Do legal pyrotechnics mean the FFA is now going to listen to fans?

lol, had a good laugh, especially at the guy putting the corner flag in the area This is one of those areas where the EPL as a globalised league with teams competing as Brands for international support clashes with the perspective of the EPL as an English League of English clubs rooted in English community Toon fans were irate at Ashley trying to rename St James Park as Sports Direct Stadium and rightly so, at least he didn't tear the place down Read a good article though, a lot of West Ham fans stopped living in the East End area of Upton Park decades ago and it was no longer exactly a Cockney area anymore due to demographic changes People chanting at the Director in the stadium and not running at the pitch are at full liberty to do so, at least there's people who care and not mere idle spectators there to sit and have advertising projected at them This is what the FFA have always failed to grasp, you have to allow organic communities to be nurtured around otherwise artificial teams, people turn up to socialise as much as "purchase an entertainment product" but instead they condascend and infringe on civil liberties and the league is only just starting to get into its second generation (children of early fans who are younger than the league) and it's not exactly several generations deep which can support multiple tiers

Agree, Though wouldnrt say it's just a case of "these days", it's pretty much always been the case Big test is if they listen when things are "going well" instead of getting full of hubris and carry on about zero tolerance and family friendly to a few people getting over-excited Regardless of media coverage they never really clicked that the real measure was whether the attendance was increasing and attendance rate of members was high, that's how you tell if the family/passive segments of the crowd were bothered/impacted by active fans behaviour

Nice article, This should have been practically discussed yonks ago, eg one way to prevent people using flares stupidly is to say, "OK here's a designated time and space to use them but not outside of that". Any clown then being daft is going against the fans wanting to use them artistically as part of choreo displays as much as the authority of FFA/ Stadium etc But no, still remember crap over and over again about "this is not Europe". Well, this is Asia and Asian teams have used them Not to mention that Pyrotechnics are used in a controlled manner in the form of Fireworks when there is WC qualification and of course Brisbane were using flame towers at HAL games, so the notion of Pyrotechnics in the stadium itself isn't a stretch, it's just the notion of fans using it The fact the stadiums are built for NRL mean there's a Try area where flare wielding fans standing on Sand and/orin front of Sand boxes can be distinct from the rest of the crowd in the actual stand and smoke isn't right in peoples faces, but from a front angle the flares can look good in conjunction with a banner/Striscione display Funny, when crowds were great because of the vibe and edge, a few people get a bit over emotional and throw a few bottles, FFA panders to the hysteria and agenda of the media by harping on about "zero tolerance" and "family friendly" and fulfilling the media's agenda of "cracking down" Never stopped to actually think, if bottle throwing is such a put-off why were crowds continuing to grow and be healthy along with attendance rate of committed members? What's the result now you have your near perfect "family friendly" environment but apathy has set in Oh no falling Fox Sports viewership means it's much harder to negotiate broadcast rights which is where most $ comes in and is the most important factor of all, hits the bottom line much more than a few fans being OTT and controversial media coverage ever would To be fair the issues over the FFA structure and power struggle is a factor and does have a trickle-down effect and affects the climate of the entire football fraternity, including the Socceroos Ultimately this is just talk though, it is too far-fetched to ever go forward with in Australia, and there's a lot of water to flow on he Bridge, MV fans still remember FFA scuppering a deal between MV fans and the club over an arrangement put in place for the 2008 ACL and then appointing Hatamoto so there's a lot of water to pass over mistrust that goes back what can be measured in decades now

"What a coincidence that after a FIFA/AFC delegation pays Australia a visit, the FFA suddenly decides it might be an opportune time to listen to fans." What a pity FIFA didn't. Then we wouldn't have the current FFA still in position to Dictate to what is effectively OUR sport. Time for FANS to take OUR sport back! Without the fans FFA have nothing to be in charge of!

Seriously though, it’s cute how you chomp at these FFA baits like a goldfish.

Not at all dear comrade. Like you, I think David Gallop is a genius operator who pulls the strings better than any $1.4M p.a sporting puppet master. His results speak volumes.

