The A-League’s new ‘fan-made’ advertising campaign focuses on active support, but you wouldn’t have experienced much of that last Saturday night when Sydney FC took on Everton at ANZ Stadium, with stadium officials banning just about everything used to create the very same kind of atmosphere that Football Federation Australia are trying to advertise.
Forget the vuvezela – the killjoys running these pre-season ‘events’ would rather have you sit down, shut up and leave your megaphones, drums and football-related chants at home – even if stadium security staff deserve to bear much of the blame.
But what else should we expect from Sam Righi, a music promoter who helped bring such talent as Nickleback, the Goo Goo Dolls and Simple Plan to our shores?
The bloke should be forced to listen to Miley Cyrus records on endless repeat for committing crimes against music, but instead we let him handle the supposedly prestigious tour of what one might politely call “the fourth best club outside England’s top four.”
And what do we get? Rip-off ticket prices, inappropriate venues and the absence of star players.
I’m all for friendlies against high-profile opposition – that’s precisely why I think the Sydney Festival of Football is such a fantastic idea – but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if your original ticket prices are between $50 – $140, plenty of fans will simply stay at home.
No wonder Righi and his Big Deal touring company were eventually forced to slash ticket prices to just $20 for the cheapest seats, after it became apparent that the so-called Premier League ‘powerhouses’ Everton were in danger of playing in front of three men and a dog.
How much longer do we have to sit back and suffer the FFA’s complicity in allowing tour promoters with zero interest in football to rip off genuine fans?
Will Righi and his cohorts offer refunds to the genuine supporters who coughed up the outrageous $50 asking price for the worst seats in the house, only to discover that the same tickets were later sold for less than half that price?
Of course not.
That more than 40,000 fans turned out at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, and just under 20,000 turned up at Etihad Stadium for Melbourne Heart’s midweek clash with the Merseysiders, is testament to the fact that there is a market for these kinds of friendlies.
But it’s a market that is being robbed blind, and playing the games at such oversized venues suggests that those who promote the tours are either hopelessly optimistic or incredibly stupid.
At least the A-League clubs involved aren’t forced to wear the cost of organising the Everton tour – indeed, they’ll receive an appearance fee for their troubles – and one can hardly begrudge them the early season hit-out and a free shot at publicity.
However, unless some of the bandwagon fans no doubt bored senseless by these glorified training sessions are converted into dedicated A-League supporters, the whole exercise appears to be a waste of time.
Had the matches played so far taken place at the normal home grounds of Sydney FC and Melbourne Heart, we would have seen near-capacity crowds turn out.
Instead, those fans who make the effort are treated to the sight of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov firing the ball over the crossbar and into an empty Row G.
I won’t be attending Brisbane Roar’s clash with Everton at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow night – I’m still trying to get over the dizzying high of seeing Fulham on Australian soil last season – but I wish those who attend all the very best.
But when it comes to watching some meaningful football, the new A-League season can’t kick off soon enough.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
At least no one ripped any flares!
Rhys
Guest
Just got back from the first FoF game. Crowd wasn't great (~15k) but that's to be expected on a Sunday lunchtime with park footy still going on. Still much better value, $10 less and got an extra game. Should be a much bigger crowd for the last 2 games, can't wait for wednesday! Might get a result against Rangers, and should win against Rovers, they were beyond poor.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Whingers or not, the amount of empty seats at Everton's three games suggests that fans were clearly unhappy with ticket prices.
eh
Guest
and i thought the poms were meant to be the whingers.
Cpaaa
Roar Pro
2-0 against Heart. 1-0 against Sydney. Chances of an inexperienced Roar side to snatch 1 against the Toff seems highly unlikely. Though stranger things have happened. I was going to go but I was never going to pay the asking $50 bux Im not going to pay $20 out of principle, but which I would have if they were not so greedy. .... a mate of mine may be able to get free tickets. Thats an offer I may not be able to refuse, but im still not paying a single cent.
