Football Federation Australia is wasting everyone’s time by allowing the Central Coast Mariners to play a home game in Canberra on Saturday.
Residents of the nation’s capital should feel royally shafted by their treatment at the hands of A-League officials.
Not only did the FFA summarily ignore a Canberra bid for the A-League that was good to go in 2012, but local fans must now put up with the total nonsense that is the Mariners ‘hosting’ Wellington Phoenix at GIO Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
And guess what the end result will be? A dismal attendance and dreadful TV ratings.
Instead of encouraging former Canberra bid leader Ivan Slavich to accept a position as ‘business development ambassador’ for the Mariners, FFA officials should be begging him to resurrect the Canberra bid.
You can’t really blame the Mariners for their desperate scramble to attract new fans.
They’re a club that should be a regional powerhouse, but that has instead somehow alienated a significant proportion of their fanbase and largely failed to maintain a connection with Gosford.
You know things have gone wrong when the former Mayor of Gosford, Lawrie McKinna, accepts a job up the road at Central Coast’s bitter local rivals Newcastle.
But the Mariners can hardly be blamed for looking for alternative revenue streams in a league where funds aren’t always easy to come by.
However, when they proposed taking home games to GIO Stadium – they’re also playing Adelaide United in Canberra next February – the FFA could have simply told them ‘no’.
It’s laughable to think that fans in Canberra will support the Mariners like they do their Australian Rules counterpart Greater Western Sydney.
The only reason decent crowds turn up at Manuka Oval when the GWS Giants go around is because no one in western Sydney follows the AFL, and Canberra locals are smart enough to realise the Giants are a likely prospect for relocation.
But allowing the Mariners to play in Canberra seems like an exercise designed to fail.
When no one turns up, FFA can point to the poor attendance as proof of why Canberra doesn’t deserve an A-League team.
Yet the reason hardly anyone will turn up is because they have absolutely no stake in the Mariners in the first place.
I couldn’t agree more with Matt Connellan’s excellent piece suggesting that tribalism is the key to successful A-League expansion.
If FFA is actually serious about expanding the league, they should do what common sense has been screaming out for them to do for years and put a team in Canberra.
With a successful W-League team already in place and Canberra Olympic’s FFA Cup run proving there’s an appetite for top-flight football in the nation’s capital, it’s time for FFA to get real and drop this “fishing where the fish are” mumbo jumbo.
Memo to David Gallop – the fish are in Canberra, so put a team there for the locals to support and be done with it.
It’s frankly ludicrous that New Zealand’s national capital is represented in the A-League while our own nation’s capital is not.
The sooner we get to a 12-team competition, the better – and last night’s unusual Thursday night clash between Melbourne City and Newcastle Jets was a harbinger of things to come.
Midweek sporting events may put a dent in attendance figures – at least in Australia – but they’re good for TV ratings and serve the purpose of extending a competition’s weekly footprint.
And when they’re as entertaining as last night’s 2-1 win to City was – with Bruno Fornaroli once again starring with two superb goals – it’s not hard to see why midweek football ends up on the calendar.
It’s just a shame the good folks of Canberra are expected to shell out for such a meaningless fixture as Saturday’s game.
They deserve much better – like, for starters, a well-defined pathway to their own A-League team.
BigAl
Guest
Years is not the issue, geography is the issue ! Hope this helps... http://backyardgalahcam.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=282
Boban Fett
Guest
I think A-League clubs do need secondary home grounds, but ONLY in an area that will complement their existing fanbase. Eg Sydney FC could play at Kogarah if Allianz is being returfed or Justin Friggin' Beiber is playing a concert there.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Unfortunately, this is looking like a loss to the Mariners, and judging by the crowd, it looks like the Canberra experiment is over before it even began.
Bondy
Guest
Hopefully the Mariners will give us another win this arvo ...
RBBAnonymous
Guest
What a great article. 100% correct in every aspect. Next season if the Mariners make any request to play any matches away from home just say no. Then ask the real question, do the Mariners and their fans want a team in the A-league. Pathetic treatment of Canberra football fans. Of course if they don't turn up to the match where they have no emotional interest in then they don't deserve an A-league team. That's FFA logic for you. Muppets. Just nailed it Mike.
harry houdini
Roar Rookie
Only if you consider people living in Canberra for 100 years expats !
