The derbies' gravity threatens to contort the A-League

Nice class warfare anon. I used to think Aussie Rules was a game for all classes but you clearly prefer if it becomes the sole domain of the chardy-set, like Rugby Union which is going gangbusters at the moment. The sight of a flare at the other end of the ground could well cause the missus to spill her Pinot Grange and that isn't acceptable eh anon?

Cross-Border Saturday night!!! If my sister wasn't getting married I'd be parking my rear on the couch for that one!

anon-Despite all your grossly exaggerated claims don't you find it extremely strange that, despite a heavy police presence at "every HAL game" not one single arrest has been made for what is undisputedly a criminal offence. Maybe your claims should not be addressed to this Roar blog site but rather to each State Police Commissioner to let him (or her.) know the extent of this apparently huge problem. jb

it's so safe and nice at the SCG watching the Swans play. You can have a cup of tea and scones whilst you watch the Swannies go round. Splendid good Sir, Splendid!

Go and find the weekly flare last season anon. I am sick of putting my life in danger though all your arguments are really bringing it home. Maybe I'll try another sport. http://fearofaroundball.com/things-you-just-dont-see-at-the-afl/

Love, love is all you need!!!!

anon based on the way your interact on this discussion board, I wouldn't want to sit next to people like you so, I applaud anyone or anything that keeps you and your family away from A-League. As for the laughable observation that people who attend Auskick are from higher socio economic groups, my reaction: 1) Who cares? I want football to be for everyone, especially the poorest of the poor. 2) It's funny that AFL have to bribe parents with free boots, ball & other showbag goodies to get people to come to Auskick. If Auskick is so popular and parents are so wealthy, a smart organisation that is confident its product is premium would charge high prices for that product. Nothing you ever post passes even a High School Level Common Sense Test.

Well done, mate. You found one example in 14 years of football. In contrast, flares are lit by ULTRAS on a weekly basis in domestic soccer. Gallop made a mistake when he tried to negotiate a truce with these ULTRAS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NFhtSIoCi8 Those despicable Aussie Rules fans in the AFL 2002 season, really started a disgraceful trend, which has infiltrated the A-League... I wouldn’t be comfortable normalising the behaviour of the radicalised Aussie Rule ULTRAS by exposing my children to it. It’s not just an issue of behaviour, but the threat of physical injury (or worse) either through disfiguring burns or mob violence outside of the AFL grounds.

"For the past 11 years everyone in Australia has seen flares being lit at A-League matches. We’ve had media call A-League fans suburban terrorists. We’ve had one recently departed media identity vilify A-League fans every season since the A-League started. Yet, parents still keep bringing their kids to A-League. In the section I was sitting at the Melbourne Derby (Level 3, Aisle 11), I did a quick count and kids were about 1/3 of the fans." Some parents need to have a good long hard look at themselves. There's plenty of bad parents out there. There's parents who let their children watch violent movies, let them stay out late, let them drink alcohol. I wouldn't be comfortable normalising the behaviour of the radicalised ULTRAS by exposing my children to it. It's not just an issue of behaviour, but the threat of physical injury (or worse) either through disfiguring burns or mob violence outside of the grounds. I have my children in Auskick and take them to the footy. Great family environment at AFL games. Can't ever recall a flare being ignited. Can't go to an A-League game without it happening. Can enjoy a beer and cheer my team without the omnipresent threat of the radicalised ULTRAS. Parents at Auskick are a nice bunch of people. Generally higher socio-economic.

It's not surprising to see people who don't attend A-League expose themselves as ignorant about A-League. For the past 11 years everyone in Australia has seen flares being lit at A-League matches. We've had media call A-League fans suburban terrorists. We've had one recently departed media identity vilify A-League fans every season since the A-League started. Yet, parents still keep bringing their kids to A-League. In the section I was sitting at the Melbourne Derby (Level 3, Aisle 11), I did a quick count and kids were about 1/3 of the fans. Adults, teenagers, elderly people, parents, kids, toddlers .. the whole spectrum of Australia was at the Melbourne Derby, apart from the sort of people who throw bananas at players who aren't white and there was no one punching women or threatening to harm kids.

Watching the derbies, families would have seen the ULTRAS igniting explosive devices and exhibiting behaviour more becoming of gang members than soccer attendees. Can't blame them for not turning up the following week.

No idea whatsoever SS... it's a bit of an unknown. Like I mentioned above, I know several people who won't be trekking into homebush with the kids on a sunday evening. But it's our first chance to check out the new joint for a game coming off a much more promising hitout on Friday.

Matt any idea what crowd you guys are expecting this weekend at Spotless Stadium? Looking forward to seeing what crowd is posted for your first home game there.

