Football fans need to really support A-League
Roar Guru By johnhunt92, 29 Jun 2012 johnhunt92 is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- A-League, A-League crowds, FFA, football, Football Federation Australia, Western Sydney Wanderers
Glory beckons as Perth make A-League Grand Final AAP Image/Paul Miller
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Over 1.8 million people play the world game in Australia, yet it seems the FFA has never been able to fully harness that support. Why is this the case?
It is question that needs to be answered quickly as the FFA and its revolution, which began in 2005, has reached a crossroad.
While TV ratings have increased, average attendances have declined to around 10,500, down around 2500 since the high was reached in 2007-2008.
Gold Coast United, which was launched with much fanfare, died a death marred by infighting and rivalries reminiscent of a medieval power grab, while other clubs sail perilously close to the financial abyss.
So what is the issue?
Firstly, I must disclose information for the betterment of the article: I am a huge AFL fan and love the sport dearly and regard it as the best run group in Australia, making the FFA look like a country sports league.
But my first sport was football; I still love football and I take great interest ensuring it is on a stable ground.
Back to the issue though; why can’t the FFA garner fan power like other sports?
It’s not lack of numbers as I pointed out, nor is it lack of heritage and history.
FFA management should shoulder some blame as it has made many mistakes in it management, but they are not the whole problem.
The major reason this game struggles is based on two issues in which fans are to blame.
Firstly, the snobbery and elitism of certain sections of football fans in this country is sickening.
They are the type that support a European club despite the distance yet loathe supporting A-League teams.
These fans yearn for the NSL days where we return to incompetent, divisive football system that lacked the ability to manage itself properly.
Time to move on guys; the administrators of that time had their chance and were responsible for malaise in football for years.
Secondly, football fans in this country are too micro focused and not focusing on the big picture.
There is too much nitpicking about minute details around clubs’ colours identity and stadiums.
Fans use flimsy excuses not to get behind the club by trolling websites (which I am likely to get on this article) with tripe and moaning.
Look at the announcement of the Western Sydney Wanderers and the details about the club.
Complaints ranged from the “Wanderers” identity being a media piñata when they lose, to rubbish strip colours and more dismally, a boring logo or the logo wasn’t “good enough”.
Despite the fact I liked most of the details and the fact fan forums strongly supported these details, does it really matter?
Seriously, in the grand context of football development, we need to move away as fans from the constant energy poured into pick holes in every little detail.
Western Sydney has yearned for a football club yet seems ungrateful for the opportunity it has got because the colours are awful or the nickname isn’t “football enough”.
Wayne Jackson once said the greatest threat to AFL was soccer if it harnessed its potential.
Trouble is fans seemed not to have heeded that challenge behaving more like the Labor party in panic mode.
Football fans probably won’t like the forcefulness of this article, but I feel it is a yucky medicine that needs to be swallowed.
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June 29th 2012 @ 11:53am
striker said | June 29th 2012 @ 11:53am | Report comment
JonD all we and good but i cant see the free to air chanels except SBS,Rugby union games are shown late on chanel 9 at night and never live what chance does the A-League.
June 29th 2012 @ 12:26pm
JonD said | June 29th 2012 @ 12:26pm | Report comment
With the extra digital channels now there should be no issue. You’re seriously telling me that netball can get onto FTA TV (via TEN’s digital channel ONE) but the A-league can’t? When the original deal was signed with Fox the A-league had no money and there were no extra digital channels. Now things are different and the FFA needs to change the deal.
