So much for the soccer hype and it's "massive" threat to AFL

[Sir_Adrian84]

Although without any evidence of a set of rules, there is evidence of football/soccer type games being played in china in the 14C

You are correct, actually it could be earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football#Ancient_games

may be 2nd C BC in China, there is evidence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mob_football
Now there is a great sport, mob football played in Britain and Florence. It was banned by King Edward 2.

Unlimited number of players per team and matches played between two villages.

Like the original AFL match played in Yarra Park.

Imagine a soccer match played in the CDB of Melbourne or Sydney. The goals being Spencer Street and Parliament in Melbourne and Darling Harbour and Hyde Park in Sydney.

 

[Sir_Adrian84]

If I had to choose a desert island sport it would be aussie rules. Nevertheless I personally enjoy association football. I just believe the game could be improved to make it more exciting. I know people go on how nill all draws can be the most dramatic games. But at the same time, when you see a rare 5:4 game in the Premier league the commentators invariably say "what a goal feast!!".

I would love FIFA to simply increase the goal size (say 10%) so that the goal average moves up to at least 3 a game.

In 100 years the goal size has remained the same yet goal keepers roughly have gone from 180cm average to 195cm.

A 3 goal average in the world cup cup this yeat would = 180 -190 goals instead we got about 130.

Think of all the great shots that cannon into the wood work, and your left thinking "gee if only???"

Has fifa ever consider increasing the goal size?

I have to accept also that Aussie Rules could perhaps reduce the goal size (10%). Just as much as there is not enough goals in ass football, there is too much scoring in AFL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_FIFA_World_Cup

This is the 1954 World Cup.
It featured scores of:

5-0, 3-2 in Group 1
4-1, 9-0, 8-3, 7-0, 7-2 in Group 2
7-0, 5-2 in Group 3
4-4 (aet), 4-1, 4-1 in Group 4
4-2, 4-2, 7-5, 2-0 in the QFs
4-2, 6-1 in the SFs
3-2 in the Final and 3-1 in the 3rd Place game

140 goals in 26 matches, average 5.38 goals per game
In 2006, 147 goals in 64 matches, average 2.297 goals per game only 1990 with 115 in 52 (Average 2.212) was lower scoring.

If soccer still had 5.38 goals per game, would it be better?

The two games in Bold are the highest two aggregate games on record.

 

[The Kipster]

If it was so boring, why do so many people watch it, play it, and support it with passion? Why are massive amounts of TV dollars, globally, spent on the game? Are all these people wrong... and you are right? I wonder who is living in wonderland.

According to you, the sole reason why people have caused trouble at games, is because they think the game they support is boring? Yeah right.

Even the most one-eyed, but edcuated AFL fan would know this is a rediculous concept. There is a multitude of reasons why trouble has been involved at football/soccer games, none the least than the fact that it is played on a massive scale. When you have a sport of such size, you increase the odds of things going wrong. If AFL was the same size globally, i'm not so sure everything would be as placid as a swans game.

Crapola......

The people who watch it outside of Oz don't know our game

Our sport bridges divides where as soccer doesn't bridge divides if anything it makes it worse.......

Aussie rules clubs welcome all as they are not based upon a history of religion, race, country or colour...

It's about mates, ticker, skill and the good old fashioned "have n a go"

Keep your soccer, give us a winter footy comp and a summer footy comp..

 

[mattwinter]

Crapola......

The people who watch it outside of Oz don't know our game

Our sport bridges divides where as soccer doesn't bridge divides if anything it makes it worse.......

Aussie rules clubs welcome all as they are not based upon a history of religion, race, country or colour...

It's about mates, ticker, skill and the good old fashioned "have n a go"

Keep your soccer, give us a winter footy comp and a summer footy comp..

Yeah, I know that Crows and Port fans love each other, not like those stupid english who have rivalries between their teams - can you believe that during the Everton - Liverpool game last week some of the Everton fans were acctually insulting the Liverpool players? This sort of thing just makes the divides on Mersyside worse than they already are. Compare that to a Collingwood Essendon game where every fan applauds players of both sides, as long as they 'have a go'.

