Should we take a stand against soccer?

[footballfreak]

No we don't need to take a stand. All these Codes can coexist.

AFL + Cricket will always be number 1. Like the NFL and Baseball in the US

Soccer still needs more support. People should stop being so naive and rock up to an A-league game and support their club. Embrace the game... it is here to stay.

Socceroos are the only international team in Australia that has ever truly united the entire country. Look at the 06 WC for example there were so many bandwagoners from other codes supporting the Socceroos.

 

[Ronin]

Soccer ranks a long, long way behind these, especially once you leave Beijing or Shanghai and go inland where the vast majority of the population live. Soccer rules in Europe, 3rd world Latin America, 3rd world Africa and a few bits and pieces of 3rd world Asia. It's an easy, cheap sport to play. However, it's not so popular in China, India, USA, Japan, Canada, Australia, and some other parts of SE Asia (e,g badminton is more popular in Malaysia). Thats half the worlds population.

So you write off virtually the entire globe, well done.

If you want to be that myopic, then AFL is played in only one country, a small one at that, and is not even the number one code in over half of that country.

What does that say about the game?

 

[J Parkland]

So you write off virtually the entire globe, well done.

If you want to be that myopic, then AFL is played in only one country, a small one at that, and is not even the number one code in over half of that country.

What does that say about the game?

That a lot of it's fans are insular,deluded,& need to get out of Victoria occassionaly to see there is a world out there that doesn't care or doesn't know AFL exists.

That there are plenty of people out there who like other sports ,& can appreciate the skills other athletes have.

 

[Donakebab]

No offence, but don’t bother posting such crap. You just look stooopid. You are an idiot – FACT

You are the idiot. - FACT

 

[cos789]

there were so many bandwagoners ........... supporting the Socceroos.

Don't you get it .

Bandwagoners does not = support .

In fact it's the opposite .

.

 

[The Mongrel Punt]

Take a stand? Whenever I try to watch soccer, standing is the last thing I think about. Trying to keep my eyes open is hard enough.

 

[db swannie]

Take a stand? Whenever I try to watch soccer, standing is the last thing I think about. Trying to keep my eyes open is hard enough.

A nil all draw. Nuff said. No wonder there's so much hooliganism in soccer. More goals might keep the fans interested...

Having said that, soccer is a very skillful game, but for me what kills it is the diving and the offside rule, which rewards defenders who do not play the ball but the man.

A good game to play, at times tedious to watch. I like the World Cup, but don't watch it otherwise.

 

[mustapha]

A nil all draw. Nuff said. No wonder there's so much hooliganism in soccer. More goals might keep the fans interested...

Having said that, soccer is a very skillful game, but for me what kills it is the diving and the offside rule, which rewards defenders who do not play the ball but the man.

A good game to play, at times tedious to watch. I like the World Cup, but don't watch it otherwise.

Hooliganism is worse at AFL games than it is at A League games.

 

[db swannie]

Hooliganism is worse at AFL games than it is at A League games.

Maybe at your club's games, not at the Swans. Been going 15 years, only ever saw one incident, it was a female Pies fan. She hit me across the back of the head when we beat them by a point in 05. True the A league have cleaned their act up, but the National league was a disgrace...

 

[mustapha]

Maybe at your club's games, not at the Swans. Been going 15 years, only ever saw one incident, it was a female Pies fan. She hit me across the back of the head when we beat them by a point in 05. True the A league have cleaned their act up, but the National league was a disgrace...

A one point game is usually very exciting. Why did she decide to use violence when it was such an exciting finish? Maybe she was bored.

 

[The Mongrel Punt]

Hooliganism is worse at AFL games than it is at A League games.

Only because you've halted the racial affiliations. As soon as there are multiple teams in each city, if the A-Laague goes down that track, different ethnic groups will attach themselves to teams, and away we go again.

 

[db swannie]

A one point game is usually very exciting. Why did she decide to use violence when it was such an exciting finish? Maybe she was bored.

It was a very exciting game I can assure you. Nearly as exciting as our premiership win that year, but not quite...

She was trailer trash and screaming out that the Swans were cheating because Buchanan was feigning injury with seconds to go. I turned to her and said:

"If your team were in the same position you'd be doing the same thing". Siren went seconds later, we all cheered, she whacked me acrosss the back of the head. All my mates and I turned and laughed our arses off, and then she and her tragic boyfriend slinked out. Funniest moment I've ever had at the footy.