June 29th 2012 @ 1:08pm
Midfielder said | June 29th 2012 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
From the MV forum … SEN radio in Melbourne yesterday afternoon has industry speculation saying Ch 10 has won the rights to the NRL…. with backing apparently from rinehart and murdoch
June 29th 2012 @ 3:41pm
Redb said | June 29th 2012 @ 3:41pm | Report comment
This is the same rumour mill on SEN that said Travis Cloke had already signed with Collingwood, I heard this as well. It may happen but not yet lol
June 29th 2012 @ 1:33pm
dangerousdave said | June 29th 2012 @ 1:33pm | Report comment
Supposedly, SBS or maybe one of the other channels (whichever one loses out on the NRL rights) will probably show a game per week from next season. There’s only so much growth that can happen for the league while it’s solely on pay TV. Once it’s on FTA, it will start to be really solidified in the mind of the public, and I expect much faster growth after this happens.
If someone like Channel 10 (ie, not SBS) get the rights for it – they have a much larger viewership than SBS to which they can promote the sport, and will have a significant stake in wanting it to have higher ratings – I’d expect record numbers for the next season.
June 29th 2012 @ 2:44pm
K55 said | June 29th 2012 @ 2:44pm | Report comment
The answer is simple to me, yet potentially unpaletable to many. Soccer, undeniably, provdes the greatest opportunities for any person looking to get into a football code, whether as a player or fan. Its global nature offers almost limitless opportunites to play, support , spectate or report the game when compared to other football codes played at a professional level in Australia, with rugby union being the closest.
The amount of broadcasting and paper media space spent on AFL and NRL is rediculous when you look at the size of these games on a global basis, yet we continue to throw resources at these sports that limit the knowledge, enjoyment and potential capability of players and fans to a few local clubs in Australia with no, or extremely limited, international aspect to their games.
I don’t know about you, but I love the opportunity to watch great players who strut their stuff on the global stage and play in my local club team, and vice versa, when one of my club players gets an opportunity to play at the most elite sporting level in the world . I often think it’s a crying shame that AFL and NRL players do not get that opportuniity and how we waste so much sporting capital and talent that could be funnelled into soccer and which could make us a soccer super power, by allowing some much talent resources to drift to sports that don’t matter on a world stage, but is supported by locally parochially supported by media. Surely every top sportsman wants to play at the highest level, but if that is at a club level, it seems a little short on achiveing their greatest potential – representingtheir countyr whether in a national team of cliub team competing in an international competition. And likewise, sports fans in Australia obviously love that challenge as well, yet Australia is restricted in that capability due to our focus on football codes that don’t matter internationally.
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The Australian media needs to get a reality check and some worldly maturity, and allow its audience the opportunity to appreciate the sports the world follows, rather than continuing to islolate Australian sports fans to local competitions in sports that fail to offer the far greater sporting experiences tha soccer and to a lessr extent, rugby union can bring.
If the media is looking for content, surely soccer offers far greater opportunities than AFL and NRL, once you employ sufficient journalists that understand the game.
And there is the rub for soccer. Until the sports media in Australia matures and starts improving and increasing the coverage of Australian soccer generally (not just A-League) to match the reporting of AFL and NRL, it will never grow its audience and hence the fan base and bums on seats and TV game ratings. A perfect example is the treatment soccer gets in the Fairfax media (Age & SMH) where its web-sites contain branded pages for AFL (“RealFooty”), NRL (RL Headquarters) and Rugby (Rugby Heaven), but for the sport with the largest playing group and potentially largest audience in Australia, soccer, it does nothing! Why would kids and other potential fans follow soccer when the media treats it as a backwater.
Obviously, many will argue that the media reports on what sells papers, and AFL and NRL does sell papers. But surely the media also supports the fact that if you promote something properly through the media (especially something that is a huge seller in the rest of the world), then the audience will grow (otherwise, why do they take money for advertising?)
So my answer on why soccer does not grow in Australia is simple…..it does not have the support of the media. The media is reluctant to change until it has an audience, but the audience won’t grow until the media supports the game on an equal footing to AFL and NRL.
I also think the the FFA does not push the international and bigger sport opportunities aggressively enough when promoting the game to kids and the wider public. Soccer can achieve far more as a sport and at other levels for Australia than NRL or AFL, and offers far greater opportunties to players and supporters alike, yet we seem forget about this when promoting the game.
