Roar Guru
Joined April 2011
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Wouldn’t it be loverly.
I feel sorry for 95% of English football supporters who will never see their team win an EPL title.
They feel like they’ve won the lottery just by not being relegated each season.
Most unfair football competition in the world and Man U have contributed to that in a big way.
Moyes, the alchemist, handed a pot of gold
Me 2 – no other live sport worth watching at the moment in Sydney.
What the Mariners must do to beat Guangzhou
I’ve spent a lot of time in Victoria (have relatives there and in Adelaide and Perth) and played lots of football in Melbourne.
I’ve agreed with you guys in all of my posts that its not an ethnic question and I’m not the racist. Its the way that the media report it as an “ethnic soccer hooligan violence” problem and how that will limit the success of the A-League and the FFA Cup.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Thanks oly, never been there to see a game, just an example.
I don’t think the FFA or A-League will have time for Cup replays, especially if they are played mid-week with the A-League in full flight.
I agree with you and Fussball that they will have to do extra time and penalties, which I think adds to the excitement.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Looking forward to the FA Cup but I don’t think it’ll be a classic and Wigan will do well just to score a goal or two.
I think people have been too hard on Mancini, look at the people he has had to train, with enormous egos and huge salaries.
I think he’ll win another FA Cup and stay on in England.
With 3 trophies in just over 2 years, he’s doing a lot better than Arsenal or Liverpool or even Manchester United.
Will the FA Cup save Mancini?
Sheedy and the AFL in Sydney are best ignored.
He has the same effect on me as a soggy bowl of All Bran.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
They haven’t played a “home” game in Sydney yet, the attendees are from Canberra or Victorians. Their one game in Sydney was a Swans home game and “the big Sydney AFL derby” attendance about 15K or 45% lower than last year,
Their Sydney TV ratings are about 20K which is 180K lower than re-runs of the Iron Chef.
Three Sydney teams? Sheedy's being greedy
That’s a possibility too, especially if your club has been knocked out by them and you are seeking revenge. 🙂
(but lets try and give them the benefit of the doubt before we start accusing anyone.)
I still believe (although you may think I’m crazy) that the person who threw that firecracker at the Wanderers v Sydney United pre-season game was somehow connected to the Daily Telegraph or paid to do it by them.
The whole thing was all too convenient and the police charging the fans on cue with batons and capsicum spray while the DT’s journalists and cameramen were there to capture it all and then rushed back to the office so they could get it in before the morning edition deadline.
All because of a firecracker FFS that went off near no-one and injured no-one.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Great post AndyRoo and my sentiments exactly.
Most true football fans have to be racially tolerant.
Its just that a lot of the media are not and are very elitist and biased when it comes to their own sports and that may be a problem, that’s all. Its not a matter of racism from the majority of A-League supporters.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Thanks Midfielder,
Fussball asked me the same question.
Part of my name is the same, but no I’m not the great man, who was one of my mentors. Its in homage to him.
http://www.ak-tsc.de/pw-quotes-en.htm
My Marconi career was a lot less illustrious and cut short by injury.
Cheers
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Agree and we will and still do ignore the hostile media.
Its just how much else is affected and if that impacts the profitability and viability of the cup.
For example if we have a couple of perceived “riots” at games and the major sponsor Telstra or Optus pulls out of the competition.
That would be a huge PR negative and impact the A-League and the FFA’s image and bottom line.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
How would the national press report on an FFA Cup match for example between Sydney FC and Ballarat that is forfeited or cancelled because of Russian Orthodox Christmas Celebrations in January.
They would have a field day.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Of course we will ignore the press as most football fans do because the stories are ridiculous and completely blown out of proportion as we all know, while the same thing in cricket, NRL or AFL doesn’t even get a mention.
The point is what damage is it doing to potential fans and football fans who currently don’t go to A-League games, but we want them to.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
From the steps taken by the FFV against Dandenong it was more than one person and a bit more serious than that. The whole club and it’s supporters were punished.
It shows that while things are much better, we still have a way to go to get crowd trouble under control.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Interesting suggestions,
will the home team be determined by which team is pulled out of the hat first like the FA Cup or will the FFA pick the best, low cost option?
will there be replays if there is a draw or will away goals count more?
