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The criticism of loyalty in sports has usually been about players not honouring the full term of their contract, usually because they are enticed to another club for more money, more prestige or greater chances of success and winning trophies.
Nowadays, a football player will rarely stay with the same team all their professional life, while this was more common in previous decades.
But what about the modern football fans and their loyalty to the cause?
With the growth of domestic and global television and other media outlets, such as the internet, the world’s sports fans have never been better served to follow their team, any team.
And not just within your sport of choice, but across other football codes and sports disciplines. Sports marketing is a billion dollar industry in Australia.
The role that sport plays, with its implied loyalty from the fan, is changing, especially when a rapidly growing percentage of sport revenues are garnered from the media companies that publicise the sport and bring it into our homes, pubs and clubs.
Over the years my loyalties to football teams have changed. Not because of advertising or money to tempt me away from my favourite team or their chances of winning anything, but because of the changing circumstances surrounding me.
As a very young boy, my first real exposure to football and the first football team I followed was the Arsenal Football Club.
I remember staying up very late one year to watch the FA Cup final with my dad and older brother. It was amazing I stayed up so late, being so young in front of the open wood fireplace 20,000 miles away from the action in the middle of a Sydney winter night.
I stayed awake because the game was so good, the atmosphere amazing and because of Charlie George. I’ll never forget that name.
The highlight of the game, and Charlie’s career, came in this 1971 FA Cup final. He proved to be the difference against Liverpool.
The game was locked at 1–1 in extra time, Arsenal having been 1–0 down before Eddie Kelly’s equaliser.
In the 111th minute George latched on to John Radford’s square ball and scored a spectacular winner from 20 yards out to not only win the match, but also giving Arsenal their first double.
I was hooked and not only a fan of Arsenal, but also a fan of football.
The other thing Charlie George was famous for was head butting Liverpool’s cocky young upstart Kevin Keegan.
Then Craig Johnston came along with his heroics for Liverpool. Craig was an Aussie and went by the nickname ‘Skippy’ to his Scouse teammates. In the 1986 FA Cup final at Wembley, Johnston scored Liverpool’s second goal in a 3–1 win over Everton.
I’m not sure exactly how or when I changed allegiances, but into the 80s I started to lose interest in Arsenal and started following Liverpool. Maybe I was being nationalistic, or just proud that an Australian footballer was making it on the big stage and wanted to support him and his team.
I’ve also followed the fortunes of other Aussie overseas, but kept my allegiance to Liverpool during that decade.
Then in the 90s, two of Australia’s greatest ever professional footballers ended up at Leeds United Football Club. I’m talking about the brilliant Harry Kewell and the lethal Mark Viduka.
Leeds United suddenly became my football team.
Over the years, Leeds United has unfortunately fallen down the divisions and I don’t follow them as closely as I used to, although they are climbing back to the Premier League.
I have always followed the fortunes of the Socceroos, sometimes being fortunate enough to see them play overseas as well. They have always remained my favourite national football team.
I never really got into the old National Soccer League or domestic competitions, although I did follow it with some interest and watched a few games on TV when SBS were showing it.
But a couple of things changed all that. Firstly, the great Socceroos victory against Uruguay in the World Cup Qualifier of 2005 (which I was fortunate enough to attend) and secondly, the establishment of the A-League.
Living in Sydney’s north-west, I decided to follow Sydney FC. It was an exciting time and the resurgence of Australian club football.
The A-League seemed to offer a break from the traditional ethnic football ties and associated tensions of ‘old soccer’, as rightly or wrongly perceived.
It was a growing competition on the back of the Socceroos rise in popularity and their great results in the World Cup of 2006 in Germany.
I followed Sydney FC faithfully for seven years and attended a lot of their matches including that first grand final victory in their first year. I still attend some of their A-League matches.
But once again my club allegiances have changed with the birth of the West Sydney Wanderers.
It’s not that Sydney FC have done anything particularly bad or upset me or my family in any particular way. We were just drawn to this new club and the pioneering spirit it represented. I still have a soft spot for Sydney FC and wish them well.
I live closer to Parramatta stadium than Allianz Stadium and I work at Parramatta. With a group of friends we have become part of the Wanderers following. And hasn’t the ride been spectacular this year for Western Sydney fans?
Who do we sing for? Sure, we sing for the Wanderers, but we also sing for Australian football.
We’re also happy and very proud that our little Aussie A-League is growing up and becoming more popular right around the world.
We’ve had a good season, but both the A-League and the Wanderers need to work hard to keep that growth and improvement going to sustain Australian football’s following for many more years to come.
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