The A-League needs a Sydney FC win

Columnist

By Mike Tuckerman, 16 Mar 2010 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert

Tagged:: A-League, football, Karol Kisel, Mark Bridge, Sydney FC

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Melbourne Victory's Kevin Muscat is tackled by John Aloisi of Sydney FC during their A-League major semi final leg1, played at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010. Melbourne beat Sydney 2-1. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)

I can see it now: Karol Kisel finds Mark Bridge in midfield, and the Sydney striker jinks past his marker. Bridge looks up and sees Alex Brosque in space to his left, and lays off an inch-perfect pass that bobbles horribly on the Etihad Stadium surface as the chance is lost.

It’s been an up-and-down kind of a season, so perhaps it’s apt that the bounce of the ball could play a deciding factor in this week’s A-League Grand Final.

The news that the Etihad Stadium pitch is to be re-laid ahead of the big showdown between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC won’t have instilled fans with any renewed sense of confidence.

At best, the re-laid surface will provide a better TV backdrop than the embarrassing “car park” that has hindered Victory throughout the season – which at times has looked more like St. Kilda beach than a football pitch.

But the new turf won’t have any time to mesh together, so expect a spongy playing surface for the A-League’s showpiece event.

Football Federation Australia may have more on their minds than just the state of the pitch, as they look to put a difficult campaign behind them with a memorable final game.

As much as Victory have been an ornament to the league, FFA officials could be forgiven for cheering on the Sky Blues – not least because the 13,196 fans that turned out to watch the Preliminary Final in Sydney proved just what a fickle market the harbour city is.

Sydney loves a winner, and the city hasn’t had one in the A-League ever since Pierre Littbarski unleashed his fashion crimes on an unsuspecting Australian public.

I’ve got a lot of time for Victory supporters – in my opinion they’re some of the most knowledgeable fans in the country – but having already seen Kevin Muscat lift the A-League’s “toilet seat” twice, I hope it’s the Sky Blues fans celebrating well into Saturday night.

For one thing it might help encourage a few more fans through the gates of the Sydney Football Stadium next season, with Victory having already established itself as the biggest crowd drawer in the league.

A win would also vindicate Sydney FC’s decision to lure Vitezslav Lavicka over from Czech football, with the talented coach largely responsible for instilling the system that saw the Sky Blues crowned premiers despite a succession of injuries this season.

Club stalwart Steve Corica may have been forced to retire following his season-ending hamstring injury, but Sydney FC have shrugged off his loss on the back of some wonderful finals football from Brosque, Bridge and co. – not to mention a helping hand from Chris Payne.

Whoever wins will deservedly claim the mantle as A-League champions, with these two sides undoubtedly the most consistent teams in the country this season.

But I can’t help but feel that a Sydney FC win would prove more beneficial in the long run, as the A-League struggles to reassert itself in one of Australia’s toughest sporting markets.

Let’s just hope that the bounce of the ball doesn’t ruin the dreams of either side – although anything seems possible in what has been one of the most topsy-turvy seasons to date.

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The Crowd Says (50) | Page 1 of Comments

mvfc.lfc.trfc said | March 16th 2010 @ 8:04am | Report comment

What a load of tripe! If the Sydney sporting public can’t get out and support their team week-in week-out because their team ‘hasn’t won in anything for a while’ (They just won the Premiership. Is this not important silverware?) then they don’t deserve squat.
Sydney FC have been poorly marketed to the Harbour City from the get-go. They are a club that are so easy hate. Not only by Victory supporters, along with fans of the two other NSW clubs, and probably the rest of the A-league’s fan also, but I’m not even sure the Sydney public have any sympathy or hightened interest for them.
This air of superiority the club seems to let off because the club comes from Sydney, the biggest market in the country, is incredibly distasteful.
SFC have got 1 whole year to re-establish themselves are a club that can be likeable before Rovers come in. Otherwise, they have lost the majority of the Sydney football public, which to my knowledge, mostly reside in the western suburbs.
If Melbourne win this weekend, it will have earnt its 3rd Championship. Not only for the football it has produced this season, but because of the way the club has set itself up in its administration department along with its football department, ensuring that it is making a profit, albeit modest, and not draining resources from a FFA that seems to be proping up half the leagues clubs.

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whiskeymac said | March 16th 2010 @ 8:20am | Report comment

“A win would also vindicate Sydney FC’s decision to lure Vitezslav Lavicka over”

i wld say the fact they were hopeless last year and won the premiership and are in the GF this year is vindication enough. not to say the plaudits and player awards bestowed on the man.

