By football_fanatic -
November 4th 2009 @ 1:53am
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The rejuvenation of Sydney Olympic
There is a fine line in the debate of old soccer versus new football. Over the next five years, the former national giant Sydney Olympic, formerly of ‘old soccer’, is set to build upon its already wide supporter base and ensure the survival of the club in a bold attempt to prove they deserve to return to the highest level of the game in Australia.
With dwindling A–League crowds, it’s the former “ethnic” clubs like Olympic who are striving to step up and become the national powerhouses they once were.
After 53 years in the Australian footballing landscape, this iconic club is going through a rejuvenation process in an attempt to reconnect with all its fans and rekindle the love they have.
The two time national champions, who have produced and exported superstars such as Tim Cahill, Jason Cullina and Brett Emerton, are working tirelessly around clock to return to the pinnacle of Australian football.
All the early indicators point to the fact that Sydney Olympic, the two time NSL champions and powerhouse of Australian football, are slowly returning to its glory days.
And the FFA cannot deny that old soccer is the new football.
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(73)
Armstrong said | November 4th 2009 @ 4:21am | Report comment
A puff-piece of propaganda for the club.
Paul said | November 26th 2009 @ 10:30am | Report comment
Well it seems that the new guys in charge are trying for the best.
I saw their new offices in the newspaper the other day and also read about the 3 new employees they have there now and i must admit i was impressed. I doubt it if any other Premier League Club has such offices.
I might go to a game or two this season and see for myself what they have done and see whether its worth supporting them again this season.
But to be fair, i must say well done for their efforts to date, but of course they’ve still got a long way to go….
Savvas Tzionis said | November 4th 2009 @ 7:20am | Report comment
This website has really lost the plot if it allows such drivel to be accepted.
John Rivers said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:00am | Report comment
Ive been hearing all this talk from olympic supportters about their revolution looks like tis happening, maybe the old days at belmore are coming back
George said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:25am | Report comment
It seems positive that there is an interest in Sydney Olympic in November when the State League competition isnt likely to begin until February, by no means a last-minute last-ditch attempt to muster some morsels of support.
There’s certainly doings within the existing Olympic fanbase and that’s great to see because football will be the ultimate winner. Olympic’s job is to perform well on the pitch and reach out its hands and hearts to the Sydney football community at large to prove that their revolution is of substance to both its supporters and its critics. Realistically only the manager and the players are in the position to shape the on-field results, so for the off-season months that are left until February the potential for real change will have to be championed by those supporters most willing to take up the call.
As one of those supporters I invite everyone, irrespective of ethnicity, religious affiliation and economic background to join in this infant Sydney Olympic revolution, to be part of something that still could go either way; to rising and falling as nothing more than puff propaganda as mentioned above, or for the revival of a club focused on servicing the whole football community and providing a quality product with both heart and character.
Spezza said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:34am | Report comment
Olympic is back baby, looking forward to seeing you savvas at the games buddy dont play hard to get
Denis said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:36am | Report comment
me and all my girlfriends well be at the games next season havent been in years, we were actually talking about this last week at georgios cafe! just like the old days
Savvas Tzionis said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:39am | Report comment
Re malaka. Ime Melvourniotis. Ise ta kala sou?
Vlakas!!
Robbo said | November 4th 2009 @ 12:26pm | Report comment
This is Australia.
We speak English.
OlympicFTW said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:15pm | Report comment
This is the internet….there is no one Language.
KP said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:41am | Report comment
Fantastic. great for sydney olympic. whoopdidoo… I’ll let all my greek mates know about it…
and produced those guys?? what about Balmain & Marrickville for Cahill, Emerton was “produced” at the AIS and Culina spent more time at Utd than Olympic! You are just the guys that got them transfer fees to Europe.
Have fun in the state league mate!
Pippinu said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:41am | Report comment
Hey – careful who you’re calling a malaka!!
Aekman11 said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:46am | Report comment
Before everyone gets jumpy and thinks Olympic may actually have a chance of getting into the A-League,alot of changes have to happen and the FFA has to sort out the current problems with the current A-league clubs and their financial situations,otherwise the A-League wont be around in 5 years time the way its going.
George said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:47am | Report comment
Cmon Savvas theres no need for the rivalry. I watched South Melbourne wit the other 200 people at Bob Jane this year v. Ferntree Gully.. all to be a part of the massive crowd? Of course not, but I DID go to provide what little support I could while I was down.. good to hear that Coveny is taking the reins and offering his all to the club as manager now too.
