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In recent weeks debate has arose surrounding the feasibility and right of the Central Coast Mariners’ strategic move into Sydney’s northern suburbs.
I couldn’t but help look at the prospect of the Yellow Army extending its reach as a problem for its southern neighbours in Sky Blue.
Reading the speculation surrounding playing more games in the north of Sydney and the robust defiance from Sydney FC Chairman Scott Barlow was somewhat of a relief.
Indeed, the plans suggest to me that both Central Coast and the Western Sydney Wanderers are actively and profitably encroaching on FC’s “catchment” (I’ll touch on the Wanderers later on).
The bottom line for now is that Sydney FC must finally wake up and smell the roses. However, refreshing it was to see Barlow standing up for the club, just what exactly is he standing up for?
Where does this club’s core lie?
A cornerstone of the identification of football teams is geography. Whether you like it or not this factor is crucial in the establishment and maturity of teams throughout history.
Take Milan and Inter, or even both halves of the Mancunian divide, derbies whose origins lie in socio-economic and geographic differences which have diluted with time.
FC must construct its territorial walls in order to harness this aspect of identity and secure its posterity. The establishment of the Western Sydney Wanderers offers Sydney the chance to colonise the remainder of Australia’s largest city.
The published stat that approximately 20 percent of Mariners’ members reside in Northern Sydney has itself invited the club to rightfully service its interests in that region, as it is a worrying sign for a supposed Sydney FC “stronghold.”
The Wanderers, aided by the mainstream media’s assertion that anything west of the ANZAC Bridge is “Western” have also plundered Sydney, with junior clinics and weekly exposure in local publications such as the Inner West Courier.
Clubs such as the Mariners and the Wanderers have built their fortresses, and they are now reaching down into Sky Blue territory to attract the fans from under the club’s nose in the north and inner west.
It seems the more the club fumbles with its “team for all of Sydney” banner, Sydney itself has become a vastly different football landscape to the one the club entered into.
One of which I might add is in fine health as Australian football heaves forward, leaving Sydney FC in an ideal position to consolidate rather than procrastinate.
Bill Shankly once spoke of the Liverpool of the 1960’s as a “Bastion of invincibility.” With Sydney’s enormous population FC has a opportunity to solidify its own bastion in four key zones, despite the presence of the Wanderers in the west and the Mariners future plans:
• Northern Suburbs: With a strong participation in the Gladesville-Hornsby, Ku-Ring-Gai and Manly-Warringah associations as well as relative proximity to Allianz stadium on match day.
• Inner West: Proximity to the stadium is complemented by a committed football fan base with an array of cultural backgrounds which already forms a substantial slice of FC’s support.
• South/Shire: Like the inner west an area of grassroots potential and an older guard of football fans upheld by the Southern Districts and Sutherland associations.
• East: Not a proven football hotbed, but nevertheless it is an area for long term growth which provides the headquarters of the club.
Perhaps matches at Kogarah Oval, Leichhardt Oval or even North Sydney Oval can broaden the reach.
Sydney FC must relinquish its “build it and they will come” attitude and zero in on specified target areas essential for formulating an identity to sustain a long term fan base.
The Mariners’ efforts say as much about the situation of FC as they do their own troubles. Only when the club demonstrates its desire to form a tangible geographical identity can its cultural identity be born, its soul.
C’mon Sydney, what are you waiting for?
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