Why Wollongong Wolves need a big crowd on Wednesday

Mike - You are beating your head against a brick wall discussing the why's and why not's of entry into the HAL. I've tried before but apparently have consistently fallen on deaf ears with this on going discussion about "ex-NSL identities" versus the "newly" formed franchises of the HAL. It all comes back to money,or to be more correct .lack of money, a factor that many of the contributors to these columns just appear to ignore in their discussions. Back in 1977 it cost $50,000 to gain entry into the NSL and at that time there was probably only one club in Australia who could go along to their bank and raise that kind of money. Most of the other identities were financed by social clubs that had been set up to serve the interests of mainly ethnic groups in an Australian society that was still living under the influence of a huge migration policy. A close look at the early NSL teams more than verified this state of affairs,Hakoah out at Bondi,Marconi at Fairfield, Adelaide City and West Adelaide making no secret of their Italian and Greek influences,the same situation in existence in Melbourne with South Melbourne and Heidelberg. The inherent weakness in this situation was simple to see,with the "soccer teams" forced to go cap in hand to their social club benefactors to get the finances necessary to run their operations.With some social clubs flush with gambling income this was never seen as a problem,despite the fact that relatively early in the piece Australia's best performed team was withdrawn under direction of the social club board.!!!!! We move then to 2004 and find the game has changed somewhat and it now takes a bond on $5millions to gain an interview,not entry mind you, but consideration, and of course one doesn't have to be a great mathematician to find another $2 or 3 millions just to set up a full time professional "business", that of course being an ongoing annual cost Now the question has to be asked.Who controls the finances of these former NSL identities?. Is it the "soccer committee" or is it the "social club committee" which as you will appreciate can be two totally different identities,and $50,000 back in 1977 doesn't really compare with a $7 or $8 millions expenditure in the financial climate of 2004, never mind the legitimate increases experienced over the last 11 years of the HAL. It could be legitimately argued that this type of expenditure is a "step too far" for football identities still heavily dependent on getting backing from a group of people operating under the constrictions of a "social club" constitution, and until this is recognised this discussion is almost futile. Full time professional sport is a costly venture into the world of business and not a place where one can go along to a source which may,in their wisdom,say, "Sorry, no can do" Unfortunately a fact of football life. jb

Maybe this helps explain why I though that Wolves looked like a rabble for parts of the game. Poor, over hit or misdirected passing. I was expecting something much more crisp and 'smart' from a side that had plenty of time to prepare versus SmurfsFC who were in early pre-season. The fact that Matty Simon scored a brace says it all about the quality of the opposition.

Ground reports from spectators say it was closer to 10-11k. Again underestimating football crowds just like ratings. Apparently there were more spectators than for the recent NRL game.

Timpano and management genius.-FFA Cup Start with a player that is injured but because of sympathy gets left in anyway. Waste of a sub. Replace him with a young out of form player playing out of position. Penalty and yellow card. Now bring on the son of the biggest sponsor of the club for political reasons. Creates defensive hole and 2 goals later. Now ask yourself why by a sheer miracle in the NPL (Olympic played a suspended player so 12 points awarded to Wolves) that they havent been relegated. Wolves wont get anywhere with the wrong people pulling the strings.

SBS were reporting 8029...

They announced 8,029 I believe or somewhere around that figure. Just over 8k. Not a bad effort.

Went to the game tonight but they didnt announce the crowd figure. Does anyone know? Really good game. Switched off for a few minutes in the second half and were punished

True afl is #1. All hail the afl model. We lowly soccer types may play the game in our millions in this country but in no way should we let that get to our heads. We must understand our position on the totem pole. And by no means should we try to follow worldwide protocol. Our afl overlords know what's best for us.

Good points Ben, but we are taking about humans. They are only human afterall. If you were to end the HAL and start an entirely new league tomorrow, and ostracize MVFC for 12 years, allowing them no hope/severing all opportunity to re-enter the top tier for the next 12 years....do you think they could muster huge support on the "hope" that they might, just maybe, but equally as unlikely, be re-introduced to the top tier? Even MV fans have their limits. They'd watch from afar sneering over their caffe lattes at this hypothetical new league that seems to have ignored everything they built and that devalues all of their successes. All of of MVs trophies dumped in the trash. Once the greatest club in the land, now excluded. Think about it.

Well thankfully you're talking about a defunct league, and that clubs that were afforded an opportunity (jets, glory, adl utd) have transcended it's limitations. Although hammerhead pointing out the irony that glory did better in terms of attendances in the NSL than they have in the HAL is pretty funny too.

It had zero to do with Fox, and everything to do with the World Cup bid.

great post Griffo. bravo!

Then they need a Head of Grassroots Football as well instead of delegating to Organisations like Football NSW who bleed us dry with the fees they take

You nailed it right there Cameron. "An Inconvenient Truth" that is far more compelling and to the point than the propaganda promoted by Al Gore.

It is a Catch 22, however the question is how to break the cycle. Part of the answer is corporate advocacy, appealing through business models, financial forecasts and the like. This is already occurring with limited success. The corporate advocacy focus is moving from a club focus to a national second tier focus which seems to be more effective. The other part of the answer is emotive advocacy; to put the FFA in a position where there is growing public pressure to include a club due to its support. Emotive advocacy is why South Melbourne tends to get mentioned before other potential NPL suitors. The challenge is for the supporters of clubs to push this angle by turning up in large numbers for key matches (perhaps two of three a year) that make the headlines. This then becomes difficult for the FFA to ignore. It isn't easy, but it is necessary.

A greater level of NPL advocacy from within the FFA is required and as such your suggestion has merit. The FFA has a level of NPL oversight however it does appear to be viewed more as a state based competition than a national one, a view that needs to change if a stronger second tier is to evolve.

Lucky to draw on a crowd 10,000 plus??? Hahaha you're off your head mate a-league teams don't get that. Wollongong winning two nsl championships with a semi professional team. Developing numerous Socceroos. Ripping club. Cmon you wolves

Just a comment on some recent conversation and everyones thoughts on this: The FFA have a bit of history in being too focused on a narrow part of the football landscape across the country. This is not a criticism, but an obvservation. A notable example was the focus of the World Cup bid and their taking the eye of the A-League for that period. Perhaps the FFA needs a 'Head of NPL' like they have a Head of A-League, although given how it's the state federations that administer, run and manage the state level NPL, this may not initial be warmly received. It would stand to reason though that a Head of NPL, plus the state federation NPL heads, and Head of A-League, could form a committe along with other FFA members to consider the next phase of football here: building the bridge between A-League and state-level NPL, and how a national-level NPL could act as the next step up, and ultimately how it could feed into, or morph into A2, that ultimately can convert some of our existing, and ambitious, football clubs into A1 teams. That committee, at the very least, would be a dialogue that potentially has a reach very close to if not all the way down to grassroots, and involve a part of the football family that, for very real reasons to them if not historically, feel somewhat disconnected from the game's future involvement that befefits all.