'Damage the game': Cove boycott is justifiable, but won’t make a difference if they go it alone

This guy gets it.

I think it was an issue in 2015 and, I may be wrong, but I thought there were challenges with timing when the old Sydney Football Stadium was co-hosting the Waratahs and three NRL teams. Either way, it sounds like it is no longer an issue and, regardless, I agree that it is no justification for the three-year hosting commitment to a Sydney venue.

I get that Waz, I don't get destroying the game to fix it. There are plenty of ways to protest and send a message.

I don't want to get in the middle of your debate here, but it is curious that the exact same day the the Cove announced their boycott due to what I understood was a lack of delivering on the promise of better fan engagement as Jubal1 has outlined, the Roar announced (just hours later) that they were calling for Expressions of Interest to form a fans advisory group for the club. They have had all year to do this but it only comes out has a threat of a boycott was enacted upon. You cant tell me this was a coincidence. It seems the Cove's actions have at least sparked one club into action.

The “fuss” Lionheart is that the APL could continue making dumb decisions that affect fans 3PM ko in summer - no problem. Move Mariners to Singapore - no problem. Have a team in PNG - no problem. Bonus points for scoring 4 goals - no problem. If you only care about a poor decision when it impacts you (ie Roar making the final) then you’ve missed the point — thankfully the Cove got the point. (The RBB may regret the next time the authorities come down in them heavy handed, there’ll be no support from other groups)

Well, I didn’t watch them on principle so wasn’t commenting on them. That highlights the main issue right - there’s nothing wrong with the product, it’s very watchable, it’s the low and falling engagement with people who like to watch football that’s the problem. A decline that’s been going on for nearly a decade. I have zero interest in the A League finals and that will likely transfer to very low to possibly zero interest in the A League itself next season whilst this stupid GF decision remains in play. I have had zero interest in ANY overseas league, but I’ll backfill the A League with Optus Sport & EPL if I have too.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and cut the APL some slack over this misguided decision of theirs. Struggling to secure a venue for grand finals has been a recurring problem in the past and, as an embryonic organisation, they are probably closer to insolvency than they are to their billion-dollar counterparts at the AFL and NRL. Football has been an orphan for decades; Destination NSW offered them a home and, regardless of the financial inducements, it is not surprising that they accepted. Having said that, it was the wrong decision to make. It also seems ironic that Graham Arnold is still bemoaning the lack of suitable permanent facilities for our national teams which makes this seem like an opportunity missed to extract serious concessions for football, in a broader sense, from a willing benefactor desperate to justify the construction of taxpayer funded stadia. Once again, those charged with running our game prove that they couldn't organise a two-car parade.

Football is not doing well if the top tier, the only professional tier, is struggling.

Come on Waz, that last line is a load of you know what. How can you possibly say that the two elimination finals were not good to watch?

So fan uproar has done all the work but at the same time there's no support for what The Cove is doing. Make up your mind, if the boycott isn't working why is the fan representation system being setup all of a sudden? Your 'alternative methods' are laughable and simply demonstrate you've never dealt with the FFA/FA or APL in any capacity. The only thing that motivates them is money and avoiding looking foolish. Boycotting, something we've only ever done once before in 18 years is a last resort after the APL decided not to do the things they promised to do in meetings in January.

But you are saying that there's nothing to be gained from the boycott, which is simply not true. Of course they're not in favour of the GF decision, but they worked out in January that there was no changing it, so instead fought for fan representation in such decisions, if and when they achieve that concession from the APL will you still say it was pointless?

“Boycotting is, of course, contentious, but to those saying that we should find other ways to protest, what are those other ways? ” Plenty of others ways if you bothered to think.. t shirts, protests outside games, letters to related parties, petitions & street marches for starters. The reason you dont try some of those is beacside you know the numbers in support are laughable. Most of us members accept the commerical realities & the fact no group/owner is ever going to hand over any effective control to the fan base. However giving the fans a clear voice may be a good thing. As others point out the leaders of the Cove are self appointed with an inflated view of themselves. ps as said elsewhere..the boyoctt has acheieved nothing, the fan uproar has done the work..

Sorry Christian, your article’s premise is that the boycott will achieve nothing because the GF plan won’t be reversed, as I’ve explained, the current boycott has achieved significant progress in Fan Represenation plans which is it’s purpose, triggered by the failure of the APL to keep the commitments which ended the original protests in January. If you are going to be critical, at least be factually correct, go read the statements made by The Cove in January and over the last week.

I never cease to be amazed at how many football writers and commenters fail to do even basic research about subjects before pontificating about it. The boycott IS NOT about the location of the finals, ever since OSM decided to screw everything up, everyone knows that there was no chance of changing that decision. The Cove and Yarra Side are boycotting because the APL has failed to make good on its commitments made in January to introduce fan representation and an independent chairman for the APL in order to give fans some kind of voice in decisions that affect them. This has been documented in numerous joint and Cove specific statements, that frankly most people, including the author of this piece, don't seem to have picked up, everyone's still talking about the GF decision. All the active support groups bar OSM agreed to suspend boycotts on the basis that APL would introduce that fan representation framework by seasons end and would communicate and collaborate with fan representatives as things progressed. They did not, so The Cove resumed the boycott, asked all the other actives to join them in holding the APL to account for their broken promises while there was still an opportunity to do so. Unfortunately the other groups decided to put their short-term fun before the good of the game. Given that the general consensus was that the game v's WSW was likely to be Sydney FC's last finals game, pledging to boycott the Grand Final alone wouldn't send any kind of message if it's really unlikely that Sydney FC would be in it, so boycotting the WSW game was the only way to make an impact and highlight the APL's failure to deliver what it promised. Boycotting is, of course, contentious, but to those saying that we should find other ways to protest, what are those other ways? For those saying its destroying the game, why arent you asking the APL why they failed to keep their word (and why they keep making these dumb decisions) ? Why blame the only people taking a stand against this bullshit? If you think the boycott isn't working, ask yourself why more progress has been made in the 9 days since the resumption of hostilities, with Danny Townsend getting signoff from club CEO's for a fan engagement model at club level that rolls up into an APL fan engagement group, none of that happened till The Cove resumed the boycott. If you're a fan who didn't boycott, fair enough, The Cove has said again and again,that they respect the right of all fans to decide for themselves, sadly many people lack the same respect for the Cove's right to decide what they want to do. It's frustratin that much of the debate about this subject is based on an inaccurate understanding of what's happening and why. Some people, especially the cosplay ultras, will shit on The Cove, no matter what they do, fine, whatever, but if you're actually interested in what's happening and why, reading The Cove's statements will help clarify. Whether the boycott continues depends on what the APL comes back with this week, if it's a good faith effort with a real timetable e.g. they're meeting their commitments, then maybe things will change, if not, more boycotting is certain.

I dont see them as a lost cause..more misguided... :stoked: ..what soccer needs to do is let them know theyre wrong. If many people complain to the ABC and nothing changes we complain to the Govt..the ABC is meant to be a PUBLIC broadcaster..

They are a lost cause. On some news reports they give us results and stories about Richmond v Carlton or whatever. They even ignore league. Who in Sydney (apart from ex Vics) want to hear about 2 Melbourne suburbs going at it.