 

[Bouvet_Island]

They might be big in numbers compared to countries with smaller populations but still a long way from being domimant sports.Cricket in India is # 1 all over the country by a mile!

No denying that Cricket is #1 in India by loooong way.


That said, some domestic soccer matches in India still manage to pull a larger crowd than the AFL grand final.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_Stadium

The stadium is the second largest non-auto racing stadium in the world and the largest in the Indian sub-continent. It is currently used for football matches and athletics. The stadium was built in 1984 and holds 120,000[1] people in a three-tier configuration.....

...The Salt Lake stadium hosts the home games of local clubs Mohun Bagan AC, East Bengal FC, and Mohammedan SC, three of the big clubs in Indian football. The traditional Kolkata derbies between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan AC take place in this stadium accompanied by much fanfare, feverish emotions (and on a few occasions, outbreaks of violence). Most of these matches are attended by capacity crowds of vociferous, partisan supporters of both teams.

 

[roger explosion]

Only because you've halted the racial affiliations. As soon as there are multiple teams in each city, if the A-Laague goes down that track, different ethnic groups will attach themselves to teams, and away we go again.

...what difference does it make where the violent ones are from?

Even at its worst, the NSL was never more violent than AFL games. Unless you count flares as violence.

 

[billyboutsis]

100% correct.

unfortunately some of the whoppers on here would actually believe that it was worse in the nsl than in the afl due to the media beat up

 

[belfast_bomber]

Just remember when those "ethnic" (ie expatriate social club) football clubs were first founded the cultural background was very different to what it is now, and they never would have envisaged themselves being asked to justify their existence as commercial sporting organisations. No A-League club would want to align themselves with a particular expatriate community, it'd be commercial suicide.

Mithrandir, I would like to see your evidence for this claim that the "ethnics" would attach themselves to A-league teams along these lines.

Hooliganism at the Swans? When I used to go the Sydney crowds were far too posh and smug to consider such a thing. Too busy exchanging amusing anecdotes from last night's cocktail parties usually.

If you want to point to hooliganism at Australian sporting events, look no further than the cricket.

 

[Rob]

Hooliganism is worse at AFL games than it is at A League games.

You'd want to hope so given A-League crowds are a quarter of the size and rarely include more than a handful of away supporters.

 

[cos789]

Unless you count flares as violence.

Are you saying flares are appropriate at sporting venues ?

I also remember a few ethnic hand signals by a certian glory stalwart exciting some Serbian friends .

.

 

[Rex]

Now this arrogant sport expects us put an entire season on hold for their overrated World Cup.

The gloves are off and maybe we should do something to their A League.

Ban the Victory from playing at Etihad and book out the MCG for an entire year so they can't use that.

 

[harmesy 37]

Far better to take a stand against the Labor Party at the next election in my opinion.


Any party that builds a 300 million dollar stadium without any financial input from the groups that benefit from it the most - the NRL and soccer - is plainly incompetent. They didn't even ask for a $500 input... not even $20 - I am sure these two entities could have rattled up at least $500.00 (maybe even more- wow!) to assist paying for this stadium.


Write to your local Labor minister and let him/her know you won't be voting for their political party. The labor party - a party of spineless patronage.


I can understand there is a need for a rugby/soccer stadium - but i just don't think i should have to pay for it.

 

[Durham Hawks]

Now this arrogant sport expects us put an entire season on hold for their overrated World Cup.

The gloves are off and maybe we should do something to their A League.

Ban the Victory from playing at Etihad and book out the MCG for an entire year so they can't use that.

you do realise melbourne victory fans would actually prefer being banned from etihad, as it means they would be able to play all their matches at bubble stadium

 

[finders]

What a stupid ass mentality

Sorry Mate ! In business and the AFL and Australian Football in general are a very big business you dont do ANY favours to the competition.Thats the easy way to go under.

Australian Football (not soccer) has fought long and hard to get where it is today so why give an inch to some bastard foreign sport that would love to kill you off and take your place as #1?

Let FINA PAY all the costs themselves if they want to pay on our territory.

Remember "Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom"

Mike Sheahan has got it 100% right.



