer is not the most popular sport amongst young people.

Cricket will last over the next generation and keeps growing in popularity.

You want the new Kewell, Cahill, Neil……….look for kids with European passports like them and the will be able to play EPL

2. Its still young A-league its only in its fifth season i doubt even AFL would have got any better support when it frist began. The quality has still got a way to go, although it has improved alot. Alot of players from the state premier league that are young are more then capable of filling A-league boots a greater emphises need to be put on local talant it cheaper and better local support then just buying interationals that are not good enough to make it in there own country.

3. There is only 10 teams – i think expansion is a good idea there should be at least 12-16 teams and a second division like the SPL. The A-leagues on the rise i believe Basket ball is lossing crowd numbers, cricket wont last over the next generation its not popular like it used to be. AFL and NRL will always be big but statistics show Football (soccer) is the most played sport amoungst young people which can only be good because in my opinion its the easiest and most fun sport to play.

As you can see im a big fan on local talent its good to have internationals with experience from europe and South America however to improve the game we need our local boy playing the world game. For everyone player that players for a team there whole family will support it that a fact. Also local talent is cheaper easier to acquire and we can also sell players that are older to rich Arab clubs like Victory did with Allsop, and sell out younger ones to qulity teams in the EPL Holland etc..

Personally i think you got it wrong i think the A-league is heading in the right direction but no one said it was going to be easy if the Socceroos preform well in the world cup the game will expand even more.
I believe our national team is the driving force of our domestic league we need to keep sending and producing quality players to play in europes big leagues to create a strong generation of socceroos once our current guys hang up the boots.

We need to Find a new Kewell, Cahill, Neil etc if the game is to keep growing local talent is the way to go theres heaps of good playes out there they jus need to be given a chance Dijt, Bojic, Jedi are some some of the names we have already uncovered who will we find next i hope the next Messi or Ronaldo who knows thats mght be Aroon Mooey.

if you believe ‘tossers’ does apply to all those who have disagreed with me…………you may be correct………….but I wouldn’t dare to suggest it – - I’ll leave to such idenfication and categorisation to an expert in the field.

btw – the comment was made around the fool hardiness of suggesting anything in absolute terms…….i.e. that all of Vic, SA, WA & Tas are 100% AFL/footy anyway, let alone the suggestion that NSW and QLD are 100% anti AFL. It’s a silly comment that is patently inaccurate and counter productive to decent discussion. Almost as pointless as suggestions that AFL is a white middle class game………………..?!?!??!

Anyways, Adelaide FC as proven that Australian Football is heading in the right direction with its success so far this season and its brand has been exposed across the world competing in the FIFA WCC ..

In comparison the NAB corporation, most probably pulled the plug on the Grooky expansion concept in Dubai and India because of embarrassment after seeing this magnificent advertisement for Football, and now are searching for a club in the HAL to sponsor .. I sort of remember they have a small link now; no doubt this will change shortly .. ..

But what now for Grooky’s Swans delivering bad news on its membership abysmal TV rating in NSW and Qld.. Their TV deal only with 2 more seasons to run before the cut and the pending demise of the expansion of Grooky into the Gold Coast and West Sydney .. Oh yes, we have heard that their long term strategy is over 50 years well let me tell you, it will need every day as the relentless push of “Australian Football” (and I don’t mean Grooky) will dominate in 50 years according to Professor Toby Miller of the University of California with his thesis and study of globalisation in sport..

