Media not to blame for A-League’s struggles
Columnist By Mike Tuckerman, 1 Oct 2010 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- A-League, A-League crowds, football, football media, media coverage
139 Have your say
Are the media to blame for the A-League’s problems? It was suggested as much on The Roar yesterday, with some fans criticising the negative tone employed by many media outlets in their analysis of Season 6 so far. Not surprisingly, the sentiment kicked off a heated debate, but the old adage “don’t shoot the messenger” was the first response that sprung to my mind.
Are the media really to blame for poor marquee recruitment or the lack of atmosphere in the A-League? Is it the fault of journalists when teams fail to engage with their local communities?
Or are the media simply reporting what most reasonable fans can see for themselves?
No doubt I’ve got a vested interest, but to my mind blaming the media is a quick-fix solution which ignores the ugly truth that many of the A-League’s problems can’t be solved by a mere change of editorial policy.
Much as I’d prefer more coverage from mainstream media outlets, to demand it ignores the commercial reality that the media is a business just like any other.
It may hold itself to higher ethical standards, its image as ‘the Fourth Estate’ might be lionised and mythologised, but when push comes to shove, the media business is about selling more copies, gaining more viewers and getting more click-throughs.
And it’s a pretty hard sell to try and get more mainstream media outlets interested in coverage when the first thing an editor or producer sees at an A-League ground is row upon row of empty seats.
That someone like Ray Gatt might report on those empty seats – a veteran who with more than twenty years experience in the field, a journalist without whom we wouldn’t have read Rale Rasic’s biography – doesn’t make Ray the problem.
The problem is, at least in part, that despite a marketplace featuring four dedicated football magazines, two free-to-air networks regularly screening football, a Pay TV network which broadcasts every single A-League game live and innumerable websites, some fans still claim a lack of media interest in football.
“What has News Limited ever done for the A-League?,” a fan once asked me.
“They publish Australian Football Weekly,” I replied.
“They publish what?” came the response.
In my near-fifteen months as a weekly Asian columnist and occasional feature writer for AFW – a publication which doubles as the A-League matchday programme – I can’t remember anyone ever asking me about the contents of the magazine.
Sometimes as football fans we can’t see the forest for the trees – we’re so busy worrying about the contents of a national newspaper, we overlook the specialist football media right before our very eyes.
That’s to say nothing of the fact that guys like Mike Cockerill and Jesse Fink have done their utmost to raise the profile of football in this country through good, honest, thought-provoking reporting and analysis – not by turning a blind eye to the problems in the league and pretending everything is peachy keen.
The idea that all journalists are objective is simply not based on reality: it might be the ideal, but every journalist has an agenda, just like every media outlet has their reasons for embracing or ignoring their stories of choice.
And some of those media outlets clearly pay less attention to the A-League than they do other sports.
But it’s too simplistic, in my opinion, to blame the media as the sole cause of the A-League’s problems.
It’s a sentiment which reminds me of a line from those old punk stalwarts Bad Religion, about people who “point their finger ’cause they can’t accept the blame.”
Right now, what the A-League desperately needs is fans regularly going to games, bringing their mates and embracing the football media we already have.
Do that, and more mainstream recognition will invariably follow.
Recommend this story.
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- A-League, A-League crowds, football, football media, media coverage
October 1st 2010 @ 6:51am
marlie chiller said | October 1st 2010 @ 6:51am | Report comment
Weekly magazines are great if you want to read feature article etc. If you want to read football news and results in print you need to read it in a newspaper. Brisbane has become a one newspaper town monopolised by news limited. News limited restrict their coverage to a bare minimum if not at all. This goes for all sports basically that are not rugby league or australian rules. If I could choose another local paper to get my football news I would. Unless you specifically browse the internet for football news the casual fan is unlikely to get any awareness whatsoever of the A League from news limited.
October 1st 2010 @ 7:22am
agga78 said | October 1st 2010 @ 7:22am | Report comment
In a word RESPECT, the mainstream media outlets in Australia do not respect football, they never have and it looks like it will be along time until they do, when the A league was getting great crowds compared to the figures they get now, media in Melbourne, where I live, would put a negative spin on the sport, when Melb played Sydney in front of 50k, the story wasn’t about what an unblievable crowd that was for a domestic football match in Australia, the backpage of the biggest newspaper in town the Herald Sun, led with The Great Divide, which then went into a story about a dull game, 3 arrests and fans chanting abusive words at each other. It continued for 4 days, this attack, it was unrelenting and to be honest I think it would of helped put people off going to see a game.
