Should we take a stand against soccer?

[Zvim]

Soccer is no threat. Anyone that is any good will be poached by a Euro league. While we continue to have the D-League it will never really draw the kind of support to be a threat. D-League standard is absolute shit. It would be like a third grade amateur afl league being a threat to the AFL.

We should bend over backwards to get the world cup here just to highlight just how bad a standard they are paying to watch.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

I've been following AFL since I was six years old Rex. I've been following association football for a while as well, but more so recently. I guess I would say I support both equally.

I am exactly as much a 'true' Australian football fan as you are.

Well said Tom - that sums up my own position very effectively as well...

I refuse to call American "football" anything but handegg.

I hereby endorse this quote

 

[Durham Hawks]

the AFL is its own worst enemy, not anther sport.

they are changing a lot and not suffering, eventually they will touch something sacred that will cause a revolt among fans at the turnstile and with TV audiences.

 

[Dimenhydrinate]

Just the fact that Soccer's governing body insist that the World Cup host country suspend all other codes for the duration of the WC and the month prior to the WC. If that isn't abuse then tell me what else one sport could do to another that is abuse.

Nobody forced Australia to bid. If Australia doesn't want it, then why waste everybody's time?

 

[SweetLeftFoot]

Yet another example of a lamo thread that appears every off season and sparks exactly the same debate with exactly the same posts.

 

[Constructionist]

Yet another example of a lamo thread that appears every off season and sparks exactly the same debate with exactly the same posts.

This being one of them.


Back on topic soccer can't compete with AFL anyhow. Soccer has zero violence. In case anyone is wondering why AFL is so successful it's because it blends the best bits of every sport into one, it has violence, skills, athletics, everything.

I seriously don't understand how anyone can watch soccer not drunk. It's like baseball. When you are spoiled on the AFL everything else looks overweight and disease ridden.

 

[baekgom84]

Why is there so much animosity towards soccer, but not towards cricket? Both sports are played (professionally) in the summer here, and both sports require similar kinds of athletes. some of whom might have been able to choose a career in the AFL instead. Cricket's profile here is much bigger than soccer, and with the success of Twenty20 and the IPL, will provide more lucrative career options than the AFL will ever be able to compete with. It also allows you the opportunity to represent your country in meaningful competition. Why is it acceptable for the AFL to co-exist with cricket but not soccer?

The move to rename 'soccer' as 'football' in this country is a branding issue. The term 'soccer' still carries some negative and patronising connotations in any country where it isn't the major code of football. I will still call it soccer because for me, football refers to Australian Rules Football, and I assume most of you will too. There will be no law to decree that the word 'soccer' shall henceforth be never spoken again.

Each sport offers something unique and I try to follow as many of them as I can. I think it would be pathetic if people actively went out of their way to prevent the growth of another sport, especially in this country which I think is one of the greatest sporting nations in the world, if not the best. Besides, with the amount of diving and soft free kicks being handed out these days, the AFL is starting to resemble soccer more and more each season.

 

[Fitzcray]

Soccer is a low low sport in Australia.
The Melbourne victory are the biggest soccer team in this country yet their averages are less than all of the Melb-based footy clubs.
The other A League club crowds are merely friends and loves ones.
The A League barely rates on pay tv and even Socceroo games have been neglected (aus v oman a case in point).
We like fast-moving contact sports in Australia, not pussy sports that cater for spoilt primadonnas.
While ever Australian Rules is around as an option, soccer will always struggle down under.
Sorry round ball fans but that's the way it is.
We have nothing to fear Robert Walls is a tool.

 

[Fitzcray]

I seriously don't understand how anyone can watch soccer not drunk. It's like baseball. When you are spoiled on the AFL everything else looks overweight and disease ridden.

Great words written there mate.
Watching AFL is pure bliss, compared to watching soccer which is akin to the aftermath of a nuclear war.
The countries that love soccer know nothing else.

 

[Beaussie]

The competition is for youth which ultimately become the consumers.

Soccer at its highest domestic level is played in summer. State leagues are in winter.
There has been interest from FTA.

