Post by Blaze on Mar 1, 2012 18:26:05 GMT 10
Guys after witnessing the largely political games within the FFA and the management of the national competition (A-league) since 2005 it must be said that when compared to Soccer Australia, these guys have no idea.
The NSL had been around for years and while there were hiccups occasionally, the sport survived, the older clubs weren't dropping like flies and the clubs produced a generation of footballers who represented Australia at the FIFA World Cup and were close to eliminating the Italian side which reached the final.
Compare those achievements to 'football but not as we know it'. Within 2 seasons, the New Zealand Knights folded and needed to be replaced by the Wellington Phoenix, crowds have been dropping at a rate much faster than the NSL in the years before Olympic moved to Toyota park (which was a catalyst to the competition's demise) we've seen 3 teams based in Queensland which is the heartland of Rugby league yet only one team each in Sydney and Melbourne which in the past have supported up to 4 teams each. We've seen the North Queensland Fury fold after it's first season, and now the Gold Coast's license has been revoked.
As a football fan I'm left scratching my head at how we've gotten here.
The conclusion is this; The difference between Soccer Australia and Football Federation Australia is that under the Soccer Australia model clubs were given voting rights and a voice in the management of the game within Australia. Now we see the FFA as a largely dictatorial force which sweeps down and crushes anyone who criticises the management. I don't see how this is fair and why there is hesitation to speak out against this tyranny which has befallen our beautiful game.
The highlight of Frank Lowy's failure was the lobbying effort which not only did not win the right to host the FIFA World Cup but displayed the incompetence of the people who were paid millions to lobby for our cause only to secure 1 vote.
The most terrifying part of all of this though, is that it has all happened in the span of 7 years. The NSL had been around for decades and never saw this much turmoil since David Hill brought in the first wave of reforms which meant that clubs had to remove any ethnic flags or Symbols from their logos, change their names from "Hellas" or "Croatia" and that any flags other than the Australian Flag were banned from grounds. The clubs complied and the game moved on.
The Gay Leagueand the FFA however took it all a step further and shunned all of the traditional clubs which had contributed to the development of the Socceroo squad of 2006 which many football fans took as a slap in the face of the people who had worked tirelessly to bring the level of the National team to those heights. What I ask is, why? Apart from the ethnic stigma attached to the older clubs, there isn't much difference between those clubs and the new Gay Leaguefranchises. Money was being lost to sustain the competition and the clubs, crowds were dropping and the game was suffering, which is all happening now in the A-league. The main differences which are obvious to the true footballing community is that during the NSL the clubs were clubs. That is, they were made up of the directors, members, players and fans, and collectively formed clubs like Sydney Olympic, Sydney United, South Melbourne, Perth Glory, Northern Spirit and Marconi just to name a few. The Gay Leagueclubs of today however treat the fans as customers and not as the community which forms the foundation of the club and the fans which can see that they are being treated as such are turning their backs, and you can't blame them.
The crowds in the Gay Leaguestadiums are filled with people who have only recently supported the national competition, but are quick to judge and criticise supporters of the older clubs for not jumping on the band wagon. My question to all of these new "hardcore football fans" is this: Where were you all during the decades of football in Australia prior to the A-league? The most common answer which one will hear is that they were not interested in supporting ethnic sides, again I scratch my head and think, what ethnic ties did Northern Spirit, Parramatta Power, Canberra Cosmos, Perth Glory, Newcastle Breakers, Brisbane strikers and Carlton FC have? Couldn't these "hardcore football fans" find one single club without ethnic ties from the clubs I've just mentioned. The excuses are just excuses. What I refuse to accept though is the criticism from these same people for supporting the club I have supported since I was an infant and not jumping ship. That is what it means to be a true fan. No matter what happens to your team, during the ups and the downs to be there and show your support and I'm sorry to say that even Frank Lowy is guilty of abandoning his club Sydney City Hakoa to their fate and abandoning the game in general in order to build up his Westfields empire.
All in all the only ray of hope that I can see in all of this debacle was the successful admission of the FFA into the Asian confederation with 2 spots in the Asian Champions League and a much easier pathway for the Socceros into the FIFA World Cup.
