Now that the dust has settled from the weekend of A-League boycotts, it’s time for the fans to turn up and return to the games.
The fans have made their point and hopefully Football Federation Australia have finally listened, but they have to get back to what they do best and support their clubs.
Fans can’t keep boycotting.
The FFA’s continual lack of support for the fans is a worrying sight. How can the FFA continue to use them to promote the game, but then treat them so unfairly?
Yes, some of the 196 on the banned list probably deserved their ban, but many have not had the right to a fair appeal and they have every right to defend themselves.
Yet continually boycotting games will do no good for the game and will let the critics in the media – including Rebecca Wilson and Alan Jones – have another potshot at the A-League.
Still unmoved from their comments when comparing A-League fans to the situation in Paris, Wilson is continually criticising the A-League. I’ve never seen someone who claims to be a sports lover hate one sport so much. Her usual column in The Daily Telegraph criticises a range of sports from football, rugby union, cricket and Aussie rules.
But enough of Wilson and back to football. It’s now up to the FFA to take these boycotts seriously and for FFA chief executive David Gallop to take a better stance. Like Simon Hill said, “I’ve never been left so disappointed”.
Gallop’s level of passion was made clear at the most recent the press conference; his passion for the game is not at an adequate level for a CEO of the FFA. Never once did he criticise Wilson’s publication in The Telegraph. Never once did Gallop stand up for the fans. If the fans had any respect left for David Gallop, they surely lost it after that.
But this weekend’s top-of-the-table clash between the in-form Western Sydney Wanderers and defending champions Melbourne Victory on December 12 should be a sell-out. Let’s hope it is, for the sack of Australian football.
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