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Ida Ioannou-Marsh

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Joined July 2018

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Football obsessive interested in the politics of sport in Australia. Sokkah > Soccer.

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Interesting article.
The thesis that the objectives of the WoFP have already been achieved in three years is a fascinating one and makes me think that maybe it’s a cop out on FFA’s behalf to set themselves goals that were already close to being accomplished in 2015. Admittedly I haven’t read the WoFP but could they be more ambitious?
Sometimes I wonder if Australian football is still caught in this caveman mentality of competition with other sports (AFL, NRL etc) and if actually it’s this mentality that holds it back. This is surely the residual effects of Warren-era Australian football which had to fight it’s way in from the fringes.
Is there scope now to acknowledge that yes, football probably isn’t going to be considered Australia’s national sport any time soon but is nonetheless the sport with the highest rate of participation… and then can we move on to bigger and better plans? It would be nice to see a focus on facilities, on boosting the women’s game, on boosting accessibility for remote or low socio-economic communities, without it having to be caught in a context of a fight to be more recognised than other Australian sports. Like, I understand that it matters if no-one is going to A-League games, but also there are much more interesting things to be organising around at the grassroots level surely!

The Whole of Football Plan: the 20-year prophecy that took three years to come true

Granted they didn’t invent it but they’re entitled to their pride for having catapulted it into a new tier of professionalism despite so much working against them at the time. Football in Australia would be nowhere near what it is today if not for these clubs.

Are derby chants just in jest?

Hmm, a lot of Sydney fans don’t live in the east, and I think there are still some Sky Blues fans in the west who have remained loyal despite introduction of WSW but don’t you think each of the teams represent differing images of Sydney regardless? I think there’s still something to be said for how we engage with each other on derby day.

Are derby chants just in jest?

Thanks for this article, I’m always keen to learn more about the women’s game. Very nicely researched and compiled.

Mothering the Matildas: The trailblazers who kickstarted Australian women's football

That’s cool!!! I’ll have to get myself to the Northwest. Which suburb is this in?

Where do we play? Street football facilities in Australia

I agree! But without facilities you have to have already have the drive instilled to get out and play. A designated space will increase football’s visibility, encouraging people to turn to it when they might not have otherwise.
Fair point though!

Where do we play? Street football facilities in Australia

One of the best articles I’ve read in a while. Love that it really laid out Ange’s managerial decisions in ways that I hadn’t even noticed at the time! Certainly a fascinating character.

From Rio to Russia: Did the Socceroos surge, stagnate or slide backwards in the last four years?

Fair enough, and good luck. In my view sport is politics whether we like it or not and there’s a lot to say for respecting it as such, but that’s another discussion for another time!

The Matildas keep showing the Socceroos how it's done

I really enjoyed this Stuart. While the comparison is futile (not necessarily because of ‘biological’ differences, but because of the very different histories of men’s and women’s football in Aus), I can’t help but wonder if perhaps the Matildas benefit from how much harder they’ve had to work to get where they are. Most Matildas play in both the MLS and the A-League, so they have the advantage of improving on their game all year ’round. Could this be a case of the complacent master that becomes lazy while the slave that works becomes practiced and powerful? A Hegelian dialectic for any philosophers out here!

The Matildas keep showing the Socceroos how it's done

It’s all well and good to think of football in terms of ranking, but – frankly – the Matildas are far more fun to watch right now than the Socceroos, and I think this is the point of Stuart’s article. They are really playing as a team with a vivacity and creativity that is so much more pleasurable to be a part of than the Socceroo’s frustrating stop-start style.

The Matildas keep showing the Socceroos how it's done

This was great to read, thanks for posting Marron. Galeano is spot on, but I agree with you – rewatching Schwarzer’s famous saves of 2005 will never cease to bring a tear to my eye and get my blood pumping. It certainly shouldn’t be Aloisi’s naked torso that represents that important day!

Goalkeeping 101: On learning to love the undesired position

Thanks for sharing this Nemesis. I actually didn’t know about this but so heartening of Casillas to do it!

Goalkeeping 101: On learning to love the undesired position

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