The Sydney derby is one of the best and brightest games in Australian sport – a fact Football Federation Australia should be shouting from the rooftops.
The majority of the largest attendances in Allianz Stadium history have been A-League games.
Of the seven previous Sydney derby fixtures played at the venue, only one has attracted fewer than 40,000 fans – and that was for just the second meeting between the two sides.
A similar-sized crowd will descend upon Moore Park tomorrow night, where Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers will play out not only one of the most colourful spectacles in Australian sport, but also one of the biggest derbies in Asian football.
New Sydney FC chairman Danny Townsend should highlight that fact and New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian would do well to remember it, because in all the political point-scoring over Sydney stadia, the A-League seems to finish a distant second in the conversation to an NRL which draws noticeably smaller crowds.
The same should be said for the Wanderers, who were promised a safe standing terrace at the rebuilt Parramatta Stadium which rarely seems to feature in discussions about the new ground.
On the pitch, the two sides hardly need any more reasons to dislike each other, although Western Sydney defender Brendan Hamill poured fuel on the fire by claiming that tomorrow night’s clash is “a home game” for the Wanderers and that “60 per cent” of the crowd will be wearing red.
His comments are unlikely to worry a Sydney FC outfit that would have gone through last season undefeated, were it not for a controversial 1-0 derby defeat at ANZ Stadium the last time these two sides met.
And they could meet again in next month’s FFA Cup final, although the Wanderers will first have to get past a strong Adelaide United side in their semi-final.
The Wanderers now look a much more free-flowing outfit than they did under Tony Popovic, and with Roly Bonevacia pulling the strings and their trio of Spaniards all looking like decent additions, the visitors could fancy their chances of springing an upset against a Sky Blues side winning few admirers for relentlessly grinding opponents down.
If the Sydney derby takes centre stage this weekend, then one of the A-League’s original rivalries deserves at least second billing – even if Adelaide United have made a mistake in taking their game against Melbourne Victory to the Adelaide Oval.
(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
You can understand the logic – the Reds’ hierarchy invariably hopes some 30,000 fans turn out to help boost the bottom line, but it never happens and they end up with an inferior atmosphere to what they’d get at Coopers Stadium.
That in turn affects the players, and in the end the whole exercise of moving the game away from United’s regular home ground ends up being a total waste of time and money.
Still, at least there’ll be some semblance of atmosphere in Adelaide. But what kind of reception will Brisbane Roar run out to on Sunday?
It always feels like whenever one crisis is resolved in the A-League, another one pops up just around the corner. So perhaps it’s apt that the Roar are hosting a resurgent Newcastle Jets.
The Roar’s sacking of managing director Mark Kingsman earlier this week wasn’t exactly one to pencil in for the club’s authorised biography, and of the times I spoke to Kingsman, no one defended The Bakrie Group more vehemently than him.
Nevertheless the Roar’s owners have now turned to a familiar face in the form of David Pourre to try and steady the ship as the latest managing director, and as a resident of the city, I sincerely hope he succeeds.
There are some great people working at Brisbane Roar, and just like the fans, they too would give anything to see their team become a genuine A-League force once again.
The Bakries have already said they plan to turn Brisbane Roar into the biggest club in Australia. Sound familiar?
Here’s hoping the third time’s the charm.
ac
Guest
Im confused isnt SBS 'FTA' ? According to this mornings papers TV ratings are down this year. Could it be the advertisements on TEN oops I mean ONE ? Anyways please lets get it right SBS where Football is part of the DNA is FTA.
Buddy
Guest
$55 on eastern terrace and I assume cheaper behind the goals...I didn’t think that was too bad compared to other grounds. Melbourne city coming up next month costs over $70 to sit along the sideline for non members of MCFC. Perth was on the expensive side last season too. I reckon NSW generally offers the best value for tickets be it a family or as individuals and fortunately for us we can access Newcastle and Central Coast quite easily if we choose to.
Paul
Guest
Could it have been the SFS members staying at home to watch their beloved wallabies.? Add to that the ticket gouging by Sydney FC on away supporters. Perhaps, as it was the first time it was on FTA TV may have another influence. Still it was a cracking atmosphere compared to anything that Melbourne dishes up these days.
Buddy
Guest
The crowd was announced last night as being 34000 + which is disappointing in many respects. I argued on another thread that it would be the members area that would prevent record crowd numbers and whilst there were at least five empty blocks plus the rear third empty that doesn’t account for the relatively low turnout. Question is where else were the empty seats? Upstairs on the eastern side? It was packed on the Eastern terrace, the cove and rbb looked fairly full with just the outer seats spare from where fans squash in to the centre. The western terrace certainly had patches of empty blue seats but it felt as though there were more people present than was announced. It was just as chaotic on the way out and access into central station through one small gate was something of a joke.
