- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
I had always been aware of the existence of AFL. While living in the UK it was a game that was shown on TV and regarded as an interesting sport played on the other side of the planet.
My love affair with the game started in 2007 when I was introduced to it in earnest. There are few games in the world that combine skill, endurance and physicality.
When the players step over the white line there is little question that the sport is close to perfection. However I feel there are some issues. I need to make it clear that I don’t have a problem with the AFL; I do feel however that there is room for improvement.
The major issue I struggle to understand is the insistence to play games at only two stadiums in Melbourne. The Melbourne Cricket Ground is unquestionably an awesome arena, when it is attended.
My first introduction to football was a Sunday afternoon watching Melbourne take on Port Adelaide at the MCG. The attendance was 16,266 people, but it felt like 12.
Had the game been played at a stadium with a capacity of 20-30,000, the atmosphere would have been different.
I don’t understand why there aren’t smaller stadiums, which are owned and run by the teams, in the same way that teams do in the NFL and EPL.
Stadiums in the modern era are works of art; give an architect a blank piece of paper and the opportunity to create a beautiful boutique stadium to accommodate the smaller crowds.
North Melbourne has been held over a barrel regarding their stadium deal for a couple of years now.
If the Kangaroos could play at a modern stadium built and run by their organisation to suit their own specific need then there could be no complaint, as North Melbourne would be responsible for their own fate.
I would love to see Port Adelaide play games at their spiritual home of Alberton. It would need a small amount of updating but it wouldn’t take much to create a modern stadium, which the Power could fill on a weekly basis.
It would seem though that the organisation has very little say on the decisions it makes regarding football operations. In order to make the move from AAMI stadium to Adelaide Oval, there had to be rubber stamps from the AFL, the SANFL and SACA.
Both Adelaide clubs are pawns in the bigger corporate picture of Australian football.
Footy fans in SA are sitting with their fingers crossed hoping that the deals that are done between the AFL and SACA will actually allow the teams to make money.
The clubs, which struggle to meet the attendance figures at big stadiums, would benefit from grounds that they own and manage.
Geelong is an example of how beneficial that system would be, and that it can work.
From an outsiders point of view the AFL seems over managed.
The top of the tree seems to have an almost dictatorial control over the workings of the league and clubs.
Every decision goes through AFL House.
Teams have no autonomy over their own fortunes. Colours, locations, nickname and other factors that affect the running of organisations has to be ratified at Etihad Stadium.
If the board of Port Adelaide wanted to make a decision that a 30,000 seat stadium at Alberton would suit its need from a business point of view they cannot act on that.
The AFL would prefer to see a half full Adelaide Oval than a full suburban ground.
I cannot for the life of me understand why.
I’m hoping that some of you that read this will be able to give me some answers.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.