Now it’s not just the media to blame for the A league troubles, the FFA Chairman Frank Lowy owns the biggest Shopping centre chain in Australia in Westfield, my local Westfield is Highpoint in the ethnic heart of West Melbourne, not once have I seen any promotion of the A league in this shopping centre, no signs to indicate the A league was starting or any on stage player signings or anything of that nature. 10000 people go through that shopping centre a day, he is the leader of football in this country, why is he not using his business to help promote the game, especially at the beginning of each season. I doubt it would cost him any money at all for a few signs, a video of last seasons highlights of the local teams, a membership stall, so little space in a vast shopping centre.
If the leader of the game in this country can’t harness the power of his wealth to engage the public, in public place such as his own shopping centres, what hope does the game have.
October 1st 2010 @ 9:01am
Chris said | October 1st 2010 @ 9:01am | Report comment
I hate to shoot down half your argument mate, but highpoint is definitely not a Westfield shopping centre..that could explain the lack of advertising..
October 1st 2010 @ 10:42am
punter said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:42am | Report comment
Let’s not forget the near riot at the Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory match a couple years back in Sydney when unruly fans were upset with the referee’s very poor decision to send the lovely Stevie Corcia off. The fans went off, an empty plastic bootle was thrown in the direction of the ref, the unruly fans were SOCCER fans & their was 2 arrests & they were rioting, it women & children were running away in fear, all care of the reporting from the Daily Telgraph.
I was wandering what match I was at, because I though I was there with my 2 daughters, aged 11 & 9 with one of their friends & we missed all that.
Mike it’s this sort reporting that don’t help. I don’t blame the media, but you have to understand the negative attitude towards football. A true professional like Ken Sutcliffe, who knows your Svetlana Kuznetsova from you Anastasia Myskina, but keeps calling his then national football coach Tim instead of PIM.
October 1st 2010 @ 7:29am
Axel V said | October 1st 2010 @ 7:29am | Report comment
Of course the media aren’t too blame for the problems of the A-League, some people are just looking for scapegoats. The body and organisation that is responsible for the running of the league is the FFA, they are the ones that run it. If there is anyone to blame other than the fans themselves than it’s them.
Going back in time to 2006 I think this is a very good article. http://www.smh.com.au/news/football/swept-up-in-the-euphoria-of-victory/2006/12/07/1165081091091.html , written by Mike Cockerill. Compare those times to now.
One part of the article that I find striking is this quote,
“Earlier this season, outside the stadium before a home match, he (Jack Reilly) conducted his own straw poll to find out who was attending games, and why. They all [93 per cent] said atmosphere,” Reilly recalls. “The average age of our fans is 20.4 years. They’re not particularly educated in the game, but they love the atmosphere. That’s what’s bringing them in.”
This was pre hatamoto era. The game was buzzing, fans were having fun, and they were very young. What’s this about the need of being family friendly and protecting families from the active fans when they are the reason that they are going? Very strange.
October 1st 2010 @ 10:06am
dM said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:06am | Report comment
Cockerill is a joke. On the weekend he earns money commentating on FOX and then bags his meal ticket through the week. He is most comfortable observing and commentating on the political machinations rather than promoting the 90 minutes – celebrating the skill on show – the standard of football this season has been excellent.
But in saying that, the FFA needs to take a leaf out of the other codes media handbook when it comes to promotion (thank goodness they are undermined throughout the season by off field player indiscretions) – celebrate the game and keep the administrative issues behind closed doors for as long as it is possible.
ps – I suggest the FFA condense the season – teams play three games a fortnight and hit it hard during the festive season when there is little competition and the kids are on holidays. If the stadiums are empty – move to suburban grounds and create an atmosphere which can be captured on the box. Using league as an example – the tigers at leichardt makes for good TV.
October 1st 2010 @ 2:04pm
Axel V said | October 1st 2010 @ 2:04pm | Report comment
In the context of the article i mentioned, it was season 2 when the fan base of Melbourne Victory exploded from 14,000 per season to 25,000 after their move to docklands. Back then everything was looking upbeat and rosey and everyone was having fun, and compare that to now, it’s very different times.
