SBS trying to regain its football identity

Fantasy World Cup was one fo the greatest sporting tv shows ever!

I think that SBS should create a light hearted program about football such as David Baddiel and Frank Skinner's Fantasy Football series. I think that there is too much seriousness in football commentary in Australia and a bit of levity would not go astray and would also attract non-football people which may get interested in the game.

You have wonder why SBS, a station that exists purely to promote cultural diversity and minority programming is so slavish in its coverage of the world's most generic sport?. Is it possible that SBS was set up with a soccer agenda, well considering soccer is mainstream perhaps we should consider lobbying them so minority sports get a run. As ph said what about some more American Football and Gaelic Games, European Handball, international volleyball, Japanese Sumo wrestling, Water Polo, Polo, Chinese table tennis etc.

Because soccer has been totally screwed by free to air networks, specifically seven at the behest of the AFL in their attempts to "destroy" the sport and their is a market for soccer, SBS fills that void (albeit badly).

SBS could lose their patronizing and moronic presenters over-exaggerating the accents of non-Anglo names for starters, it is cringe worthy. In fact they can also lose their massive ethnic chip on their shoulders entirely and start presenting their football programs minus their nauseating anti-English bias and their anti A-League drudgery. Yes, English football isn't as technical or free flowing as southern European or South American football, but there are legitimate reasons for that, specifically climate which has played an extremely large part in shaping how various nations and regions play their football.

THIS WOULD BE BRILLIANT FOR THE GAME IN THE COUNTRY, WE CREATE EXCITEMENT FOR A-LEAGUE CLUBS WITH FANS FROM THE SAME AREAS BEING ABLE TO TRY AND COMPARE SIDES AND CREATE INTEREST IN THE GAME FOOTBALL IS ABOUT HATING YOUR NEIGHBOUR SOMETHING WE ALL DO BUT CANT DO IN FOOTBALL As a sydney olympic supportter one thing i know is no hates us more than any other team in the country and thats good for the game. WELL DONE SBS BRING IT ON , WELL DEFINATELY RATE HARD

Spezza is simply mentioning what other soccer fans have mentioned on this thread. You have a public broadcaster televising games with no one in attendance, it does absolutely nothing for the game.

Sour grapes much

So if A League quality is pathetic and premier league not far behind where does that leave SBS in terms of televising less than pathetic quality games? When you say crowds are non existant l presume you dont count Melbourne Victory? Spezza you do yourself and your cause no good by trying to bag the A League...and why? Unfortunately l think your posts outline exactly why.

Sydney Olympic v Sydney FC will be on this year, guarantee you all Sydney Olympic will win dont think the a-league quality is good its actaully pathetic and thats why crowds are non-existant, premier leagues are not far behind a-league trust me. But with crowds in the thousands it will look better on the tele, why would SBS do this ah because it would rate highly

I think some showing of state league soccer is fine, given the ABC shows state league Australian Football (the code invented here) and Rugby Union, but this raises a question - why should SBS be so totally devoted to Soccer? I mean there are pros and cons and rights and wrongs of its partly taxpayer funded almost single-minded support of the World Game. But for a station with a multiculturalism in Australia and exploring variety in the world charter - shouldn't it also cover other sports (OK it does the Tour de France as an annual event and does some motor sports) - but in its early days SBS did a lot of American Football and Gaelic Games - what about a bit more variety? European Handball, international volleyball, Japanese Sumo wrestling, Water Polo, Polo, Chinese table tennis...

Rob, while I welcome any FTA interest in our game and acknowledge the long, rich history of the NSL - I have to agree with you on this. The OVERALL standard of football in the respective Premier Leagues is dire - and dropping IMO. In part because of the A-League IMO. SBS will have to do some very, very fancy editing to ensure what goes to air is fit for consumption in today's TV market. Much better to get Youth, Women and representative/tournament football covered more broadly of FTA to send strong, high quality signals to the prospective football consumer.

You may have noticed that SBS has a legislated charter (thats right - legislated) to broadcast with a particular international focus - football is the world game after all. It also explains their focus on cycling and cricket - each strong sports on a regional and quasi-global basis.

Disagree there AbC, the Cove are fantastic and love the atmosphere they produce and the G&G Army as well. Never forget the atmosphere at the Urawa v SFC ACL game a couple of years ago - better than anything I remember from the NSL days.

