I recently read the comment section of a social media post regarding the A-League finally being shown on a mainstream free-to-air network. In that comment section I read a discussion between two sets of opinions, one simply stated this:
“I don’t like the A-League. I find the quality appalling. I watch plenty of European football though.”
It does not take a genius to guess what the next few comments were. Some shouted abuse using the anonymous nature of their keyboard, determined to defend the A-League against this comment. Of course in one comment the derogatory term ‘Eurosnob’ – used to describe someone who likes football but does not support our local teams – came up a fair amount in the hordes of the abuse. This comment supported quite a large amount of ‘likes’ as well.
It simply baffles my mind as to why we believe that this is acceptable. Considering this post was about encouraging people to watch the A-League, something like this simply discourages anyone from viewing it. It reinforces the negative stereotype of an A-League fan, yet we clearly know that this is not true.
This person, this Eurosnob, will likely never watch the A-League again, in part because of the community’s reaction to their opinion. Fortunately a large majority of us on the internet do not behave in this manner, and this was reflected in some of the comments I read as well.
Outsiders attack our league for lacking the quality of the big European leagues. As much as it pains me to admit, this is true – we do not have the quality of player nor the ludicrous amounts of money that Europe has.
But our league has one key factor that can counter this: we have the potential to establish a local connection to the clubs of the league.
(AAP Image/David Moir)
Unless people who follow European leagues are originally from that country or had family from there, they hardly have any real connection to that club. They weren’t there when the club was established 100 years ago, they weren’t there when the club played their first game and they weren’t there when they won their first trophy.
By creating these clubs we offer the opportunity for Eurosnob to be part of the future and to grow our game to the point where it is competitive globally or at least in Asia. The nature of the English Premier League today with all of its money makes us forget why these clubs were established in the first place, and that was to play football.
Manchester United, for example, was founded in 1878 as Newton Heath Football Club and made up of workers from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. Hardly any of them would have imagined the growth of Manchester United over the next 139 years. A few railway workers would clearly have lacked the skill and quality of other players, yet people still showed up to watch these games.
It took time for United to grow to its size today, but the local support for the club was always solid. The key to converting the Eurosnob to watch the A-League is to encourage this local connection so that the club can grow.
To a limited extent evidence of this can already be seen through the creation of the Western Sydney Wanders. When it was being created in 2012 multiple FFA supporter forums were held in significant areas of the Western Sydney region, such as Campbelltown and Penrith, where members of the community, likely already followers of European leagues, were able to discuss key aspects of what their club would be like when it was established, including playing style and proposed names and colours as well as club values.
(AAP Image/David Moir)
This all encourages a stronger connection to the local club. Supporters truly feel as if this is their team” They helped create it and they feel a vested interest in the club’s success. We can already see the success of a community-first approach through the Wanderers, who won the Asian Champions League in 2014.
If the FFA are still searching for an expansion model I would strongly reflect on Western Sydney. Find an area of the country where there is a strong football presence – in other words, where people follow European leagues – and engage the community in the decision-making process.
We can already see the consequences of disconnect between the fans and the club. Clive Palmer’s decision to permanently close grandstands at Robina Stadium during the forgettable years of Gold Coast United demonstrated that no-one benefits when there is a disconnect between the fans and clubs. The fans do not get a football club and the owner no longer sees a profit.
More recent examples include 2015’s boycott protest against the FFA’s lack of support for supporter groups. Members of clubs are not willing to support a club if they do not feel that the club and sport support them.
(Image: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
A fan ownership model would help to ensure that clubs have no choice but to support their supporters. For example, Barcelona’s ownership model makes it impossible to purchase shares in the club other than a membership. Certain members can become socios, which gives them votes in the organisation of the club.
If we were to implement this model for the A-League and give members more power in their clubs, the local connection to the club would be strengthened. This would encourage those without an A-League club but passionate about football to become a member and shape the Australian football landscape.
Doing this will increase the quality of our league, make us far more competitive in Asia and hopefully recruit some Eurosnobs in the process. Our league will have the quality and be entertaining enough so that those who enjoy football really have no excuse not to follow it.
At the end of the day the reason we watch football is for the entertainment, but we also want to be a part of a larger group and engage with our community. So instead of berating the next person you see as a Eurosnob, suggest the A-League to them and show them that they can shape the future of Australian sport in their image.