“I can’t help but feel that a Sydney FC win would prove more beneficial in the long run”

definitely only because melbourne have shown they already have great supporters. 13K to the last game was pitiful for SFC. can the club keep caliming to be one fo the biggest in the HAL if their turnstiles are on par with the others, and despite having a massive player pool-region to draw from? bring on the heart and rovers to spice up these monopolies and make the administrators and marketeers work harder.

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Tom said | March 16th 2010 @ 8:24am | Report comment

Well.

Certainly can’t accuse you of shying away from controversy, Mike.

But I think you’ve undermined your own argument.

The Sydney fans are, as you say, fickle. They won the championship three months after watching Australia qualify for the world cup, and yet somehow couldn’t spin that into ongoing support.

They hosted won of the most pulsating games of any sport I’ve ever seen and yet a week later only 13k rocked up to watch a finals game. Four weeks after winning their first premiership.

Even if Sydney do win on Saturday, I doubt it’ll make a difference to crowds next season.

Their best hope is the FC-Rovers derby from 2011 onwards.

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- mvfc.lfc.trfc said | March 16th 2010 @ 8:40am | Report comment
  
  “They hosted won of the most pulsating games of any sport I’ve ever seen and yet a week later only 13k rocked up to watch a finals game. Four weeks after winning their first premiership.”
  
  THIS. Thank you for backing up my point exactly Tom. If a club can’t retain 12,000 supports from 1 week to the next after such an exciting game, even if it was a loss (technically a draw) then the club has no hope.
  Should I argue that if Melbourne Victory played in Sydney each week they would attract more people to a game than Sydney FC, simply because Sydneysiders love to see Melburnians lose. Probably a bit of a stretch, but regardless, I’ve always been told that only Melburnians care about the Sydney-Melbourne rivalry.
  
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  - rovingto2011 said | March 16th 2010 @ 2:47pm | Report comment
    
    only 13k showed up for the finals game, but like double that for the Premiership decider. I think this shows football fans do value that title more than people think, at least in Sydney. Not at all a ‘minor’ piece of silverware and a fitting reward for the new direction the club has taken under Lavicka.
    So some grudging respect from me for SFC right now !!!
    
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AndyRoo said | March 16th 2010 @ 8:45am | Report comment

You have outlined the case for why they should be supporting Sydney. But if MV get up I don’t think anyone (not from Sydney) will mind.

If I don’t support either team I normally find myself going for the home team so they go home happy and MV have been the beacon of hope about the A league. I am sure they are the example that possible”investors” look at when they think about the potential of the A league. Great fans, don’t lose money and a great government support (the Bubbledome).

If they get a title it wil just encourage the debate about what is more important the Championship or the Preimership

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Towser said | March 16th 2010 @ 8:53am | Report comment

Sydney is also a very knowledgable football market. In fact too knowledgable & that is the problem.
That view into football recognises that Sydney FC is no different to CCM or Newcastle. Why?. because there is a salary cap in place to make it so. That Sydney have been able to succeed this season is a credit to the coach. The players on the park are by & large the same as last year.
How do you fix it. You cant until SFC’s team reflects the football market it operates in. That means allowing the team to recruit players that will bring in the “Euro” followers. But that means getting rid of the salary cap & that for financial sustainability of clubs & indeed the league isnt going to happen soon.
Rovers will be stuck with the same drawback,big city club operating on a provincial city budget. So I cant see them doing much better crowd wise.
Took the following from a site about the MLS & hispanics but could equally apply to Sydney & its various football factions:-

Divided Loyalties in a Saturated Market
Of those Hispanics who do consider soccer their favorite sport, many of them are already fans of other teams and other leagues. Consider a hypothetical Mexican-American whose family have been fans of Atlas for years. Alongside that allegiance, he may have followed Rafa Marquez to Monaco and now Barcelona. Our hypothetical Hispanic may already have affection for up to three clubs, and maybe the Mexican national team as well. An MLS team has to somehow make its case to become team number five on that list. And if it even succeeds in that difficult task, how much attention will team number five get? I would love to see some research done to see the extent of this phenomenon. That would be a first step in determining how much of the Hispanic market is actually available to MLS.

Aesthetic Preferences
The playing style favored in MLS, a very physical game where skill tends to lose out to brawn, is generally not very appealing to Hispanic soccer fans. They prefer a style with short, precise passing and subtle, skillful ball control are the highlights in a fluid, flowing game. The problem for MLS is that the kind of player that dominates the league right now is just not capable of that kind of play. Switching to a more attractive style of soccer would be a multi-year project requiring a major investment in retooling rosters all around the league.