I hope in the coming months something drastic happens to change the game from a league which is concerned with only money, to a league which respects the game, it's stakeholders, the clubs and above all, the fans.
Blaze
The NSL had been around for years and while there were hiccups occasionally, the sport survived, the older clubs weren't dropping like flies and the clubs produced a generation of footballers who represented Australia at the FIFA World Cup and were close to eliminating the Italian side which reached the final.
Compare those achievements to 'football but not as we know it'. Within 2 seasons, the New Zealand Knights folded and needed to be replaced by the Wellington Phoenix, crowds have been dropping at a rate much faster than the NSL in the years before Olympic moved to Toyota park (which was a catalyst to the competition's demise) we've seen 3 teams based in Queensland which is the heartland of Rugby league yet only one team each in Sydney and Melbourne which in the past have supported up to 4 teams each. We've seen the North Queensland Fury fold after it's first season, and now the Gold Coast's license has been revoked.
As a football fan I'm left scratching my head at how we've gotten here.
The conclusion is this; The difference between Soccer Australia and Football Federation Australia is that under the Soccer Australia model clubs were given voting rights and a voice in the management of the game within Australia. Now we see the FFA as a largely dictatorial force which sweeps down and crushes anyone who criticises the management. I don't see how this is fair and why there is hesitation to speak out against this tyranny which has befallen our beautiful game.
The highlight of Frank Lowy's failure was the lobbying effort which not only did not win the right to host the FIFA World Cup but displayed the incompetence of the people who were paid millions to lobby for our cause only to secure 1 vote.
The most terrifying part of all of this though, is that it has all happened in the span of 7 years. The NSL had been around for decades and never saw this much turmoil since David Hill brought in the first wave of reforms which meant that clubs had to remove any ethnic flags or Symbols from their logos, change their names from "Hellas" or "Croatia" and that any flags other than the Australian Flag were banned from grounds. The clubs complied and the game moved on.
The Gay Leagueand the FFA however took it all a step further and shunned all of the traditional clubs which had contributed to the development of the Socceroo squad of 2006 which many football fans took as a slap in the face of the people who had worked tirelessly to bring the level of the National team to those heights. What I ask is, why? Apart from the ethnic stigma attached to the older clubs, there isn't much difference between those clubs and the new Gay Leaguefranchises. Money was being lost to sustain the competition and the clubs, crowds were dropping and the game was suffering, which is all happening now in the A-league. The main differences which are obvious to the true footballing community is that during the NSL the clubs were clubs. That is, they were made up of the directors, members, players and fans, and collectively formed clubs like Sydney Olympic, Sydney United, South Melbourne, Perth Glory, Northern Spirit and Marconi just to name a few. The Gay Leagueclubs of today however treat the fans as customers and not as the community which forms the foundation of the club and the fans which can see that they are being treated as such are turning their backs, and you can't blame them.
The crowds in the Gay Leaguestadiums are filled with people who have only recently supported the national competition, but are quick to judge and criticise supporters of the older clubs for not jumping on the band wagon. My question to all of these new "hardcore football fans" is this: Where were you all during the decades of football in Australia prior to the A-league? The most common answer which one will hear is that they were not interested in supporting ethnic sides, again I scratch my head and think, what ethnic ties did Northern Spirit, Parramatta Power, Canberra Cosmos, Perth Glory, Newcastle Breakers, Brisbane strikers and Carlton FC have? Couldn't these "hardcore football fans" find one single club without ethnic ties from the clubs I've just mentioned. The excuses are just excuses. What I refuse to accept though is the criticism from these same people for supporting the club I have supported since I was an infant and not jumping ship. That is what it means to be a true fan. No matter what happens to your team, during the ups and the downs to be there and show your support and I'm sorry to say that even Frank Lowy is guilty of abandoning his club Sydney City Hakoa to their fate and abandoning the game in general in order to build up his Westfields empire.
All in all the only ray of hope that I can see in all of this debacle was the successful admission of the FFA into the Asian confederation with 2 spots in the Asian Champions League and a much easier pathway for the Socceros into the FIFA World Cup.
I hope in the coming months something drastic happens to change the game from a league which is concerned with only money, to a league which respects the game, it's stakeholders, the clubs and above all, the fans.
Blaze
