As far as major announcements go, FFA chief executive Ben Buckley did not give much away.
The biggest news revealed in this afternoon’s press conference at Valentine Park in Sydney was that the community will be consulted on how a Western Sydney club is run.
Mr Buckley and Prime Minister Julia Gillard spoke only briefly at the Valentine Park press conference – home of Football NSW.
The Prime Minister pledged some $8 million of Commonwealth funds to the region, $3 million of which will see the Valentine Park facility upgraded.
But the news most football fans were waiting for – specific details of the new Western Sydney club – were largely absent.
That’s because Buckley pledged to consult the community on how the club is run.
“From day one of its existence the new club will have a core focus on community engagement. The community will have a say in the culture, colours, name and logo of the new entity and we will explore a model that would allow for community ownership,” he said.
“We intend to build a model that will be driven by the passion of the football people in Sydney’s west,” he added – promising to work closely with Football NSW to deliver an integrated community experience.
The presumably means fans will have a vote on things like the team name and playing strip – although FFA should think carefully about how it implements such proceedings, lest the ‘Western Sydney Unicorns’ actually become a reality.
“I know that the prospect of having a fierce rival in Sydney and all the passion of a derby game will excite everyone associated with Sydney FC,” said Buckley – no doubt with thoughts of Melbourne’s intracity derby on his mind.
But there is still no word on where a Western Sydney club might play.
The 20,000-capacity Parramatta Stadium sits in the geographic heart of the city and could host most regular season fixtures, with the derby potentially played out of the expansive ANZ Stadium.
But whether fans in areas like Penrith, Liverpool and Campbelltown back a proposal to play out of Parramatta could be a major sticking point, particularly if it comes down to community consultation on such decisions.
That’s precisely the difficult task FFA now faces – uniting a sprawling region’s diverse football communities under one A-League umbrella.
Having said that, plenty of thought clearly went into today’s conference – including the announcement of a $1 million investment towards the women’s game.
Such an announcement was no doubt deemed necessary to fend off potential claims FFA is turning its back on other facets of the game in its rush to implement a Western Sydney team.
Still, there will be plenty of grumbles from those outside Western Sydney as to the fairness of today’s announcement, with the chorus to be lead – understandably – by fans of North Queensland Fury and the doomed Gold Coast United.
But as someone who grew up in Western Sydney with a love for the round-ball game, I’m intrigued as to how this attempt to bring A-League football to the game’s stated “heartland” plays out.
Western Sydney Boy
Guest
Let's call a spade a spade and leave the technicalities out....whether the money is directly put into the AFL kitty or indirectly to fund a new AFL stadium, the money was sourced from the State Govt (public funds) for the purposes of benefiting the AFL's new team - it was the AFL that lobbied the State Govt for the money/dual funding.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
J.I Your team AC Milan played Catania at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Can I ask ... did you watch this game LIVE sitting alone on your couch? Or, maybe, you met a group of other AC Milan fans at 2:00 a.m. somewhere in W Sydney and together you created passion for the game you were watching on the other side of the planet - singing and dancing ... maybe you even lit a few flares? Bad luck about Milan against Barca - maybe, Allegri should suggest to Nesta that, next time, he wait until after the game to exchange shirts with Busquets?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Yes - an upgrade to the showgrounds which continues to host the Easter show and will also host the giants during the footy season - but it is not owned by the AFL, nor did one cent of money go from the State government to the AFL, and in fact, the AFL contributed substantial money to what remains a community asset.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Blacktown Oval is shared 50/50 by Cricket Australia and the AFL, and it is not owned by the AFL, nor are the showgrounds owned by the AFL, which will still be used for the Easter show (equastrian sports, etc) - in other words, not one single cent went form the State government to the AFL - the State Government or local councils still own those facilities, and in fact the AFL contributed money to both projects.
ItsCalled AussieRules
Roar Rookie
Its a bit more complicate than that - you can't buy a seat to a Bundesliga game in Australia, but you can buy as many volkswagens as you like here. The standard of the A-League keeps improving, more mums and dads come to games with their kids and the interest grows. Its live and local - just need to engage with people and kids and give them something to watch, if they like it they'll come back and maybe bring some fiends.
Western Sydney Boy
Guest
Sure is and quite a bit....this is an extract from the NSW Govt budget papers...specifically states as one of its highlights the funding for the new AFL team: "$25 million towards completing the Sydney Showground Main Arena upgrade to host the 2012 Royal Easter Show and the new Western Sydney Giants AFL team" http://www.budget.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/18250/bp3_03educ_and_comm.pdf
Paul
Guest
This is the expansion that should have happened years ago. There was no need for a Gold Coast club while the Roar's crowds were modest. I do wish they had stuck with North Queensland, I saw some hope in the region, particularly for indigenous players. Not every Aboriginal is built for the eggball games, and NQF could have tapped into that talent pool.