Thank goodness that in Australia all the fans of every team get along with each other, bridging divides and stopping hate.

 

[The Kipster]

Yeah, I know that Crows and Port fans love each other, not like those stupid english who have rivalries between their teams - can you believe that during the Everton - Liverpool game last week some of the Everton fans were acctually insulting the Liverpool players? This sort of thing just makes the divides on Mersyside worse than they already are. Compare that to a Collingwood Essendon game where every fan applauds players of both sides, as long as they 'have a go'.

Thank goodness that in Australia all the fans of every team get along with each other, bridging divides and stopping hate.

So Crows and Port supporters face off with knives etc...nice try

 

[mattwinter]

So Crows and Port supporters face off with knives etc...nice try

No, forklifts:

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19655270%5E2682,00.html

see how one little incident can create a sense that all supporters are like that - it is the same in England, where supporter rivalries are no more intense than in Australia.

Sure, things get bad if you look at 'soccer' in Columbia or even Greece - but this is nothing to do with the sport, more to do with the culture of the people.

If they played AFL in columbia, you can bet they would get riots at matches as well.

 

[RICHO: A GOD AMONGST MEN]

Anyone who thinks of themselves as a sports lover should be able to appreciate more than just one sport, otherwise it's doubtful that they really like sport at all.

Yes, but that doesn't mean we have to appreciate all sports now does it? Personally I find the Tour de France one of the most mind-numbingly dull sporting events on the planet, and yet millions around the globe can't get enough of it. Does that make me narrow-minded for not being able to appreciate it? No. In fact, I'm sure most people feel the same way.

But as soon as one mentions a dislike for "the world game" - for the exact same reason - suddenly all sorts of lables get thrown at you. "Narrow-minded." Parochial." "Bogan!"

My reason for hating soccer has nothing to do with a fear of it taking over as I know that'll never happen. It's got nothing to do with an inferiority complex as I truly believe Aussie Rules is the most entertaining sport on the planet. It's got everything to do with me finding soccer BORING AS HELL!

Why is that so hard for soccer fans to come to terms with?

Your football knowledge is way behind your analogizing skills.

Association football's first comprehensive set of rules were drawn up in late 1863, that's 5 years after aussie rules was first codified. Long time indeed.

Right you are. My understanding was there was a greater differential than 5 years but I'll stand corrected on that one.

Australian Football is easily the closest of all the modern forms to the original mob codes of Medieaval England or Italian Calcio. By comparison, even rugby union looks evolved.
As rugby league is my preferred code - although not the only code I enjoy - you're the 60kg wannabe.

Haha, this is funny. You can reference as many ancient forms of sport as you like, but to intimate that rugby is more evolved than Aussie Rules is laughable.

I'm trying to imagine how a pre-game tactical meeting would go for a rugby match. Coach: "Okay, guys. Game plan today is... pretty much as it's always been. Get the ball, run down the field and try not to get tackled." Player: "Duh? Wanna run that by us again?"

But seeing this isn't the AFL v NRL thread, perhaps you'd care to extrapolate on how evolved the sport of soccer is. You know, the sport where fans actually pride themselves on the fact that rules get altered about once every five years.

And, while you're at it, perhaps you'd like to draw on your rich and diverse knowledge of football and its various incarnations and tell me what ancient sport soccer most closely resembles. I'm guessing its closest old world counterpart would be a bunch of guys making a game of tiptoeing through the tulips, but I'll defer to your expertise.

If I had to choose a desert island sport it would be aussie rules. Nevertheless I personally enjoy association football. I just believe the game could be improved to make it more exciting. I know people go on how nill all draws can be the most dramatic games. But at the same time, when you see a rare 5:4 game in the Premier league the commentators invariably say "what a goal feast!!"