Because what was happening in Europe in the 1880s with Manchester United and Barcelona is going to happen here. It may take a few decades, but it is a certainty that our league will evolve and change for the better.
Euroshop
Guest
"Eurosnobs" have nothing to lose. The top quality European Football will remain. Only the bogans keep losing until they embrace the World Game spirit. Currently the bogans are still trying to have it their bogan way... but FIFA does not accept. So hopefully the FIFA makes a statement and sacks the top 2 bogans of the FFA and then continues to root out any trace of boganism in this country.
Euroshop
Guest
How to stop the bogans?
me too
Guest
well i supported man united in england from just before they fell to div 2 and years of being behind liverpool. I remember tuning into bbc world sport results sunday afternoons on the radio. i played the game in a country town and was playing juniors and seniors each weekend - began around 8 years of age and even was lucky enough to have johnny warren visit the town and coach us in a couple of sessions. Loved the game and still do but i have little time to invest and no emotional attachment to any of the A League clubs - i'm happy supporting local level soccer. I think it's still the most important level to be involved at, as it is the root of the tree, so don't feel i am uninvolved.
northerner
Guest
Nemesis - really? Here I thought you were the sort of guy who thinks real fans support their club through think and thin, good times and bad. Isn't that what you keep saying true football fans are all about? Yet here you are denigrating someone who supports a club that hasn't won a grand final in a while. I can think of rather a lot of football teams in various countries that haven't had a great deal of success at the very top level of their national competitions, and yet they have deeply ingrained supporters, and you seem to think they're real fans. Why would you disparage an AFL supporter who shares that same loyalty to his team?
George K
Roar Pro
The best marketing campaign should be one that takes advantage of two things: 1. Australia's underdog culture (football is by no means a traditional sport in Australia - capitalise on this). And 2. Form an extremely strong local connection to the club - the you've gotta have a team campaign was close but this needs to be ramped up considerably. The author raised WSW as an example - surely a marketing campaign that aims to mimic this (be it through creating more fan involvement - even for casuals) across Australia will lead to more interest in ththe Oz Football.
Luke Karapetsas
Roar Pro
What do you think we need to do about this Waz? Hope the normalisation committee does a better job? ?
Nick Symonds
Guest
I can't remember the links off the top of my head but PSG signed some junior called Neymar for US$528 million I think it was. I'm sure he'll go far when he grows up. That's the kind of money we need to improve the quality here in Australia. Some of our NPL clubs seem to be setting their junior fees accordingly to set themselves up for the future so it'll happen one day. Just have patience.
Waz
Guest
The FFA can’t even connect with A League Supporters so ....
Waz
Guest
“They want an NPL connected to the top tier“ ... how do you know that? That’s like connecting the EPL with non league football. I don’t see any eurosnob suggesting that! NPL is park football, largely played on parkland. What’s needed is a second division with clubs and stadiums.
Luke Karapetsas
Roar Pro
Hi Luis Thanks for reading the article I fully agree with your points especially relating to tickets for juniors it's simply ridiculous some of the a-league prices, In regards to the Socceroos I'm sure we've already got a-league advertising in them but what we need desperately is a better advertising campaign by the FFA, any ideas on what that might look like?
Buddy
Guest
You won’t find me disagreeing on this one and I have watched 100’s of games in Europe and plenty of A League too as well as the stuff on TV and local football. In Western Sydney, Wanderers engage pretty well with the local community and they do a pretty good job in the main of getting kids and parents along to games. The disconnect comes though as just as the kids finish playing, the A League starts and it is really hard to engage with a community that has scattered to the four winds for summer and won’t really be back and engageable until Feb/March. In Sydney the various associations have between 10 and 17000 registered players so if you could engage at a higher level, generate the interest etc the sky is the limit but I don’t believe that either Sydney club really knows what needs to be done. In western sydney Granville association has around 13000 players, same at Nepean, Blacktown a bit smaller, Southern Districts around 13-14k and more in Macarthur. Raw figures suggest a target audience - ie people that are interested in the sport at some level is at mimimum 66-70k and I haven’t included Bankstown and a few others. It is a similar story for SFC. At the moment the picture is that only around 12% of persons playing football might be interested in watching A League and those figures are a bit rough and ready. We have to set the stage so that those numbers want to engage with the top level on offer. The question is how?