Quality and Competition
This is somewhat related to the point on divided loyalties, but it focuses on fans without any existing loyalties. Not all Hispanic fans are spoken for. Some might not be following the sport at the moment, some might have a casual interest, or they follow a national team, but not a club team, and so on. The question for MLS is where does that fan go when his interest in soccer is awakened? Unfortunately for MLS, it isn’t the pinnacle of its sport and will likely never be. Therefore, MLS is by no means the default choice for American soccer fans. MLS has to compete with the EPL, La Liga, and the Serie A, along with all of the leagues in the various countries with which Hispanics may have ties, and any league where players from those countries could be featuring. This is dozens of leagues with hundreds of teams, all competing against MLS for the attention of the Hispanic-American soccer fan. This is in stark contrast to the NBA, the NFL, and MLB, who don’t have serious competition as the top league in their sport. Any fans they can attract to their sport will be attracted to the league and its teams.

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- whiskeymac said | March 16th 2010 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
  
  good article link/paste towser, the similarities here are evident. am sure we all have friends who (aka eurosnobs) have no more than a passing interest in the HAL because they are still watching EPL etc. its no surprise that the MLS has these problems – must be even more frustrating though considering the population of hispanics, and i assume the article suggests default supporters, in the country.
  
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- Midfielder said | March 16th 2010 @ 10:21pm | Report comment
  
  Tow
  
  Very well said
  
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wtf said | March 16th 2010 @ 9:11am | Report comment

The A-League needs a Sydney FC win

why?

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AndyRoo said | March 16th 2010 @ 9:25am | Report comment

I think that’s true, Sydney fans are more discerning about the product…. the Euro Snob capital of Australia

You could also say MV have an advantage because of Melbournes public transport which must add a couple of thousand. But the cold hard truth is that Victorians really support their teams, it’s hard to agree with Rebecca Wilson on Offsiders but she said Sydney doesn’t support SFC and she was shocked too see SFC fans boo their own team.

The only part I disagree with was that she implied that it’s a football only thing in Sydney when really It’s all sports. Waratahs, the NRL teams, Sydney Kings even the Swans all have/had much more volatile fan bases when compared to their interstate compatriots.

I hope Rovers are different (since they will be my team) but I know my football supporting habbits (as ex West Sydney resident) when compared to a mate who is ex Melbourne puts me to shame really. We both live in Sth East QLd but he is flying down from the Gold Coast too see the Grand Final…I will watch on TV and never even thought of going.

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- Towser said | March 16th 2010 @ 9:51am | Report comment
  
  Rovers may from inception make a better fist of communicating with the local football fraternity.
  Given the football personnel kicking it off its a strong possibility. SFC as we know have only this season reached any degree of stability on & off the field. That means most crucially knowing what sort of football club you want to be,something MV got right from the start.
  I see signs at Melbourne Heart & Sydney Rovers of starting more like MV than SFC.
  The only way for Sydney Clubs presently to at least partially tap into the broader Sydney Football market is to have a marquee that appeals to as many of the factions as possible.
  I refer to the article about MLS & hispanics & relate it to Sydney’s football factions.
  The crowd for The New York Cosmos match to me back in 1979 truly reflected the Sydney football market.
  This team had players from many of the biggest supporting migrant groups in Sydney plus a true world superstar in Franz Beckenbauer. Fans came out of the woodwork at a time when there was no real momentum for football in Sydney.
  Showground packed,thousands unable to get in.
  
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  - AndyRoo said | March 16th 2010 @ 10:20am | Report comment
    
    If I was Victorian I would love MV as I am a big fan of how they go about their business. They are very loyal to their staff and players, Merrick has a pro license, have a huge fan base, getting a stadoum built largely for them, play decent football (really like Carlos Hernandez) and most of their recruitment is based on bringing new players into the league rather than poaching other A league teams players.
    
    I am not Victorian though so the best I can muster is grudging respect. I also have some unexplained affection for Adelaide too.
    
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    - Michael C said | March 16th 2010 @ 10:30am | Report comment
      
      MVFC have the advantage this weekend of a totally AFL free weekend in Melbourne – - they’ll get their customary 50,000 for the GF – - the FFA will pocket a bucket load and the HAL will have had it’s best possible result.
      
      Compared to SFC playing a home prelim on NRL Round 1 weekend?? (is that the excuse??)
      
      Did SFC though have too much success too soon – i.e. being inaugral champions (or premiers – - which is which??).
      
      And MVFC – have had stability across the board – - inc. Muscat, Thompson, Merrick and Cole. They have established a niche and some respect. That said, that hasn’t stopped their crowds at Docklands falling away quite significantly despite massive on field success.
      