Spot on. A little while back I caught a bit of a show on Foxtel featuring English soccer's greatest matches of all time. And without fail, each and every one of these games were high-scoring affairs. The commentators were in raptures. The fans were going nuts. If the level of goal-scoring has no correlation with excitement, why did all these "great" games feature a heap of goals? Just coincidence I guess.

Another example. I was at a mate's place when the Melbourne Victory-Sydney game was on. He doesn't have Foxtel so he was listening to it on the radio. The commentators were going apesh*t because - oh my god! - there'd been two goals scored in the opening ten minutes! The commentators could hardly contain their excitement, and one of them actually said: "Maybe we might even have five goals scored tonight!"

Blind Freddy could see that a change to the rules that allowed for higher-scoring would make the game more appealing to those not brought up on the game. But to suggest such a thing seems to be the height of heresy to some people.

exactly - and it means the FFA have to target people with the financial means to follow more than 1 code. therefore AFL diehards = white bogan trash

Yes, the FFA will defnitely have to look outside its core demographic. Afterall, we'd hate for the game's trendy new image to be tarnished by those flag-burning, flare-setting, brawling ethnic tribes that rolled up to the old league. But then I'm sure all that behaviour was simply in jest.

If it was so boring, why do so many people watch it, play it, and support it with passion? Why are massive amounts of TV dollars, globally, spent on the game? Are all these people wrong... and you are right? I wonder who is living in wonderland.

People watch, play and support what they're brought up on. Note that soccer has failed to take over anywhere in the world where there is a well-established football code already in place, whether that be Ireland, USA, NZ or here.

I guess the fact that it gets any sort of foothold at all comes from those who believe we should all eat sh*t because 500 gazillion flies can't be wrong.

 

[The Kipster]

No, forklifts:

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19655270%255E2682,00.html

see how one little incident can create a sense that all supporters are like that - it is the same in England, where supporter rivalries are no more intense than in Australia.

Sure, things get bad if you look at 'soccer' in Columbia or even Greece - but this is nothing to do with the sport, more to do with the culture of the people.

If they played AFL in columbia, you can bet they would get riots at matches as well.

Stop making sense.....besides, we may think of killing our fullback because he let through a winning sausage roll but we wont do it.....those lunatics will do it if they see him out in public......Assassination due to any reason is not correct...

 

[Sir_Adrian84]

No, forklifts:

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19655270%255E2682,00.html

see how one little incident can create a sense that all supporters are like that - it is the same in England, where supporter rivalries are no more intense than in Australia.

Sure, things get bad if you look at 'soccer' in Columbia or even Greece - but this is nothing to do with the sport, more to do with the culture of the people.

If they played AFL in columbia, you can bet they would get riots at matches as well.

i agree, I don't think it is the sport, its the cultures of these other countries.

When are riots seen as being acceptable here in tennis. At the Oz Open you can't enter a court, until there is a change of ends, in south america, riots begin over bad calls.

 

[Sir_Adrian84]

Spot on. A little while back I caught a bit of a show on Foxtel featuring English soccer's greatest matches of all time. And without fail, each and every one of these games were high-scoring affairs. The commentators were in raptures. The fans were going nuts. If the level of goal-scoring has no correlation with excitement, why did all these "great" games feature a heap of goals? Just coincidence I guess.

Great games usually do feature many goals

I saw highlights of an english game where it was 4-4 about 28 minutes.
People want more goals, Brazillians once booed their team off the field after scoring only 2 goals in a game.
People would love every soccer match to be 5-4.

 

[westdog54]

This weekend in the A-League

8785
4644
2071

If you're going to quote figures, at least be consistent. Melbourne Victory haven't had a crowd below 10,000 at a home game yet, and got 45,000 to Telstra Dome three weeks ago. Soccer may not be a threat, but that doesn't mean it isn't followed.

 

[Sir_Adrian84]

If you're going to quote figures, at least be consistent. Melbourne Victory haven't had a crowd below 10,000 at a home game yet, and got 45,000 to Telstra Dome three weeks ago. Soccer may not be a threat, but that doesn't mean it isn't followed.

