The most recent edition of the Big Blue was seized upon by Southern Expansion to boost their case for an A-League expansion slot, but their new identity raises big questions.
A recent report in the Sydney Morning Herald makes for interesting reading, and some of its content is relevant to both the Southern Expansion bid and to A-League expansion more broadly.
The crowd of 19,000 fans was quickly used by Southern Expansion as a reason why they should be included in the next round of expansion. Supposedly this was down to the southern region being full of football fanatics who would get behind a team of their own if they had one.
But looking more closely, it could also be said that the region has already got well behind Sydney FC as 5000 of the 8500 tickets sold to the general public went to people who live in Sydney’s south. Importantly, that figure doesn’t include tickets sold to members from the southern region, who make up 30 per cent of the club’s membership of 12,400 people.
On support from fans, if Southern Expansion were admitted, they could either risk taking fans away from Sydney FC or fail to find fans of their own. This second possibility will also have a lot to do with the club’s identity, which has now become even more complex.
The article in the SMH goes on to say that if Southern Expansion were to be successful in their bid, “Australian sport could have its first club representative of an Indigenous nation. The Dharawal country is set to heavily influence the identity of the football club and could even be included in the name of the franchise, should it be granted entry into the competition”.
The directors of Southern Expansion see this Indigenous link between the regions as a way to unite fans from the different areas behind the club by including this influence in its name and colours. Bid chairman Morris Iemma confirmed this, saying, “Obviously green in terms of parkland, blue in terms of water and the other being the third really defining characteristic – our boundaries almost entirely match the Dharawal nation’s boundaries”.
While the colours might be all right, his point that the team’s boundaries almost entirely match the Dharawal nation’s boundaries is debatable.
Sutherland and Wollongong might both be within the Dharawal boundaries, but to the south you hit the Shoalhaven River, with Bomaderry on the north side being in Dharawal country and Nowra on the south side being Yuin. Not only that, but to the west there’s Macarthur, which is actually part of Dharawal country but is excluded from Southern Expansion’s designated catchment area.
But where things get really interesting is on the northern boundary of Dharawal country, where you hit the St George River separating Sutherland from St George. Oddly enough, St George isn’t Dharawal but the country of the Eora, whose territory ranges from the St George River in the south to the Hawkesbury River in the north and out towards Parramatta in the west.
(Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
So here we have an expansion bid that wants to play matches in three different stadiums in three different regions separated by a greater distance than that between Moore Park and Parramatta. Then, to unite these areas, they look towards an Indigenous nation whose borders include Macarthur, unlike Southern Expansion, while St George, which is within Southern Expansion’s catchment, isn’t part of Dharawal country at all but is actually Eora, which is in fact Sydney.
In any case, even if the boundaries overlapped perfectly, the First Nations people’s sense of clan identification often overrode more general loyalties to their own nations – Indigenous nations were just that: nations. Clan groups in Sutherland and Wollongong would have seen each other as part of the same nation but not the same community, like Londoners and Mancunians or Parisians and Marseillais. Combining Sutherland in Dharawal with St George in Eora would be like combining Normandy with Sussex.
Who does Morris Iemma think he is? William the Conqueror?
Criticism aside, if Southern Expansion stuck to Dharawal country and left out St George, it might have some integrity. Then, if Sydney FC adopted Eora as an official nickname, it could set up a Dreamtime Derby with Dharawal. Broadcasters might like the sound of that, as might the FFA.
It’s also worth noting at this point that the Dharawal FC concept is only a recent development and likely wasn’t part of the original planning process when it came to defining the club’s borders. Likewise, although this announcement may look a bit cynical at first, Craig Foster, who is part of the bid team, is a strong advocate of Indigenous football, and it’s possible that he has been making a genuine heartfelt push for this behind the scenes.
But it’s a bit risky to make an announcement like this so close to the day of the decision by FFA.
Southern Expansion’s morphing into Dharawal FC brings back the old chestnuts of club identity and the debate over adding new derbies or expanding into new regions. As the late Mike Cockerill once wrote, “If there is one clear lesson to emerge from the A-League’s brief history, it’s that a sense of community is everything”.