Mackey
Guest
Great article Mike, I think a lot of people have missed your point and have seen it as a chance to have a dog at you. I think a combination of Miley Cyrus, Metro Station, Brokencyde, Attack Attack and Justin Bieber should be implanted on repeat into the promoters brain.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
And most of the A-League players who go overseas are under 23. Stoffy is your typical Eurosnob who has never liked the A-League for some reason and has posted a number of comments criticising it.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
I'm not so sure that this "Asian brand exposure" really exists anymore. Everyone used to talk about Shunsuke Nakamura's impact for Celtic, but I remember when they brought him to Nissan Stadium for a friendly against Yokohama F. Marinos a few years ago. Not only did a crowd of just 27,300-odd turn out - about the same size crowd Marinos get for a mid-range J. League game - but the home side belted Celtic 3-0, and pretty much everyone in Japan admitted what a waste of time such friendlies are. They still happen to some extent, but I doubt Celtic started 'shifting' thousands of Nakamura's jerseys on the back of that trip, much the same as I can't see too many fans buying Cahill or Arteta shirts on the back of their no-shows tonight.
Football Person 2
Roar Pro
yes i suppose we should tell Boca, Rangers, AEK, Blackburn and Everton to go home... The prices are now 20$ or there abouts, and you must remember its the promoters who set these things up with prices and venues not the clubs. Forgive me Mike for I did not read the article for its 2:01am :)
BrisbaneBhoy
Guest
Mike great article. I agree with it 100% I've stated on here in another topic my feeling towards the way the Everton tour has been handled/prices etc. I won't be going to the match tomorrow night either on the grounds of prices. Yes the prices have now been reduced, but the damage has already been done. I all think this could hurt Brisbane has they try to win back the fans that last season lost (due to prices and they way we are treated at the stadium). Now I understand the importance of pre-season friendlies. They help promote the up coming season. They help fine tune/prepare the players. But in short, they are nothing more then glorified training sessions. Most places around the world, pre-season matches are reduced in price REGARDLESS of who is playing. I will use the Emirates Cup as an example – Lyon v Celtic, followed by Arsenal v AC Milan for only £20. A few seasons ago, Celtic hosted Arsenal in a pre-season friendly it cost me £6 to go and watch. As I said above, I honesty think this will do more harm to Brisbane then good. People are going to see the high prices, think nothing has changed and not bother showing up to the A-League matches. as for the part in the article about the security/promoter who whoever it was stopping drums, flags and chants - Going against what the FFA are trying to promote (in the ads anyways). I have to put up with the Nazi's at Suncorp. The fact that we have been told by the head guy at Suncorp that he does care for sokka or the Roar pretty much explained to us why we are treated so poorly at the matches. It's time these so called "clubs" start sticking up for their fans. FOR THEMSELVES! Instead of being a yes man. How high would you like me to jump sir! End of rant! Sorry guys, I just had a long day, and I sick and tired of the way we get treated. I need a sleep of a drink or maybe both.
NUFCMVFC
Guest
The cost of tickets are a shame and a bit of a pity, I suppose it's hard though, because with Australia we aren't like Asia where we can offer the prospect of brand exposure to a fair number of people during their tour, so we probably have to pay high appearance fee which ultimately gets passed onto the consumer. Add in the fact that as it is a one off event, the "event managers" probably have higher costs associated with "venue hire" and then of course they want to have their own profit put on top of that. One issue is that sadly they aren't so much concerned with how many people they can get through the door but more the ratio of ticket price/attendance that will cover the cost. timing is a bit unfortunate, I think Wellengtons idea a couple of season ago where they bundled tickets for the Galaxy match I think and an A League match played at home a couple of days later, so a bit of a mix between the two and obviously the event types would have gone, plus a lot fo the regulars Regarding active fans, that is a bit of a shame, as it is often not quite the regular crowd and seating plan etc, so the dynamic is disjointed which usually means not as atmospheric (a problem with supporting the Socceroos in several cities), a problem to offset a subdued atmosphere is to try and attract as many of the hardcore regulars, and hope they create a good atmosphere and interact with the active Euro/South American snob types who can chant etc as per their cultural background, this makes for a more enjoyable and memorable "event" for all but I suppose the problem for event managers experienced in heavily choreographed and rehearsed concerts this is too much "risk" and obviously some of the stadium staff perhaps struggle to adapt to an unfamiliar culture and different faces. Part of the shame of this for the A League is that you have a lot of unofficial websites (like nufc.com for example) who often report on their pre-season games and this can be an important avenue of "brand exposure" or respect for the local A League. A good example is I recall last year the Fulham people seemed quite impressed with Etihad Stadium in terms of its construction (obviously not aware of its local pariah status)
Joe FC
Guest
Is there really anything to complain about Mike? We live in a Western democratic capitalist society where market forces are a major factor in determining the supply & demand for goods & services. Professional sport, whether we like it or not, is very much a saleable commodity. In such a society entrepreneurs (aka promoters) offer a product at a given price and the consumer makes a rational decision to either accept or decline (at least that’s the theory). Nobody is forced to be a party to the transaction and no one can claim to be cheated. Consumers may very well form the view that they didn’t get value for money but that’s part of life’s lessons. You’re not going to Roar/Everton game & I think that’s a good decision. Like you I’m waiting for the season proper to start.
