Apart from Mike Mulvey, Josep Gombau and most of their players, there shouldn’t be too much back-slapping for those involved in the A-League this season across club, broadcast and head office levels.
Yet tonight, at the Sydney Football Stadium, the Sydney Derby will provide an opportunity for fans of the two Sydney sides to put their differences and disappointments – and there have been fan protests from both – behind them.
It’s an opportunity to just enjoy what will hopefully be a spectacle not ruined by heavy-handed policing, or Kris Griffiths-Jones.
There is a lot made of the cross-city divide between the west and east of Sydney, and there’s no doubt that a divide exists.
Yet, at the end of the day, fans of both sides ought to recognise the bigger picture at play.
Yes, everyone wants their team to at least not stink, and everyone wants bragging rights, but above all else, everyone wants to enjoy football.
There has been very little love floating around the competition this season.
The Western Sydney Wanderers, for example, have gone from the team everyone in Australia wanted to be a part of last season and the beginning of this one, to a juggernaut that’s now popular to bash.
From being celebrated as the face of the game, they’re now being mocked the country over.
Rather than sit down in the off-season and work with it’s active support group, the Red and Black Bloc, authorities for whatever reason, decided to poke the big stick.
The Police turned up to Penrith for the Wanderers first serious pre-season game in abundance, as if to send out some sort of PR statement that they were in control.
After the success of last season, it was the wrong message to start this one with.
The FFA claimed they were powerless to control the Police presence, saying they would always take advice from authorities.
This A-League crowd control was a job for the Police and their security consultants, we were told.
Western Sydney’s fans, who chose to be a part of the RBB because it gave them a sense of fun and belonging, increasingly felt their fun was being controlled by ‘Big Brother’.
You can’t bring this, you can’t hoist that, you can’t sit here, you can’t march there.
“Growing pains”, they felt, was becoming a “one way relationship”.
Worse, every single step they took was being monitored from above. One only had to catch a sight of the Police control room at Penrith on that pre-season afternoon to know they were.
Talk about reinforcing the stereotype. From “football heartland” to “same old trouble”.
Rather than let the Wanderers active support grow organically, and work with them to enable it, authorities have gone down the path of controlling it.
It’s led to a hostile environment, even amongst the Wanderers supports.
The atmosphere, or lack-thereof, at Sunday’s home game against the Newcastle Jets will hopefully be the low point. But that can’t be taken for granted.
As usual, flares are right at the centre of the debate.
The events since the Wanderers Asian Champions League clash with Ulsan Hyundai have only served to remind the fans that flares are unacceptable. They need to heed that advice.
Yet authorities, and it would be nice to see the FFA taking the lead, steering them, must also loosen their grip and accept responsibility for over-Policing.
The feeling of many across the country is that authorities are trying to kill active support.
That’s dangerous territory for the FFA.
Tonight represents an opportunity for the fans to get a bit of their fun back, and the authorities to loosen up a bit, but for both to do it in a non-hostile way.
j binnie
Guest
Dino - I will leave the rest of this discussion to you.Your (wiki) figures agree with mine within 2 for last season and within 70 for this season so far so over 108 games I think we must be on the same level. All the best with any continuing comments. Cheers jb
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
Your team lost their nerve in front of the cove.
dinoweb
Roar Guru
P_A, I also regularly use the ultimate A-League website, and as far as I can see, that site lists regular season attendance for 2012-13 at 12,347. Regular season attendance so far this year stands at 13,541. Wiki lists the figure this year at 13,651 and 12,341 for last, so I'm not quite sure where you get your figure of 11,906. Regardless, as has happened most years in the A-League, end of season average attendances are lower than the early season average, but by any measure, 13,600 (splitting the difference between wikk and UA-L) is an increase on the figure for last season. A-leage crowds are not in decline. Thay have increased each year from a low of around 8,400 in 2010-11. That is a growth of approximately 60% in 3 years which is phenomenal by any standard. Obviously that level of growth can not be sustained, and it is mathematically difficult anyway. 60% of 8400 is 5,200. 60% of 13,600 is around 8,200. Regardless, I would consider anything above an annual 5% growth rate to be fantastic. Rugby league by comparison has dropped from 16,273 to 15,940, and AFL 34,893 to 32,163 in the same time. Realistically, League attendances have not varied substntially since they reached 16,468 in 2005, and AFL since the reached 33,197 in 1997.
Punter
Guest
This is what you get with sports like Football & Basketball, they are int'l sport. However if you get a sport with no int'l flavour like AFL, of course all the best players in the world play here, no-one else plays.
frontier
Guest
Your board know nothing, so you lose, and thats the bottom line. I didn't see any discontent with the board last night despite you playing rubbish and being gifted the game by a missed pen, a falcon, a bad back pass and a ridiculous penalty. All friends again it would seem!
Batou
Guest
Your assumption is wrong
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
I never said statistics are pointless. I said this discussion was. The difference was noted by me to be quite evident. Ill repeat what I wrote. Current regular season average: 13,321 Last regular season average: 11,906 Regular season average are the three key words here. So there shouldn't have been confusion if you had of read my post correctly the first time. The website I use also allows the option of taking finals data out of the equation.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
No, most of our board know nothig of football, it's not that we're losing (5-0 against Victory anyone) It's that every coach we sack, every flop we bring in wastes fans time and money supporting the club, we're sick of the lack of direction. Anyway 3-1 :)
j binnie
Guest
PA Nothing about statistics is pointless for they are facts so can be compared reasonably easily. You should have noticed that the figures I was quoting were based on figures taken over the normal season of 135 games. Now on checking your website I noted that in calculating average figures for last season and the season before they were including the attendances to finals matches using the letter F to denote a finals attendance hence the differentials in our comparative figures in previous seasons.One thing to be sure of when using stats to back up a discussion always check you are comparing apples with apples. By the way,adding the 2 attendances tonight has lifted the average for 108 games to now 13,586,so that 40,000 crowd at the Sydney derby only lifted the average by 250 per game spread over the season. Cheers jb
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
Your defence of a person who is blatantly wrong is pathetic...
Bondy
Guest
Well said Roarfan ,it appears to be the same pessimistic people with pessimistic views.
frontier
Guest
correction: the cove protest when their team is losing. the rbb protest when active support is experiencing clampdown. I'm assuming that everything is hunky dory again now there's a few wins on the board, and security can do whatever they like to you guys.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
I'm sure his sentiments come from a place of inward concern for Australian football, not some outsider dismissing us as a whole. I've noticed crowds are down (Compared to the start of the season) too and I want something done about it.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
Just looked at the team sheet, Garcia is starting in place of Gameiro but the "Central Defender" Back four is still there.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
The Cove protest about our board being a directionless rabble, the RBB protest because their flares are taken away.
1860melbourne
Guest
are you joking.? I suggest you check the figures.
c
Guest
I do not know whether I will still be around in 40 years but I reckon it will take that long for the Australian media to reach an equilibrium in the coverage of this game
Neil
Guest
The A League has proved Football can thrive even in the most hostile enviroments. The future for football is good in Australia even with the road blocks placed in its path.
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
Sorry?
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
C, I hope you're around long enough to see the change and tell your great great grand children.