Fair point Mike. im not a WH supporter and so cant claim to understand their roots. Perhaps akin to Melb V move to Etihad that angered supporters (also had plenty to do with a stadium management that had no clue about football fans). Less history there of course but left olympic park to play at a souless stadium that had no atmosphere in return for increased profit and capacity (still play there so not just a case of relocation whilst AAMI being built). To really compete and increase revenue to increase wages, transfer you need to boost attendance, corporate revenue and hard decisions need to be made. im sure it is a mixture - anger at performances, the move was supposed to generate more revenue that hasnt translated into better players being brought in (sold their best player to marseille in fact). i just think protest peacefully if u want, nothing excuses on-field pitch invasions or vitriol directed at others

Just because they arent happy doesnt mean that it's the directors fault. They negotiated a new stadium with close to 25k extra seats. They have backed their manager by buying players. The players and manager have not been performing so the fans blame the board...West Ham fans have never been known as the smart type

"People who attend A-League matches and act like decent human beings have no reason to fear being banned. This suggestion that those who have been banned are innocent, just misidentified or in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that any fan could be slapped with a banning notice for no reason at all, is total rubbish" Yeh...no. I have been misidentified before when out in public places. It's not fun and extremely frustrating when the 'authorities' deem you to be someone they believe to have done something wrong when you are not that person, and you have no right to appeal it.

Exactly. If history is anything to go by, this is the FFA's way of trying to show like they are listening to fans until all the tension dissipates and they can then do nothing.

I'm pretty confident David Gallop & Steven Lowy won't be out there holding the smoke devices. Nor will it be any employee of the FFA, ALeague, clubs, or Stadium.

Same poser who is on here every day telling us the FFA led by David Gallop is clueless. Truly, you can't make this stuff up.

good points. west ham move to a more accessible area of london, lower ticket prices, get more people to the game, get a new stadium virtually for free (2.5 mill/year lease) and enable them to compete more with the additional revenue. The anger is cos they are in a relegation battle and emotional fans are taking out their anger on whatever they can. Had they been comfortable mid table you would not be hearing about any of this. And we should never excuse or give any sort of validation to this behaviour. I see a lot of 'but you cant blame the fans for being angry' in the london papers which i think is nonsense. eject these fans and ban them forever. Leave the management to the CEO, im not sure any of the supporters would have been able to ngotiate such a great deal for the London stadium or manage an EPL club

Like every other relegation threatened team they are angry. Like every other relegation threatened team they blame 1.The players and/or 2.The manager and/or 3. The owners.

Which part says they won't be? Great way to assist active supporter groups would be allocate a licenced pyro handler and have them set off smoke according to an agreed policy. I am pretty confident that fans won't be in control.

How many Rugby, AFL, golf ads etc have you seen that were paid for by the respective league? I have seen AFL ads run by the host networks promoting upcoming games. I have seen ads run by sponsors that work as de-facto promotion of the game. Have I seen an ad run by the AFL?

On a boat you fire a flare out onto a big oceany thing without people in it, unlike a crowded grandstand with people everywhere. Even if they were legal they are banned by the Asian Football Federation of which we are a member.

Yet here they are working on policy to support it. While I erred in writing doing it. Lets say facilitating and not objecting to it shall we. How are kids going to stick it to the man when the thing they used to do it with is more or less legitimised. Im sure prohibition is part of the thrill for ppl who let off flares. Having FFA endorsed equivalents is going to take the fun out of that.

I appreciate this issue fully and I see through the smoke and mirrors people like yourself throw up to deflect attention and blame from the active support groups (at least, the hardcore troublemakers that exist within some of them). People who attend A-League matches and act like decent human beings have no reason to fear being banned. This suggestion that those who have been banned are innocent, just misidentified or in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that any fan could be slapped with a banning notice for no reason at all, is total rubbish. These are the exact same arguments we hear from such highly esteemed groups as construction unions and bikie gangs in their own contexts. People who are banned are not entitled to the protections of the criminal justice system because this has nothing to do with going to jail. It is about attending football matches, and the FFA and the clubs have every right to decide who can (or cannot) attend and the conditions upon which they attend. The fact that the police may not pursue an investigation against someone ejected from a match in no way whatsoever suggests that they are innocent. My experience, which i’ve said before, is that the FFA has been pretty tolerant of active support behavior over time, but have cracked down because active support groups, two in particular, continued to cross the few lines they could not cross, and demonstrated no remorse or willingness to change their behavior. I think “safe smoke” devices, if they see the light of day, will fail because the main appeal of flares to the idiots is not the light and smoke they generate, but the middle finger to authority that lighting one represents to them. The fact that the devices are sanctioned will take the fun out of it for them.