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.
Darius
Guest
No, Geelong also owns its own ground too, Simonds Stadium.
Jakus
Guest
Your question "The AFL would prefer to see a half full Adelaide Oval than a full suburban ground." is a very simple one to answer Dave. Money, $$'s, folding stuff................... Unfortunately, no matter what we might feel is good for the game as we know and love it, this basically means nothing to the AFL. It's very easy to understand why games are centralised across a small number of grounds and this is because it's all about $$'s. Just because it works in Geelong doesn't mean it will work in St.Kilda or even the old Princes Park. Facilities need to be continually maintained and developed to meet demands and expectations of the public etc. Really not worth re-hashing over this topic which is the same as why we can't have a VFL (2nds) match before the main game. Get some purists at the helm of the AFL and then things might change. We are not wanting things to return to what they were when we remembered long ago - we just want some local character and enjoyment before everything is stripped away under the guise of progress and economic development. I used to stand behind the goals at the Robert Heatley stand as a kid without being a Social Club member and it was sensational, a memory I will never forget! Can we have just a dribble of that back?
Nick Jungfer
Roar Guru
Right behind this. Why make even very good crowds look bog average in a 100,000 seat stadium.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
That's not a bad idea Brendon, but the AFL mindset won't allow for the concept of downsizing anything if it can help it. The fear there would be that it would be viewed as a backward step. Likewise, the smaller Melb based clubs' administrations would be loath to agree to the boutique sized arena as it suggests an admission of inadequacy, if not, failure.
TW
Guest
This is an article dated March 25 this year in which the AFL (Demitriou) discusses the 3rd stadium option for Melbourne. Is he just whistling in the wind to put it politely. According to most of the Melbourne based scribes on here he is. Link-- http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-25/afl-eyes-return-to-melbourne-suburbs/4593370
Brendon
Guest
Give it a rest will you
Brendon
Guest
What about 1 small ground in melbourne, funded by all the teams in the league, the afl and the federal govt? You would get 22 games per year there, make it 28000 or so, I think that's probaby the only way it could happen
Australian Rules
Guest
Given the Pies just chipped in $10M of their own money...I doubt they'd be keen to move.
Kev
Guest
That's what happens when you have one team in one town everyone gets behind them and they get benefits like the arrangement you mentioned. The Dallas Cowboys managed to convince their local or state government to increase taxes for several years in order to help pay for the new Cowboys Stadium.
Kev
Guest
That's not the only reason stadium ownership is more viable. NFL teams are spread out across the US and not primarily in 1 state or city like here in the AFL. This makes it easier to attract sponsors, people to the game and eventually, wealthy private owners because you aren't necessarily competing with teams within your own code.
zach
Guest
Whack up a grandstand around it and it's ready to go. Collingwood can train somewhere else - Victoria Park maybe.
Norm
Guest
39,003 actually ;-) And those 26,000 on Saty night made enough noise for 40,000+
Timmuh
Roar Guru
"The big question is when the stadium opens for 60,000 will the Eagles and Dockers members renew when they can walk up and get seats." At 60k that won't be the case for the Eagles. There will still be no walk-up for West Coast games.
JamesP
Guest
"The big question is when the stadium opens for 60,000 will the Eagles and Dockers members renew when they can walk up and get seats." Experience from Melbourne suggests YES - just look at Collingwood and Hawthorn, and to a lesset extent Richmond and Carlton.
JamesP
Guest
I think its unlikely too. But many also said football would never return to Adelaide Oval. And many are very angry that the ground is being redeveloped. But you cant stop progress (to borrow a line from Muriel's Wedding). The Crows will be selling it out for each home game, and if Port build a dynasty, they may in 10 to 20 years time do the same - then people will be crying out for a bigger stadium (bit like subi which is sold out for all Eagles home games and for the Dockers when they play well). The North is clearly the only side that can be further developed.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Stratton
Guest
Well that accounts for 2 members. Just another 37,998 to clarify.
Norm
Guest
My Uncle is a PAFC member.....he lives in a nursing home on Eyre Pen. Never lived in Port Adel & never gets to a game - but loves the club. I joined the club when I was 18 for the same reason. There were no seats or other benefits in those days - I just wanted to be a member. I kept up my membership when I lived in London & later in the USA. I do not live in SA, but still pay full membership. Always a thrill when I can get back to Adelaide for a game. This is the Aussie Rules culture which has existed in our family for 100 years. That's why the AFL has a huge Club membership
mds1970
Roar Guru
Those grounds would fail modern safety standards. Even if they'd been maintained in their previous form. But since the AFL stopped playing games at those grounds; the areas that were previously spectator areas have been converted into open space, the grandstands in many cases have fallen into disrepair. And the fences around them have been pulled down. It would cost enormous amounts of money to even restore them to 1980s standards. The horse has bolted. In the previous couple of decades, there's been plenty of taxpayers' money splashed around for stadiums. But the current works at the SCG and Adelaide Oval will probably be the last that governments pay for. With the budget not going back to surplus any time soon, there won't be any taxpayers' funds available to restore the suburban grounds. The clubs would need to find the money to fund it themselves - can't be done. And when people fork out top dollar for memberships they want a reserved seat, not to be fighting with the plebs for a bit of standing room.
Andy og
Guest
I think we have a lot of short memories here.Does anyone remember the western oval in the rain or standing in an inch of sewer water at Victoria park. The AFL is the fourth highest attended league in the world and this wasnt done on the back of Arden St. believe me. There is an argument for a boutique stadium but I would rather see these smaller attended games taken around the country. Ground rationalisation was the greatest trick the AFL ever conjured.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
except that its now occupied by Collingwood and the Westpac Centre. It was only just opened.