We've all been hearing it for decades about the junior numbers for soccer. Still hasn't made any difference to the ranking of soccer amongst the football codes in Australia. Actually, perhaps soccer is now in front of rugby union. Yay for soccer. As for the interest from FTA TV in broadcasting the A-League, which network are you talking about. Got a source. Perhaps it's SBS yeah?

 

[Zvim]

We've all been hearing it for decades about the junior numbers for soccer. Still hasn't made any difference to the ranking of soccer amongst the football codes in Australia. Actually, perhaps soccer is now in front of rugby union. Yay for soccer. As for the interest from FTA TV in broadcasting the A-League, which network are you talking about. Got a source. Perhaps it's SBS yeah?

Soccer and Basketball still have better junior numbers and both leagues are a basketcase. The reason their numbers are high is because mothers force their kids to play non-contact sport. Most kids have an uphill battle to play AFL or Rugby because little Johnny might get a scratch or a broken bone and AFL and Rugby isn't as unisex friendly as Soccer or Basketball.

Ultimately, it is passion that ignites support at a professional level. The same family forcing their kids to play non-contact sport are passionate about the funny shaped ball games and that has a more significant impact in what kids grow up to follow than what games they play as a kid.

 

[Dangas]

no...

 

[wikipediaAFLproject]

We've all been hearing it for decades about the junior numbers for soccer. Still hasn't made any difference to the ranking of soccer amongst the football codes in Australia. Actually, perhaps soccer is now in front of rugby union. Yay for soccer. As for the interest from FTA TV in broadcasting the A-League, which network are you talking about. Got a source. Perhaps it's SBS yeah?

Hasnt made a difference? Soccer has been steadily increasing in popularity as the junior numbers increase. It started with the junior programs circa 74', which the AFL adapted in its own form with AusKick.
These increases are only just being noticed by the public as soccer seems to have hit some sort of catalyst level.
Also i wouldnt measure the strength of soccer in Australia purely by the A-League. There are a lot of soccer fans in Australia needing to be taught about football who wouldnt be able to name you half the A-League teams.

TV source:
http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/60148,ten-eyes-aleague-tv-deal.aspx

Im not saying the above to try and tell people that soccer is growing. Im basically saying it so that people remain wary, and dont get too complacent about A-League crowd drops. There is a lot going on behinds the scenes, particularly in support of the EPL and conversion of kids.

Oh another fact, FFA is brainwashing Aussie Kids by getting them to wear 'Football Anytime' shirts.

 

[Fino]

Close and ban.

 

[skipper kelly]

I find soccer boring to watch. Its probably OK to play though.

 

[Zvim]

I find soccer boring to watch. Its probably OK to play though.

I played soccer for a long time, I found it boring to play. I actually prefer to watch it than play it but I will watch the odd EPL game and typically only get excited about the World Cup.

Soccer is just a very diffcult game to play well. It is much easier to stop scoring compared to scoring which differs from AFL where it is much easier to score than it is to stop scoring.

I think if soccer overhauled the off-side rule then it would make the game a lot more interesting, you would have a lot more scoring and it would be much harder for those boring "light on for talent" sides that load up defensively and try and bore the opposition to death and scrounge out a 1-0 win.

 

[Pumbi]

I played soccer for a long time, I found it boring to play. I actually prefer to watch it than play it but I will watch the odd EPL game and typically only get excited about the World Cup.

Soccer is just a very diffcult game to play well. It is much easier to stop scoring compared to scoring which differs from AFL where it is much easier to score than it is to stop scoring.

I think if soccer overhauled the off-side rule then it would make the game a lot more interesting, you would have a lot more scoring and it would be much harder for those boring "light on for talent" sides that load up defensively and try and bore the opposition to death and scrounge out a 1-0 win.

I'm sorry, but this is a terrible suggestion.

 

[shoe]

There is no doubt they are after our territory and I've heard Robert Walls mention before that we should do everything in our power to ensure that soccer does not flourish.