But anyway, we can discuss as much as much as we want as to what we think is going wrong, but the opinions that matter most are those of the fans, the FFA should be asking them in what they like and don’t like, asking them what they want, instead of ignoring the fans and treating them like little children (Or Terrorists), Hatamoto is a blight on the active fans and if 93% of people in that survey were going for the atmosphere, then by stamping out on active support you are effectively stamping out the atmosphere of the whole stadium, in which is a major reason as to why most people attend. Melbourne Victory is not alone in this, it’s happened all across Australia.
The FFA should be listening to the fans, they are the most important asset of the league, such a shame that they have to be so short sighted and stubborn.
October 1st 2010 @ 8:28am
Fussball ist unser leben said | October 1st 2010 @ 8:28am | Report comment
I am no fan of the way the media – not just the sports media – conducts itself in Australia.
One only has to tune in to ABC TV’s wonderful weekly show, Media Watch (http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/) to fully appreciate the immoral, amoral, deceitful and unprofessional behaviour of many people in the media and just how low they will sink to grab a headline.
However, I do not blame – just as I never expect to congratulate – the media for any alleged failure or success of football in Australia.
I expect people, with reasonable intelligence, to treat what they read in the media as “information” and then make up their own mind about whether the information is truthful, misleading, biased or rational.
For instance, I find match previews, player assessment and game analysis in the major newspapers to be of an extremely poor – bordering on juvenile and unsophisticated – quality, so I stopped reading it. Whereas, in the past, reading the Sports section of the Melbourne Age was an essential part of my daily morning briefing, that section of the newspaper goes straight from my front lawn into the recycling bin!
With the click of a button I know I can access hundreds (thousands?) of better quality football sources elsewhere.
I find it truly amazing that a Roar columnist, like Tony Tannous, can consistently produce intelligent and erudite reviews of HAL matches, which make the reader fully informed about the major incidents in the match, how the game unfolded and the ramifications of the result, yet the mainstream press reporters consistently publish match reports that focus on insignificant or populist issues (e.g. referees, crowd numbers, a flare was thrown) and seem to lack any knowledge of the technical or tactical aspects of our Game.
October 1st 2010 @ 9:01am
Brett McKay said | October 1st 2010 @ 9:01am | Report comment
Good post Fussball, and a great piece from Mike too.
And just on Tony, Fussball, sometimes we forget just how good we have it on The Roar, in terms of who’s writing about what.
I thought Ray Gatt’s response yesterday was outstanding, not just for what he said, but for the fact he went out of his way to say it. The Roar, for all intents and purposes, is a competitor to the various News Ltd papers that Ray’s work features in, and I don’t imagine a journo responding to comments on an opposing website happens all that often.
And whether we like it or not, The Roar is part of the sporting media. Is The Roar to blame for the struggles of any particluar sport featured? Of course not..
October 1st 2010 @ 9:03am
Con Stamocostas said | October 1st 2010 @ 9:03am | Report comment
Agree that Tony analysis is one of the best out there.
The football media is far from perfect but nothing harms the A-league or Football in Australia like the infighting that happens between all the stakeholders. Where is the fun people? .Angry angry faces everywhere.
Speaking of football media Half Time Heroes One Year anniversary edition online now: I wonder all those people that are complaining about lack of football media have heard about it.
http://halftimeheroes.com.au/
October 1st 2010 @ 10:37am
Dan said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:37am | Report comment
I am curious Fuss, which country provides its citizens with the high standards of journalism you demand? Because apart from a a few newspapers in the UK and one or two in the US, the overall trend of news media worldwide is on a pretty consistent downward spiral… In most countries the news media has gone from large teams of journos with real investigative pieces, to basically small teams of compilers that surf the web and piece together bits from other papers. It’s pretty bad everywhere in my opinion and in fact there are plenty of places it’s worse than Australia. Try going to Japan where the media is so in bed with the officials that it basically operates like a government PR adjunct.
October 1st 2010 @ 11:14am
Fussball ist unser leben said | October 1st 2010 @ 11:14am | Report comment
Dan
You may be right in saying: “apart from a few newspapers in the UK and one or two in the US, the overall trend of news media worldwide is on a pretty consistent downward spiral”.