Savvas Tzionis said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:52am | Report comment
Listen,
If you want to sell shonky business deals, stick to Henry Kaye type operations.
Its bad enough having the likes of Clive Palmer involved in the game.
Soccerboy said | November 4th 2009 @ 9:10am | Report comment
That article is funny….Emerton was brought to Olympic he was an A.I.S player Olympic didnt produce him,Culina was always at United and Olympic had NOTHING to do with him and the player he has become and FINALLY Olympic never had Tim Cahill,they told him he was TOO SHORT when he was playing for Belmore Hercules that’s why he went overseas and tried his luck at Milwall,please Olympic hardly produced any stars and the stars they had were never good enough for Olympic and were sold to other teams and that’s when they became players….As much as I love Olympic as I have supported them since St.George Stadium days that article is bullshit and Olympic wont be entering the A-legaue anytime soon and as for a B-League,well the FFA beta get their shit together and fix the A-League before they bring out a B-League….please people be realistic here FFA dont want ethnic clubs!!!!!!!!
AndyRoo said | November 4th 2009 @ 9:23am | Report comment
My brother played for a Central Coast rep team in an approx under 13 tournament that involved about 8 teams from all over NSW.
My brothers team was full of all sorts and they played against Sydney Olympic who were at the time going on about how they now represented the shire. The coach and every single one of their players were not only Greek you could tell it was from a certain part of Greece. Timmy Cahill wasn’t getting a guernsy with them that is for sure.
anita said | November 4th 2009 @ 10:21am | Report comment
All it needed was for a few guys to stand up and kick off the movement to bring the old fans back im so happy to read this stuff! Havent been to olympic games since the NSL cant wait for next season
Gibbo said | November 4th 2009 @ 10:55am | Report comment
as a melbournian i dont really get the intricacies of the sydney football context, however…
if poorly written, assertion filled articles offering not even a scrap of evidence actually have ANY basis in reality, i reckon sydney rovers fc might be in for a hard slog…
please FFA, no ethnic clubs. that said, if Olympic can be progressive and inclusive then it may have a role in the future of the game in australia
md said | November 4th 2009 @ 11:45am | Report comment
Note to the administrators of the Roar… This is neither news, nor an opinion piece (let alone a well-thought one) Please lift your standards.
Cheers
md
OlympicFTW said | November 4th 2009 @ 11:55am | Report comment
Hey guys. It seems that there are mixed feelings about this movement which is normal for every movement. I just wanted to say that it’s one thing to either get on board or not and it’s another to bag out a movement which people are embracing. If you don’t want to support Olympic, then don’t, but don’t bag out the effort made by the fans to help make the club better.
Would Sydney FC fans do the same if they were relegated to state league?
The issue we need to see here is that Sydney Olympic have been playing in NSW Premier League for the last 5 seasons. Not only has the club not died out. But FANS now are taking a more active role and bringing eachother closer to the club itself.
As for A-League or B-league; I’m not sure if the club itself is moving towards such targets but it seems that it is the FANS again who are asking if not demanding for a place in the A-league! Again is this wrong? We would all love to see Olympic competing for the top prize in Australian football.
And what is football? Is it a product which we need to sell to people so they can come to support or were the clubs originally built up because they had support. Olympic started out as Pan-Hellenic as a team of Greeks who would PLAY football. Over time other Greek migrants started coming out to see this team play, to support their fellow migrants. Eventually the team found itself playing in the NSL in front of thousands of supporters. Now as we all know, Australia is a free country, which is something we are all proud of irrespective of origin or background. In a country which promotes freedom shouldn’t we all be free to support something which we like? So how can we say things like “No Ethnic teams in A-league” what is an ethnic team nowdays anyway? Ok so Olympic has traditionally attracted people of a Greek bakground, is this bad. The Greeks chose to support and involve themselves with Olympic. If a large group of Greeks were on the board of Sydney FC and Sydney FC was supported by the Greek community would that make Sydney FC a Greek club?
In todays democratic, free, and racially accepting society criteria for A-legaue entry should not be Ethnicity! And if Olympic does show that it has the support of the community, whichever community that is, then I believe that it should be a prime candidate for greater participation and representation in the Australian Football Scene, after all if it has this much support as a lowly NSW Premier league club, imagine the crowds in the A-league….which would of course mean more money coming in to the FFA and the A-league and other financial advantages as well as the boost it would provide to the game.
I will always support Olympic, not because I’m Greek, but because it is the club that I have supported since I was a young boy, Olympic is a tradition something the New A-league teams need years to achieve.
md said | November 4th 2009 @ 12:38pm | Report comment
Now this is a good bit of opinion.
