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It is known by many terms: ‘The beautiful game’, the ’round ball code’, ‘the world game’. But most Australians know it as Soccer. We are in the minority with this ‘soccer’ tag, and bringing that word into any argument with a learned scholar or an international guest will pretty much lose it for you there and then.
The Football Federation of Australia (FFA) have tried to change the public perception by renaming themselves but have forgotten to change the name of their most popular and successful vehicle – ‘The Socceroos’.
I have no problem with keeping the nicknames of the lesser known Joeys, Matildas or Olyroos, as they have no connection with the term soccer. But before our beloved national team reach the shores of Brazil in 2014, we need to have a new nickname.
Nicknames around the world are not as popular as here and the States, with a major marketing component in the naming of our teams. Even people who take no interest in sport know who the Wallabies, Yankees, and Celtics are. And every four years or so, the whole country gets behind the Socceroos.
Straight after this World Cup is when FFA need to lose the ‘soccer’ tag.
There is a number of ways we could approach this, and I think that the A-League needs to push its footballing name. All media correspondence by these teams should make reference to Football, with no mention of soccer.
The FFA should take great lengths to call the other football codes by Aussie Rules, League and Union, so that any time Australians hear the word ‘football’, their first thought should be football.
Maybe one of the big companies behind the national team, such a QANTAS or Solo, should run a competition for a new nickname. We are a very smart nation and it is now time to lose the tag that was given to them during a Vietnamese tour 40 years ago.
With most of our best players now being too old for the next World Cup, and the bid for 2022 gaining momentum and creating a huge national buzz around the sporting public, the time is right to ditch the word Socceroo.
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