Alas, my monolingual background precludes me from having any opinion on non-English language newspapers but here are some of the newspapers (off the top of my head) that I consider to still be of an excellent standard (in no particular order):
1. The Washington Post
2. The NY Times
3. The London Times
4. The Times of India
5. The Straits Times
Why do I like these newspapers?
Well, primarily because they report important news stories and, whilst all focus heavily on domestic issues, they also have significant global content. Additionally, these papers clearly identify what is “news” and what is an “op-ed” – the lines aren’t blurred.
Also, perhaps I’m old fashioned, but, if I’m paying a professional to write something, I expect the product I purchase to be free of errors of grammar and spelling! I also expect the writing to explore the richness and complexity that is inherent in the English language rather than lazy use of colloquial English.
Basically, I want to read something that tells me “a professional put time and effort into this” and that’s why I’m paying for it.
And, as far as I’m concerned – based on “my wants” – all daily newspapers in Australia are rubbish.
But, all is not lost. Thankfully, every day at 6:30 p.m. SBS TV has the best 1-hour news service in Australia – real news stories that focus locally and abroad and no mind-numbing stories about “cats stuck on trees”, sportsmen urinating in public, or “did you like Rebecca’s dress”!.
October 1st 2010 @ 1:57pm
Gob Bluth said | October 1st 2010 @ 1:57pm | Report comment
Sorry, is the Strait Times of Singapore? You’ve lost it there. the Singapore Government controls that paper with an iron fist. It’s one of the worst papers from any country calling its a democracy.
October 1st 2010 @ 2:06pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | October 1st 2010 @ 2:06pm | Report comment
GB
I’m certainly NOT an expert on Singapore politics or potential government involvement in the Singapore media, but every time I’ve read the Straits Times, I’ve been super-impressed by the quality of the articles and op-eds.
I certainly wish our local journalists could produce such wonderful literary pieces for Australian newspapers.
October 1st 2010 @ 3:03pm
David V. said | October 1st 2010 @ 3:03pm | Report comment
Singapore is a country with draconian censorship laws. It also has efficient and corruption-free government, which we would kill for in NSW.
October 1st 2010 @ 7:21pm
Dan said | October 1st 2010 @ 7:21pm | Report comment
While I agree with you that the newspapers you’ve listed are alright, the general media trend in all the countries they operate in is getting bleaker by the hour… India? Murdoch’s outlets in that country and its 4 C’s of “Crime Corruption, Celebrity and Cricket” has proved so successful that it is spawning copycats everywhere. The US? Don’t even get me started… The UK? Again, it has some good ones, but the bad papers are so bad that they make their Murdoch counterparts here look half decent. My point is that this is a battle that is being fought on ever diminishing fronts…
On another note, why is your title here “Football is our life” translated into German if you don’t speak any other languages?
October 1st 2010 @ 7:32pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | October 1st 2010 @ 7:32pm | Report comment
Dan
Good question .. was wondering when someone would ask!
The first WC I watched on TV was the 1974 WC in West Germany (in black & white, of course!), when Australia was involved. I reckon that was the time I fell in love with the Beautiful Game.
Whilst I wanted Holland to win the final, the West German team had a lasting impact on me.
Several years ago, I came across a video of that 1974 W German team singing a very catchy song called: Fussball Ist Unser Leben and, when I found out what it meant, I thought it summed up how I feel about the Game.
The video clip of the song is here:
Apparently, there is a film with the same title and I must try to see it one day – the synopsis sound excellent.
October 1st 2010 @ 7:55pm
punter said | October 1st 2010 @ 7:55pm | Report comment
Interesting story Fuss.
October 1st 2010 @ 8:15pm
Dan said | October 1st 2010 @ 8:15pm | Report comment
Having been to Germany and watched a bundesliga match I can see where the attraction came from; they’re certainly passionate about the game. Though personally as more of a rugby background guy, I always lament the fact that Germans never got into the game they play in heaven. I always thought they’d be brilliant at it as it’s a game that requires both efficiency and cohesion. I also would love to see how an England V Germany, or France V Germany Rugby match would play out in terms of rivalry.