Victory's crowds have been:

15,781 vs Adelaide
39,730 vs Sydney
17,617 vs Central Coast

Club by Club Averages:

Victory 24,376
Roar 18,062
Sydney 17,381
Adelaide 10,130
Perth 7641
Newcastle 7276 (only one game)
Central Coast 4644 (1 game)
New Zealand 4492
Total 12,809

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Moonlighting? that's a bit desperate. Get a paper round or something, assuming you're old enough.

Jack, I was at Old Traff for the United/Gunners game on Sunday arvo, and barring the Champion's League Final, it was the most electric atmosphere and most exciting sporting contest I've been to since the 99 Prelim between Carlton and Essendon. And I've been to dozens of footy games between the two.

The CL Final at Stade De France was beyond anything else I've ever been to, including AFL Grand Finals. Unfortunately, something that we can never rival at AFL level.

Experiencing other major sporting clashes first hand, like hurling in a packed house at Semple Stadium, or watching Munster (rugby union) with a full Thomond Park, or Arsenal at Highbury(RIP), or the Socceroos at Kaiserlautern, reveals that while AFL games are a magnificient experience, they are certainly not the be all and end all of one's sporting diet.

"Moonlighting" was just my way of saying that while I can still enjoy watching and following AFL as closely as I can form such a distance, there are other football codes which can supplement my sporting fanaticism.

 

[realfootball]

Crapola......

The people who watch it outside of Oz don't know our game

Yes, but they have been exposed to it, and actually for a long time. I remember wathcing AFL in 1996 in the north of scotland.

Our sport bridges divides where as soccer doesn't bridge divides if anything it makes it worse.......

Aussie rules clubs welcome all as they are not based upon a history of religion, race, country or colour...

Didn't the world cup unite aussies of all persausion like no other sporting event? I was at this WC, and I can tell you that people from all around the world were sharing a beer in Germany, bar a few media beat up incidents (and considering the grand scale of the event, quite remarkable). Every club in the A-league welcomes people from all religions, race and colour. Go to any A-league game and you can see that.

It's about mates, ticker, skill and the good old fashioned "have n a go"

Keep your soccer, give us a winter footy comp and a summer footy comp..

Actually, it's pretty plain to see that a fair sized chunk of fans on this board love to go and watch their A-league club in the summer. And so they should be able to.

 

[William G. Gruff]

Yes, the FFA will defnitely have to look outside its core demographic. Afterall, we'd hate for the game's trendy new image to be tarnished by those flag-burning, flare-setting, brawling ethnic tribes that rolled up to the old league. But then I'm sure all that behaviour was simply in jest.

racism is the chief export of the white trash bogan. you are low class and low brow, and i love it

thank god soccer doesn't have pauline hanson loving supporters like you

 

[westdog54]

Victory's crowds have been:

15,781 vs Adelaide
39,730 vs Sydney
17,617 vs Central Coast

Club by Club Averages:

Victory 24,376
Roar 18,062
Sydney 17,381
Adelaide 10,130
Perth 7641
Newcastle 7276 (only one game)
Central Coast 4644 (1 game)
New Zealand 4492
Total 12,809

apologies for claiming 45,000, honest mistake. I think Victory's figures are a testament to how much Melbourne fans love all forms of sport. Hell they've got David Schwarz going to games.

 

[RICHO: A GOD AMONGST MEN]

racism is the chief export of the white trash bogan. you are low class and low brow, and i love it

thank god soccer doesn't have pauline hanson loving supporters like you

Let's see, I'm a Pauline Hanson loving racist because... I've dared mentioned that a lot of the violence associated with the old soccer league was fuelled by ethnic rivalries, a fact that few if anyone would argue with.

Or perhaps you're offended by the term "ethnic tribes". No, that can't be it, otherwise someone so inclined towards political correctness wouldn't throw around terms like "white trash" so loosely.

