- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
In what will come as no surprise to football fans across the nation, a recent study by Roy Morgan has found that the world game boasts the most regular participants of any sport in Australia.
The study analysed participation figures over a 15-year period between 2001 and 2016, eliciting that football participation has risen by 46 per cent.
While some may argue that such stats reflect little, if any, positivity worth analysing, it is worth noting that this rise contradicts a national downturn in regular sport participation, falling seven per cent over the fifteen years to just under four million people.
For a sporting nation, such information must be a cause for concern – although the positive trend in football is a light in the dark.
In terms of football’s key competitors, Australian rules football, in spite of recent efforts to raise the profile of the women’s game, suffered a minor decrease in players. Both rugby league and rugby union suffered massive declines of 27 per cent and 60-three per cent respectively.
Of course the question remains, as ever, how these figures are transposed from mere numbers on a spreadsheet to future supporters, crowds and, most importantly, the Socceroos and aspiring World Cup winners.
The A-League has endured some tough times in its brief tenure, however it is clear that football is doing better now than perhaps at any time throughout the game’s history in Australia.
The Socceroos’ current difficulties in World Cup qualifying are of course a worry, however it reflects well on the powers that be that World Cup qualification is now expected, rather than dreamed about as it had been for decades.
It is hoped by football fans everywhere that this news is not received by the powers at be with complacency and a sense of closure, but rather a platform that can be used to bring the game to the next level.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.