October 1st 2010 @ 9:05am
Androo said | October 1st 2010 @ 9:05am | Report comment
Mike, are you kidding? To add to agga78′s comments, have we forgotten Mike Sheahan’s piece of rubbish titled ‘Soccer just too ho-hum’??? The date it was published was February 7 2007, 11 days before the 2007 A-League grand final. After dousing pre-grand final hype as best he could, the bloke then had the utter hypocrisy to fly to the old dart later that year to do an interview with Fergie.
Have we also forgotten the Herald Sun’s reaction to the world cup bid? A picture of Ron Barassi on the front page squashing a (round) football was pretty low even by HS standards. Juvenile is the word that comes to mind.
We’re talking about a tabloid that is widely circulated and read in Victoria and Tasmania. It shapes opinions and influences events.
That said, the media is protecting its revenue-producing products. Journalists will naturally focus on sports they love. Can’t blame them for that. The problem is with those dear ***** in charge of A-League promotion at FFA. Somebody on 442 posted the promotion campaigns done so far. No wonder the league is sinking without being noticed.
2006/07 season: ‘Football, not as you know it’ – brilliant concept, self deprecation at its best
It then goes from clever to ‘WTF is this ditsy s***?’:
’90 mins, 90 emotions’ – as Simon Hill joked at the time, ‘Happy, sad, and the rest’
Be part of something bigger – what would that be then? The boy scouts?
Fan made – ironic given the FFA and its contracted security apparatus have done their utmost to drive fans away!
October 1st 2010 @ 9:27am
Mister Football said | October 1st 2010 @ 9:27am | Report comment
People make too big a deal of that Sheahan article.
He makes his living from writing about the AFL.
His editor asked him to go to an A-League game and write a report as someone who has never been to a game – it was the first time he had ever sat and watched a game of soccer. He said as much. His personal opinion was that he didn’t think much of it but that he admired Muskie (make of that what you want!)
He was absolutely crucified with negative comments – that were all published – and he simply said: never again.
Now compare that to Craig Foster who wrote a series of articles denigrating League and Australian Football, not once, but a series of articles over a two month period, and making wide eyed predictions of where soccer will be in a few years.
We are all still waiting with bated breath.
October 1st 2010 @ 10:25am
TomC said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:25am | Report comment
Yeah Foster’s articles are a disgrace.
I stand to be corrected, but as I recall he wrote those on soccer websites, so it’s probably not as controversial as in a newspaper that includes coverage of other codes like the Herald Sun.
But leaving aside the reaction, that Sheehan piece was just gob-smacking. If someone is prepared to leave the match five minutes before the end with the contest still in the balance and the stadium heaving, then I think its pretty clear he was never going to give the game a chance.
In general, I think sports journalists should refrain from commenting on sports they don’t understand. If anybody has seen Caroline Wilson on Offsiders, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Incidentally, compare her to Ange Postecoglou, who coaches a professional soccer club and yet can talk intelligently and with confidence about other codes. Amazing.
October 1st 2010 @ 10:46am
Redb said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:46am | Report comment
Good points TomC. Its the extremists on eirther side who cause a lot of the angst. Be fair to say the ‘talk’ from many soccer writers and blog fans 3-4 years ago was very bullish and they didnt mind making predictions about the demise of the AFL.
October 1st 2010 @ 10:25am
Australian Football said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:25am | Report comment
The people; Amateur or Professional who write here who pretend to be Melb Victory members and football devotees then proceed to write a series of anti-football, FFA world cup bid articles, denigrating the FFA and FIFA as pure evil and corrupt.
To then proceed further to write a number of articles (two I think) about a Country’s Football Performance for the coming SA 2010 Football World Cup—I would consider to be worse then anything Fossie has written defending his code against the attacks from AFL journalists.
Thankfully a few of us Football ROAR contributors protested enough to what this ROAR contributor was trying to do, and embarrassed him enough to stop trying to embarrass our Football code on the ROAR Football Tab.
October 1st 2010 @ 12:53pm
Mister Football said | October 1st 2010 @ 12:53pm | Report comment
You have fallen into the trap of being personal again. The fact that I’m an ex-Victory member has nothing to do with the merit or otherwise of anything I post on the Roar.
What’s more, both you and Punter have changed your name in the past 12 months – so what on Earth are you on about?