I disagree with nearly every word in it, but good on you for having a go.
For mine, Olympic and its ethnic based NSL bretheren were part of the cabal that bought the game to its knees through a strange combination of regionalism (ie fights over who would control the state and regional federations), ethnic preferentialism (the ‘one of us’ mentality), nepotism and a sheer bloodyminded refusal to grasp the reality that the Australian public had moved on from allowing ethnic based tribalism to flourish and wanted football to move on too.
That said, most of the main protagonist clubs are now at the second or third tier of the game and deserve to be supported as suburban clubs in those divisions, if doing so makes people happy, so – good on you for having a go.
In the meantime, all supporters of suburban clubs (including Olympic) should make sure they get to a Sydney FC match (or a Rovers match when that happens) and support the game at the highest level.
George said | November 4th 2009 @ 3:20pm | Report comment
I dont think its fair to attribute the bleak final moments of the NSL purely with nepotism and mismanagement from the clubs, neither is it fair to disregard completely the many colourful moments and memorable years that the NSL produced. I dont think it was an entirely European-based squad that qualified for the World Cup in 1974 either. As well, SBS and ABC coverage of the competition was something I cherished dearly. I was just like any other ordinary kid that got to see football on the telly as well as at the ground every week. Free-to-air football in my opinion is pivotal, something that we’re deprived of even today. The current Fox Sports deal for A-League and Socceroos games is glorified almost everywhere I go for its dollar value (which I’d argue sold football short anyway), but it denies access to those we should be showing our dear sport to the most. Instead, it arguably goes about placing hand-in-hand Socceroos matches with binge drinking at clubs and pubs. Who can forget that ‘Nobody Screws Soccer like 7′? I think the more important and deeper question here is to ask, ‘Who remembers that ordeal at all?’
It seems that this revisionist history has rendered the past, the clubs, the competition as a force that sought to keep football in the dark ages and erode Australian values, all for some knights in shining armour (who many are too ignorant or too content with the narrative to acknowledge how involved in the old format and politics that these people were) to save the game and save Australia from these ethnics. For the 8000-odd fans at the Sydney FC game the other week or the 2500-odd fans at the Gold Coast game, I might even suggest that it is this type of revisionist history that helps them sleep at night.
Enough about the past. Sydney Olympic is in the State League and isn’t going to be in a National League tomorrow or next week. Whats important for now is that the club provides a quality product in attractive football in the first team and superior player development in the youth squads, together with reconnecting with the community and rebuilding the electric atmosphere that it once possessed.
md said | November 4th 2009 @ 4:21pm | Report comment
Winners and losers are often determined by fine margins.
A few points with what you say above:
ABC and SBS television rights basically equal taxpayer funding for football. That is not a sustainable basis to fund any competition. I’m old enought to remember 7. Don’t particularly want them back. I doubt 9 would be much different either. Foxsports do a good job and their basic sports package costs is pretty cheap. That said, I would love to see A-league on free to air (any channel), provided it is shown live, complete, uninterupted and in a sympathetic environment, because it would extend the audience.
There’s revisionism on both sides, but the victors tend to get their version of history accepted. There is no doubt that the game was particularly disfunctional in NSW and Victoria and little doubt that the NSL clubs played a large part in that disfunction. That’s not to say there were some good things during the time. I mean, here’s something to ponder: what would be the current state of Australian football if Peter Hore hadn’t tore down the net vs Iran and Tel’s team had qualified?
It’s a game of fine margins.
rocco said | November 4th 2009 @ 4:55pm | Report comment
Why should I support sadney fc? You don’t support my club, why should I support yours?
md said | November 5th 2009 @ 8:19am | Report comment
Because doing so would send a message that Olympic isn’t trapped in the past. Many of the pro-olympic comments above seem to be about re-asserting “old football”, rather than finding a place in “new football”. That’s self-defeating; its like a kid chucking a tanty and occasionally throwing toys at the wall, while the adults wait for it to calm down and re-engage in the world (AKA the North Korea treatment).
There are plenty of reasons to come along Sydney FC matches: be there to support your boys like Cole and Jurman, be there out of the realisation that football rises and falls together (kids in the naughty corner excepted), or you could be there to see some of the best football being played in the country. I don’t think anyone at Sydney FC would care if you also supported Olympic.
If you want a place in any national league, you are going to have to stop treating A-league teams and the FFA as your enemy. It’s up to you and your fellow travellers though.
dasilva said | November 4th 2009 @ 10:05pm | Report comment
Is it racism to only allow multicultural clubs in the A-league?