ItsCalled AussieRules
Roar Rookie
Who paid $40M for Blacktown AFL Oval and $45M for the upgrade of the Homebush Showground for AFL for GWS?
ItsCalled AussieRules
Roar Rookie
What a great story to emerge today and the vibe about western Sydney is good, not like NQF and GCU and "why would you put an A-League team there?" Its a bit of an emergency situation with the Crazy Clive outbursts and it was kind of forced upon them, but most people are now thinking the A-League will be better with a west Sydney teaminstead of the GCU - no offence to all the great dedicated football fans on the Gold Coast who have to go through this. Sure a lot of the details are still to be decided, but we only officially have a team as of today. There are a lot of very good players, administrators and managers out of work all over the world at the moment with the GFC and its a buyers market and a good time to set up a team.
Dinoweb
Guest
Breaking News - I have it on good authority Ange Postecoglou is being considered as the founding coach! Some one on twitter suggested it so it must be true.
Jay
Guest
id rather watch the sopranos over underbelly, watch drive over animal kingdom etc drive a vw over a holden.. if the foreign product is better, why the hate?
Johnno
Guest
Canberra I still would have had as the 10th team why. The time is not right for a west sydney team. I will say why. Canberra had a stable bid ready to run 4 years in the making. And as for this community club or engagement , i mean please. the west sydney bosses will have the final say, and west sydney is such big area too . Will beinteresting i wish them well but i just feel canberra got dudded a 4 year plan down the drain for nothing, they had investors everything and canberra may be lost to soccer for a long time sad indeed.
Roarsome
Guest
So, the Rooty Hill Rovers, Cabramatta FC or the Greater Western Sydney Giants...... Oh wait. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Bondy
Guest
I dont understand ,people feel betrayed or annoyed if they have to engage / watch domestic football in Australia though will quite happily watch the Bundesliga 20,000 miles away and a language and culture they probably dont understand though if you ask them to engage with the local game they get offended . To me it's a mindset or a philosophy of, the sport is foreign and it will stay that way .
Titus
Guest
Thats OK J.I, the Western Sydney team is hoping to attract people who want a local team to follow. No one is going to force you to stop watching football on TV.
theworldofando
Guest
Muscat should never have anything to do with Australian football. He was and always will be a blight upon the game because of his attitude, playing style and demeanour.
theworldofando
Guest
hah! Well played.
sheek
Guest
I have no idea where the previous Western Sydney consortium got Rovers & colours of red, white & black. Don't they know they were the colours of Nazi Germany!!! (Sorry St.Kilda). Anyway, thankfully we can come up with something better. If we're going to borrow English nicknames, there are better ones than Rovers. Top of my list would be Gunners, followed by Hammers & even Wanderers. Spurs are a possibility also, especially the riding type, indicating the wild west!
Stevo
Guest
Do you think Berlusconi loves AC Milan just for the football or because he thought it got him good publicity and votes? Yeah, he did it purely for the love of the game - rats behind!
AFLhype
Guest
What crap, some NRL grants: "The purpose of the visit was two-fold; firstly to formally thank the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Andrew Barr for granting the funds needed to provide extensions on the Raiders Head Quarters; the club’s official training base." "Eight Rugby League clubs from Western Sydney have received over $400,000 in funding as a part of the NSW Government’s Community Building Partnership program." Roosters coach Brian Smith applauded the Bulldogs for their efforts to stage yesterday's ''Return to Belmore'' match, which followed an $8.4 million grant from the federal government "Premier Anna Bligh’s commitment yesterday of up to $500,000 in funding for the Strategic Planning Phase of a new Stadium provides a big tick for the CQ NRL Bid at just the right time." "The NSW government gives $100,000 to help boost Central Coast Bears break into the NRL."" "The New South Wales Government has allocated nearly $29 million to build a new western grandstand at Wollongong Stadium. The new grandstand will ensure St George Illawarra continues to play some of its home National Rugby League games at Wollongong.' These are from actual articles and probably more money given to NRL. The AFL well in SA they are building a $500m upgrade of Adelaide Oval, being a taxpayer I am dead set against this and do not start me on the GWS and GCSuns stadiums and government monies used to prop up AFL club rooms in Victoria. So it goes round, making it sould like a soccer issue is just crap. By the way the World Cup was for the bid, just like Sydney Olympics where no one gave Sydney a chance of winning. Where was this funded? from Monopoly money?