So building the game using its international stengths and building the media interest through selling the games strengths and opportunities, needs more focus if the game is to grow to its full potential in Australia.
June 30th 2012 @ 10:46am
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football said | June 30th 2012 @ 10:46am | Report comment
I agree with all your points k55 but I think you need keep your comments to a maximum of 3 paragraphs. We’re supposed to comment on articles not write articles on articles.
June 29th 2012 @ 4:44pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | June 29th 2012 @ 4:44pm | Report comment
There are 2 ways to look at the current state of Australia’s professional football competition.
1. Glass half empty; or
2. Glass half full
John has a “glass half empty” mindset.
I’ve followed football as a sport for 35+years and, for me, there is NOTHING about the professional football landscape in AUS that is not better – much much better – than anything I witnessed in the past 35+years.
Instead of comparing HAL to other competition from other sports, we should be comparing HAL with football competitions that existed in the past.
And, when we compare HAL to previous football competitions using criteria, such as: column inches in the print media, minutes exposure on FTA Tv news, minutes exposure on radio, internet coverage, match attendance, TV ratings, sponsorship dollars, brand/club awareness, etc. etc., the HAL comes out well ahead of anything we had in the past.
Like any start-up business, the HAL will have peaks & troughs. As the business matures, we will expect a much more steady ride – fewer troughs & fewer peaks.
June 29th 2012 @ 8:06pm
Realfootball said | June 29th 2012 @ 8:06pm | Report comment
+1
June 29th 2012 @ 5:14pm
Baz said | June 29th 2012 @ 5:14pm | Report comment
When Frank took over, I was really expecting a massive change in this code. However look at the growth of Westfield. Lowy himself has said that he has modeled the A-league on his own business principles and that is steady growth. Westfields growth was slow and steady and has now become a global retailing giant. Im not saying that the FFA and Football will become the number one code however the growth will occur as the product goes mainstream which it is. I am a child of the NSL and grew up with the Strikers playing at Perry Park in front of crowds under 3000. Expecting a new League to be as big or competing with a code that basically owns papers in Melbourne, owns TV stations like 7 and say football will get a fair go is never going to happen. Why would papers that are aligned to the NRL or AFL and why would Channels like 7&9 give our code any chance when the success is determined upon them attracting advertisers to use their space when they discuss or show their codes. It will never happen. Having emailed the Editor at the Courier Mail and he has said that to me again and again via email, The Courier Mail in Brisbane will show support to league over Football as the NRL has a vested interest in the paper and viva versa. The Broncos are owned by the same company that owns Courier Mail. How can the Roar expect any chance of a fair go in Brisbane?
With SBS (hopefully) getting an A-League game and next World Cup Cycle all Socceroos games go free to air, there will be a chance for our code to compete and will have a strong foundation to grow from.
Rome/Westfield wasn’t built in a day.
June 29th 2012 @ 5:28pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | June 29th 2012 @ 5:28pm | Report comment
Wonderful post, Baz!
“Rome wasn’t built in a day” and it was worth the wait – there’s a reason it’s called the Eternal City.
June 29th 2012 @ 6:49pm
william 11 said | June 29th 2012 @ 6:49pm | Report comment
Our problem in a nut shell. add to this peer pressure.
June 30th 2012 @ 10:56am
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football said | June 30th 2012 @ 10:56am | Report comment
Absolutely spot on Baz! A lot of people don’t understand the dynamics behind our struggle for recognition and the things holding our game back. But football will continue to grow and one day there will be major backflips by certain media outlets when they pull their head out of the sand or out of the AFL/NRL’s posterior for want of a better analogy.
June 29th 2012 @ 8:54pm
Jessor said | June 29th 2012 @ 8:54pm | Report comment
For the game to grow, you need free to air viewing, ge t people interested, understand the game, get excited, thus follow live games. Just learn from NRL. Free to air.! Euro 2012, cannot watch , cannot follow, cannot get the kids interested. Simple as tha t.