heartbeats
Guest
Phil H i agree on the stadium side of things. As a Heart supporter, I also was hugely disappointed with the crowd. I sat up on the second level and was absolutely gripped all through the game. Great football by both sides, regardless of the amount of 'first class' players. It was clean, it was entertaining and it had the goals most people craved. But by the fifth or sixth minute everyone around me seemed overwhelmingly surprised that no one had scored yet. In fact I even saw a young family leave after twenty minutes looking disgusted. Perhaps it's a combination of factors - a relatively new team, a mid week game... friendly rather than for points, but what little it may have counted for, it was an event nonetheless and its such a shame to see disinterest while AT the game. And of course let's not get started again on the fact it was at Etihad, and that 19,000-ish fans would've packed out AAMI park. Who would've thought the 'enormous' (*ahem*) 20-strong contingent of Melbourne Heart supporters would've been the loudest of all. Not to have a go at Everton fans, but they weren't exactly 'chirpy'...
David V.
Guest
We also played state rep sides then. And it was great, great Everton side.
AGO74
Guest
yes, i saw the same game. Hindmarsh stadium was the perfect venue for the dogs v storm match.
John
Guest
At least Everton are playing club sides. When they came out in 1964 they played against Australia.What did it say about the standard of Australian soccer at that time that a national side was playing against a club side?
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
It's not about Everton FC per se. To address darwin stubby's original point, even the visit of Boca Juniors has been somewhat of a hard sell both here and across the Tasman because of the cost of tickets. As many of you have addressed, fans are free to pick and choose which games they attend. The problem as I see it is twofold; firstly - both the event promoters and FFA thumb their noses at the active supporters who create the atmosphere which they take for granted. And secondly, these matches appear to create a dichotomy between 'event fans' and dedicated A-League supporters who often don't attend because they've just shelled out for their season tickets. It's perfectly reasonable to meet both types of fans in the middle, and I think the Sydney Festival of Football is a good example of that.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
Ignoring NZ at the world cup you have the following Euro clubs which seem to rate the league higher than you do…no offence but I back the opinion of those at Dortmund, Nurenburg, Fulham and FC Twente over yours. Tommy Oar Bne Roar to Fc Utrecht Michael Zullo Bne Roar to Fc Utrecht Adam Sarota Bne Roar to Fc Utrecht Dario Vidoisc Bne Roar to nurenburg David Carney Syd FC – Sheffield Utd Ruben Zadkovich Syd Fc to Derby County Mitch Langerak Mv to Dortmund Nick Carle Jets to Gençlerbirliği Mile" Jedinak Ccm to Turkey Nathan burns Adelaide to AEK Michael beauchamp CCM to nurenburg Dean Heffernan CCm to nurenburg Nikita Vadimovich Rukavytsya Perth to Fc Twente Song Jin-Hyung Jets to tours FC James Holland jets to AZ Alkmaar Ante Čović to IF Elfsborg Michael Theoklitos MV to Norwich Archie Thompson MV to PSV Nick Ward Perth to Queens park rangers Adrian leijer MV to Fulham Bruce Djite Adelaide to Turkey
Bam Bam
Roar Guru
Mike totally agree, I am an Everton fan, but not much of a soccer fan. And I didn't buy tickets until they came down to $20. I'm a Rugby League supporter and I was on the Celtic Crusaders (of Wrexham, North Wales) website as this is one of the teams I support. But the thing was they play where Wrexham F.C. play and so they had tickets for Wrexham F.C. v Liverpool F.C. for 5 - 15 pounds (which is $8.79 - $26.36). And I'm an Everton supporter but that sounds enticing, and Liverpool are a bigger world wide club. P.S. I don't think Everton are the 4th biggest outside the top 4, I would suggest out of the whole competition they would be around 6-7th overall (and the big 4 is now changing to the big 6 - Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham).
oikee
Guest
Precisely, they should have played at the new aami stadium Melbourne, SFS in Sydney, and Suncorp. Why rugby and soccer persist with oval grounds is beyond me. Its a total waste of fan enjoyment. Watching the Doggies storm game at Adelaide cricket oval the other day, looked like the team was playing in the Simpson desert, no atmosphere.