October 1st 2010 @ 2:56pm
Australian Football said | October 1st 2010 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
Who is being personal—the facts are correct aren’t they not..? And you have had a Canterbury Bulldogs Rugby League profile that I bet you have never seen play at Belmore Park.. So what are you talking about..? I made the announcement on the ROAR I was changing my profile name some 12 months back to honour our Australian National Football team going to the SA 2010 football world cup—you on the other hand have never announced your name change from one to the other.. Seems to me you have trouble handling the truth.. Your attacks on Fossie have been disgraceful and warrant a rebuff, what is so wrong with that..? And let me see how many times have you been personal with me—do you have any idea..?
October 1st 2010 @ 4:31pm
Mister Football said | October 1st 2010 @ 4:31pm | Report comment
Never.
October 1st 2010 @ 5:06pm
Australian Football said | October 1st 2010 @ 5:06pm | Report comment
Never what..? You have never been to Belmore Park..? Yes that I would believe..
October 2nd 2010 @ 6:31am
mds1970 said | October 2nd 2010 @ 6:31am | Report comment
It’s going on a complete tangent, but the Bulldogs haven’t played at Belmore Sports Ground since 1998. They play their home games at the Olympic Stadium at Homebush.
October 2nd 2010 @ 9:12am
Australian Football said | October 2nd 2010 @ 9:12am | Report comment
Yep that is correct, however, our good friend used the old Canterbury Bankstown ARL logo for his avatar, when the Bulldog’s home ground was at Belmore. So our Aussie Rules friend should’ve know that.. But our Aussie Rules devotee does not even know where Belmore Park is, let alone heard of it
October 1st 2010 @ 10:25am
punter said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:25am | Report comment
MF I think you make too much of a big deal of Foz’s article.
He was asked by his editor to write a story on where football would be in this country in 10 years, he gave his views, while he may have made a slight negative comment of the football codes that don’t play with a round ball, I saw nothing untoward these games that was any worse then AFL & NRL journalists commenting on football. As a matter of fact I commend Foz on this. It’s about time we had a football journalist gave it to the football codes.
Every time we get upset with a negative article on football, from an AFL journalists, you come in defending.
Yet when Foz writes a similar article you come out swinging.
You remind me of the author of the most commented article in the Roar, though the author made 3/4 of the comments ‘Fos concludes AFL is weak’. You must admit, when someone like him who has covered the WC & champions league, the AFL is pretty small fry.
October 1st 2010 @ 11:28am
BigAl said | October 1st 2010 @ 11:28am | Report comment
‘. . .come out swinging.’ !!!! – hardly.
I’m afraid with that comment punter, you are tarring yourself as a classic example of what Mike Tuckerman is talking about here.
October 1st 2010 @ 12:10pm
Australian Football said | October 1st 2010 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
Oh dear… Please explain BigAl, precisely who is Mike T targeting here.? Fossie, or is it Sheahan and Mr Football. I think Mike is defending Football journalists not Aussie Rules devotees..
October 1st 2010 @ 1:25pm
BigAl said | October 1st 2010 @ 1:25pm | Report comment
Ok AF, I’ll give you my reading of whom MK is targeting here . . .
He is targeting people who offer kneejerk reactions to media comment and the people who make them !
October 1st 2010 @ 3:08pm
Australian Football said | October 1st 2010 @ 3:08pm | Report comment
Who is “MK” BigAl? And in your short sightedness you were addressing Punter for his comment to MF (Punter’s legitimate post).. seems to me you are confused BigAl.
October 1st 2010 @ 12:39pm
punter said | October 1st 2010 @ 12:39pm | Report comment
BigAl, I do not blame the media for all the reasons on why the A-League struggles, but they do like putting the boot in at every opportunity. If this sport is so insignificant why do they bother
We the football people in this country do a fine job without the help of the followers of other codes.
The infighting amongst the players, commentators, administers, associations, the lack of direction from the FFA, the lack of grassroots connection & many more reasons prevents the local game from growing.
But, I find it funny that we get more AFL devotees on the football blogs than we do any other football code must say something.
Thanks AF.
October 1st 2010 @ 12:30pm
Moonface said | October 1st 2010 @ 12:30pm | Report comment
Craig Foster also writes damaging articles about soccer and the A-League.
He is far more balanced than any Murdoch journalist could ever be.
