Western Sydney A-League bid empowered
Roar Pro By Michael Turner, 19 Mar 2011 Michael Turner is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- A-League, FFA, football, Wanderers Western Sydney, western Sydney, Western Sydney Football Initiative
Despite its recent dumping by the FFA, the bid for an A-League Football side based in Western Sydney is still in the race for a franchise license. A number of Facebook pages and forums are lingering around the place. However, one clear stride has been taken.
An official organisation has begun, by the name GiveUsOurFranchise: A Western Sydney Football Initiative. This relatively new page surfaced in the late hours of the other night.
However, this organisation always existed in spirit.
This unified group has two simple aims: “… to create and be part of a successful and efficiently run A-League Football side based in Western Sydney.
We are also aiming to base the club differently to the current franchise model within the A-League. Our goal is to present a new idea for the organisation of a football club within Australia.”
A very simple idea, but what will make this a reality?
The idea posed by the group is that official organisation within the group, working in the groundroots to establish links with the community. Giving the people and members partial control over the club in which they follow.
GiveUsOurFranchise base themselves around the failed (dubiously) The Wanderers Western Sydney A-League Bid, branded “The People’s Bid”.
This organisation wishes to emulate this, and its ideas are quite interesting to watch.
Speaking to the partial parties in control, they are looking to speak with the community, and create a bid paper based on the ideas that the community wants.
For all in favor of change within the A-League Franchise (Club) system, and a Western Sydney A-League Team, join this page, and voice your ideas and support.
I will be monitoring closely the growth of this organisation as it shows that this is a region that genuinely wants its team.
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March 19th 2011 @ 10:24am
The Special One said | March 19th 2011 @ 10:24am | Report comment
The Facebook page title “GiveUSOurFranchise” smacks of arrogance as if West Sydney deserves one.
March 19th 2011 @ 10:25am
Hector said | March 19th 2011 @ 10:25am | Report comment
There is a team in Sydney and it gets tiny crowds, there are loads of empty seats available. They have had on field success too. What is your problem Sydney?
On top of this, in the NSL era, you have a load of clubs based in western Sydney and they only got tiny crowds. It was a big reason why the league fell over.
March 19th 2011 @ 1:33pm
John said | March 19th 2011 @ 1:33pm | Report comment
You have no idea mate , no one who supports Sydney Olympic, Sydney UTD, APIA, Marconi or Bonnyrigg will ever support a plastic franchise like sydney fc or some western sydney franchise
March 19th 2011 @ 4:24pm
NY said | March 19th 2011 @ 4:24pm | Report comment
With all due respect John those teams you mentioned don’t have many supporters anyway.
March 19th 2011 @ 10:08pm
John said | March 19th 2011 @ 10:08pm | Report comment
NY Youre a funny bloke
March 20th 2011 @ 12:46pm
Axelv said | March 20th 2011 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
Sydney Olympic, Sydney Utd, Marconi etc are all plastic franchises, they think that they are Greek, Croatian and Italian but they’re just Aussies wanting to be like them. And they could never pull a crowd!
I remember watching Perth Glory vs Paramatta Power in the Grand final in Sydney, they pulled 9000 people and I was watching it with my friend who never really watches soccer but insisted on watches it because he watches all Grand Finals, he was so baffled as to why the stadium was empty for a Grand Final, meanwhile I was just embarrassed!
March 19th 2011 @ 5:08pm
triffid said | March 19th 2011 @ 5:08pm | Report comment
Maybe they would if all the above were stake holders?But that would require them to work together for the benefit of the game and local community.Something they have continually failed to do in the past.
March 19th 2011 @ 11:24am
Kasey said | March 19th 2011 @ 11:24am | Report comment
It would be nice to see a grassroots campaign succeed in prodding the FFA/TPTB into granting a WS HAL team rather than the previous model of them being doled out from on high by FFAHQ. perhaps if the groundswell can be achieved, some money-bags will see that he’s not going to end up with a GCU empty stadium mess and will be more likely to stump up some cash! WD WS football fans! and Good Luck.
March 19th 2011 @ 8:27pm
Midfielder said | March 19th 2011 @ 8:27pm | Report comment
A well run and put together WS team if they could unite the tribes would within ten years be Australian’s biggest club of any kind… however sorry we all feel for the Fury we all know the three NSW heartlands of football are Western Sydney, Newcastle & the Gong …
WS & the Gong need to be the next teams…. and Brisbane should be given the grand final for the next 10 years … its the best stadium in Australia and all codes meet a stadium to play the GF in and IMO Brisbane is the answer…
March 19th 2011 @ 9:56pm
TomC said | March 19th 2011 @ 9:56pm | Report comment
No
March 19th 2011 @ 10:03pm
MyLeftFoot said | March 19th 2011 @ 10:03pm | Report comment
There is a big advantage to a comp having its grand final fixed at one ground.
There is merit in the idea that Brisbane become that home base for the A-League.
I can foresee a strategic direction were the future growth of the A-League is based around adding more Queensland teams.