Mike Sheahan argues the case against surrendering the AFL to an Australian World Cup

* Mike Sheahan
*

From: Herald Sun

December 08, 2009 12:00AM


THE World Cup, many say, is the world's biggest sporting carnival, and, obviously, a huge attraction for the host country.

Yet, it comes at a price, and the price for much of Australia, certainly the state of Victoria, promises to be too high. Far too high.

Melbourne without a football season would be like a zoo without animals; the Mornington Peninsula minus its beaches. It doesn't bear thinking about.

I was stunned by the air of resignation in Andrew Demetriou's voice yesterday when he talked on radio about the likely impact on football of a possible soccer World Cup in Australia in 2018 or, more probably, 2022.

"It's catastrophic," he said, as if we were discussing a fait accompli.

I want the old Demetriou back. This is no time for the AFL chief to abandon his public persona, to resign himself to an unacceptable fate, to turn compliant.


Yes, he was talking about only a possibility, but the tone was one of resignation, as if the juggernaut known as FIFA would crush anything and anyone in its path.

"Three or four clubs would be under enormous pressure to survive," he added gravely.

He even raised the possibility of a year without a football season. Nuh, that's not the Demetriou I know. He is keeping his powder dry, surely.

He just doesn't want to be the dog in the manger on this one at the moment. I bet my favourite putter he has been a touch more defiant and colourful inside AFL headquarters.

A significant number of Victorians survives winter on football: the game itself and all it brings with it in anticipation and review, highlights and lowlights, the emotional roller-coaster ride.

According to AFL figures, 1.6 million Australians attend games at least once a year. An estimated 4.5 million people watch games on television each week.

It is an industry that employs an estimated 20,000 to varying degrees.

It remains the major football code in this country, and by a long, long way. It may not be a world game, but it's ours, and we love it and cherish it.

Equally important, it is vital to the psyche of cities such as Melbourne and Geelong, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Launceston.

I'm not sure what that says about those of us resident in those states, but it's a fact.

Yes, as some of you know, I don't have a strong appreciation of the attractions of the world game, but this is more about life as we know it rather than a subtle attack on soccer.

Of course Melbourne would thrive as the major venue of a World Cup.

It would be stupidity to suggest otherwise.

But the World Cup would come and go in a month; the disruption to an AFL season would stretch to as long as three months, and Demetriou himself has talked of a lost season.

FIFA, Kevin Rudd, John Brumby and company would be wise to avoid pushing too hard.

The AFL would accept certain inevitabilities, such as the loss of the MCG for an extended period and the need to avoid match clashes in the same city.

But, it simply cannot give up its right to play games in this state on weekends from April to September.

It's not just commercial, either.

As crazy as the streets of this city have become in recent years, imagine the mayhem without football to soothe tempers on a weekly basis.

Many of us believe the outpouring of emotion at football grounds each week does wonders for the mental health of so many residents in this state.

Bring the World Cup here, by all means, but not at any cost.

Come on, Andrew, time to do what you do best: dig in, defend the cause, roll out that confident, some say belligerent, attitude that says to hell with the PR and the politics. We're fighting for a cause, a way of life, here.Mike Sheahan is chief football writer of the Herald Sun

 

[Tigerdrive]

Ban the Victory from playing at Etihad and book out the MCG for an entire year so they can't use that.

Please do, I'd love the Victory to play every game at the rectangular stadium!

 

[mickctiger]

Socceroos are the only international team in Australia that has ever truly united the entire country.

um have you heard of the Australian CRICKET Team ?

 

[gangsta deluxe]

The AFL should cop it on the chin if we get the world cup. I love footy more than any other sport, but suggestions that missing out on the MCG for 10 weeks will ruin many clubs is nonsense.

We can play at more traditional grounds for a while(Victoria Park, Whitten oval, Waverly, Optus Oval)

Of course Punt road, Arden st, and Windy hill are too small(under 15k, not big enough) but Richmond, North Melbourne and Essendon can share with clubs who have larger capacity ovals.

Eg -

Bulldogs - Etihad, Whitten Oval
North Melbourne - Etihad, Whitten Oval
Collingwood - Victoria Park, Etihad
Melbourne - Etihad, Optus Oval
St Kilda - Waverly, Etihad
Hawks - Waverly, Etihad
Geelong - Kardinia
Essendon - Etihad, Victoria Park
Richmond - Etihad, Victoria Park
Carlton - Optus oval, Etihad