Luke Karapetsas
Roar Pro
Hi me too Thanks for reading the article I'm curious to know why it is that you have lost interest in football If it's because the quality of the clubs then you need to remember that none of the main European clubs where world beaters from the beginning, it will take time for our clubs to reach that level. This is why engagement with grassroots is critical because without it we don't get to this level If it's because of a lack of a connection to the new clubs then why is that the case and what would it take to get you interested in football again?
Luis Charalambous
Roar Rookie
You make an overall good argument here. Australia's premier football competition is only a decade old, and while it won't be on par with European football overnight, it has definitely improved exponentially. The clubs are now attracting better players from around the globe and our home grown talent are getting better. Encouraging more community involvement is key. On top of your points raised, there needs to be more marketing by the FFA. It's been a long time since I've seen any free-to-air ads for any Sydney or Wanderers games on TV. What about more free tickets for local juniors? I spent most of 2001-2002 heading to Nth Syd Oval to see Northern Spirit because I got free season entry for winning an U10 final. And I think the other factor is the neutrals - or non-fans. Attend a Socceroos game and you will hear chatter from the seats in front or behind you suggesting some of those speaking haven't watched the local league, but they are there because its an "event". Pounce on that. Plug the a-league at those games through ads on screen, schedules on screen, and marketing material. if they've enjoyed the Socceroos they might be encouraged to jump on board with their local team.
Nemesis
Guest
@me too Based on what you'e described, you are not now, nor ever, going to be a potential ALeague fan. That's not an issue. We are looking for people who engage with local AUS football at grassroots level & we want them to engage. Enjoy whatever makes you happy. PS: If you're watching AFL club the Saints, you are not a sporting snob in any definition of the word. You are just fan of a club who by any benchmark is the most pathetically inept club, over 100 years of Aussie Rules in Victoria.
Nemesis
Guest
@Nick Symonds Which kids' tournaments in Europe are you watching? Please share the weblinks, since I'm keen to watch.
Nemesis
Guest
Luke, was definitely not having a go at you. 100% agree we need to get grassroots to engage. If we can get 50-75% of the grassroots football community watching just one ALeague or National 2nd Division match each week (TV, streaming, or in stadium) we will generate broadcast revenue to rival the AFL & NRL competitions. But, the question is: how do we do this? I think the answer lies in giving the grassroots community a sense of belonging. Giving them a reason to watch. 1) More teams If we have 28 teams in the ALeague & 2nd Division then we have more local players. More local players means people at grassroots are much more likely to have a connection to the local lads - they've either played with them, played against them, or watched them playing at grassroots level 2) Pro/Rel This gives every footballer & club the dream that they can one day make it to the elite level.
me too
Guest
Don't forget eurosnobs have children. my generation were raised on match of the day and playing local league. so we followed english clubs but played the game. that attachment is forty, fifty, sixty years old. My mates still follow the english team they always have, no real interest in a newly created club, but have children that play, and many of them follow the A league. I am the same, moved to Adelaide to play for Adelaide city reserves as a junior, and obviously followed them - but the A league had no room for 'ethnic' clubs, and as i'm no longer living in the city, I'm hardly going to follow the new team. Actually lost interest in club footy - even English footy. But a mad keen followerer of the national team and coach at local level - that's enough footy for me. Do love aussie rules and union as well, but not invoved at all except to watch the saints and the wallabies. There's more to life than just sport and only so many hours in a day. Never understood the antipathy of some A league supporters - small mindedness. You get that in all sports though. Just be happy 'eurosnobs' follow the game and in their own way help it spread.
Midfielder
Guest
It's the kids we are after
Nick Symonds
Guest
Kids tournaments in Europe are far higher quality. Eurosnobs wouldn't be interested in the local product.
Luke Karapetsas
Roar Pro
Hi buddy Thanks for reading the article As a 16 year old I can easily say that the A-league can be more entertaining then some leagues in Europe (the time zones clearly help) the same teams keep wining the title year in year out how would you "invest in the kids?" Is it just down to marketing of the league or is it something else? Football is clearly the most popular sport for youths but why is that not reflected in A-league attendance?