No it isn’t racism.
You are right that ethnicity should not be a criteria for entrance in the A-league. However that just means that if the board members are from an ethnic minorities, if the club’s fan demographic attracts a large ethnic minority support, FFA shouldn’t hold it against them. Seriously, Adelaide United had alot of Italians background in the board, the crowds has a lot of italian migrant background. However it’s never really held against them because there is a difference between an ethnic/migrant club and a club that attracts large numbers of ethnic minority.
The history of a lot of clubs in NSL was that the club was a social club to help a specific migrant community to adapt and socialise with each other in Australia. A worthy and noble goal.
However saying that, that is inconsistent with what is required from a professional club. A professional club should not be a social gathering of a single ethnic community. Every single club in the A-league must be a multicultural club (if ethnic shouldn’t be a criteria for FFA, it shouldn’t be a criteria for the club itself)
Even if the ethnic clubs do try to diversify, the fact is the roots and history of the club was to cater a particular community. Therefore perception from the community will stick.
Now if these so-called ethnic clubs wants to join the A-league there has to be a complete restructuring of the club.
They have to demonstrate that they are now no longer a club to serve a specific community. That it’s an Australian but multicultural club that is willing to attract people from diverse backgrounds. They have to follow strict rules from FFA that no non-Australian flags are allowed inside the stadium etc.
They are all reasonable criteria to expect from a club.
However, ask yourself do you really want to change the whole identity of the club to join the A-league. That’s really is the only way.
Having said that though. I do feel sorry for Southern Cross who I believe got unfairly shafted from FFA. They made a commitment that it was an Australian multicultural club. South Melbourne only had a small investment in that club but that was enough to scare the FFA. If Southern Cross was willing to play ball and commit itself to be a multicultural club then it’s irrelevant that there is a south melbourne link to the club just like there was a link with a dutch club to Brisbane Roar.
Midfielder said | November 4th 2009 @ 12:15pm | Report comment
Good to see … will certainly go and watch a few games … always tho Qlympic had the best chant of all the old clubs…
OOOO—Lippp—ICCC … Newcastle have a similar chant today..
Spezza said | November 4th 2009 @ 1:03pm | Report comment
One thing i dont get a about football in this country is that football around the world is not just about the round ball its bigger than that its a way of life.
If you support a team you support them through thick and thin, you dont go and watch a top level team for the sake of the game!
That is something the big wigs of football must understand and respect and there fore that is why promotion and relegation is so powerfull all over the world, ok its not in America but do we really want to follow their footsteps in football??
I am an Olympic supportter and have no reason to go a watch sydney fc or sydney rovers unless my team plays agains them.
This does not make me anti-football this does not make me an idiot this makes me a loyal fan.
FFA must understand you cant brain wash people and make then follow your plastic league.
Open up the gates football is a world game lets follow the world and make it right in this country.
Midfielder said | November 4th 2009 @ 1:32pm | Report comment
Spezza
If Olympic played in the FA cup format being developed by the FFA… I assume you would go and watch the Olympic matches but would it make you want to watch one of the other A-League teams as Olympic where back in a round about way.
Spezza said | November 4th 2009 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
i would not watch a a-league match if my team wasnt playing, what would be the drawing card to getting me their??’
I woudl watch my team away from home
Jess said | November 4th 2009 @ 5:02pm | Report comment
Sydney Olympic is the worst club in Australian Soccer, it deserves to fade away. This insignificant club will never survive the harsh reality in which is the A-League, it simply does not have the funds. From playing its players late to their unorganization. Sydney olympic was a thing of the past, it will never be a club of the future. Sydney olympic is A HAS BEEN CLUB
Llama said | November 4th 2009 @ 7:48pm | Report comment
Insignificant Club. Look at your own players who have come through Sydney olympic. Cole? Jurman? etc. You are a foolish person.
Spezza said | November 4th 2009 @ 8:20pm | Report comment
Oh jess you sick little boy, what are u talking about, do u need a doctors phone number?
Jeffa said | November 4th 2009 @ 9:50pm | Report comment
I was guest of Sam Papadopolous at an NSL grand final fixture between South Melbourne Hellas and Sydney Olympic at Melbourne’s Olympic Park. In the VIP room I heard not one word of English. Any impartial marketer could easily provide an accurate projection of the future of professional football in Australia at that juncture. The passion of its clubs held off the NSL’s death for another decade and a half but its demise was inevitable. The A-league is the brave new world in the Australian sports mainstream. And I expect if South Melbourne ever meets Olympic in an off-season inter-colonial premier league clash … the language in their VIP room will still be Greek.
