So-called football fans' treatment of A-League disgraceful

Ben: you got it in one! Nothing beats live football.

We will in Australia, face the Eurosnob issue because of the countries make up. With our brand of football on the improve, it will not matter how many Eurosnobs there are, true Aussie football fans will overwhelm them.

Same here Luke. Born and raised in Melbourne, it was all about AFL. My father and brother played in their local leagues during their twenties, and my whole family is mad about it. I was always the odd one out for being a football fan, haha. And you're right, it's not just about the ethnicity anymore (nothing drives me nuts more than when I hear someone call it w*gball!).

TV has definitely been the main source of info and entertainment for many decades, and trends now show that the internet is gradually taking over. Plus there are services in the U.S (such as Netflix) that nullifies a lot of channels, and these will probably come to Oz in the coming years. Personally, I hardly ever watch live tv anymore, but my flatscreen will be switched on every Friday night! Friday night football + summer + a beer = heaven!

Public holidays are always good for a sporting match. As for Boxing Day, maybe they figured that some people would want to watch a match instead of joining the craziness of the Boxing Day sale at shopping centres! :)

Agree. The treatment of Adelaide City was their own making but still destroyed the chance of a true local club in the A Leaguein Adelaide. Those old clubs should be better rewarded for carrying our game through the worst times. We need a healthly re-wogging of the game They should be permanently able to play versus A League teams in the FFA Cup instead of working their way through the lower rungs. It will give many local lads the chance to impress at the highest level.

Craig, I live in Goulburn and follow the Wanderers. Have bought memberships each year and travel not just to Parra but around the country. We have supporters from Canberra, Lithgow, Condobolin, Wagga Wagga, Tasmania, Perth etc. It's amazing. If you want to support a team there is a few out there. Oh, we also have a group of blokes from the 'Gong who regularly make the trip to Parra. Get yourself out to Parra stadium. You'll love it. BTW, I lived in the Gong during the glory years of the Wolves. The support was disastrous. I remember watching them play Penarol and Urawa in front of 700ppl. Embarrassing.

What's exciting for me and other football fans is that we can see change on the horizon. Forget becoming just a passenger, I want us to be driving the boat.

"What next… goalkeepers as marquee players?" Why not? We've had this discussion: "What is a marquee player", many times on The Roar. The marquee system allows a club to pay wages outside the salary cap. Why would a club do this? 1. To increase revenue: marketing, ticket sales, sponsorship, media exposure, etc. 2. To improve on-field performance The best marquees will satisfy both criteria. Gigi Buffon would be a fantastic marquee player for any A-League side ... in case you're not aware, Buffon is a Goal Keeper.

He's a quality defender no doubt but my point is centre-backs should not be brought to the HAL as marquee players. What next... goalkeepers as marquee players? I dare say old mate Fozzie would agree with me on this one. And what abundance of creative players have you got at the victory? Please enlighten me as to how your squad is so chock full of talent that you could not possibly accommodate a genuine midfield general for the money you're splashing on Gallas while shoring up the defense with some no-frills and cheaper option from Eastern Europe or the Balkans.

"He’s just another centre-back chopper with a profile" You're kidding? If that's your honest technical assessment of William Gallas, I can't take anything you say about players seriously. Why would MVFC want to spend over-the-cap money on a creative player, when we have an abundance of such players? The only deficiencies in our squad are experienced players on the defensive side.

Yeah I'm quite excited and intrigued to see where the new TV deal leads us. I mean, I know that this next deal hasn't even officially started broadcasting yet, but the fact that it will have a FTA portion just opens the A-League up so much more. And you're right - the sky is the limit next time round! It would be interesting if one of the main three networks put in a bid for it. By that time, it might have a big enough following for 7, 9 or 10 to recognise it, and especially now that each network has multiple digital channels operating. I'm sure many people would rather see it only broadcast on SBS, it's true home, but I don't think anyone could deny the exposure it would get if it went totally mainstream. Even if, hypothetically, football was the biggest and most talked about sport in the country, people would still remain skeptical and dismiss it if wasn't on one of the big three networks.