He then made the point that this lesson was being ignored, adding, “Commercial interest – fed by market research and focus groups – looks to be the driving force. Hence we have a push to create artificial franchises representing nebulous ‘corridors’ in the major cities simply because the suits believe this will deliver the cash cows they are looking for”.
It’s hard to see Southern Expansion succeeding when many fans there already support Sydney FC. It’d be even harder in Macarthur, which has half the number of registered players. It’s even harder again to see new teams working in Melbourne when Victoria has only about a third of the number of registered players as there are in New South Wales despite Melbourne having a similar population to Sydney.
Places like Canberra, Tasmania, Wollongong and even the Gold Coast might be the best options for expansion. But the suits at Deloitte and Fox will likely conclude otherwise when all they can see is metrics.
Sydneysideliner
Guest
You missed my point. I'm saying both current Sydney teams were established on much vaguer premises than southern, or MSW, propose. The western half of sydney is about five different established areas, with more communities yet to be built. More than enough areas, and underrepresented fans, to establish a new team.
Sydneysideliner
Guest
I'm happy for both. I stood up for southern in an earlier comment. This article seems like another excuse to lay the boot into them, without applying the same scrutiny to the other bids, or even the current teams, who were established on far less scrutiny about "sense of community" than these bids. Sydney is big and ugly enough for all 4 to coexist..
apaway
Roar Guru
Well, apart from the Wanderers...
Dart
Guest
Ok, so I was mistaken. Happy to be corrected. One more point is that there was more competition from other sports (rugby league) in the days of the NSL. I bussed it up to Parramatta for the grand final against Souths. Good times.
josh
Guest
I'd just prefer it if Sydney FC fans were honest and said the whole reason they want SW Sydney is for 2 reasons, 1) It hurts WSW 2) It stops Southern Expansion FC Taking half of Western Sydney away from the Wanderers is absurd, so are claims that WSW are a team for the Great Western Highway stretch between Parramatta and Penrith.
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
Josh is right. If that's the way we want to do it Sydney Sideliner, then Sydney FC can't claim Southern Expansion. The Blues are an Eastern Sydney team by foundation.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
If the Wanderers represent the Western half of metropolitan Sydney, doesn't it follow that there's only another half left to represent? Anyway, that's exactly what SFC is arguing with their lobbying.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Marcel Pretty obvious from the very start that it was all about getting their hands on Sydney real estate. As if any sane person is going to spend $300 million on a stadium that might...might... attract 8,000 to every home. It's all a bit of a ruse, and I'd be surprised if those in authority haven't seen through it.
oldpsyco
Guest
Tired of football being used for non-football political purposes. Neither the Dharawal or the Eora or even the Yuin for that matter EVER played Football! Why not identify with Redheads, because more redheads live in the area than other ares?? STUPID!
pacman
Roar Rookie
Yes Dart, the 1963 Final versus APIA in Sydney. In fairness, APIA supporters far outnumbered the South Coast contingent which had bussed up from Wollongong, although most neutrals appeared to be supporting "The Coast". APIA were unbackable favourites to take the trophy, but were bushwacked by "The Kelly Gang", led by Irishman captain coach Jim Kelly, who masterminded the 4-0 victory in front of thousands of disbelieving APIA fans. I know all this because I was there, one of the many neutrals chanting "Come on The Coast". South Coast United did not attract the 34,000 or so fans, the match did. How many fans would a Wollongong team attract? One would expect, with that region's proud soccer/football history, that they would outdraw Central Coast Mariners, a region with a history of significantly lesser proportions.
josh
Guest
Sydney FC have no right to claim the entire area as their own. See what I did there ?
