Mike Sheahan

[Grunty]

Your the idiot mate!

If soccer is so popular how come they could only pull 47,000 (In a city of almost 4 million = 1% ) to a final when telstra dome holds 56,600 and why dont they play in the real season winter? = No guts for a fight.?

Only 47,000?

Victory have surpassed even the FFA's wildest dreams. They would have been quite content with with a 20,000 average for Victory for the second season, but crowds of 50,000 and 47,000 and the expected sell out of Telstra Dome for the Grand Final have taken everybody by surprise.

The main reason for the A-League running between August - February is to coordinate it with the European playing seasons. Now that fans have got used to the carnival like atmosphere of balmy summer evenings, I doubt if any would want to go back to a winter season.

Someone mentioned it on another thread, but the nubile eye candy on display in their flimsy tops at these balmy evening games is a marketing tool in itself, and is enough to get the male hormones working overtime.

 

[cfc_4_ever]

same as the eagles and dockers.

people forget the dockers were only getting around 15-17k per match in 2002.

the eagles weren;t doing much better. Perth love winners.

Perth is massive on jumping on band wagons. Same in every sport, Basketball is massive like that. Even the news media wont say anythin about the WildCats unless they win. The Western Warriors are the same too!! But there is a degree of this in EVERY code EVERYWHERE, no1 wants to bak a loser.

 

[Lonie_from_50]

Soccer will always be popular, there is nothing you can do about it. It was popular when there was no domestic competition, but we grew up between those years (99-04 i think it was), and it was always going to be big, but with the success of the national team, it has helped it's cause I guess.

Then again, it is not football as we know it.

 

[Prince Imperial]

Sheahan and the Hun are just trying to sell newpapers. There's nothing wrong with him having his view as it is essentially an inherently subjective thing for anyone and many soccer fans have the same reaction to our game. My Dad who was born and bred 30 miles from Glasgow (an absolute hotbed of the sport) has exactly the same views as Sheahan on soccer and much prefers Australian Football.

I've played and watched soccer for a fair bit of my life and the game on Sunday that I attended was a dull contest (Allsop's goal not withstanding) until the last couple of minutes.

 

[Pevers-Legend]

The main reason for the A-League running between August - February is to coordinate it with the European playing seasons. Now that fans have got used to the carnival like atmosphere of balmy summer evenings, I doubt if any would want to go back to a winter season.

I don't mind watching soccer - it will neve rbe my no. 1 sport - but above is funny. Why can;t soccer nuts admit they got cained when they went toe to toe with AFL and Rugby.

Why would you play an extremely physcially draining sport in summer - to coincide with the euro winter season? ha! They went for a season which has no footy in the market. And a good choice it was.

But please - stop living in denial.

 

[Kaiser Powser]

This guy has to write a piece virtually every day, so to fill this large volume of stories, he is often required to write stories based purely on his own opinion, I for one do not believe he is smart enough or witty enough to pull off an opion piece, which generally leaves him to just point out players and coaches faults and in this case a completely different sport. Sheahan pull your head in!!

 

[emperor]

What I am trying to tell here is that on what authority can anyone call any sport 'boring'

Their own authority. If you think a sport is boring, you don't need a degree in sport for that opinion to have credence. Sheahan thinks soccer is boring, so what?

Just take his article for what it is, an opinion piece that in reality was quite boring and predictable as he trotted out the same old arguments we hear every other day around the watercooler. An educated person would realise this article was filler, and probably took Sheahan about 5 minutes to write.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

Your the idiot mate!
Mike is just telling it like it is!
Every soccer game Ive been to Ive started to get bored before half time.
There is no comparison between the codes.

If soccer is so popular how come they could only pull 47,000 (In a city of almost 4 million = 1% ) to a final when telstra dome holds 56,600 and why dont they play in the real season winter? = No guts for a fight.?

How dumb do you have to be?

Soccer is played and is a tad more popular than AFL football. So the A League doesn't draw massive crowds because it is a new league. In Australia, AFL is more popular than soccer but soccer is gaining in small way, the real reason for the pissant article.

How about looking overseas...

Harry Kewell could probably buy your club, whatever it is. You lovem so much that you don't want to tell anyone... on an AFL site who you suport.

There are transfer fees of a 90 million pound. That's like 235 [excuse my Maths] million just to transfer a player. Players earn 200,000 pounds a week. Half a million Aussie dollars a week. Yes, this money comes from the popularity of the game.

How myopic do you have to be. Maybe, you're just trolling in Toorak.

 

[Ari]

While I certainly dont agree with everything in that article I think its well written and a preety honest opinion.

 

[doppleganger]

people that simply dont understand soccer shouldn't pass comment on it

the most baffling comments that mike made were

he left before the finish!!!! a game that was alive 1-1 with Melbourne needing a goal and Adelaide defending like crazy and he simply buggers off?? He doesn't get it

he would rather watch a game that has 3 goals in a quarter??? Soccer isn't defined by the goals scored, u can have a very exciting 0-0 game and a boring 3-1 game. Massive difference between having to get a ball thru an enclosed goal with a bloke defending it, to getting a ball thru undefended posts with no height restrictions, of course ur going to see more goals in AFL

the game itself was a poor game, because Adelaide went defensive, but it just shows that unlike AFL games every last contest counts

AFL is the best game going around, but u actually have to have an understanding of what is happening in a soccer game.....and the game has to mean something for it to be exciting, it is not a good game to watch for "neutral" supporters in the norm

 

[Hit And Rum]

It's an opinion piece. It is written as Mike Sheahan's opinion and then to be agreed or disagreed with individually. Thats it.