What about Matador Cup? Huge crowds there...... Sheffield Shield gets massive crowds...... not. Like I said a few days ago, it's obvious that BBL as well as the test series/international one day matches will be the driving force of cricket this summer and beyond. Matador Cup and Sheffield Shield are development competitions.

A few things here: 1) To find negatives in what has been an excellent start to the season, one which has captured the imagination and delivered with some exciting football merely highlights the scars that continue to mar the game in this country. We have seen false dawns before, even in the A-League years. 2) The FFA have been smart here. All major leagues in this country devise their schedules around marquee fixtures, which is why the NRL will often open with Roosters v Rabbitohs or double-header matches in QLD. It's not like the NRL would have Knights v Titans or the AFL would have Freo v Lions as the first game on TV. It's smart. 3) On the subject of marquee games, they need to be distinguished from "regular" games if that makes sense, otherwise they don't stand out, so make the most of these derbies and other big games. It's good that not all games live up to this level because it makes the big games special. If you turn every game into a "big game", it dilutes the product. Let these ones stand out, celebrate them and look forward to the next. 4) Every league in the world is structured around a few big games representing huge rivalries. In Spain, everything rests on Barca vs Real and the Madrid derby, in Germany it's Bayern vs Dortmund, in Scotland everything comes back to the Old Firm and the Scottish league suffered when Rangers were in the lower leagues. The EPL is lucky because it has about 8 big teams, so you get big games every few weeks, but even then, Liverpool vs Man Utd, the Manchester derby, and to a lesser extent, the North London derby still stand out and will always garner more interest than Crystal Palace vs Stoke or Swansea vs Bournemouth. Just the way of the world. This shouldn't be looked upon as a weakness, rather we should applaud the FFA for exploiting these natural rivalries that capture the public interest. 5) All clubs have to have an identity and I think we worry in this country about small teams. Some teams should be smaller than others. In Spain, there's Getafe and Rayo Vallecano who are in the same market as the Madrid giants, Barcelona has Espanyol, the big London teams have Palace, (an aspirational) West Ham, Fulham, QPR, Millwall, Charlton etc. The fact that some bigger clubs have emerged in Australia is fine and it's also fine for the Mariners to be proud of being a smaller club that punches above its weight. They still have a proud history. Look at Leicester City this year, they are a smaller club who had a fairytale this year.

You're not comparing apples with apples here. A slug fest over a 6 week period cant be compared to a full blown 6 month football season. Good luck to the BBL because the Sheffield Shield has been dead for decades.

Lionheart - There are factors to be considered when setting up full-time professional football teams and the main one is, where does the money come from? Brisbane Strikers have been around for a long time and appear to have found their niche in the NPL.They have a sub lease on Perry Perk and an arrangement through the YMCA to be part and parcel of a trust set up originally to help sport in the city and appear to thrive in that environment. I would doubt very much if they are in a position to participate successfully in the HAL. Brisbane City are in a similar position,their (leased???) ground at Spencer Park was seen as a reasonable NSL stadium, contributed to ,at the time,by their chairman Gino Merlo and other notables from migrant families. but not really a place where a 10,000 crowd could be comfortably ensconced. So if a second Brisbane team is to be envisaged a football afficionado or afficionados with around 10 to 15 million dollars of disposable income needs to be found and that is what the FFA has been looking for ever since the demise of GCU, just some 90 k\s from Brisbane's central business district. For the dreamer it is "Utopia" ,for the realist a long hard look at things the way they are and a hope that some government body will have a huge change of heart. That is a fact of life unfortunately Cheers jb

Two factors to be considered Waz, (1) the people who run Qld Lions are a hard working group of long time football men who are trying their best to again build an organisation based on good management principles. (2) Despite the colour of the shirts there is absolutely no connection between the current Roar organisation and the present Qld Lions. Some bad memories ? yes, but not enough to create a "bad feeling "derby,in fact it could be said that some of Roar's most loyal fans over recent years are the people who run Qld Lions in the winter season, but still get their "fix" of top football at Suncorp during the summer months. You may ask me why I know these things..? Back in 1982 I was asked to prepare a "history programme" for the club's 25th anniversary and to do this I did extensive investigation into the background of the club from it's birth in 1957,coming up with lineages of migrant families who carried on the tasks as the years rolled by moving from Association to Federation and from their "public park ground" at Darra to their purchased land at Richlands. Most of those pioneers have now passed on but their "offspring" have carried on the good work despite the "travails" that came to pass in the organisation and they are to be admired for the continuing job they are doing out at Richlands in their efforts to sell the game to local youngsters. Cheers jb.

Well at least until the BBL starts with huge 50K crowds at Adelaide Oval while the Reds fail to draw 10K just down the road at Hindmarsh on the same night.