If Demetriou was serious he would have granted franchises in the these frontiers already, but he does not believe they are going to work or he would have done so already .. Yes the Grooky expansion concept is a furphy

Clive Palmer on the other hand, the successful born and bred Gold Coast Boy putting his money back into the community is being suggested that its about the money .. Oh really ?.. The ignorance of such a suggestion, because he is taking the GCU FC on tour to China; huh, please explain..?? .. Demetriou was hoping to relocate the Grooky Bengal Lancers backing them to the tune of $100m and has not promised the GC17 cent .. Demetriou please go and get a life.. and stop this pretence or alternatively give them the nod now or are you all bullshit .?..

~~~~~~~
KB

it’s a massive difference if it’s the first ever game of a brand new franchise trying to capture the Gold Coast market……………………why would you go well and truely off shore?

Totally different – - therefore, isn’t admissable as a precendent.

Dave -

so they ruddy should……….with the grass roots support for soccer in SYdney(NSW) – - the Sydney SWans ruddy well ought to be a ‘poor relation’ of SFC…………………SFC thus far simply illustrate that soccer is still mis-managed and seemingly ‘missing something’………………work out what that missing ingrediant is and you’ll become a millionaire.

– - – might be goals and action!!,

quote fully if you’re going to bother quoting relocated out of town club from a (considered) foreign code into the heartland of the enemy.

You’re being childish in the extreme to pluck out as you have – when you know very well the figurative context. You’re just trying to be a trouble maker – - – -which to me suggests either :

A. you have no one to buy xmas gifts for
B. you completed you gift purchases 3 months ago on e-bay
C. you haven’t yet realised there’s only a couple of days left before Xmas such that
- C.1 – you haven’t got time for e-bay purchases
- C.2 – you’ll be one of those people shopping at 5 minutes to midnight on Xmas eve……

And to you.

now Dave, when are you going to get a life. I think we should set up a virtual boxing match with you and MC – statistics at ten paces etal.

Redb

Foreign code?? The AFL tells us this is the “Game that made Australia” !! You cant have it both ways.
The AFL pumped tens of $millions into the SS and continue to…SFC havent had that.
The comparisons are very strong and indicate that it takes some time for a NEW team to grab a foothold in Sydenee.
SFC still have time and should be judged in the next 5-10 years on their successes or otherwise. l have no doubt that after 10 years they will be doing much much better than the SS in comparable time frame.

the difference is that Sydney Swans was (rightly or wrongly) a relocated out of town club from a (considered) foreign code into the heartland of the enemy.

(Dave) SFC sure isn’t, they are a home grown club in soccer heartland, NSW – with everything going for them including the big boss (FL) and an Aussie Hollywood star.

(Norm) GCU – - is entirely about the money for Clive Palmer. He isn’t so much focussed on ‘growing the game’, considering he’ll play his first game in China……..to further his business interests and about as far from Mermaid Beach as is possible (perhaps that suits him?).

AFL and West Sydney – - if it’s about the money it’s certainly a far more long term equation…….more like 50 years down the track. It IS about seeking to gain greater access to the NSW/Sydney population base – - it’s about the main achillies heel that get’s quoted so much – - by some tossers on here – - that the AFL is dealing to 48% of the population………..well………step 1 now is to get 2 teams in each of NSW and QLD and have a game a week in each market. Is that purely about money………….well………you can believe it is. Is it about broadcast rights………probably. Is it abut growing the game……….certainly……..’cos the AFL have and will continue to pump funds into those ‘development’ states.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=kv5HCs6u3pQ

If you have never seen it before Mickey Mouse in the Disney classic Fantasia The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is this Kossie coaching

[url]http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=LD8HDta7Z_4[/url]

Likewise will be tuning in to see Man U become Champions of the World!!!

Will be at TD next week for MV v SFC…will give JA a booooo for you

What a week we will have installed for us Football folk; dissecting what will be the match of the season.. Yes a lot will be riding on this encounter next weekend; the winner to go on and win the championship and the loser to start their planing to rebuild for the new season.. That’s all I have to say tonight lads; as I am gong to have a Bex, a hot cuppa, and a good lie down, to await the final of the WCC Final on SBS..

~~~~~~~~
KB

I would prefer to see Wellington thrown out, and put in Melbourne, West Sydney and Canberra as the next three teams. This will create a nice 14 team comp which is where the expansion can then stop. Wollongong and Hobart can then come in once there is a bit of stability over the next 10 years (if there ever is).