March 20th 2011 @ 12:53pm
Axelv said | March 20th 2011 @ 12:53pm | Report comment
sounds like the AFL having it fixed on the MCG
Sydney vs West Coast, 99,000!
Brisbane vs Port Adelaide, 99,000!
Only in Victoria.
March 20th 2011 @ 9:39am
punter said | March 20th 2011 @ 9:39am | Report comment
100% disagree, why should a GF between Sydney & Perth be in Brisbane, this is Stupid.
March 20th 2011 @ 9:53am
Kasey said | March 20th 2011 @ 9:53am | Report comment
Punter..MLF is only peddling(and extrapolating to football..) the AFL sponsored message(that everything the AFL does is perfect and should influence the other sports in Oz) in that it is actually a good thing that only Melbourne gets to host the AFL Grand Final but he obviously forgets that unlike the AFL, the FFA have created a competition that accurately represents the country of Australia rather than pandering to one city only as the AFL do year after year.
I think it is a great thing that the A-League gives the best team the chance to win the championship in front of a largely ‘home’ crowd…No other major sport in Oz does that – once again I think we should celebrate our differences from the other major football codes rather than trying to slavishly emulate them.
MLF, how likely is it that if Essendon makes it to the GF in season 2011, that the MCG would be a sea of black and Red as Suncorp was a sea of Orange….there is a reason a lot of ARF fans prefer the atmosphere of the Prelim Finals…too many bandwagoners and prawn-sandwich types at the GF:(
All because the MCG always hosts the game..lots of disadvantages to having the big game in one place only…its not all advantages.
March 20th 2011 @ 10:45am
punter said | March 20th 2011 @ 10:45am | Report comment
Kasey, this is why I picked Sydney v Perth as the combatants, they as non Melbourne sides have played a GF in the last 10 years. Coming from a non AFL state, we do not get this message of everything is perfect in AFL.
A Grand final Sydney v Perth in Sydney in a non AFL state may have had the best advertistment for the game in NSW. Instead the only GF win by the Swans was played in some foreign place & while we rejoiced at conquering a foreign game on foreign soil, it was quickly forgotten.
March 20th 2011 @ 12:57pm
Axelv said | March 20th 2011 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
The same can be said about the Storm vs Paramatta! and all of the other Storm titles, they were all won in Sydney. The NRL also has fixed location for it’s Grand Finals…
March 20th 2011 @ 4:53pm
punter said | March 20th 2011 @ 4:53pm | Report comment
Not been following the league as intently recently, so not sure if there has been a non NSW (both teams) GF.
March 20th 2011 @ 5:02pm
Kasey said | March 20th 2011 @ 5:02pm | Report comment
punter..Melbourne Victory have hosted Adelaide United twice in the Grand Final..and been terrible hosts from a manners perspective;) United coming away with nothing twice now:(
The idea of a neutral venue for the HAL GF is just stupid IMO, which means there is a high likelihood that Ben Buckley is probably at least considering it:( Maybe in the future when the game has grown big enough to ensure a sell out regardless of who plays, perhaps then a neutral venue that can be ‘bid’ upon to FFA by different cities, like the Grey Cup in the C(anadian) Football League. Each city could then compete to stage the biggest and best football carnival. Ultimately as the HALGF gets bigger, the FFA could even use the lure of the GF to entice state govts to spend money on rectangular infrastructure..particularly those like mine (SA) who outside of the WC have no real inducement/requirement to spend money on stadia that aren’t primarily or the AFL.
March 20th 2011 @ 7:52pm
apaway said | March 20th 2011 @ 7:52pm | Report comment
Ah, Axel, let’s not forget, the Storm have only won once, way back in 1999, in front of the biggest crowd to ever watch a RL Grand Final.
The other ones never happened.
And Punter, the 2006 NRL Grand Final was between Brisbane and Melbourne. (I think that one still officially happened)
March 20th 2011 @ 12:51pm
MyLeftFoot said | March 20th 2011 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
There are a lot of advantages to having a home base, hallowed turf, the epicentre of the sport, etc, etc.
Suncorp makes an excellent case to become that, and the Queensland state government would be quite supportive too.
March 21st 2011 @ 1:51pm
RedOrDead said | March 21st 2011 @ 1:51pm | Report comment
Have ALL AFL fans been brainwashed? “…the epicentre of the sport?” Have you heard of the phrase, “The World Game”? There’s an Australian website dedicated to it; you should check it out…
March 20th 2011 @ 9:53am
Australian Football said | March 20th 2011 @ 9:53am | Report comment
The formula is the best of all codes. (That is if you like finals; I am a traditionalist—first past the post are the real champions)
March 20th 2011 @ 10:06am
Kasey said | March 20th 2011 @ 10:06am | Report comment
I was dead against finals and as an Adelaide United fan can you blame me, but the A-League finals this year were a cut above the tempo and intensity of the regular season…IMHO all bar the CCM vs GCU Prelim were gems to watch! Thanks to Aussie sporting culture Finals are here to stay for at least the next 50 odd years.