Gibbo said | November 5th 2009 @ 9:14am | Report comment
sounds like meal times round my misus’ house. nothing wrong with people who have english as a second language Jeffa (except when they ask me questions in greek and then asume i’m being rude and ignoring them – i honestly had no idea they were talking to me!! I’m sorry uncle stan!!!). i just think clubs intrinsically tied to ethnic communities are not the best way for football to move forward and win the whole code war dealy.
George said | November 5th 2009 @ 9:29am | Report comment
Why? I studied 4 unit english in high school but am barely conversational in a number of other languages, your point doesnt hold much weight except prolong the xenophobia
Gibbo said | November 5th 2009 @ 9:44am | Report comment
are you asking me why, or Jeffa’s comment? i’m not sure, but just in case: because i believe that football should be a unifying force. the common enemy should be afl, aru, nrl et al. Clubs should be respectful of all and inclusive of all who derive pleasure from the beautiful game. football clubs should simply be about unity and mutual appreciation and football.
dasilva said | November 5th 2009 @ 10:52am | Report comment
There’s nothing wrong with people predominantly speaking Greek
It’s just that it’s not suitable for a professional club
Part of the aim of a professional club is to expand the supporter base to people of all background.
Having people predominantly speaking greek will limit that. It will also limit any sponsors who want to get in board and back the club as well.
Let’s just say this, football should be inclusive of all background and if there is one common language in Australia that all people of all backgrounds can communicate each other. It will be English. A vietnamese ethnicity person can’t communicate to a Greek person in greek or in vietnamese but they can with English.
again there’s nothing wrong with having a greek social club but that’s not conducive to a professional sport in a national league.
Soccerfan said | November 4th 2009 @ 10:11pm | Report comment
People please get over it Olympic WILL NOT be entering any A-League or B-League…the current league’s strugglin enough they arent gona add more teams and make it worse….the days of Olympic are over all you people out there who call yourselves “loyal” Olympic fans now where were you all during the days of st.george stadium or leichhardt oval when it was the TRUE Olympic days with true hooligans who supported their teams every weekend with passion???? You were all nowhere to be seen and now a group of 10 of you come out and call this a revolution please people grow up the people who supported Olympic bak in the 80’s and 90’s were the TRUE fans not u so-called wanbees now!!!!!!!!!!!!
George said | November 5th 2009 @ 9:48am | Report comment
I was at st. george stadium in a pram. i rolled down the hill in front of the firepower stand at leichhardt because it was really steep. olympic has been my life
AndyRoo said | November 5th 2009 @ 10:01am | Report comment
I don’t understand the bitterness.
Sydney Olympic still exist, if the NSL was still going most of their old rivals apart from South Melbourne would be long gone. Sydney United and Melbourne Knights were dead men walking financially. Marconi were also struggling.
The A league clubs work on 8 million dollars a year. State League is Olympics level. They have only lost a couple of players to A League clubs and it’s not like Olympic are dominating NSW.
And let’s be honest here the other states suck at football, winning the NSW League makes you the 10th best professional team in the country.
As to the pram comment, my 10 month old has already been to 2 A league matches and a NYL game. By the time he is 15 he will be talking about the Roar the same way you talk about Olympic.
OlympicFTW said | November 5th 2009 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
I believe we were just old enough to walk….our parents had taken us to games anyway but we were unable to display passion considering that we didn’t know what passion was. Olympic has been my life too.
westy said | November 4th 2009 @ 10:42pm | Report comment
Spezza remember Granville Magpies. I have a longer memory then you.What goes around comes around. Other clubs were sidelined in the past by the very club/s you adore . Some were biased but not all.. Olympic and its cohorts consigned a few genuine ones to oblvion. Not revenge . Just what goes around comes around. You know what i mean.
Soccerfan said | November 5th 2009 @ 6:53am | Report comment
HEY JEFFA…whats the big deal if you went to olympic-sth melbourne game n heard people talkin greek??? U tellin me that if you went to Sydney united-Melbourne knights game you would be hearing people talk english aswell??? Hahahaha ur a loser champ if you went to a Sydney FC game i bet you would hear just as many people speakin a different language as english is not their first language……u make out like these teams n their fans r racist for speakin another language well sorry to tell u puppet but NOT every1 in this country speaks english with confidence…GROW UP champ!!!!!!!!