Still more details to be determined by the FFA.
From a “football romance” point of view would it be better to play an FFA Cup quarter final for example between the Bathurst 75s and Sydney FC at a packed Proctor Park in Bathurst or at a half empty SFS?
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Good point whiskeymac.
After lashing out at WSW in the pre-season and early rounds, the Daily Telegraph did an amazing turnaround including referring to it as football and not soccer and changing the name in their online web page and sports section to football.
They are mercenary so they go with the crowd to sell papers, so the success of WSW has changed their minds.
Hopefully the FFA Cup will be a huge success and the media get behind it, but to some degree there still remains the anti-football sections of the media who try and put it down at every opportunity especially in Melbourne where they may think the growth of AFL is threatened.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Even without the FFA Cup or whatever its going to be called – hopefully the Holden Cup or the Telstra Cup 🙂 we already have crowd troubles.
Imagine the growth potential if we had no crowd troubles and an Australian press that supported and nurtured football, not attacked it at every opportunity.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Good post and great to see that optimism come through.
Yes, we shouldn’t pander to the press and the anti-soccer brigade who will never go to games anyway, but there will be trouble and issues and the press will report it in a negative light.
Its just a matter of equilibrium and growth and if the sum of the parts will be greater than the negative caused by the press and other sports.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk
Gazza,
I’m not saying the FFA are not aware of what’s going on, I’m saying they won’t approve changing the licence over to SM the way they currently run the A-League.
South Melbourne saga shows the divisions in our football family
Exactly Gazza
the FFA needs to clean up some of the fans in the clubs already in the A-League, as I said in a post above.
South Melbourne saga shows the divisions in our football family
Steve,
please don’t label me a racist, i am seriously probably the most racially tolerant person in the room and have had first hand experience with ethnic clubs in the NSL.
I appreciate that the people we are talking about including yourself are Australian, no matter their heritage, just like me and I didn’t intend to say anyone involved with an NSL club is not an Australian.
I don’t make the rules, I’m just saying that South Melbourne won’t get into the A-League at this point in time because of the FFA and the way it operates.
Didn’t matter what club you are the FFA have said that they are not accepting any more licence applications till 2015 at the earliest.
CCM and MH have also said they are not selling their licences, so SM won’t get into the A-League that way and because of the way the FFA thinks (not me) they probably wouldn’t approve the deal anyway.
I hope that clears it up a little, but the way this debate is going I’ve probably dug myself into an even bigger hole. 🙂
Cheers
South Melbourne saga shows the divisions in our football family
I think Australian football and the NSL clubs have matured a great deal, but the Australian press hasn’t.
There’s still a lot of anti-soccer sentiment out there and the slightest sniff of trouble and they jump on it and write up all the soccer hooligan ethic violence stories they can.
NSL lessons vital for A-League's future
Football clubs all over Australia have produced some fine players who have gone on to be professional players all over the world and that culture can come from anywhere, including heritage, any heritage or that special coach who turned your life around.
I was fortunate enough to be coached by Rale Rasic when i was a junior at Marconi trying out for the U21 squad and he was the inspiration that made me determined to play in the NSL.
An Australian lad of English and Scottish descent coached by a Bosnian Serb at an Italian ethnic club.
But as Titus says, at a lot of the games the crowd were chanting in Italian and waving Italian flags. I never really felt a part of the club or at home with them.
Some times it was even embarrassing, especially when they ran on to the field and started attacking the players or the referee, nearly always when we played Apia Leichhardt, the other Italian team or the Greek teams for some reason.
After finishing my playing career, I never felt like staying on at Marconi or becoming a supporter. It wasn’t until the A-League and Sydney FC that I started to attend matches again.
NSL lessons vital for A-League's future
The NSL lasted 28 years – started in 1977 and finished in 2004.
A great testament to the dedication of Australian football followers and benefactors throughout that difficult period.
No NSL club or the governing body Soccer Australia ever made a profit and poured a lot of their own money into the league to keep it going so long.
Well done to you – you will always be remembered in Australian football.
NSL lessons vital for A-League's future
Yes, these issues need to be addressed to make it a success and not a great drain on FFA finances.
Don't be fooled: FFA Cup is too big a risk