But a Perth vs SFC GF in Brisbane would be a complete farce….I say no to locking in a neutral venue. the A-League just isn’t big enough to pull that off yet. Look at MLS, they play the MLS Cup (the GF) at a neutral venue and the yank-soccer fans hate it – apeing bigger codes…in their case NFL…in our case the AFL is no path to success.
March 20th 2011 @ 11:08am
Australian Football said | March 20th 2011 @ 11:08am | Report comment
C’mon Kassey, as a GCU FC supporter (me), you have to admit the best team won on the night.
March 20th 2011 @ 11:12am
punter said | March 20th 2011 @ 11:12am | Report comment
AF, I thought you were Syney FC till you die?
March 20th 2011 @ 11:18am
Australian Football said | March 20th 2011 @ 11:18am | Report comment
Check my profile I have not altered any information—it remains set in stone. But I live on the GC so I support the local club as well ’til I die.
March 20th 2011 @ 12:59pm
Axelv said | March 20th 2011 @ 12:59pm | Report comment
The best team won on the night but the match was still boring , I also watched all the finals games and every single one of them was awesome except CCM vs GCU!
March 20th 2011 @ 2:15pm
Australian Football said | March 20th 2011 @ 2:15pm | Report comment
Axelv—-another disappointed MV loser paying the GCU.
However, I agree with you on that other match—GCU’s loss to CCM was a great boring shame. A real pity we didn’t have a derby Grand Final so we could have put the Raw to the sword.
March 20th 2011 @ 2:35pm
Axelv said | March 20th 2011 @ 2:35pm | Report comment
Haha
, I really enjoyed MV vs GCU despite the result! The midfield was rubbish but it still made a great spectacle! And although the crowd was tiny, the quality of the crowd was not lacking 
great atmosphere provided by the Beach and traveling MV fans. 3000 GC fans were making more noise than most 10,000+ matches.
March 20th 2011 @ 2:53pm
Australian Football said | March 20th 2011 @ 2:53pm | Report comment
AlexV—-I hear you Bro
Looking forward to next year. I’ve have only missed two home games in two seasons. Next year will be our real test; with some of our youth team to step up to fill the void of our most experienced exiting players..
March 20th 2011 @ 3:18pm
Andrew said | March 20th 2011 @ 3:18pm | Report comment
It would probably be better if it moved around with basic conditions (40K+ Stadium). This way tickets to the Grand Final can be sold months before the GF and give it a chance to sell out.
March 20th 2011 @ 3:29pm
David V. said | March 20th 2011 @ 3:29pm | Report comment
A WS team should have been there from Day One.
March 20th 2011 @ 11:36pm
ItsCalledFootball said | March 20th 2011 @ 11:36pm | Report comment
Lets just clear up yet another misguided attack on the FFA – the FFA did not “dump” the Western Sydney Rovers A-League consortium.
The consortium couldn’t come up with the $6M financial guarantees to buy the franchise.
The FFA are very keen to have a second Sydney A-League team, as most of us are.
They gave the Sydney Rovers plenty of time to come up with the money and extended the deadline on several occasions to give the Rovers every possible chance.
The Rovers were the ones that withdrew their bid, when it became obvious they were not going to come up with the money.
March 21st 2011 @ 9:29am
jtg said | March 21st 2011 @ 9:29am | Report comment
Once the FFA dump the Gold Coast next season, the Western Sydney team will be introduced the year after that.
The national competition will be made up of the following.
NSW will have 4 teams.
VIC will have 2 teams
QLD, SA, WA, NZ will have 1 team each.
Great to see the national competition thriving.
It looks like the FFA have finally introduce the “Brisbane Line” from World War 2.
April 20th 2011 @ 5:06pm
The Cougar said | April 20th 2011 @ 5:06pm | Report comment
This is related to the Chris Tanner GWSFG bid.
The kits and logo are identical to the proposed name in the bid.
They want to play every match at ANZ stadium, leaving Penrith, Campbelltown and Parra for pre-season friendlies. They think they’ll get 30k against most of the big clubs and with ANZ paying 400k + revenue sharing are expecting a stadium profit of about 1 million.
ANZ is a black hole for atmosphere, and no-one will support it, especially not to levels of getting 30k fans.
April 21st 2011 @ 9:37am
Kasey said | April 21st 2011 @ 9:37am | Report comment
As a football fan for most of my adult life, I feel very strongly that lessons from MLS need to be learned. start up teams in big caverous stadia kill the atrmosphere generated. the unique atmosphere of world football is what will draw the undecided/curious in to HAL games, there will be NO atmosphere if the West Sydney team plays in the Olympic stadium. It will fail IMHO. They ned to play their regular season at Parramatta with Derby games at ANZ and should it occur, the GF at ANZ only. despite the financial incentives on offer, the team will draw no fans with no atmosphere. 15k rattling around in ANZ will be a terrible image for the game and will do nothing to induce the fans of the former west Sydney NSL teams to support the HAL team. just my $0.02 as a fan who sees the WS team as a good addition to the league and could really move the domestic game forward if done properly!