It sometimes feels like the quickest way to shut down any conversation in a social situation is to casually mention to whomever you’re talking to that you’re an A-Leagues fan.
I’ve lost count of the number of times people have looked at me like I’m from another planet when I mention I watch the A-Leagues.
Often people will start talking to me about European football – and let’s face it, it’s almost always about the English Premier League – and the second I steer the topic towards domestic football is the second the conversation stops.
One time at a party I overheard someone complain to another guest that I “knew nothing about football” because I was trying desperately to avoid talking about the Premier League.
And so, for the most part, I simply avoid talking about the A-Leagues in social situations.
I’ve tried instead to get my football fix online, but for the past few years getting involved in social media has been even worse than trying to talk about the A-Leagues down at the pub.
That’s because, for a certain type of user, the only reason social media exists is to spark an argument.
And some of the worst culprits are the fans of big European teams who seem to spend 24 hours a day flinging out venomous vitriol on behalf of their chosen super club.
Darwin Nunez of Liverpool celebrates after the The FA Community Shield (Photo by Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
I thought as much when New York Times football writer Tariq Panja wrote a perfectly reasonable piece about Barcelona president Joan Laporta essentially mortgaging his club’s future.
Barcelona’s financial crisis is the biggest scandal since the Super League and if they were any other club, they’d be expelled from La Liga and forced to re-form in one of the amateur divisions.
But although nothing Panja wrote was remotely controversial, it didn’t stop the usual army of social media drones from accusing him of unfairly targeting their club.
The same thing happened when Adam Crafton wrote a similar editorial for The Athletic, with numerous Twitter users suggesting the English writer had it in for the Blaugrana and would never dare write a similar piece on any other club.
If there was one thing almost all of these social media critics seemed to have in common, it’s that none of them appeared to live in Spain.
And as soon as Panja or Crafton or another journalist writes about any other club, they’ll soon have an army of that club’s fans bagging them relentlessly in the comments section.
But it’s not like this sort of behaviour is limited to European football.
When Sydney Morning Herald journalist Dom Bossi revealed last week that he was stepping down after more than a decade at the newspaper, the usual cadre of Western Sydney Wanderers fans chimed in that they were happy to see him depart because he was supposedly so biased against their team.
Many of these are the same fans who complain about a lack of mainstream media coverage.
It’s the same attitude that leads many A-Leagues fans to proudly announce they’ve long boycotted this column – because at one time or another I wrote something mildly provocative about their club.
The penny has never dropped that refusing to engage with what little coverage the A-League generates only leads to outlets choosing to no longer cover it.
Everything is just so binary on the internet – there’s no room for nuance and every tweet or debate or column is either the best thing ever written or a crime against humanity.
And so you open Twitter or Facebook or whatever forum you read just knowing you’re about to be bombarded by hot takes and conspiracy theories and absurd complaints about journalists from London hating bankrupt clubs from Barcelona.
It’s exhausting. But that’s football in 2022.
And if you’re anything like me, it’s sometimes enough to make you shut down the laptop, switch off the phone and find something better to do.
Kewell
Roar Rookie
Mick, no I’m not annoyed, we have free speech and choice in this country, at least we used too. Given the power of the press that supports NRL in NSW and peer pressure that comes with that I’m not surprised.
Kewell
Roar Rookie
Mick, a bit late with this comment. The indigenous people are gifted and natural athletes. They have proved their ability at the biggest test international sports (same Kerr and Cathy Freeman). Football Australia should be putting a lot more resources into indigenous football development.
Grem
Roar Rookie
The committee is hopefully the start point not the end. Enjoy the NRL and I’ll continue to enjoy the A League.
MickDonovan
Roar Rookie
That is good new news but I very much doubt you'll see me there. The NRL are actually in the communities here, the Panthers have an office in Bathurst and the Bulldogs actually go into the missions and give the kids shirts and jerseys, the Rabbitohs have some of the most deadly athletes in the country representing proudly each week. I grew up watching union but this is why I now support league. Committees are great but if you aren't seen living it out people won't get on board.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Just read the best story Mick - Adam Goodes has just become a member of the Indigenous Advisory Board for football alongside Stan Grant, Craig Foster and present indigenous players. Hopefully this creates an environment that more indigenous people find comfortable. Might see you at an A League game in the future.
Aiden
Guest
Sad actually. First few years or so the crowds built and built. There was a great family friendly atmosphere (and by they don’t think I am knocking the active support … they make it fun as well). And for the last five years or more it’s just been grinding negativity even though the quality of the football has improved out of sight!
Punter
Roar Rookie
See I don't see our game as being in a predicament, the A-League yes, but not the sport of football in Australia.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Keep writing Mike - your articles always drive plenty of comments. I generally enjoy what you've got to say even if I virulently disagree with you at times. The season starts soon, hopefully it will be a relatively normal one, in which case some of the old regulars might well return here.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
If we had more like you Punter, our game would not be in its current predicament.
chris
Guest
Not sure if you were asking me anything in your response. It's hard to tell. Ch 10 do a great job of promoting football and the A League. There is so much football content globally, the A League gets lost at times. That's one thing the AFL and NRL don't have to contend with. Content. They have a few games globally, for a only 7 months of the year.
chris
Guest
Why would it turn people off?
Punter
Roar Rookie
Not to mention Tonga, a country with a population of 100K, a world power in RL.
Grem
Roar Rookie
I understand those percentages and football needs to do a better job to make their game attractive to our indigenous community. Only 1.2% of our A League is indigenous, which means we’re doing a bad job. I meant not many people overall play rugby league. As it is played in only 2 states and the overall numbers that are registered players is quite low compared to football, basketball, AFL, netball, cricket, etc it is a game that doesn’t have a lot of participants.
MickDonovan
Roar Rookie
I wasn't comparing it globally, he asked what clubs identify with Aboriginal communities.
MickDonovan
Roar Rookie
You seem annoyed that I don't support football. Why would I support a sport that I don't identify with?
MickDonovan
Roar Rookie
8 percent of Australia is Indigenous and 15 percent of NRL players is Indigenous. Where did the figure very few come from? Come to an Aboriginal community, not many kids are talking about football
Grem
Roar Rookie
Come on Punter - the NRL World Cup is coming up soon with great league nations such as Lebanon, the USA, Sweden, etc. competing!
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Don't worry, hardly any Roar regulars would have picked up the error!
Grem
Roar Rookie
I meant the Kookaburras, but the Hockeyroos did well, too - silver.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Meant the Kookaburras, but the Hockeyroos did well with a silver, too.