June 29th 2012 @ 9:49pm
John said | June 29th 2012 @ 9:49pm | Report comment
I don’t know much about HAL. I follow AFL and that is it. No interest in League at all and will only watch Union if the Wallabies are on. I do follow the W-League though (often go to the games and watch on TV).
For the first few seasons of HAL I had a mild interest and followed CCM (despite living rural NSW at the time). I moved to Canberra in 2008. But I became lost to HAL when they refused to expand a team into Canberra in 2009 and instead went for North QLD and Gold Coast despite Canberra having a good bid (corporate, political support as well as a strong supporter base). Obviously this was a bad choice. If for no other reason than that the ACT Government would NEVER let a Canberra team in any sport fold. Until there is a Canberra team in the HAL I have no interest in it. I will continue attending the local W-League games at Mckellar though. May even travel to Sydney/Newcastle/Melbourne to watch them play.
FTA coverage is a must. If it was on FTA, I would be watching a lot of it over summer (when the test cricket isn’t on of course). Even one game a week would help.
The only other thing I see wrong with the A-league is the timing. The A-league season finishes in April when both the NRL and AFL seasons are starting. So the climax of the A-league season is drowned out by the hype of the RL and AFL seasons starting. Reduce the schedule and have the Grand Final in Mid-late March. Sure you will lose revenue dollars but surely it’d be worth it in the long run?
June 30th 2012 @ 11:20am
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football said | June 30th 2012 @ 11:20am | Report comment
Eventually our football comps will overlap even more as football in Australia heads for a competition format that is on par with leagues in Europe and Asia.
That means 32 – 36 rounds. That’s right! Football and the other codes will be clashing a lot more in ten years time. There will be give and take from all sides but if it hurts our crowds a little it’s not the end of the world as the HAL tries to get international credibilty.
Those who think “soccer” will be a little 20 round comp hidden away in the summer months are mistaken.
July 1st 2012 @ 12:21pm
Realfootball said | July 1st 2012 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
And the hoary old Canberra chestnut comes out again. Canberra NEVER had the money. NQ and Gold Coast did. It was not a bad choice. There was no choice.
July 1st 2012 @ 12:52pm
John said | July 1st 2012 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
Canberra had plenty of money. The ACT government were willing to put in and we had TransACT as a major sponsor. NQ had no money (that’s why they didn’t last). GC had money but giving Clive Palmer a free reign was obviously a big mistake.
July 1st 2012 @ 1:10pm
william 11 said | July 1st 2012 @ 1:10pm | Report comment
Give or take from all sides? cant see AFL or NRL take back seat to Football ever
June 30th 2012 @ 9:22am
Jess said | June 30th 2012 @ 9:22am | Report comment
I love going to watch brisbane roat home games but it is an hour and a half drive for me to get there and by the time we pay for the petrol, tickets and food it’s just too expensive to go to every game. I also think that people who don’t have pay tv can’t watch the games so they don’t really know anything about the a-league.
July 1st 2012 @ 6:05pm
red bear said | July 1st 2012 @ 6:05pm | Report comment
Always have a laugh at these figures that soccer people claim play the game in Australia, what proportion are aged under 10 ?
July 1st 2012 @ 6:12pm
Titus said | July 1st 2012 @ 6:12pm | Report comment
It’s the most popular sport at every age group.
July 1st 2012 @ 9:44pm
Nathan of Perth said | July 1st 2012 @ 9:44pm | Report comment
Random football fan aside -
Anyone catch San Jose vs LA Galaxy on earlier today? Was good to see the progress being made over there. The big regional Nor Cal vs So Cal rivalry saw them move the match to Stanford stadium and sell out with 50,000 in attendance. Great active support from the San Jose fans as well, great to hear singing from the terraces again.
Can’t wait for the new season!