The FFA banning clubs using names, logos and emblems with “any ethnic, national, political, racial or religious connotations” is not political correctness, nor is it about creating harmony among football fans.
It is really a formal adoption of the suggestion that was raised and enforced by Soccer Australia in the 1980s and ’90s that football clubs were failing to capture the ‘mainstream’ public with their strong ethnic roots.
This saw Dinamo St Albans – a beautiful bicultural name – become St Albans Saints, and the South Melbourne Hellas became the Lakers.
Now, as an Anglo atheist, do I really identify with the St Albans Saints more than with Dinamo St Albans?
This policy is about Americanising Australian culture. Australia is not England or the US. The idea that Australia is an Anglo country is a myth that has been historicised through former Government policy and through erroneous oral history.
Australia has an indigenous past, so there is nothing original about the South Melbourne Lakers, or the Melbourne Knights – they are names borrowed from overseas countries, just like Brunswick Juventus.
However this policy wasn’t designed to rip the identity out of clubs, it was because of the marketing opportunity that was presented if clubs were to become more like Aussie Rules clubs, and be named something tame, plastic and shallow.
That is not to say AFL clubs do not have historical names – the Essendon Bombers are named after the region’s contribution to the RAAF in World War II, while the Sydney Swans are named as such because of the large number of West Australians on the original roster.
However they are not criticised or asked to become the Essendon Wild Cats or the Sydney Jaguars because of a marketing opportunity, or to not upset people who disagree with Australia’s involvement in World War II. The Bombers especially, are steeped in history and not many other teams would be able to call themselves the bombers – with many country teams changing to the the less threatening ‘red backs’.
The Bombers are named after events that happened in the 1940s, and the Melbourne Knights (As SC Croatia) were created in the ’50s.
Australia has a long and significant migrant history that cannot be eradicated in favour of a ‘Team Australia’ identity, which we seem to recreate whenever we need to justify discriminating people on the base of their ancestry and culture.
Fans of clubs whose background is not anglo have been infuriated by this policy, because these clubs are a community, in which souvlaki is handmade and woofed down in the same way a sausage sandwich is eaten at Henson Park whenever the Newtown Jets play.
At Henson Park the rugby shares conversation time with music, politics and current affairs. This is because of one major point in which the A-League and NRL have missed especially, is that going to the football is a way of interacting with our peers. Sure if the game is good it’s a bonus, but it’s more than just watching 22 or 26 men chase a ball. Most clubs are based around a community engagement – it’s what makes the World Cup so cliché yet enthralling.
Australia has evolved since the ’80s, we are far more tolerant of others, and the whole idea of this policy is that Anglo Australians would prefer to go to Melita Stadium and eat a $12 small fish and chips than a ricotta pastizzi. These clubs are distinct to the suburbs they are in.
If you live in Melbourne you’d know St Albans has a large Croatian community, that Brunswick has an even larger Italian community, that Richmond has a strong Vietnamese community. It makes sense for the football teams of these suburbs to reflect that.
Do we insist that Italian restaurants change their name from La Notte to ‘The Night’? No, because when we go to an Italian restaurant we want to experience a different culture and cuisine. We don’t anglicise our food, our cars or our suits, but when we might have to accept that there’s a community out their different to us, who do more than run the great cafe on the corner, we run for the concrete hills of Americanised sporting culture.
Australia is a multicultural society and we have room to allow distinct cultures to flourish and the FFA should be leading the celebration of our differences, instead of pandering to a group of Anglo Australians with an identity crisis.
Many agree with the FFA policy because it will remove ‘politics’ and ‘ethnic tension’ from football grounds, but this ignores the fact that racism against anyone, committed by anyone, is racism. Racism committed against a Bosnian by a Serb (or vice versa) is still racism.
It’s not ‘ethnic tension’, it’s racism. Just as an Anglo Australian discriminating against an indigenous Australia is racism, and through the Racial Discrimination Act, FIFA and FFA policy we have the power to kick people small-minded enough to commit racism to the curb.
But this brings us back to the idea that football fans are violent, which they’ve been statistically proven to be less than so than other sports. These clubs want their identities back, they want to be able to combine together and have a sense of worth.
That is not to say these clubs are mono-ethnic, all clubs in Australia want a wider fan-base. If the majority of the fans have Czech background, that’s great, it’s not going to mean Stephen Phillips or Oscar Eduardo cannot play or support them.
This policy is part of double standard, and slight discrimination against people of Central/Eastern European background. The Brisbane Roar play in bright orange because of their Dutch heritage, while the Western Sydney Wanderers are named after the Wanderers of 1880 – created by an Englishman!
I doubt the Roar would have been allowed to play in blue and white stripes, but green and white hoops? Go for it.
The time came 60 years ago, so it’s just ridiculous now, Anglo Australians with prejudice need to get over their fear of Australians of European descent and learn to embrace a culture that wasn’t brain washed into you through sitcoms.
The FFA need to remove this ridiculous policy and allow clubs to represent their local community.
St Albans Dinamo beat Parramatta FC thanks to a Barry Devlin rocket and are now into the round of 16 of the FFA Cup.