Soccerfan said | November 5th 2009 @ 6:53am | Report comment
HEY JEFFA…whats the big deal if you went to olympic-sth melbourne game n heard people talkin greek??? U tellin me that if you went to Sydney united-Melbourne knights game you would be hearing people talk english aswell??? Hahahaha champ if you went to a Sydney FC game i bet you would hear just as many people speakin a different language as english is not their first language……u make out like these teams n their fans r racist for speakin another language well sorry to tell u puppet but NOT every1 in this country speaks english with confidence…GROW UP champ!!!!!!!!
Robbo said | November 5th 2009 @ 7:06am | Report comment
I can use CAPS LOCK AND EXCLAMATION MARKS TOOOOOO!!!!!
Savvas Tzionis said | November 5th 2009 @ 9:52am | Report comment
As much as the old NSL was a basket case, there is one major difference between the old NSL and the new.
The old NSL welcomed new clubs that were not ethno-specific like Northern Spirit and Perth Glory and Adelaide United, yet the new A-League would NEVER accept an ethno-specific club.
So, which league is being racially exclusive?
Simmo said | November 5th 2009 @ 4:24pm | Report comment
this is a wind-up, surely?
OlympicFTW said | November 5th 2009 @ 1:18pm | Report comment
I would honestly love for the FFA to humour us and let Olympic into the A-league. But the truth is not that you are trying to save football. The truth is that you are afraid of the clubs who survived for over 50 years with negative media coverage, minimal sponsors, no pathway into Asian champions league…..If the NSL had all that the A-league has now the teams wouldn’t have gone down hill.
But lets remember Northern Spirit…an attempt to build a club with no ethnic ties….Where are they now? Waiting for Sydney FC.
dasilva said | November 5th 2009 @ 3:15pm | Report comment
Don’t you think that the current relative success with sponsors and the non-ethnic clubs go hand in hand.
The NSL despite the few multicultural clubs had a stigma of being an ethnic league. No sponsors would go near that.
There was a story about one of the italians clubs looking looking for sponsorship and the company rejected them saying we want greeks to buy our products as well.
No matter how big the crowds the old NSL clubs had, they could never would have found mainstream acceptance unless restructuring takes place to diversify from its ethnic roots.
Midfielder said | November 5th 2009 @ 10:35pm | Report comment
OlympicFTW
You say … who survived for over 50 years … some would say … who held football back fifty years…
I sorta over, the pass … my team Auburn was gone many many moons ago…mine you it’s still their today but a shadow of the side it was back in the late 20s, 30’s, 40s, 50s & early 60’s…
I just hope that as the great John Lennon once sang …. Imagine was the song …
I hope you come and join us
and Football can be as one.
George said | November 5th 2009 @ 1:21pm | Report comment
Well, regardless of the pros and cons, people of all things are talking about Sydney Olympic in November. Personally I’m excited!!
clayton said | November 5th 2009 @ 9:42pm | Report comment
older clubs in australia have done a lot for the game and have a lot to be proud of …
dunno if the future for them includes the a-league or b-league or whatever. bit of a pipe dream imho. i reckon an FFA cup with a-league and state league participants could happen soonish though.
these clubs are in the state leagues – why not accept that and be the best you can, where you are.
enaretos said | November 7th 2009 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
What australian football needs to take the next step is to get rid of mono-ethnic clubs all together and have only multicultural clubs participating in all competitions around the country, not just in the A-League. As long as mono-ethnic clubs exist this wonderful game will always be divided in this country.
Constantine said | November 7th 2009 @ 1:56pm | Report comment
do you realize A-league crowds are not dwindling. 3 clubs are down, 5 are up and apparently its a crisis
Aheron said | November 11th 2009 @ 11:26am | Report comment
We live in an ethnic society, we live in a multicultural society, yet many people in the FFA and postesr on here refuse to accept an ethnic team.
Who is being racist now?
dasilva said | November 11th 2009 @ 11:55am | Report comment
Yes we live in a multicultural society
Multiculturalism is about bringing different ethnic groups together not separating them
Therefore isn’t it against multiculturalism to allow ethnic exclusive clubs to join the A-league.
yes, who’s being racist now indeed.
Aheron said | November 11th 2009 @ 11:35pm | Report comment
Who said we are exclusive in allowing which fans can come to the games, anyone is welcome.
Nuff said.
Savvas Tzionis said | November 11th 2009 @ 12:03pm | Report comment
Da Silva, you are WRONG.