The Word
Guest
Hmmm, say ccm knocked back more money so it would still be a partnership....it had nothing to do with the relative worth to the ACT of afl matches versus a league matches?
Bruce Millar
Guest
I live in Canberra and have been a GWS member for 3 years and as such attend matches at Manuka to support my team. I also travel to Sydney for some games. I attend matches with my wife and a large group of friends all whom support the Giants. The reason I support the Giants is because I perceive them to be a Canberra team. I am also a fan of the A League and would love a Canberra team to get behind. What we Canberrans are being offered tomorrow is a match where we are damned if we do or don't. I feel I should go to get behind football in Canberra but, well, I don't care about either of them. If the crowds don't show we'll hear how Canberrans aren't interested in football. No! Canberra loves soccer, it's the number 1 participation sport in the ACT. We would love an A League team of our own. But a Gosford club and a Kiwi club? Doesn't inspire me to part with my hard earned too much.
Jim
Guest
the act government is throwing in some money but its not big $$$ - maybe a $200K or something for the two games I believe. Not a spot on the AFL's funding for the giants by the government.
pacman
Guest
2. Brasilia, capital of Brazil - best it can do is a team in Serie D, likely a semi pro league for quite a number of its players.
marcel
Guest
I cant even begin to imagine why Canberra might choose to adopt the Mariners as their de facto team......but i can easily imagine how any attempt by the club to develop that will alienate their existing fans on the coast
Alicesprings
Guest
Ha..touché. Id say I'm more of a closet Roar fan! In all seriousness though Id love to see an Aleague team in Canberra. As a former resident of the Riverina I would adopt them as my team as i don't really have any great affinity with any of the Aleague teams and i can't see the NT getting a team any time soon. Although the FFA is on record as wanting to 'fish where the fish are' there is some serious merit in expanding to some of Australia's smaller cities i.e. Canberra and Hobart.
70s Mo
Guest
100% agree Marron. i dislike the idea of one team setting up a 'home' in a possible expansion area.
pete4
Guest
In the Canberra Times. In another article they saying tickets sales currently point to crowd of around 7500 for this match http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/soccer/central-coast-mariners-midfielder-blake-powell-faces-former-club-wellington-phoenix-for-first-time-20161110-gsmdfx.html
70s Mo
Guest
Hi Cameron - Canberrans have already turned out for football for FFA Cup and Asian Cup. For big events in other sports Canberrans have also turned out. If your above SMH quotation is correct - that CCM want a semi permanent presence in Canberra - then this might sink any chance of a standalone Canberra team. I could argue a case for fans to not turn out for this game.
70s Mo
Guest
I think the AFLs attitude to Tassie is (to use Hillary's words) deplorable. Putting on a couple of token matches - indicates they really have no interest in a state they already have stitched up. I would hope the FFA doesn't go down this path.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
It's wrong to assume that all clubs have the capacity to survive. We can never forget that the University Football Club was forced to drop out of the VFL back in 1915 with the outset of World War I, never to return. I'm sure the A-League will have fewer casualties in the first 20 years of operation.
Nemesis
Guest
Isn't it odd that AFL clubs, after 100 years within the community still are struggling to find enough supporters to keep them alive? I can't imagine Real Madrid, or Liverpool, or Bayern Munich having to establish a 2nd home in a different State, or Province to win new supporters. I wonder why after 100 years these clubs who are allegedly part of the very fabric of culture in Melbourne just can't make ends meet?
Cameron
Roar Guru
At the end of the day, I'm sure we'd all love to see a team in Canberra for Canberrans. If it means that people need to turn up and that's the measuring stick that FFA will be using, well they have no option but to attend, otherwise they'll miss out. If Central Coast are looking to fill the void and FFA are ok with this, then that's something we'll all have to come to terms with and more specifically, Canberra. If Canberra, after all of that, still want a team, then let's hope another Slavich comes along to show the way. A name fitting - if everyone were to get behind a club - would be Canberra United. No matter the outcome, expansion will occur and all of these discussions are healthy for football.
marron
Guest
I get the general idea there CK but I wonder about it. Sydney FC crowds were poor in those games they played at Parramatta. If you're an afterthought, there's less motivation to attend - especially if there's a danger that the big wigs will turn around and say, Wow, those Canberrans really like having a couple of games, we'll keep that up and they'll be happy enough and we don't have to take any more risks.