He's just another centre-back chopper with a profile. You could have gotten many others out there with similar ability but at a price that fits in the cap and kept your marquee spot for a creative player. But meh...we've got ADP. :-)

I think Football right now is in about as good as a position as it could be. A lot of things that breed success in life depend on circumstances and luck, and we have probably done well in that department over the last few years. Eg qualifying for World Cups, birth of WSW, having Gallop available as an administrator. I would say Frank Lowy contributed in some way to a lot of that, but not everything. He has done some good things and mad mistakes. That 's human nature. You are probably not giving plenty of other people enough credit as well. But if you think we were ever going to be ahead of AFL, NRL or Cricket in the sporting landscape right now you were deluding yourself. I think we have the platform right now to do well. What happens from here is probably even more important than what happened in the last 7 years. Let's hope all the good work does not go undone.

Media is changing, no doubt about it, but not as quick as people are led to believe. TV still is and will be at least for a while the media source of entertainment for the majority of the population. Sure it is becoming less relevant, and it faces an uphill battle in the next 10-20 years or more, but right now, say the next 5 years at least it's still the place most people watch and get their information from. While we have the majority of our population in an older bracket (40-45+) this will always be the case. Also, if you are right and TV does becomes irrelevant by 2017 then that's actually a good thing too, because they've never paid our code the respect it deserves anyway. The internet has always been our main source. If that were to happen there's nothing stopping us from streaming live matches online for subscription and stuff like that. There's always ways around things, just like our code and it's followers have found for the last 30 years. But about your point on missing the boat, and how the AFL, the NRL and Cricket are on it, there's no issue with that. We have to prove ourselves in the market. But by the time 2017 comes around, I'm sure there'll be many shipping companies wanting us/paying us to be on their boat. As for Lowy, the man is only human. You have to take the good with the bad. Any new business starting up always makes big mistakes, particularly at the start, and overspends on certain things. But it's how you learn from those mistakes. The facts are, without Frank Lowy we wouldn't have an A-league, no Foxtel coverage, no new people and sponsors to the game, no ADP etc etc. For all his mistakes, the man has made miracles from a blank sheet of paper.

Media is changing, no doubt about it, but not as quick as people are led to believe. TV still is and will be at least for a while the media source of entertainment for the majority of the population. Sure it is becoming less relevant, and it faces an uphill battle in the next 10-20 years or more, but right now, say the next 5 years at least it's still the place most people watch and get their information from. While we have the majority of our population in an older bracket (40-45+) this will always be the case. Also, if you are right and TV does becomes irrelevant by 2017 then that's actually a good thing too, because they've never paid our code the respect it deserves anyway. The internet has always been our main source. If that were to happen there's nothing stopping us from streaming live matches online for subscription and stuff like that. There's always ways around things, just like our code and it's followers have found for the last 30 years. But about your point on missing the boat, and how the AFL, the NRL and Cricket are on it, there's no issue with that. We have to prove ourselves in the market. But by the time 2017 comes around, I'm sure there'll be many shipping companies wanting us/paying us to be on their boat. As for Lowy, the man is only human. You have to take the good with the bad. Any new business starting up always makes big mistakes, particularly at the start, and overspends on certain things. But it's how you learn from those mistakes. The facts are, without Frank Lowy we wouldn't have an A-league, no Foxtel coverage, no new people and sponsors to the game, no ADP etc etc. For all his mistakes, the man has made miracles from a blank sheet of paper.

18k members at MVFC, so a "marquee player" at MVFC is not the same as a marquee player at the other 9 clubs, who are desperate for gimmicks to entice locals to embrace their club. In simple terms, based on last year's attendances, we can already say that, for 2013/14 ALeague season, MVFC has sold more tickets to home games than any of the other 9 clubs managed all last season .... and we are still 28 days to kick-off!! So, for MVFC, a marquee is simply a player, whose value exceeds the constraints of the salary cap. Gallas started 16 games for Spurs in the biggest, most lucrative domestic football league in the world. Gallas started 5 games in the UEFA Champions League last season. Should Gallas decide to come to AUS, he'd be - by far - the best defender we've ever had in the A-League.