It is freedom of association. The A-League will not allow a team to enter that has a unique cultural link. Yet, if this team was able to attract an average of 25,000 to each game, how stupid would the A-League look?
I am not saying that any of these Ethnic backed clubs could. I do not believe any of them could get a crowd (except for South Melbourne perhaps).
My point is that the prejudicial behaviour lies NOT with the old NSL (who accepted clubs like Perth Glory, Northern Spirit) but with the current A-League structure.
AndyRoo said | November 11th 2009 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
The criteria in mind is that one day these clubs could represent everyone in their geographical region. We don’t want to have to out 3 teams in Adelaide for instance, by having one team in Adelaide that everyone can support then the full potential of future growth can be realised.
In a place like Sydney where there is a huge geographic spread and plenty of rectangular stadiums then there is no way you would want a team that draws from an ethnic demographic rather than a geographic base.
In Melbourne where both teams will be playing out of the same stadium then I can see some sort of case for South Melbourne.
dasilva said | November 11th 2009 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
I’m happy to admit that the A-league and FFA is prejudice towards ethic exclusive clubs.
however just because it’s prejudice doesn’t mean the prejudice is wrong, unfounded and not based on reasonable thought. To me it’s like being prejudice to clubs that are unsuitable to a professional league.
Any old “ethnic” clubs who want to join the A-league should undergo what Brisbane Roar ( who has links to brisbane lions a dutch ethnic club) or what Southern Cross bid (which I thought was unfairly shafted). eg.completely rebrand itself and advertise itself as a multicultural club and follow strict FFA rules of no non-Australian flags into the stadium.
Savvas Tzionis said | November 11th 2009 @ 12:22pm | Report comment
AndyRoo,,
My point is a philosophical one. At a pragmatic level, if South could guarantee 20,000, the A League would HAVE to accept them.
But it is NOT going to happen. Greek Australians don’t need the crutch of a Soccer team to retain their Hellenic identity.
Louie said | November 11th 2009 @ 1:48pm | Report comment
dasilva,
you said ” The NSL despite the few multicultural clubs had a stigma of being an ethnic league. No sponsors would go near that.”
Coca Cola went near it by sponsoring it.
So too did Ericsson
So too did Phillips
and West End and Qantas………
I think you have no idea what you are saying
dasilva said | November 11th 2009 @ 2:17pm | Report comment
yeah
I admit it was a bit of a hyperbole to say no one will go near it or to infer that the league had no sponsors
However it was a response to the assertion by OlympicsFTW that the problem with the NSL was not the ethnic clubs but due to lack of money from sponsors. He an NSL fans states that one of the main problems of NSL was that it had “minimal sponsors”.
Obviously the league had some sponsors and some of the sponsors came from major corporation but they never paid large enough money to make the competition viable.
Unless you are suggesting that the NSL didn’t have a problem with attracting large amounts of money from sponsors. Maybe the reason why sponsors didn’t spend large enough money is due to the non-mainstream nature of the perception of ethnic clubs. Fox wouldn’t have paid that large amount of money if the A-league had ethnic clubs.
Despite all the (reasonable) complaint about how channel 7 buried football. The official reasoning behind them not broadcasting the NSL was that one of the conditions when channel 7 bought the rights to the NSL with a larger sum of money then what the SBS had offered was that there would be a reform of the NSL to de-emphasised and rebrand the ethnic clubs. When that failed to happen to channel 7 liking, that’s when Channel 7 decide to shaft the NSL (along with them wanting to please AFL as well)
Savvas Tzionis said | November 11th 2009 @ 2:22pm | Report comment
Da Silva,
You state the following…”Fox wouldn’t have paid that large amount of money if the A-league had ethnic clubs.”
So you believe that if the A-League had ONE Ethnic club out, say, of a total of 12, that Fox would NOT support it?
If that is true (and I believe it), its a disgraceful indictment on where this country is at the moment.
Midfielder said | November 11th 2009 @ 2:52pm | Report comment
It is an easy argument to settle… FFA in 2008 not counting any government money received 85 million in revenue…The last year over the NSL was around 4 million…
In the time the FFA have been in charge the Socceroos have gone from a once in four year’s team to Australia’s biggest brand… It is in fact hard to find any level of the game in better shape under the NSL management than FFA management…
It is easy to shout from the barricade anything you want …. BUT there is no comparison between the two sets of management or team structure models… if that comparison is based on revenue, media coverage, mainstream interest, crowd averages.