October 1st 2010 @ 11:07pm
Dan said | October 1st 2010 @ 11:07pm | Report comment
Jeez, that’s hard… wow Foster is more balanced than a Murdoch Journo? Sh#t… I mean that would make him more balanced than the Chinese Communist News Journo as well!
October 1st 2010 @ 12:02pm
Joe La Delfa said | October 1st 2010 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
“football but not as you know it” has been by far the best thing that has come out of the FFA,
the buzz it created at the time was immense and the television ad was exciting.
the ad accompanied by that song not many by scribe gave the ad real presence, exactly what the game needed at the time after a decent amount of time out of the media spotlight.
any campaign since has looked looked half arsed.
October 1st 2010 @ 10:01am
GibbonsMcGibbons said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:01am | Report comment
Mike, I’ve got no drama’s with football writers writing football article’s (positive or otherwise) in newspapers and online news sites. I don’t agree always with Ray Gatt, Jesse Fink, Robbie Slater etc – but I fully respect their rights to express an informed opinion.
My issue is when non-football journo’s in paper’s such as the Courier Mail with Karl deKroo writing massively negative ‘think-peices’ such as:
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/soccer/quality-of-football-and-lack-of-crowds-damage-a-league/story-e6frepmf-1225903343879.
This is the reason so many football fans have this opinion of the media and to me it is a justified claim.
October 1st 2010 @ 12:48pm
Australian Football said | October 1st 2010 @ 12:48pm | Report comment
GibbonsMcGibbons,
thanks for the link (pathetic isn’t it). I’m a GCU FC supporter I have yet to miss a home game—the team and facilities are amazing in my view. I am also an expat from Sydney and support both teams however, I am glowing of what is trying to be achieved on the Gold Coast.
Who cares why Clive is in football—when I think back to the days of watching Canterbury/Marrickville SC with the Warren brothers playing APIA Leichhardt at home and away games on grounds like Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill and Lambert Park, Petersham. We have certainly come a long way. I have been living on the Gold Coast for sixteen years now (as a Senior) and because of Clive Palmer and GCU FC have been drawn back to Australian domestic Football.
Who knows how long it will last on the Coast but I have so far enjoyed the journey. Cap or no cap, I will be there until the end watching full time Australian Football by far superior to any sort of old soccer I have attended in the past.
October 1st 2010 @ 10:11am
TomC said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:11am | Report comment
‘That’s to say nothing of the fact that guys like Mike Cockerill and Jesse Fink have done their utmost to raise the profile of football in this country through good, honest, thought-provoking reporting and analysis’
Ugh. You must be joking. How long did it take Jesse Fink to even acknowledge the start of the A-league season?
Fink and Cockerill, along with dinosaurs like Phil Micallef, represent a nasty bunch of old soccer commentators whose arrogance represents itself in negative carping at anyone who holds different opinions about the way Australian football should be organised and played.
Sure they love the game, but they let their emotions boil over into personal criticism and whinging.
We need a massive clean out of football journalists in Australia, beginning with pretty much everyone at SBS.
October 1st 2010 @ 10:13am
Lee said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:13am | Report comment
I feel like some people are kind of missing the point.
Yes, of course the mainstream media has run a series of insulting pieces regarding football. The Courier Mail, The Herald Sun etc are pretty shamefully anti-football and their “journalism” is questionable at best. This is due to holding a financially-based agenda, as pointed out in this article.
However, to go so far as to suggest that the media is the actual cause of the A-league’s lack of success is to go one step further.
They are two seperate arguments, and I believe that this article has acknowlegded the poor coverage of football in mainstrain media outlets whilst pointing out that this is not the pure cause of its lack of popularity.
October 1st 2010 @ 10:28am
The Link said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:28am | Report comment
“What has News Limited ever done for the A-League?,” a fan once asked me.
“They publish Australian Football Weekly,” I replied.
“They publish what?” came the response.
Gold Mike, gold.
October 1st 2010 @ 10:32am
The Link said | October 1st 2010 @ 10:32am | Report comment
Good luck to the FFA with the WC Bid, I hope we get it, but its been a high risk strategy to date.
Cause if we don’t the bloodletting could make the current criticism facing the game look like tiddlywinks.
Back on topic, to draw a comparison I don’t see anyone blaming Peter Roebuck’s scathing commentary for cricket’s current malaise.