Phil
Guest
They have games live on BT Sport here in the UK. Nice to watch a game over breakfast on the weekend.
Realfootball
Guest
:) so true, CC
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
The ratings in Honduras will triple this weekend.
j,binnie
Guest
Betty - Actually Roar increased their average gate last year from 12,850 per match to 13,890 per match.That despite playing what many pundits would describe as "positive football" without the desired end result. Result - a faraway third to Sydney FC's record season. So I don't think there is any doubt that there is a market out there for Roar if certain things take place, and it is in this area that the identity ,Brisbane Roar, has struggled since day 1 of the HAL, that of a "backroom", or perhaps we should call it an administration, that appears to have lurched from one crisis to another ,be it financial or otherwise. As others have pointed out here that factor has seemingly not affected the playing staff who have been one of the most successful playing sides in the HAL. So there is little doubt that on the playing field Roar have definitely "delivered" to the thousands who have watched them over the years. However in the administration area of operation it is a different story In 13 years we have experienced an almost constant changing of Ownerships,Chairmen,CEO's, Coaches.and ancillary staff ,so it is quite obvious that something is not right at the franchise,and it is in this area, much investigation has to take place.if improvement is to be made. where it matters most This latest episode of " hiring and firing" appears to have at it's core the inability to gain recognition among potential commercial sponsorships and to anyone with an ounce of common sense this would not surprise when it is appreciated that before committing to a sponsorship, any worthwhile business would do it's due diligence, and it is in this area the spotlight would surely focus on the aforementioned administration and it's performance over the years. In this latest episode the lack of funds again appears to have raised it's head with the exiting chairman claiming he has paid wages out of his own pocket.! So, much as it is easy for fans to ignore the backroom shenanigans, I feel it is in this area that improvement is needed before the Roar can take it's true position in the HAL hierarchy, for bad publicity is bad publicity from wherever it emanates.
Tommo
Guest
Some people are so out of touch
j,binnie
Guest
Paul -The NSL club Hakoah/ Sydney City/ Eastern Suburbs were not financed by "a rich guy called F Lowy", the football team was financed by the Hakoah Social Club ,based at that time at Bondi. When F. Lowy walked away from the NSL, in or around 1984, it was 3 years later when that same Hakoah Social Club Management Committee ,after the club's AGM, decided to withdraw the team from the competition mid - season. By that time it was estimated the Hakoah Social Club's annual "subscription" to the football team was getting near $400,000,a huge amount in 1987. Cheers jb..
Paul
Guest
Not with the rivalry. Western Sydney Wanderers (drive bys as someone calls us) vs Sudney FC (eastern suburbs latte sippers) is a rivalry from before the NSL when a rich guy calked Lowy put his money into an Eastern Suburbs club called Hakoah and bought premierships in the NSW State League. We are a conglomeration of the poorer areas of Sydney without a sense of entitlement whereas the Eastern Suuburbs Football Club always believe that are entitled to win. Time again for the Wanderers to remain undefeated in 3 games against Easts and restore the balance in the biggest of rivalries to the West.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Ratings have been very good in fact and when added to the foxtel numbers look good. Tomorrow nights game should get the biggest ratings so far, very much anticipated here in Sydney, despite very little publicity and advertising of the game.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Don't worry there will be over 40,000 there again tomorrow night and we will be there. If the rain clears tomorrow as expected, it will sell out, with only a couple of thousand seats left. This looks like the most even derby in years. Who would have dreamt when the A-League kicked off 12 years ago, that we would be complaining one day that we only got 40,000 to a Sydney FC A-League game.
chris
Guest
With the difference in time zones lots of our games will be beamed around lunch times on the weekend in Europe. Great exposure during those cold winter days there.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
https://www.myfootball.com.au/news/hyundai-a-league-201718-season-goes-truly-global Over 10 million people across the world watch the A-League every week. You can even watch the A-League on your Ocean cruise.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
If Sutherland get an A-League license, we'll have 9 Sydney Derbies a season.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
The people who own ten are majority shareholders in Fox so doen't really matter whats on the invoice, except for reducing their tax bill. They are using the 10 broadcast to try and increase Foxtel subscribers.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Great rivalry and very good behaviour from the fans.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Sydney memberships continue to grow and already ahead of last season when they won the double. Now heading for over 15K so there is no evidence to support your claim that Sydney FC crowds are dwindling despite them winning The Wellington game always gets the smallest attendance. Also for the non-believers https://www.myfootball.com.au/news/hyundai-a-league-201718-season-goes-truly-global Over 10 million people a week all around the world tune in to our own little A-League. Its global growth is phenominal. Not surprising when you play the world's most popular sport.
valhalla
Guest
did they watch the caulfield guineas??? or were those soccer extremists nothing more than event goers???