Savvas Tzionis said | November 11th 2009 @ 2:58pm | Report comment
Midfielder,
“Fighting yesterdays battles today”
George said | November 11th 2009 @ 3:22pm | Report comment
Why are so many people so adamant to rubbish a football club that wishes to reconnect with its historical roots and embrace a new following in its contemporary context? The A-League has had its chance to develop a product of character and charm but has not only failed to impress those who hand-carried, bled and cried for this sport through its long period of obscurity and belittlement by the other sporting codes, but moreover has disowned these same people and labelled them as being proponents of ethnic sectarianism who are irrelevant in the modern Australia. For me, the image is very different. In contrast, I would argue that it is the shared responsibility of these rejected clubs and their traditional supporters to demonstrate to the xenophobic, verging-on-heartless mainstream that they can continue to exist, flourish, and even support one another in an encouraging and cosmopolitan Australian context. I believe that it is possible, and again I invite whoever is willing to participate in this to do so. If I am alone, then I have failed. But then nobody can say that we never tried.
Gweeds said | November 11th 2009 @ 4:03pm | Report comment
This argument has been thrashed many times before. I have put forward the opinion that there are three groups of people that would love the A-League to fail. One are of course some fans/journalists from other codes that see ’soccer’ as an intruder and have no place in Australia, the second are the eurosnobs that think that the A-League is rubbish and have no reason to exist and the third are the nostalgics from the old NSL that are very pissed off they were dismissed by the new FFA and hate the ‘plastic’ A-League.
These were the true holders of the faith when football was maligned and derided. They were the one who put the money and worked in their spare time building clubs and teams when no one was interested. I can understand that when football becomes an attractive item to governments and sponsors they are marginalised with no recognition of all their contribution. And we know from the socceroos that the development of players from this team was top notch. Some commentators have stated that the technical skills developed were higher than the current A-league offerings.
However
We have to take Jeffa point of people speaking Greek. What’s the problem speaking Greek? None whatsoever. (I am a native Italian speaker myself) and just because these people are from Greek/Italian/Croatian/Macedonian etc. origin are they less ‘Australian’ than others? Not at all.
But following a team is not a rational decision. There must be some link to emotionally attach to a team and support it through thick and thin. And of course there is a question of perception. When you want to attract people to something, perception is important. So even if a team has become truly ‘Australian’ perceptions that it really belongs to a particular group (through colours, chants, sponsors and language spoken) can prevent people to come on board. Unfair? Yes. But that’s the reality. That is why the A-League had to create a new clean slate and create teams which provided a perception that they were not attached to any particular group, but the attachment was purely geographical rather than cultural.
So any football supporter that feels some schadenfreude at the ‘problems’ the A-league may be experiencing at the moment is doing the cause of football a disservice. Yes the NSL had fans with passion and knowledge but it was not a mainstream sport. It was seen as irrelevant and marginalised.
Having said that the phobia of the FFA to include the ‘old soccer’ (for better words) is a mistake. If I have one criticism of the FFA is thet I think they may be great administrators but do not have an appreciation of football culture. If we could somehow combine the two (ie. taking the Western Sydney team as an example) I think football would be in a much stronger position.
Spezza said | November 12th 2009 @ 2:28pm | Report comment
All i can say is that Sydney Olympic FC is back baby look out for over 1500 season pass holders in 2010. We will recconect with the community and strenght our club, we know the FFA doesnt want us we know footballnsw doesnt want us, but guys news flash the people want OLYMPIC, juts like South Melbourne is doing big things in Melbourne and recconnected with their massive family we are going to do bigger things.
Stay tunned have over 2600 members on facebook whereby sydney fc only has 1458 is the first sign.
1500 +++ season pass holders in state league is the next step.
Stay tunned sydney olympic fc is back baby!!!!
AndyRoo said | November 12th 2009 @ 2:36pm | Report comment
Genuine question, why would Football NSW be against Olympic?
I know the Victorian state comp seems to be against the ethnic teams and Football NSW has some stupid rules regarding P&R where it should just be first goes up and last goes down.
It seems stupid to interfere in off field matters like they do, imposing criteria and such. State league is never going to some huge money making league they should run it in winter with straight fair and square P&R. If there good enough who cares if a Sudanese only football team wins the comp?
Spezza said | November 13th 2009 @ 8:06am | Report comment
Andyroo well said my friend byt he governing bodies of fotoball on nsw dont want whats best for the game they want control! EVER MOVE FOOTBALLNSW MAKES FOR THE GAME IN NSW TAKES THE GAME BACKWARDS
how can you pay $38,000 to enter a comp their is no adds for the comp and the prize money is $25,000 does that make sense