I am awake Pablo and disagree wholeheartedly. I have worked all around the world and lived in Sydney all my life. Sydney is a great city and the only one I was going to bring up my family in and the Olympics was the best thing that ever happened to this city. Call me starry eyed and rose tinted if you like and I do have a positive outlook on life, but I might suggest you are looking at Sydney through the bottom of a half empty beer glass.

If the unspoken agenda of FTA coverage is to convert the masses, then I would have thought screening State League games would do more harm than good..the standard is woeful ! All guts, no glory. These guys even made Brendan Gan look good during the pre season games. NYL is a much better TV option.

Outrageous Indeed...someone needs to be held accountable for this!

SBS showing state premier league games would be akin to the ABC that shows the local rugby union on Saturday afternoons - a competition that is amateur ie: not for profit - which is basically what the state league clubs are anyway. ABC's televising of the rugby union shows games where there are a few hundred people in attendance, but the televising itself serves as support of the 'grass roots' of the sport. If SBS were to televise state premier league games then this could only be a positive for the world game in Australia. It would, more importantly, give some life to the very same clubs that have kept the sport viable here for decades. It would give the supporters of those clubs - both fans/spectators and financial supporters, more energy and enthusiasm to continue to give their time and money to keep these clubs going. Yes these clubs did have an ethnic identity but speaking from experience I can tell you that most of these clubs never had a problem with spectators of another ethnic background (including Anglo Saxon) attending their games. This belief that the clubs were ethno-centric is fallacious. The mere fact that their squads contained players of various backgrounds and, of course, Anglo Saxon backgrounds serves as the best fact of this. Take the club that I support, Sydney Olympic, for example. The club won two championships - in 1989/90 and 2001/02. The first championship was won with only three players of Hellenic background in the squad on grand final day. The second championship was won with two players of Hellenic background and they were both on the bench. Did the Sydney Olympic supporters have a problem with this? No they didn't. During the halcyon years at Leichhardt Oval in the mid 90's and at Belmore Sports Ground in the late 90's and early 00's there were THOUSANDS of spectators of varying backgrounds... from east Asian to Indian to English to Anglo Saxon Australians to Italian, Maltese, Lebanese.. the list goes on. Did the Sydney Olympic supporters embrace them and made them feel part of the club? Yes they did. The proof? They kept turning up until change was made. When the club left Leichhardt Oval and went to the SFS the club lost all those new supporters who had come accustomed to watching Olympic at Leichhardt Oval. Maybe it was convenient for the supporters, maybe the University of Technology (who were the main sponsors at the time) had a lot to do with it... but the fact is that they were there. There were games at Leichhardt Oval that had crowds near the 15,000 mark. It was a place to be.. for everyone. There were no hellenic flags or banners telling people that they were not welcome. At Belmore a few years later the ethnic mix of spectators was even more diverse than that at Leichhardt. This was obviously due to Belmore being in an area with a wider and heavier ethnic component in the population than that at Leichhardt. Olympic had a great side on the field and many people wanted to watch this side go around. Back to the topic at hand. The state league clubs Australia wide are deserving of the opportunity for some media exposure. These clubs are made up of many volunteers that continue to keep the player production line going for the sport in Australia. It's these clubs that have fed players to the A League for virtually nothing in return. Only recently have some A league clubs recognized the need to forge better relationships with the state league clubs - but more needs to be done. SBS showing the premier league games would do nothing but tighten the wide impass that currently exists between the A League and the state league clubs. For those who have driven the point that it's only the ethnic clubs that are complaining about the unfair treatment regarding transfers etc then I'd like to point out that earlier this year Manly United coach Phil Moss expressed his views on this very issue - saying that his club had to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to get potentially a few tens of thousands of dollars in return if they won every competition they could.. and the few thousands of dollars from the a league. Any coverage of the state leagues will also open the eyes of the 'new dawners'.. those who believe that football started in this country when the a league started. It would educate these new supporters as to not only what happened before the a league came around.. but where these clubs have moved to in terms of identity and purpose. It would also give them a bit more information so they can make informed statements and be more inclusive of the past which has paved the way for the current football landscape. That way.. the bickering that exists even in this thread can stop and the whole sport can move on. Here here to the proposal that the state leagues get free to air coverage.

Playing beach soccer with Les 4 weeks ago he assured me it would happen, he said its what the game needs to unite and prospure. I REPLIED" LES YOUR A LEGEND"

Great news for Australian Football ... SBS having state league football on the tele means football all year round with a genuine link to the HAL ... hopefully with a FFA cup style comp down the track... A-League in the Summer and State League in the winter... I will be watching football 12 months of the year----what a feast of Australian Football... ~~~~~~~ AF