Over 1.8 million people play the world game in Australia, yet it seems the FFA has never been able to fully harness that support. Why is this the case?
It is question that needs to be answered quickly as the FFA and its revolution, which began in 2005, has reached a crossroad.
While TV ratings have increased, average attendances have declined to around 10,500, down around 2500 since the high was reached in 2007-2008.
Gold Coast United, which was launched with much fanfare, died a death marred by infighting and rivalries reminiscent of a medieval power grab, while other clubs sail perilously close to the financial abyss.
So what is the issue?
Firstly, I must disclose information for the betterment of the article: I am a huge AFL fan and love the sport dearly and regard it as the best run group in Australia, making the FFA look like a country sports league.
But my first sport was football; I still love football and I take great interest ensuring it is on a stable ground.
Back to the issue though; why can’t the FFA garner fan power like other sports?
It’s not lack of numbers as I pointed out, nor is it lack of heritage and history.
FFA management should shoulder some blame as it has made many mistakes in it management, but they are not the whole problem.
The major reason this game struggles is based on two issues in which fans are to blame.
Firstly, the snobbery and elitism of certain sections of football fans in this country is sickening.
They are the type that support a European club despite the distance yet loathe supporting A-League teams.
These fans yearn for the NSL days where we return to incompetent, divisive football system that lacked the ability to manage itself properly.
Time to move on guys; the administrators of that time had their chance and were responsible for malaise in football for years.
Secondly, football fans in this country are too micro focused and not focusing on the big picture.
There is too much nitpicking about minute details around clubs’ colours identity and stadiums.
Fans use flimsy excuses not to get behind the club by trolling websites (which I am likely to get on this article) with tripe and moaning.
Look at the announcement of the Western Sydney Wanderers and the details about the club.
Complaints ranged from the “Wanderers” identity being a media piñata when they lose, to rubbish strip colours and more dismally, a boring logo or the logo wasn’t “good enough”.
Despite the fact I liked most of the details and the fact fan forums strongly supported these details, does it really matter?
Seriously, in the grand context of football development, we need to move away as fans from the constant energy poured into pick holes in every little detail.
Western Sydney has yearned for a football club yet seems ungrateful for the opportunity it has got because the colours are awful or the nickname isn’t “football enough”.
Wayne Jackson once said the greatest threat to AFL was soccer if it harnessed its potential.
Trouble is fans seemed not to have heeded that challenge behaving more like the Labor party in panic mode.
Football fans probably won’t like the forcefulness of this article, but I feel it is a yucky medicine that needs to be swallowed.
ian
Guest
Dave , who are you kidding. Your saying that since 2006 the price of things CPI has doubled. I am a teacher and in 2006 i was earning 60,000 in 2012 my salary is 83,000. The average house price in SEQ was around $390,000 so in 2012 ( using your figures that avergae house price should be almost $800,000. In fact it is still around the $390,000 mark. So to put it simply Dave , your very very wrong.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Random football fan aside - Anyone catch San Jose vs LA Galaxy on earlier today? Was good to see the progress being made over there. The big regional Nor Cal vs So Cal rivalry saw them move the match to Stanford stadium and sell out with 50,000 in attendance. Great active support from the San Jose fans as well, great to hear singing from the terraces again. Can't wait for the new season!
Titus
Guest
It's the most popular sport at every age group.
red bear
Guest
Always have a laugh at these figures that soccer people claim play the game in Australia, what proportion are aged under 10 ?
william 11
Guest
Give or take from all sides? cant see AFL or NRL take back seat to Football ever
John
Guest
Canberra had plenty of money. The ACT government were willing to put in and we had TransACT as a major sponsor. NQ had no money (that's why they didn't last). GC had money but giving Clive Palmer a free reign was obviously a big mistake.
Realfootball
Guest
And the hoary old Canberra chestnut comes out again. Canberra NEVER had the money. NQ and Gold Coast did. It was not a bad choice. There was no choice.
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football
Guest
Eventually our football comps will overlap even more as football in Australia heads for a competition format that is on par with leagues in Europe and Asia. That means 32 - 36 rounds. That's right! Football and the other codes will be clashing a lot more in ten years time. There will be give and take from all sides but if it hurts our crowds a little it's not the end of the world as the HAL tries to get international credibilty. Those who think "soccer" will be a little 20 round comp hidden away in the summer months are mistaken.
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football
Guest
Absolutely spot on Baz! A lot of people don't understand the dynamics behind our struggle for recognition and the things holding our game back. But football will continue to grow and one day there will be major backflips by certain media outlets when they pull their head out of the sand or out of the AFL/NRL's posterior for want of a better analogy.
