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We were all sold the marketing line that Sydneysiders who love football must support Sydney FC, but in reality supporting Sydney FC is killing the game of football in a state run by the NRL.
Sydney is a city with a population of five million people, with many communities and many areas throughout.
People in Sydney have different ethnic and religious backgrounds, they have different economic situations and they live in different areas of the vast urban sprawl of the city.
Under Soccer Australia before the new era of the Football Federation Australia (FFA) Sydney was a hot spot for football talent, fans and teams.
The entry of the FFA has killed football in Sydney. In the NSL there were always at least four or five teams in Sydney, football was on show, advertised across the whole city and had links to many more people than with the current Sydney FC.
The fan numbers are so bad at the moment that this one side is hated by many thousands of football diehards in Sydney.
Proof that Sydney FC is failing is simple. They are losing $5m on average every season, and last year’s average crowd was just under 8,000.
To top it off, on Saturday Sydney FC had its fan day for all, with prize signing and ex-Sydney Olympic icon Brett Emerton making his debut.
The crowd was announced at 3577, with myself and many people at the ground only being able to see around 1500 people in reality.
How can a club who claims to be for all of Sydney draw a crowd of only 3577 when there are no other football matches being played and they are unveiling Brett Emerton?
For anyone who knows football, this suggests that maybe another record loss at the end of the season is on the cards.
What is really happening to the football people of Sydney is that more and more of them are turning to NRL and football is the loser.
Do you see Westfield only having one shopping centre in Sydney? Does McDonalds have one store in Sydney?
So why do we in Sydney only have one football side in the top flight? Do London, Milan, Amsterdam, Athens, Cape Town, Rio De Janeiro have one football side?
The only way to save Frank Lowy’s Sydney FC is to bring in at least three teams into the Sydney market.
Football is based on rivalry, it is based on business, and the above examples of bad business is the reason Sydney FC is losing dollars and fans.
The clubs are there, it’s just a matter of the FFA getting their house in order and letting the real football clubs into the market.
Marconi Stallions FC own their own stadium, have produced players like Paul Okon and Mark Schwarzer, and won four national titles.
They have a social club that has 30,000 members but they are not good enough for the A-League?
They come from Western Sydney, which needs a team as soon as possible, but they are not good enough for the A-League?
Inner Sydney has a club that has the best football side in the country at the moment, they have the perfect stadium in Belmore Sports Ground, they have the largest fan-base in football in Sydney and have produced over 60 Socceroos.
They are Sydney Olympic FC.
Football teams feed off one another – look at the Adelaide public going crazy over Harry Kewell coming to play against them with their enemy Melbourne Victory.
If you love football and want to see Sydney succeed as a city you need to get behind other clubs in Sydney.
Send a message to the FFA before it’s too late and we only have NRL to watch.
Get on the Facebook pages of Sydney Olympic and Marconi Stallions FC and send a message to the FFA and for that matter, get on the Sydney FC facebook and spread the word.
We need Frank Lowy out in the November election if we are to save football in Sydney.
Stop sleeping people, wake up before it’s too late.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.