And I'm low class and low brow because... I know, I don't like soccer!

Mate, if that's the best counter-argument you can come up with I suggest you quit while you're behind as you're only serving to embarrass yourself.

 

[JF_Bay_22_SCG]

Jack, I was at Old Traff for the United/Gunners game on Sunday arvo, and barring the Champion's League Final, it was the most electric atmosphere and most exciting sporting contest I've been to since the 99 Prelim between Carlton and Essendon. And I've been to dozens of footy games between the two.

The CL Final at Stade De France was beyond anything else I've ever been to, including AFL Grand Finals. Unfortunately, something that we can never rival at AFL level.

Experiencing other major sporting clashes first hand, like hurling in a packed house at Semple Stadium, or watching Munster (rugby union) with a full Thomond Park, or Arsenal at Highbury(RIP), or the Socceroos at Kaiserlautern, reveals that while AFL games are a magnificient experience, they are certainly not the be all and end all of one's sporting diet.

"Moonlighting" was just my way of saying that while I can still enjoy watching and following AFL as closely as I can form such a distance, there are other football codes which can supplement my sporting fanaticism.

Here here mate. Excellent post.

I was at the Champions League final at the San Siro in 2001.

It was just an amazing day, with an incredible atmosphere both inside the ground & outside on the streets of Milan.Was the most pressure-filled match I have ever been at. In the extra time & penalties you seriously could not breathe, it was that bad.

3 days before that I saw Bayern win the Bundesliga title in the 94th minute. One of the best memories I have ever had in all my sporting life to be honest.

I love sport. I am generally unbiased as to what sports I watch. Hey, the fact that I'm unbiased was the reason I defied local logic and chose to have a look at Aussie Rules all the way back in 1984.

With the Victory now looking like playing most of their home matches at the Telstra Dome, I can only hope that your average person will go along for a look. Hell, they might even start enjoying it.

Does the fact that you attend A League matches make you any less an AFL supporter; hell no. In many respects it may well give you a sense of objectivity about the code you grew up with that you may not have otherwise had. I didn't realise how lame & banal the AFL chanting/singing culture was until I regularly got into the Round Ball Code. Now I'm trying to develop this culture at Swans games; will be bringing TWO drums plus a megaphone to help get everyone into shape tomorrow night!

In Sydney you get hordes of us who follow 3-4 Sporting teams in all the codes. Most of the time people are used to it. (When you have traditionally had the two rugby codes for starters, you are used to having other sport around.)

Why is it that some people in Melbourne appear so goddam frightened of something they were not brought up with. Why do people get so defensive about this like another code of football. You CAN happily follow both! What is the problem with that?

JF

 

[Hawkers]

Jack, I was at Old Traff for the United/Gunners game on Sunday arvo, and barring the Champion's League Final, it was the most electric atmosphere and most exciting sporting contest I've been to since the 99 Prelim between Carlton and Essendon. And I've been to dozens of footy games between the two.

The CL Final at Stade De France was beyond anything else I've ever been to, including AFL Grand Finals. Unfortunately, something that we can never rival at AFL level.

Experiencing other major sporting clashes first hand, like hurling in a packed house at Semple Stadium, or watching Munster (rugby union) with a full Thomond Park, or Arsenal at Highbury(RIP), or the Socceroos at Kaiserlautern, reveals that while AFL games are a magnificient experience, they are certainly not the be all and end all of one's sporting diet.

"Moonlighting" was just my way of saying that while I can still enjoy watching and following AFL as closely as I can form such a distance, there are other football codes which can supplement my sporting fanaticism.

Thats all well and good but you like the soccer. I don't go to a game of Football for the atmosphere, I go because I like the game. I would still go if 100 people were going. In fact I do go to my local league that gets around that.
I think people that say the 'experience was sensastional' and 'the atmosphere was unbelievable' when comparing the two codes are missing the point.
It's not the atmosphere that makes the game - it's the game that makes the game

 

[Shedmania]

I am a die hard Essendon fan, have followed and played AFL football my entire life, and i openly proclaim Grand Final Day to be the greatest day in world history.

