After the World Cup, it will be straight into domestic business. Everton Football Club is set to tour down under and is ready to play Sydney FC, Melbourne Heart, and Brisbane Roar.
I wouldn’t normally keep too much of an eye on Everton FC if it wasn’t for Tim Cahill, who will appear in both Sydney and Melbourne games, but no appearance in Brisbane. So what is the point of paying the standard $50 a ticket without its major Australian draw card?
Think of it like buying a ticket to a “Rolling Stones” concert but with no Jagger, yet paying the same price as if he were there.
Last year Brisbane Roar played Celtics Football Club, who are well supported around the world. Standard ticket pricing for that match was from $26, which included Australia’s Scott Macdonald and NZ international, Chris Killen.
The crowd of more than 30,000 and an atmosphere to remember was a great advertisement for the A-League and a sign of things to come.
12 months later and the Brisbane Roar are a shadow of their former selves.
Gone is the experienced Craig Moore, Charlie Miller, Sergio Van Dyke, Tiatto and Liam Reddy. Left for greener pastures are the youthful Tommy Oar, Adam Sarota and Michael Zullo. In comes a new manager, Ange Postecoglou, and the signs of a new club is obvious, in all but name.
The Roar lost the international 3-0.
BRFC was a more experienced outfit then, but if they couldn’t manage to score against the Celtic, how do they expect to put any past Everton with a weaker squad? Even worse, how many will they let through?
Is Everton, less Cahill, enough to pull more than 30,000 spectators in Brisbane?
While it sounds good to have a Premier League club touring Australia, I also think its not a good look for the A-League club wanting to showcase its quality, or in this case, lack of.
Premier League clubs are also here on business, to promote themselves as an international Club brand.
Sydney FC has managed to lure Dwight Yorke back for the match against Everton. Even though he only played one season for the sky blues, he still remains a cult hero and a draw card for the harbour city.
Fans will turn up to see Dwight, Timmy, A-League Champions SFC, and Everton.
In Brisbane, they will have to pay the same price with one less Timmy and a depleted squad. What else has BR fans got to look forward to come July 17th, besides a lesson in how football should be played?
When the clubs are so unevenly matched, would it be too much to ask Tim Cahill if he could wear the orange and maroon for just one match? We love to see Timmy score, but not at our expense.
Isn’t this what the “against racism cup” is all about? Mixing it up with one another and not against each other.
Timmy wouldn’t be playing against us; he would be playing for us. He’d be playing for the Roar and kicking goals for the A-League and probably gaining a few more supporters for Everton along the way.
In the end it’s still a highly priced $50 exhibition match that Brisbane Roar have no chance of winning.
Let’s just say our prayers that Everton don’t play too seriously and embarrass our growing League. But for now, my $50 remains safe, and as for the future of the Brisbane Roar, it looks like another season of self-discovery.
Brea
Guest
That sux!!...............................i am 10 yrs old and i have been wanting those tickets 4 ages but now that timmy is not gonna b there i might not go cause timmy is the only reason that i wanted to come!! timmy is my hero and brisbane waoulda been the only chance o got to watch him!! :( GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
Bam Bam
Roar Guru
which website was that on?
Towser
Guest
Just checked. There are still $19.95 tickets still available in Bronze & Unlicensed Bronze.
Bam Bam
Roar Guru
yeah what is with that. Even the staff at ticketek don't know what happened?!?! I and 4 of my mates were going, but now it seems that we can't. All of us are uni students so every single dollar counts. And ppl say that 50 bucks is the norm in England. I just saw that Liverpool vs Wrexham is 5 pounds. So there is a fallacy destroyed. And Liverpool tix are more expensive than Everton tix.
Richard
Guest
Was going to buy a ticket, but I see the prices are back up to $50. Oh well.
Angela
Guest
Timmy is awesome however Everton FC have been around a long, long time (since 1878) before Mr Cahill! It would be interesting to see how many people would even know of him,If it was not for Everton. The game is much bigger than a name! Quality football is scarce downunder I cannot wait to watch the Toffee men!
leanne
Guest
That is so bad, i thought tim cahill was coming thats the only reason i bought the dam tcket in the first place....... :(
Phen
Guest
CPaaa - Unfortunately the word is that Glory lost a bit of money when they brought over Fulham and Wolverhampton last year so maybe they were scared off. It’s a pretty low-key pre-season for Glory this year with no big matches planned. Shame really.
Cpaaa
Roar Pro
Phen, thats dedication coming all the way from Perth. One would have to question why Everton isnt playing over there? Home to a number of expat Brits and now with Fowler on the books with PG, how was it ever overlooked? A full stadium of 20,000 at $50 each is 1Million. perhaps its not enough for some.