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      - AndyRoo said | March 16th 2010 @ 10:59am | Report comment
        
        Their were 3 games of league on at the same night but I think the main reason is fan fatigue.
        
        It’s hard to get enthused about playing Wellington when all the neutrals are supporting Wellington and if you win your reward is the chance to play the team that just beat you over 2 legs in a one legged match at their home ground (i.e. they just beat you in a fair contest and now you have to play them with them having the advantage…and that’s your prize!).
        
        Preliminary finals have under achieved crowd wise most years for I expect those reasons. Of course Melbourne fans wouldn’t understand because they support their team regardless but us snobs weigh these things up
        
        SFC’s past success was irrelevant because the next year they were basically a new team.
        They replaced their two biggest personalities (Captain and Coach) with Terry Butcher. I don’t know what the Australian Rules equivalent would be, but in Cricket terms it’s replacing Shane Warne with Nathan Hauritz but doing so when Warney was 29 and still wanted to play on.
        After showing no loyalty to their Championship winning Coach and Captain they then bought the Roar’s best player (Brosque) and Auckland’s best Player (Brockie) a trend they continued until this year. That’s straight out Eastern Suburbs / North Shore (Manly and Roosters) behavior….. Bring on the Rovers!
        
        That said if SFC keep their coach and some of their players (Bolton gone, Kisel, Aloisi, Payne, Colisimo all doubtful, Corrica retired) for more than 12 months then it would give some chance for people to warm to them.
        
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      - MV Dave said | March 16th 2010 @ 4:20pm | Report comment
        
        MC
        “that hasn’t stopped their crowds at Docklands falling away quite significantly despite massive on field success.”
        
        Yes but 20,000 members is their 2nd best number ever and with the Bubbledome there may well be more. Nice of you to have your little dig at MV but l would still bet on them having a bigger attendance vs interstate team than Nth Melb, Melb or even Footscray at TD and even more so when Bubbledome operates
        
        In response to the article itself…what a load of BS. SFC need to do their own hard work and stop living in the shadows of MV. SFC should be as big as MV but are barely half as big, MV will draw a capacity crowd for the GF but there was no guarentee SFC would, MV are the leaders in just about every possible aspect of comparison between the clubs.
        Sounds like the author is a member of F Lowys staff…wonder if Mr Lowy will be wearing his SFC cap when MV collect the premiership plate around 9pm Saturday?
        
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- rovingto2011 said | March 16th 2010 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
  
  ‘Euro snob capital’ lets hope so … Sure beats the inferiority complex that permeates among the ‘Eggball snobs’ out there.
  
  Both the sydney clubs seem to be pitching for the more committed football fan now. A good move, you really have to love your football to stick by the game in such a rugby-soaked city. Win these fans over. There’s enough to sustain both clubs in a city of 4m especially as many in the western regions are yet to really embrace the A-League.
  
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Ghost said | March 16th 2010 @ 9:34am | Report comment

Just for one week I don’ care. All I’m focused on is flying down, hearing the kick-off whistle at Etihad, and seeing the mightly Sky Blues do the Aussie Double… hopefully smashing 4 or 5 past the ‘southern filth’ in the process….

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- Towser said | March 16th 2010 @ 10:06am | Report comment
  
  Also if SFC do do the double it will be in front of a decent global audience:-
  
  http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/124515,grand-final-goes-global.aspx
  
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deadman said | March 16th 2010 @ 11:06am | Report comment

oh FFS the 13k has nothing to do with aledged “fickleness” and all to do with the FFA schedueling a fixture at 8pm and in turn destroying any family interest or walk up crowd, melbourne pulled 18k for their leg of the major semi and are yet to be accused “fickle”.
Both games are example of a f-up of schedueling on the FFA’s behalf

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Lu said | March 16th 2010 @ 11:06am | Report comment

“But I can’t help but feel that a Sydney FC win would prove more beneficial in the long run, as the A-League struggles to reassert itself in one of Australia’s toughest sporting markets. ”

Maybe we should let them win every year yeah? then all the Leagues problems will be solved..

What Tripe..

This article is not only offensive to Melbourne Victory supporters, members, players, coaches and administrators.. but to supporters, members, players and administrators for all the other clubs.. The fact that the league is dependant on the Sydney FC doing well is laughable..

The League doesn’t need Sydney to win..

The League needs Sydney to do some damn marketing in it’s own city..

The League needs Sydney to have more stability in the front and back office.

The League needs Sydney to recruit players who are there for the team and not chasing $$$$. they need more corica’s and less Kissels.

Maybe if Sydney FC showed more heart and soul than their supporters to have more passion.

A win on saturday to Sydney will only be a band aid over their problems..

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