In what ways could we do this taking into consideration they may be in for a windfall of government dollars over the next few years.

Dumbest thing i've ever heard.

The sport is way too different from AFL to 'steal territory', plus it's played during the off season. What exactly should we be worried about?
Absolutely and totally no reason at all why they can't co-exist.

 

[Zvim]

I'm sorry, but this is a terrible suggestion.

Purists wont like it but Soccer will struggle to break into markets they don't already dominate without that rule evolving. Soccer compared to other national sports is pretty boring.

When cricket and baseball are more exciting to watch then the sport has issues. I'd rather watch an IPL game than a non-world cup soccer game and I find cricket boring.

 

[Slattery_20]

Soccer and Basketball still have better junior numbers and both leagues are a basketcase. The reason their numbers are high is because mothers force their kids to play non-contact sport. Most kids have an uphill battle to play AFL or Rugby because little Johnny might get a scratch or a broken bone and AFL and Rugby isn't as unisex friendly as Soccer or Basketball.

Ultimately, it is passion that ignites support at a professional level. The same family forcing their kids to play non-contact sport are passionate about the funny shaped ball games and that has a more significant impact in what kids grow up to follow than what games they play as a kid.

The FFA/A-league administration is pretty bloody good actually. Ever considered that maybe people just view things differently? "non-contact sport..." BS! Plenty of kids play both. Plenty more (from various backgrounds) have grown up with soccer as the main sport and grow up following soccer and get interested in AFL later.

Soccer is the biggest sport in the world. It was always going to get some sort of foothold, which now looks like it's happening with a pretty stable, attractive, well run competition. The standard of play is heading close to Championship level or the level of one of the smaller Euro or Asian leagues.

That doesn't mean it's a threat to the AFL as #1 - and I don't think they're even aiming for that in our lifetimes.

How the heck are we going to "take a stand" anyway? They toook eeerrrrr jeerrrrrrrbbbbssss!

 

[Hawthorn United]

I'm sorry, but this is a terrible suggestion.

I agree. Why does easy to score equate to entertainment?

 

[Consolaçao]

I seriously don't understand how anyone can watch soccer not drunk. It's like baseball. When you are spoiled on the AFL everything else looks overweight and disease ridden.

Baseball's actually quite a good sport if you give it a chance.

Regarding soccer, I could count on one hand the games i've watched in their entirety, and I was blind drunk for them all. I've tried numerous times to watch it sober, but I can't do more than 10 minutes at a time.

Hilarity aside though, I do respect soccer fans, and do object to the small-minded paranoia exhibited by the OP. Maybe one day we'll all be footy, soccer, and rugby fans living in harmony? It might happen... maybe.

 

[Consolaçao]

I think if soccer overhauled the off-side rule then it would make the game a lot more interesting, you would have a lot more scoring and it would be much harder for those boring "light on for talent" sides that load up defensively and try and bore the opposition to death and scrounge out a 1-0 win.

They should also abolish the handball rule, rip off the cross-bar, saw it into two pieces and stick them either side of the two remaining uprights. Playing with an oval ball may help attendances, and with six points given for each goal the sport might actually get somewhere.

 

[collingwill]

i dont think its a bad thread, but there isnt anything we can do about it, fact is soccer is shown on FTA television much more in Australia than AFL, maybe not in prime time but overall throughout the year, its bloody allways on SBS, all year round, ill start to worry if a channel 9 or 10 start showing A league games against footy in prime time, its a fair way off though.

 

[Hawthorn United]

Purists wont like it but Soccer will struggle to break into markets they don't already dominate without that rule evolving. Soccer compared to other national sports is pretty boring.

When cricket and baseball are more exciting to watch then the sport has issues. I'd rather watch an IPL game than a non-world cup soccer game and I find cricket boring.

I don't think FIFA will change the rules just to break into the non market areas. They established markets far outweighs the other.

I'd argue baseball and cricket are exciting to watch. It's popular due to it's embedded in our culture. Teenagers only go to the cricket these days to get pissed and ejected. In Melbourne at least.