However, despite my undying love for AFL football, i feel no need to belittle other sports in order to feel like i am defending mine. I am so sick of d*ckh**ds getting on these boards and talking about how crap either Soccer or Rugby is. I am constantly amazed at how insecure many AFL fans are. I can't profess to love rugby league all that much, however, i also feel no need to jump on my PC and abuse the code with my fellow AFL fans.

As for soccer (football), i think it is a wonderful game. I go to most Victory home games and watch the others on fox. This in no way takes away from my love of the dons or of football in general (hasn't anyone noticed that the AFL season is just ending as the a-league season is just starting???). One thing that stands out to me when i am talking to my Victory supporting friends is their lack of bitterness towards other codes. They go and watch Victory each week, create a mental atmosphere with a neverending array of chants, and then head off to the pub to talk about the game. No Rugby bashing. No AFL bashing.

Yet i come back on Big Footy the next day and there are another 5 new threads smashing another code. Whats going on? Why such insecurity?

As i said, AFL is a brilliant code. So are some of the other football codes. They are not mutually exclusive. Get over it.

 

[The Kipster]

Yet i come back on Big Footy the next day and there are another 5 new threads smashing another code. Whats going on? Why such insecurity?

As i said, AFL is a brilliant code. So are some of the other football codes. They are not mutually exclusive. Get over it.

There has been one thread for about 4 weeks and I don't see any others....just because your a bummers fan doesn't make you the messiah....so just sh*t up and let us complain if we wish to, it's an open forum so I think the game s*cks then I am entitled to my opinion....so go have a pint with your soccer mates and talk about the hardness of the players who cry before they even get touched...or perhaps talk about those 2 or 3 goals that one of you might of blinked and missed...or talk about the fencing separating the supporters of both clubs...

 

[RICHO: A GOD AMONGST MEN]

Thats all well and good but you like the soccer. I don't go to a game of Football for the atmosphere, I go because I like the game. I would still go if 100 people were going. In fact I do go to my local league that gets around that.
I think people that say the 'experience was sensastional' and 'the atmosphere was unbelievable' when comparing the two codes are missing the point.
It's not the atmosphere that makes the game - it's the game that makes the game

Exactly. Seems to me that spectators at a soccer game get caught up in a sort of collective masturbatory experience rather than the game itself.

Do you notice that fans of the sport rarely rave about the game itself? It’s always, “Oh, the atmosphere was amazing,” or “The noise was incredible.” How many rave about it after watching it on TV, unless of course they’ve watched it in a bar with dozens of others? No, it’s this united fervour that gets them in.

I’ll give you a similar example. I went to see Iron Maiden many years ago. I wasn’t even a fan of the band, hardly knew any of their songs, but went along at a mate’s insistence. We were in the standing area down in front of the band, and managed to work our way to be right up near the front. I have to tell you, it was amazing. The lead singer sang with unrestrained passion. The music was that loud that you almost became one with it. But it was the crowd that made the experience. We were in this seething, pulsating mass of bodies, everyone was going so crazy that you couldn’t help but be swept up in it all. When we finally left, I was so drenched with sweat that even my wallet was soaked all the way through.

Man, that was the best concert I’ve ever been to. Does that mean Iron Maiden are my favourite band of all time? Far from it. Does that make heavy metal the greatest music on earth, because their fans get off on it more than those at, say, a U2 concert? I wouldn’t have thought so. But as a concert-going experience I know it will never be surpassed. And yet if I’d been watching it on TV I would have turned it off after a few minutes.

See the relevance here anyone?

I am a die hard Essendon fan, have followed and played AFL football my entire life, and i openly proclaim Grand Final Day to be the greatest day in world history.