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football
Guest
I agree with all your points k55 but I think you need keep your comments to a maximum of 3 paragraphs. We're supposed to comment on articles not write articles on articles.
Jess
Guest
I love going to watch brisbane roat home games but it is an hour and a half drive for me to get there and by the time we pay for the petrol, tickets and food it's just too expensive to go to every game. I also think that people who don't have pay tv can't watch the games so they don't really know anything about the a-league.
John
Guest
I don't know much about HAL. I follow AFL and that is it. No interest in League at all and will only watch Union if the Wallabies are on. I do follow the W-League though (often go to the games and watch on TV). For the first few seasons of HAL I had a mild interest and followed CCM (despite living rural NSW at the time). I moved to Canberra in 2008. But I became lost to HAL when they refused to expand a team into Canberra in 2009 and instead went for North QLD and Gold Coast despite Canberra having a good bid (corporate, political support as well as a strong supporter base). Obviously this was a bad choice. If for no other reason than that the ACT Government would NEVER let a Canberra team in any sport fold. Until there is a Canberra team in the HAL I have no interest in it. I will continue attending the local W-League games at Mckellar though. May even travel to Sydney/Newcastle/Melbourne to watch them play. FTA coverage is a must. If it was on FTA, I would be watching a lot of it over summer (when the test cricket isn't on of course). Even one game a week would help. The only other thing I see wrong with the A-league is the timing. The A-league season finishes in April when both the NRL and AFL seasons are starting. So the climax of the A-league season is drowned out by the hype of the RL and AFL seasons starting. Reduce the schedule and have the Grand Final in Mid-late March. Sure you will lose revenue dollars but surely it'd be worth it in the long run?
Jessor
Guest
For the game to grow, you need free to air viewing, ge t people interested, understand the game, get excited, thus follow live games. Just learn from NRL. Free to air.! Euro 2012, cannot watch , cannot follow, cannot get the kids interested. Simple as tha t.
Realfootball
Guest
+1
william 11
Guest
Our problem in a nut shell. add to this peer pressure.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Wonderful post, Baz! "Rome wasn’t built in a day" and it was worth the wait - there's a reason it's called the Eternal City.
Baz
Guest
When Frank took over, I was really expecting a massive change in this code. However look at the growth of Westfield. Lowy himself has said that he has modeled the A-league on his own business principles and that is steady growth. Westfields growth was slow and steady and has now become a global retailing giant. Im not saying that the FFA and Football will become the number one code however the growth will occur as the product goes mainstream which it is. I am a child of the NSL and grew up with the Strikers playing at Perry Park in front of crowds under 3000. Expecting a new League to be as big or competing with a code that basically owns papers in Melbourne, owns TV stations like 7 and say football will get a fair go is never going to happen. Why would papers that are aligned to the NRL or AFL and why would Channels like 7&9 give our code any chance when the success is determined upon them attracting advertisers to use their space when they discuss or show their codes. It will never happen. Having emailed the Editor at the Courier Mail and he has said that to me again and again via email, The Courier Mail in Brisbane will show support to league over Football as the NRL has a vested interest in the paper and viva versa. The Broncos are owned by the same company that owns Courier Mail. How can the Roar expect any chance of a fair go in Brisbane? With SBS (hopefully) getting an A-League game and next World Cup Cycle all Socceroos games go free to air, there will be a chance for our code to compete and will have a strong foundation to grow from. Rome/Westfield wasn't built in a day.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
There are 2 ways to look at the current state of Australia's professional football competition. 1. Glass half empty; or 2. Glass half full John has a "glass half empty" mindset. I've followed football as a sport for 35+years and, for me, there is NOTHING about the professional football landscape in AUS that is not better - much much better - than anything I witnessed in the past 35+years. Instead of comparing HAL to other competition from other sports, we should be comparing HAL with football competitions that existed in the past. And, when we compare HAL to previous football competitions using criteria, such as: column inches in the print media, minutes exposure on FTA Tv news, minutes exposure on radio, internet coverage, match attendance, TV ratings, sponsorship dollars, brand/club awareness, etc. etc., the HAL comes out well ahead of anything we had in the past. Like any start-up business, the HAL will have peaks & troughs. As the business matures, we will expect a much more steady ride - fewer troughs & fewer peaks.
Bondy
Guest
Tigranes, My apoligies if i've misread the situation sorry.
Redb
Roar Guru
This is the same rumour mill on SEN that said Travis Cloke had already signed with Collingwood, I heard this as well. It may happen but not yet lol