If they’re drawn at home, their ground is a 30-minute train ride from Flinders Street Station – get to the game and embrace a culture that isn’t American.
freewifi
Guest
It has nothing to do with the St. George cross, I don't know why you are going on about it as if this is the only indicating factor of Milan being founded by an Englishman. It is fact, do some simple reading instead of spouting your baseless conclusions. "Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others.[2][4]" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.C._Milan "On December 16, 1899 Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club was officially formed, but the first time Milan's name appeared publicly was on Monday, December 18 in an article by the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. The original headquarters were initially in the Fiaschetteria Toscana in Via Berchet in Milan and President Alfred Ormonde Edwards enrolled the team in the Italian Football Federation the following January." http://www.acmilan.com/en/club/history
thisguy
Guest
easy. If you want to be allowed to keep the ethnic origin of your team, just make sure Frank Lowry is a supporter of said team - bad luck yesterday Hakoah.
The Theme
Guest
What's with this obsession with Europeans and Anglos. How about the Melbourne Night Riders
Woodo
Guest
Nope. Sorry that's wrong; although it is suggested that Milan may have had some Celtic influence in it's birth as a city there's no concrete evidence of it. In any case it's unrelated to their use of the Red Cross which was a common symbol used by bishops of the Catholic Church from 300AD onwards. Saint Ambrose used it as his sigil during his time as Archbishop of Milan from 375(?)AD and it was eventually incorporated into (and now is) the city's flag and coat of arms. England inherited the Red Cross from their patronage of Saint George and started using it on their flag from the Middle Ages onwards (years after Milan started using it) so I would say close but no cigar sir, however you're not even close :p
freewifi
Guest
Get a grip mate, Milan was founded by English immigrants, hence the anglo spelling.
Soccerlogic
Guest
How dare you stereotype an entire group of people based on one bad experience!? I've played for ethnic backed teams with problems and ethnic backed teams without problems. It is NOT the ethnicity that's the problem it's the people running these politicised clubs.
Soccerlogic
Guest
Yes. Thank-you.
Patrick Hayes
Guest
Possibly the worst article I have read in the past 10 years, to claim that somehow the dropping of ethnic names has been to the detriment of the sport in Australia is without doubt the most irrational statement outside of a politician. My background is firmly Anglo I grew up playing and watching Australian Rules however both my sons (aged 19 & 15) play soccer and the world of racism and sectarianism has appalled me, in no other sport in this country do clubs have such strong ties to an ethnic base of origin as soccer, most clubs in other sports represent a geographical suburban area and are all inclusive, you only need to watch the news to workout who likes who and who doesn't, as much as people like to claim this doesn't crossover to the sport here, 100% it does, my son played for a Serbian backed club for 2 years and I was given a crash course in Easyern European politics quick smart, the sooner we completely extinguish this the better, be proud to play at a club because it's your local and your mates play there!
Blubber
Guest
Maybe they should bring in a heritage round so Roar can call themselves Hollandia-Inala and so on ...
MelbCro
Guest
We are talking about the long history in this country of policies that have seen ethnic clubs forced to change their names and their emblems, that has nothing to do with the A-League. Those policies effect the clubs that they are imposed on.
SVB
Guest
But improving the league as a whole has improved the clubs involved. It's just not your club. The biggest clubs in the league are averaging bigger crowds than at any other time. That means it is working. I don't think the policy is personal against any club/person. It's just done because that's how most people in this country prefer it to be. Nothing to with being embarrassed about being ethnic. Most supporters/players are of ethnic background and probably always will be the majority.
MelbCro
Guest
That makes no sense, for a competition to improve that would mean those involved have improved as well. The thing people need to understand is that these types of policies are not brought in for the benefit of the football community. They are brought in for the benefit of non football people, those who are not and will never be part of the game. Heaven forbid they see those pesky ethnics with their funny names running around lol. The football hierarchy in this country has always been so worried and embarrassed by the so called 'ethnic image' of the game, after all these years you would have thought they'd get over it by now. Here is a suggestion perhaps instead of treating the 'ethnic image' of the game as negative how about embracing it as a positive
MelbCro
Guest
you posed the question of why they would want to be called Croatia. You need to realise that is the club's name, the only reason they aren't listed as such is because they had a change forced upon them. Maybe I should change my surname, its clearly too Croatian and makes other people uncomfortable lol.
SVB
Guest
Perhaps the policy was aimed at improving the league as a whole. Not necessarily individual clubs.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
And again, did you read my comment?
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
It's an opinion based website and in am giving my opinion
RBBAnonymous
Guest
@ MelbCro I wouldnt know what the HNS would do or what there policy is if they have one, thats why i am asking. Just because I am a Croatian Australian doesn't mean I have an intimate knowledge of Croatian football and what clubs exist, I only know of the main ones.
MelbCro
Guest
Its not a matter of me thinking it would be accepted, the HNS wouldn't care what its named. Your Croatian so you should not that given that having a club with a name or emblem highlighting ethnicity is standard fare in the region. Your example of a football team being called Zagreb Kangaroos, if such a team come into existence it wouldn't get support because Zagreb has the most fickle sports fans in the country lol. People no longer even go out to support Dinamo, let alone supporting a new club that would just pop up.
MelbCro
Guest
And that video has what to do with the Yugoslav war?
RBBAnonymous
Guest
I never said that, read it again. "would both their football federation accept it and would the locals embrace it. I hardly think so" I never said that they wouldnt accept it, I asked the question, would they. You seem to think they would and thats fine, the second part of my question was would the locals embrace it. I honestly dont know if they would embrace it. I think it would be a tough sell.