 

[TheSaviour]

Mike Sheahan said after the Australia Uruguay match he attended that it was the best thing he ever saw and said the AFL could learn a thing or 2. Now he changes his mind because he smells fear. f**king hyprocrite.

 

[Crow-mo]

Why don't you ******** off!!

You're a tosser, seriously.

well you've brought a lot to the table

 

[Crow-mo]

At least the premiers in the a-league didn't cheat the salary cap by over 1.5million dollars to win the title.

Soccer is here to stay and it may not be in sheahans lifetime but will be the biggest code in the country sooner rather than later.

I'm sorry if sheahan doesn't enjoy it but he has made a fool of himself and the soccer fans on the world game will laugh at his article.

I smell fear.

ok, you like soccer. good for you.

but, rather than rattle off some mindless platitudes - have you ever thought about what it is, that has made soccer so popular?

I'll give you a hint, it's not the game itself.

 

[TheSaviour]

The game for me is far more entertaining than AFL. its not the attraction of the fans for me.

 

[doppleganger]

but, rather than rattle off some mindless platitudes - have you ever thought about what it is, that has made soccer so popular?

I'll give you a hint, it's not the game itself.

???

what made soccer so popular?

 

[pazza]

Let's put the crowds into perspective 47k at the dome, 48k at the G...both would have appeared to be catering to the same supporter base. Putting them on at the same time was just a bad idea...the Dome should have been used on the Saturday night and then those who went, could make the cricket on Sunday a much bigger crowd.

 

[Hoops]

Though I don't understand the point of his article at least Sheehan is trying to be diplomatic about it. I remember another Herald Sun Columnist - No not Andrew Bolt but Paul Gray who is not even a sports journalist wrote a coulmn just before the Socceroos game against Greece, stating how much he was looking forward to going to the game, and how overrated Football is etc. so the badmouthing of other codes goes both ways

 

[GhostofJimJess]

You know American Football? I find it boring. Can't stand it. Tried to watch a bit of it on the telly last night, did not last three minutes.

Couple of things here - there is one key reason why you both have found these two sports boring, despite them enjoying their position as the two most popular football codes with spectators in the world.

You have no emotional investment in any of the teams.

Without this commitment, you are watching it purely as theater, and are probably unable to get fully absorbed in any contest/competition for an extended period of time.

Similarly, I have pretty much given up attempting to "convert" folks over here in Europe to AFL. They watch it like we in Australia would watch Japanese extreme wrestling or the running of the bulls - a bit of a lark, some heavy hits, but ATEOTD they have no real connection with it. They care very little whether West Coast beat Sydney, or the Colts beat the Bears.

But one of my great friends is a passionate Inter Milan supporter in Italian Series A. He lives for the team, and his house is adorned in the blue & black vertical stripes of his team. Watching a derby against AC Milan with him is like any mad Bombers or Maggies supporter watching their teams play on Anzac Day, and he is engrossed with every on-field contest and off-field drama, as we are with all things AFL.

Personally, I have strong emotional attachements with my EPL team and the Tigers in the AFL, as well as Munster in Rugby Union. As such, I feel I can appreciate any contest involving these clubs in their respective codes, as well as feeling the rub off effect of watching contests in these codes not necessarily involving my beloved teams.

Anybody who truly believes that "their code" is the best spectator sport simply because they have grown up with it or are passionate about one or more teams in the code is just being narrow-minded, conceited and arrogant.

That said, bring on the AFL season 2007 ... and the Champions League .... and the Heineken Cup ... and the ...

 

[Kingpin]

Both sports can be extremely entertaining at various times and both can be downright tedious at other times, especially the way AFL level football has been played in recent years - 10 years ago I would've said no-contest on the matter.

 

[TheSaviour]

Soccer is here to stay but it is not going to become the biggest code in Australia, although it certainly will be up there.

And I say this as Melbourne Victory member and a soccer nut.

You forget that no-one outside melbourne, Perth and adelaide give a sh*t about AFL. AFL is not and never will be a national game. Victorians need to understand this.

 

[bullish23]

The fact Sheahan feels the need to write this article, says to me how far football has come along in oz.

I love both games, as many on these boards do. Mike doesn't like football, big deal. An opinion he is totally allowed to have. However he comes across as petty and unprofessional in that he feels the need to bag one game in order to promote another in print. Mike stick to what you are paid to do, writing AFL stories.

Further, big surprise there had to be another bagging football article after another fantastic crowd at the Telstra Dome.

 

[Alphanumeric]

Both sports can be extremely entertaining at various times and both can be downright tedious at other times, especially the way AFL level football has been played in recent years - 10 years ago I would've said no-contest on the matter.

I agree with you.

But at least in a footy game 9 times out of 10 your going to see a team win.

Thats what I don't like about soccer, they can play for 90mins and most of the time its a draw.

I don't jump around saying that soccer is a crap game and footy is better blah blah blah. Soccer just doesnt do anything for me.

My views are the same as Mikes.

 

[peoplespoet]

Thats two threads on the first page of the AFL section with people argueing over which sport is better. Same arguements over and over from both sides and it is becoming a little sad.
My only comment is if you love soccer and are so secure in its place as the world game why do you give a rats behind about Mike SHEAHANS view.
All sports a valid and people love and enjoy them for a wide variety of reasons, why does that offend so many people.

 

[Jason Voorhees]

You forget that no-one outside melbourne, Perth and adelaide give a sh*t about AFL. AFL is not and never will be a national game. Victorians need to understand this.

You forgot to include Tasmania & the Northern Territory pal.