The Socceroos agaist Qatar in their World Cup qualifier against Qatar in Doha in June. AAP Images
As a contributor to SBS website The World Game, I often find myself perusing the site’s long-standing and mildly infamous forum. A hodge-podge of nationalist flag-waving and juvenile humour, it can be a diverting way to spend a couple of hours.
They’re an unforgiving lot on the forum, quick to highlight mistakes, ready to pounce on any divergence of opinion.
Over the years I’ve been nicknamed “the dumbo,” accused of hating the A-League, labelled a racist towards Asians and, most frequently, have been said to be suffering from “a cultural cringe.”
I suppose things could be worse. At least I haven’t been called a Schalke fan!
But all giggles aside, there’s one debate – or better said, schism – that leaves me pondering the fate of domestic football in this country.
It’s the split between so-called ‘new dawners’ and ‘bitters’ – derogatory terms given to supporters from opposite sides of the football fence.
‘New dawners’ are labelled as such because they supposedly jumped on the bandwagon circa 2005, ie. when the A-League kicked off and the Socceroos qualified for the World Cup.
The term ‘bitters’ is used – at least to my understanding – to denigrate those who preferred the good old days before the A-League, when the National Soccer League was still king and the Socceroos couldn’t fight their way out of a wet paper bag.
Many of those labelled as such are long-term supporters of European national teams.
And on a forum that would make racial sensitivity training about as useful as filling a petrol tank with sand, both terms come with ethnic connotations.
Like any childish name-calling, both are used carte blanche to vilify anyone whose opinion one disagrees with.
Problem is – as insulting as both terms are intended to be – there’s an element of truth to them.
We’ve seen it in the struggles many A-League clubs have had trying to increase crowd figures once the novelty of the new league wore off.
And while Branko Culina’s 1996-97 Sydney United side was perhaps the most skillful Australian club team I’ve laid eyes upon, I’m hardly the first to suggest that the NSL was no longer sustainable.
All of this would be utterly trivial were it not for the fact that two new A-League clubs will soon attempt to make inroads into a couple of football heartlands.
The acceptance of Sydney Rovers FC into the A-League may have been as murky as the Georges River, but the club now has an official name, club colours and a badge to call their own.
That’s great, but will they have any fans?
High player participation rates in the western suburbs of Sydney didn’t exactly make Parramatta Power a box-office hit, and many of the families who play and run the game in the region already have allegiances to decades-old clubs.
Meanwhile in the nation’s south, the question is whether Melbourne Heart can draw upon supporters who feel disenfranchised by Melbourne Victory, or whether the new team will simply fracture the Victory’s established support base.
Either way, both clubs could do with extending an olive branch to the proponents of ‘old soccer’ – who have coached and educated those players now making a name for themselves in the A-League and for the Socceroos.
Time will tell whether the A-League ever countenances admitting so-called ‘ethnic clubs’ into the fold, perhaps into a national Second Division, or whether more hard-nosed supporters of the old NSL will ever venture through an A-League turnstile.
But one thing we could perhaps all do with is some more tolerance of each others’ points of view.
Otherwise the joke is on us, and we’ll be sitting around squabbling about who is a ‘new dawner’ and who are the ‘bitters’ while professional football in this country is played out in front of increasingly disinterested and ever-stagnant home crowds.
cab711
Guest
They are not Bayern Munich.
aman pillay
Guest
Whats wrong with Schalke?
mahony
Guest
I know it was only a sub-argument, but AFL fans have no choice dasilva - domestic loyalty is all they have. All the power to them - but if AFL was played in 206 countries we could make a reasonable comparison then.
mahony
Guest
Spot on Gweeds - I have long detested the dislike of the new football follower by the Eurosnobs - and the A-League fans who agree with them. I also hope the FFA make moves in the comming years to reintegrate 'the past' with the present and the bright future. Football will be even richer for it.
mahony
Guest
They are all good points - but I must say that I am watching much less European football in the A-League season than in years 1 - 3. I am absolutely loving the A-league, but will likely tune into the closing stages of the Champions League and watch only the very big European league derbies (Manchester, Liverpool, Superclassico, Old Firm, etc...). I am also beginning to relate strongly to the big Asian tams in Japan, Korea and China as a result of Australian involvement in the ACL. I wonder if this is happening to others?
mahony
Guest
The FFA run them?
AA
Guest
No worries, just letting you know.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
No worries AA. I've had an account for years.
AA
Guest
The World Game Forum is now banned for acccess for non-members. Mike, you may have to sign in to get a look from now on.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
If they were born or grew up overseas then I can understand them being euro snobs. It's the australian born euro snobs that puzzle me.
Schalke fan
Guest
Best Wishes to the Lügenscheider Mike Tuckermann. Royal blue Schalke freetings
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
I am interested as to why Adelaide's crowd has remained solid despite a poor season (for them) whilst others have dropped off despite some impressive on field results.
cab711
Guest
Im quite certain the FFA has every intention of introducing another Western Sydney team in the future. It can support it.
David V.
Guest
It's a vast area- Parramatta, Holroyd, Blacktown, Penrith, Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury LGAs.
The Bear
Guest
Frank Lowy has been quiet of late. Maybe time to arrange a press release to address this potential.
cab711
Guest
I for one am of two opinions on the use of the Marquee player. Im sure that the Yorke factor added some edge to the starting campaign for Sydney FC but I wonder if the money spent on a marquee could not have been used in longterm investing. Youth development, clubhouse, training facilities or coaching. Surely the long term benefits would have been better and would probably start to merge now had they been implemented from the start with a little vision. I would rather see 5 kids trained from a young age coming from the local area enter the NYL or mens team of Sydney FC now than all the marquees Sydney FC have had so far. They would be technically better than currently whats on offer, give notoriaty to the club, develop roots with the community and could be sold to other clubs commanding better offers. Perhaps stricter guidelines need to be introduced into defining the Marquee especially as there has been hints of an Asian Marquee spot perhaps being introduced. The new Western Sydney team will be interesting to see if people in the area embrace the club, perhaps it will show that local people are desperate for representation or indifferent for whatever reason. Some people believe football is a matter of life and death...it is much, much more important than that.
Midfielder
Guest
Mike I think you still have a couple of bitters at SBS ... however I digress ... There is little can be done to engage the bitters towards the existing A-League ... hopefully the new Melbourne & Sydney team can get some of the bitters in...
David V.
Guest
My view is that the so-called Bitters are a dying breed, because societal and generational change will see them die out/bred out soon anyway. The support for "ethnic" clubs is gradually withing away after the initial post-NSL flourish.
David V.
Guest
Fowler has surprised me because of the fact his career had been in continuous decline for at least 10 years, but you're right in saying those attributes he possesses usually don't leave you.
David V.
Guest
When people prefer overseas football over local football it's the symptom of a problem and not the cause of it. We've seen this in Malaysia (and you can hardly blame fans there given the shambles local football- and the country generally- is in) and Hong Kong (where a once thriving local-football scene was neglected but has been flickering back to life of late). Many of us can't shake off the habit of following our overseas clubs because we were raised on it. The A-League has had less time to engender the same kind of loyalty, in a world where there is far less room for error than there once was. The fact that our league has a long way to go in improving standards- especially coaching and tactics- hasn't really helped, as has the cliched and simplistic views of the game and ignorant generalisations seemingly thrown into our faces.