mossy's Contributions

I agree with Davidde in regards to the F3 Derby being artificial. A true derby for mine is within the limits of the City it is being played in. The derby of Newcastle these days in the NNSW State League would be Broadmeadow Magic v Hamilton Olympic, but there is feeling amongst many of the teams for various reasons (player/coach changing, spiteful clashes etc)... The Heart v Victory is the only true derby of the A-League. In saying this, I have been to most of the F3 Derbies and would agree with Ben that there is a heightened feeling that can be traced to three points: 1.Mrdja breaks leg of Durante in May 2005. 2. Bridge nails the winner in the GF in February 2008. 3. Both towns have self confidence issues over Sydney (even though both are much better places than Sydney to reside) and are looking to be next in line

Only FTA can make midweek football work

23 Nov 2010

Well it was a ray of sunshine on a rather drab season for mine. To this point, with all the off-field financial dramas, this version was heading across a rickety bridge with the troubled waters of Soccer past rising below. The derby has bought a rivalry to the table that will allow all football followers to take a team for the night. As a supporter of another Club, it was pleasurable to watch the Heart do well in front of a great crowd. I cant imagine what it has done for the confidence of Can Shipt & Co. On the red v blue derbies. A British friend once mentioned that if you look at a lot of the derbies in the motherland, they tend to be Red v Blue. His hypothesis was that these can be traced back to religious lines. Red being the catholic, blue the protestant. Think Liverpool/Everton, Manchester's United/City. Though the list doesn't go on to be exclusive it does find a compelling narrative. The Old Firm differs only in colour with Rangers (Protestant) and the green of Celtic (the Irish Catholic contingent).

Five things I’ve learned about the A-League

13 Oct 2010

In my opinion there is a consistent problem with Owner/Chairman models for sporting Clubs in Australia. As is the case with the Newcastle United Jets, the fundamental problem is a lack of connection with the community. As the AFL model 'gets' it, the NRL are following, people genuinely want to feel part of something. Like its my Club. As I write I'm sitting in a training room in Melbourne where in an earlier training session, a lad showed me his Collingwood tattoo,right after a jibe from his colleague about the Magpie theme song as his ringtone. Why does he like Collingwood? the same as the girl in the office who pays her membership to the Cats early, they feel part of something. As a paying member of the 'United' Jets for 2 years the only benefit I got was 10 matches for the price of 11. Did it make me feel part of anything? Nope, and that is where the A-League is going all wrong, there is no umbilical connection with the community. And by all reports that is what is happening on the Gold Coast. As Robbie Slater so deftly put it, like he was scoring a cracking volley for the Rovers circa 1994, on the crowd figure for the semi final 4109 - "That is a record that will sure take some beating".

Gold Coast United: from the sublime to the ridiculous

24 Feb 2010