Saw that will put Obie One in a difficult position IMO.

Blatter said essentially it was FIFA decision about the Nix and my reading was that FIFA gave special conditions to NZ and those conditions can only be changed with FIFA approval via the FIFA excutive committee.

So I see no change to the current position both players wise and ACL wise.

The point that Blatter did make …is.. ” Blatter said as long as the Nix and FFA wanted the arrangement to continue it would”.

Two things are a concern for me with this statement … first how will MBN feel and how much he wants his own way i.e. blackmail Lowy over the World Cup to dump the Nix … as a counter its obovious FIFA want the Nix in… so if FFA dump Nix maybe no hope of getting WC…. Second if as I understand from what Blatter said nothing changes Australia will only get at best 3 ACL spots i.e. another form of Blackmail … Australian sponsors want as many ACL places as possible even if the Nix get one… as a counter if the Nix went the with MBH approach to only having 4 NZ players then no problem with making the ACL or being in Australia… but then difficult to market to the public in gereral…

Poor old Obie One .. I think its called the “meat in the sandwhich” this is still going to require all his skills.

Sepp Blatter – almost exact quote
When teams from one association will play in the other association. It is not the matter of the confederation, it is the matter of the FIFA Executive Committee, it’s in the statute to decide if it’s a problem or not. Therefore this problem is not an Asian problem, it’s a problem has to go to FIFA. If Wellington will go on play on in Australian League, then as long as australian league wants to have them and wellington wants to stay. Both association in this case, New Zealand Soccer and Australian Football are happy with that then we will give them the blessing. The confederation can not interfere with that.

The one common thing that has brought them all down is ??? was maybe on the big screen today. However Karma must work as when Kossie send out his team to kick the shit out of us (Mariners) last year he like the Socceroos before and the witchdoctor Kossie brought a curse on his coaching that can never be lifted.

To the tune John Paul Young when he sings ” I Hate the Music ” …. I Hate the Choppers..

For Aloi$i … what a waste of money … again ..what a waste of money … and lets keep going for KB & SJ ..what a waste of money … what a waste of money … what a waste of money

Lets compare the Sydenee Swans who have been in that market since 1982 with their first 12 years or so to give us an understanding of how well SFC are going:

SS
Year Members Finishing position² Average Home crowd
1982 7th 15,993
1983 11th 12,025
1984 2,750 10th 12,497
1985 2,777 10th 10,137
1986 4,927 4th, semi-finalists 25,819
1987 3,594 4th, semi-finalists 22,032
1988 2,516 7th 12,311
1989 2,631 7th 12,317
1990 2,624 13th 9,178
1991 2,907 12th 11,521
1992 3,020 15th 9,881
1993 3,097 15th 9,423
1994 3,327 15th 9,813
1995 6,088 12th 15,949

So in fact SFC after 4 years are doing much better than the SS in the same time frame….and after 12 years of existence with all the freebies and money poured in by the AFL SS had….3,327members!!!!! and ave crowds of 9,813!!!
Currently after 3 1/2 yrs SFC have ave crowds of 12-13,000 and 7-8,000 members (l believe).

This in “The Game That Made Australia” according to the …AFL… In a city where there were no other AFL teams to take members away etc

The news obviously isnt all bad for SS because fast forward and after 26 YEARS and playing in finals 7 of the last 8 yrs including 2 GFs they now have 26,000 members (although they have dropped 6,000 members in one year from 2007 sort of makes MVs membership drop of 4,000 not too bad).

So the point being l think SFC (no one can seriously believe they are doing well either on or off the park at this stage) need just a little more time and come back after 26 years to see how things are to make true comparisons.

“Money, money money, It’s rich man’s world” – ABBA’s tribute to Clive Palmer……. then oops the world just turned into an economic toilet and those bucks are going down down the drain.

Apologies that I actually know this line from an ABBA song, it’s really the only one I know, really

I agree with you though, Tassie should come before Western Sydney.

Redb