Phen
Guest
Tbh - i paid $50 and am not too bothered that the price has been reduced to $20. Would rather they do what they can to maiximise the crowd/atmosphere. Particularly given we're coming all the way from Perth to watch the mighty Blues!
Football Person 2
Roar Pro
WOODEN SPOON ? i outta report you .... do some research before you make such wild accusations Jokes
Bam Bam
Roar Guru
Seriously, are the tix 20 bucks now?! I shall be going with my mate now. COYB!!
Bam Bam
Roar Guru
Ron, Arteta was injured, now he isn't - so play him. Same goes for Cahill. And 50 bucks is big money for a student who is waiting on a tax return to get him through to the mechanic let alone a soccer match!!
Towser
Guest
Usually give some leeway on these sort of things,simply because football administration that bears any resemblance to a professional organisation is new in Australia. Experience therefore is lacking. However that leeway is given short thrift if a lesson isn't learned. The Roar learned from the ticket prices last season with goodwill to be clawed back from lost supporters. For me this season its a non issue. Same principle with these friendly matches matching A-League clubs up against EPL opposition(bear in mind unthinkable before the A-League) a lesson to be learnt for Roar admin staff. It may be an Arfur Daley promoter, but the fans who paid $50 & now see $20 tickets have a right to feel miffed. So dont agree that Peter Mclennan should be shafted this time,but if it happens next year, then hes not looking out for the best interests of Roar members. Different story.
Cpaaa
Roar Pro
Thats in the best interest of the promoter. But when you also have Footballs dedicated BR fans posting on forums to boycott the match, its certainly not going to help. BRFC are still trying to repair the damage from the greedy price rise last season.As Andy Roo said above, if tickets were $20 to start with, you would even get the casual fan coming out to have a look. To charge $50 on match day also makes sense to me. If Peter McLennan, has the atitude of there is nothing we can do, then i dont think he is in the best interests of the club to be named CEO. This match is EVERYTHING to do with Brisbane Roar and Everton is only here for a one night stand !! regardless of the damage they cause on, and off the field.
Harvey the Scouser
Roar Guru
interesting discussion at the end of the day, the promoter has to try and get his money back, so its not that straightforward a question
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
I will play devils advocate in that I think the promoter probably doesn't value the Roars contribution. The idea of selling $50 tickets is someone obviously in the belief Everton are from the EPL and so people will pay anything. If the Roar had of said no, they probably would have got Gold Coast in or an "Australian Select" (random players) and the Roar would have been bagged for missing out on a great advertising oppurtunity. But with this experience along with Celtic not selling out then I think it's obvious that they shouldn't expect to fill Suncorp for a high priced pre season friendly. Roar should ask for at least enough tickets from the promotor so their members can get in for free and hopefully provide "advice" on ticket pricing. If the tickets had of been $20 from the start they could have been looking at a huge crowd and that would have been a great advertisement for Rhe roar. Shame.
Rob
Guest
All three games are live on Everton TV www.evertonfc.com Dont think they are on TV anywhere
Foozball
Guest
All great points, One thing I strongly agree on is that all A-league exec's need to toughen up on issue's like this and not just expect the fans to smile like idiots and hand over their hard earned for overpriced tickets. One other thing that really shocked me when the tickets were released was the lack of concession price's????
Cpaaa
Guest
Thanks everyone for the feedback, a long day hasn’t allowed me to respond to your comments. Ill get straight into it… So $50 tickets are now reduced below half price but its still a major slap in the face. I am in complete agreement with Brisbanebhoys comments. Once the damage has been done its very hard for administrators to get back on side with fans. This is what Roar CEO Peter McLennan said “admitted to fearing a backlash from the club's fans but said Brisbane were essentially the "away" team and had no say in the cost of tickets”. Please read that again, for this is our CEO saying that the Roar is the away team and they have no say. Please Peter, “Harden The ….k Up.” Its this sort of weakness that is crippling football culture in Brisbane. Bending over and allowing others to walk all over you and in return you pass the buck onto the fans. So who was it then that allowed access for BR members to pre-purchase $50 tickets, now valued at less than half price…Even your own members are questioning “whats the point of being a member, when its a better deal not to be?” Ill take “RealFootballs” words here who said “Even though I understand that it is a promoter’s decision, the club will wear it.” , so very true. Sam Righi's, a business man/promoter, will be gone and forgotten, But it is the duty Of the BR Administration to look after its members, and not to exploit them at every chance. Here is a link from the BR forum http://theroarforum.com/index.php?topic=1285.0 check it out, the prices are just rude it will shock you. Red Card for Racism should have been a decent day out. But from the amount of empty seats that will be at Suncorp, it should read “ Red Card for Roar Administrators for letting down their fans …. again” …very tired now, big day for me and even a bigger match tomorrow morning, hope the Spanish get up. Only 2 games 2go.