Dart
Guest
But it was in the NSL, and many people stayed away because of the negative way in which the game was portrayed by the mainstream media. Yes, Wollongong’s aggregate crowds were smaller than much bigger cities than Perth, Adelaide and Newcastle. That is to be expected. But relative to population size, our crowds were bigger. Perth got 10,000 in a city of 1.5m (at the time) and Wolves got 5,000+ in a city of 270,000 (at the time). People in Wollongong were far more likely to attend the NSL than people in Perth. Almost all of that period, matches were played at Brandon Park. Wollongong Showgrounds is a more central location, with much better facilities, and within walking distance to the restaurant scene and nightlife. This would have a positive impact on crowds. The Wolves have probably the highest crowds in the NPL in Australia. They have attracted the highest FFA Cup crowds for a non-A-League club (except when A-League clubs have played an away game in their own town). The Wolves’ predecessor, South Coast United, reportedly attracted a crowd of 30,000+ in the 60s. We mightn’t have the biggest crowds, but they would be passionate about their team.
Sydneysideliner
Guest
In the last decade of the NSL, Wollongong never once averaged more than 6,000 people. Their best season average was worse than Wellington's worst so far. Their worst was below 3,000. Before you say "that was the NSL", Adelaide, Perth and Newcastle all did get consistently good crowds, hence why they're in the A-league now. If Wollongong and Canberra had demonstrated good and consistent mainstream appeal, they would've already been in the league by now.
Sydneysideliner
Guest
Wanderers have no right to claim that entire area as their own. From next season, they'll be permanently back in Parramatta and will likely never set foot in Campbelltown again. Places like Campbelltown, Liverpool and Penrith are all separate communities and bids are perfectly entitled to set up home there. Also future growth areas in Macarthur, Camden and Badgery's Creek give MSW even more justification for a separate identity. As for Canberra, they'll need a pretty significant change in community behaviour to prove a success. Cosmos had woeful crowds back in the NSL and the transient nature of the workforce there means a lot of people already have teams elsewhere and take some persuasion to switch allegiances (as the Raiders and Brumbies have often found).
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
What a coincidence! I literally had that same thought today while i was eating lunch at school.
Sydneysideliner
Guest
Enough with the Southern bashing already. Most of this article is spent analysing indigenous nation boundaries, then quickly throws in a comment on Canberra, Wollongong, Gold Coast and Tasmania being better options, with no critical analysis at all. Tasmania? An entire state? What a sense of community! So are you splitting your Tasmania FC matches between two cake tin fields 3 hours away from each other? Or Gold Coast, a series of beach suburbs 50km long, with no community core, that has failed several times in sporting ventures? I get Southern are overreaching by trying to connect with 3 areas, but let's give it some balanced discussion. Sydney FC was established 14 years ago to represent the entire metropolitan area. In their entire existence they've never had to prove their "sense of community". Western Sydney was established 6 years ago to represent the entire western half of the metropolitan area (Parramatta, Penrith, Campbelltown, Liverpool, take your pick). They played each other 2 years ago in front of 60,000 people. Are all those fans adequately represented now? The point is 3 areas is not the most ludicrous club "community strategy" put forward in the A-league's history...
Old Greg
Guest
Exactly. This was the genius of Nick Tana when Perth Glory was set up.
Marcel
Guest
Late to the party ..but 2 points to offer. A few weeks back I had a conversation with someone involved in the technical side of the Southern Expansion bid who directly confessed that the bid is entirely and solely a sweetener for the real estate proposal aligned to it. Secondly...the idea of indigenous nationhood is a fabrication of 70s academia designed to further sovereignty claims....Koori lived in clan based social groups ie extended families...they were so removed from the concept of nationhood that they didn't even invent words to describe it...words like Eora, Gadigal,. Dharawal... generally translate as here, us, etc rather than being actual names. The Sydney region had a pre European population of only around 5000...who had so little contact with each other that they spoke 13 different languages. When Bennelong travelled out to Parramatta with the British to help translate..he didn't have a clue what the locals were saying.. Aboriginal nationhood is just revisionist history for political purposes.
Marcel
Guest
Dude...it really is time you learned how to spell Wollongong.
Nick Symonds
Guest
Just another thought, isn't it odd that an Australian indigenous nation could be excluded under the NCIP but Wellington Phoenix are perfectly fine. Wellingtons logo isn't actually a Phoenix but the "Taniwha" from Maori Mythology and the motto ‘E Rere Te Keo’ was his "rallying cry" as you can see in the link below: https://www.wellingtonphoenix.com/news/wellington-phoenix-unveil-new-logo-1 Does that comply with clause 2.3?