However, despite my undying love for AFL football, i feel no need to belittle other sports in order to feel like i am defending mine. I am so sick of d*ckh**ds getting on these boards and talking about how crap either Soccer or Rugby is. I am constantly amazed at how insecure many AFL fans are. I can't profess to love rugby league all that much, however, i also feel no need to jump on my PC and abuse the code with my fellow AFL fans.

As for soccer (football), i think it is a wonderful game. I go to most Victory home games and watch the others on fox. This in no way takes away from my love of the dons or of football in general (hasn't anyone noticed that the AFL season is just ending as the a-league season is just starting???). One thing that stands out to me when i am talking to my Victory supporting friends is their lack of bitterness towards other codes. They go and watch Victory each week, create a mental atmosphere with a neverending array of chants, and then head off to the pub to talk about the game. No Rugby bashing. No AFL bashing.

Yet i come back on Big Footy the next day and there are another 5 new threads smashing another code. Whats going on? Why such insecurity?

As i said, AFL is a brilliant code. So are some of the other football codes. They are not mutually exclusive. Get over it.

It's got nothing to do with being insecure. Some of us simply do not like the code. I was working in Europe when the WC was on in 1994. I genuinely tried to get into the game but couldn't. I found it boring. If I told you I found the Tour de France boring, would you hark up about that to?

See, soccer fans can’t except this. They think we don’t like it because we’re afraid that it’s gonna take over, or are too parochial, or have our heads buried in the sand, or some other reason. They just cannot seem to accept the notion that some people find the sport as exciting as watching paint dry. And then they’ll pipe up with “proof” of the game’s greatness, citing everything to its global popularity, great atmosphere, blah blah blah.

When confronted with such an attitude, obviously fans of the local game are going to go on the defensive, hence the existence of threads such as these.

I have absolutely no problem with the A-League coexisting with the AFL. Good on ‘em. But don’t call me a d*ckhead just because I haven’t got swept up in the hype.

 

[Grunty]

Yet i come back on Big Footy the next day and there are another 5 new threads smashing another code. Whats going on? Why such insecurity?

I'm with you on this one. I just don't understand the insecurity. Footy is solid all over Australia, with record crowds and record incomes. In the west it is the ONLY sport. Sell out crowds at Subi, and pages and pages of footy in the media.

Yet Melbourne Victory just has to get ONE 40,000 crowd in Melbourne, and all the insecurities and anti soccer rants start all over again.
(There must be a medical term for this.)

Melbourne Victory are going to play a few more games at Telstra Dome, including the Melbourne - Queensland game. So that probably means another thread like this one, even though the Footy season will be over.

 

[RICHO: A GOD AMONGST MEN]

I'm with you on this one. I just don't understand the insecurity. Footy is solid all over Australia, with record crowds and record incomes. In the west it is the ONLY sport. Sell out crowds at Subi, and pages and pages of footy in the media.

Yet Melbourne Victory just has to get ONE 40,000 crowd in Melbourne, and all the insecurities and anti soccer rants start all over again.
(There must be a medical term for this.)

Melbourne Victory are going to play a few more games at Telstra Dome, including the Melbourne - Queensland game. So that probably means another thread like this one, even though the Footy season will be over.

It works both ways, buddy. Check this thread out, just started.

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=270004

Now if I popped into the soccer board and started a thread about how I thought soccer was just a fad and its popularity would shrivel away in no time, what do you think the reaction would be? And would that reaction be an indication that soccer fans feel insecure about their own sport? Perhaps you'd like to think about that for a little while.

 

[cos789]

Yet Melbourne Victory just has to get ONE 40,000 crowd in Melbourne, and .

And they ask for a bigger stadium to be built .
That's what gets up everybody's nose .
It's taken nearly 150 years for Australian football fans to get a great comfortable stadium from which they can patronise their sport and yet the soccer fraternity want instant success .It took an Olympics games to get Sydney a decent stadium and even then it wasn't designed with Australian Football in mind . SA football had to build their own . And WA is paying off theirs .It's got little to do with insecurity but alot to do with building your case .