Soccer rebranded as football by PC commentators

[Kwality]

I have long been irked (read gives me the 5hitz) by the way members of the media call soccer football, and no one is as bad as Gerard Whately & his PC mates at the ABC.
This is in no way a criticism of the game of soccer or the A-League.

It was refreshing to read Michael Lynchs article in the Fairfax media 14/4 to see his take:

.... chairman Frank Lowy, who has backed Buckley at every turn and seems to have absolute trust in his lieutenant's judgment. But as the game lurches from problem to problem, others are questioning whether Lowy has lost his magic touch and whether his faith in Buckley is misplaced.
Lowy dominates the soccer landscape even more than Andrew Demetriou lords it over the AFL. Dissidents are muted.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/socc...ing-the-ffa-20120413-1wz11.html#ixzz1ry0rfQT7

If its good enough for a soccer commentator to call the game by its given name in Australia, its time the PC types were called for their political correctness & forced to admit football in the southern states is Aussie Rules, & the competition played is the AFL - our game is not AFL.

I wait for the day Whately demand s his beloved Cats rebrand themselves Geelong AFL Club doing away with Football in its title - he can be such a twirp.

I trust the censors dont consider this thread as unwelcome because it uses a soccer article to illustrate the issue.​

 

[soyouthink10]

Would someone please think about the children!

 

[Professor Knowall]

I have long been irked (read gives me the 5hitz) by the way members of the media call soccer football, and no one is as bad as Gerard Whately & his PC mates at the ABC.
...

If its good enough for a soccer commentator to call the game by its given name in Australia, its time the PC types were called for their political correctness & forced to admit football in the southern states is Aussie Rules, & the competition played is the AFL - our game is not AFL.​

I wait for the day Whately demands his beloved Cats rebrand themselves Geelong AFL Club doing away with Football in its title - he can be such a twirp...

Good post! Agree on both points. I played a lot of junior soccer (more than footy) and followed the game as much. However, since Lowy took over the game as his personal fiefdom (though using taxpayers money), I've been completely turned off by its conceit and arrogance (despite having little here to be arrogant about), as evidenced by the world cup bid fiasco and the demands that it alone be called 'football' in Australia - and then there's that Forster twerp on SBS ... these things have alienated huge numbers of potential soccer supporters (like me).

And, on a slightly diffeent tangent -​

It was refreshing to read Michael Lynchs article in the Fairfax media 14/4 to see his take:

.... chairman Frank Lowy, who has backed Buckley at every turn and seems to have absolute trust in his lieutenant's judgment. But as the game lurches from problem to problem, others are questioning whether Lowy has lost his magic touch ...

Lowy dominates the soccer landscape even more than Andrew Demetriou lords it over the AFL. Dissidents are muted.​

FINALLY - At least one person in the media (and a genuine long standing, respected soccer journo) is questioning Lowy competence and position. I believe he's out of touch and his continuing control will only see the problems compound in Ausrtralian soccer and the A-League in particular.
​

 

[finders]

Even the hated Foster as resorted to calling it Soccer again!

Jets don't fall from clear sky

Craig Foster The Age
April 15, 2012
.
Blaming the owner for the Jets woes unfairly clears the FFA of any wrongdoing.

SOCCER doesn't just have an elephant in the room, we have a herd stampeding through and, all the while, we keep looking elsewhere instead of facing the tough questions.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/socc...m-clear-sky-20120414-1x0gy.html#ixzz1s5l9Skbd

 

[wikipediaAFLproject]

Several points:

- I refuse to have Foxtel installed at my house do to the fact that they insist on calling soccer football. I let them know this when ever they call me up to install as well.

- I have been contemplating writing a detailed comprehensive analysis to the ABC about its bias in this matter. As a government run organisation it should have no preference. I am certain though that cause is the Chief Sports writer who is a massive soccer fan.
Complaints here:
http://www.abc.net.au/contact/complaints.htm

- I have also considered a similar report about SBS about its abuse of taxpayer money by putting way too much emphasis on soccer news and being basically a stronghold for the criticism of football and league.
Complaints here:
http://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/contact/index/id/142/h/Feedback-Complaints

- As the SMH is a private business the only thing i can do is tell everyone that the paper is terrible and that they are best getting their news online from a variety of sources.

 

[hoskoau]

Its stupid for the Soccer people to want to call their game in Australia football. Football in Australia is a generic term and relates to any football code. So from a marketing point of view its idiotic to want to only call your game football. Soccer on the other hand relates to only one code. Even in England they use the term soccer.

 

[Mighty Eagles]

From memory the FFA (there's the problem, Australian Soccer's head organisation has "Football" in the title) applied for the right to use the term Football was were given the all clear.

 

[JuddyBuddy]

I refuse to have Foxtel installed at my house do to the fact that they insist on calling soccer football. I let them know this when ever they call me up to install as well.

You let something as small the name they use for soccer, get in the way of you being able to watch all 9 games live every week?

 

[ManWithNoName]

Who cares?

Bunch of sooks.

 

[Professor Knowall]

ManWithNoName cares enough to post.

Several points:

- I refuse to have Foxtel installed at my house do to the fact that they insist on calling soccer football. I let them know this when ever they call me up to install as well.

- I have been contemplating writing a detailed comprehensive analysis to the ABC about its bias in this matter. As a government run organisation it should have no preference. I am certain though that cause is the Chief Sports writer who is a massive soccer fan.
Complaints here:
http://www.abc.net.au/contact/complaints.htm

- I have also considered a similar report about SBS about its abuse of taxpayer money by putting way too much emphasis on soccer news and being basically a stronghold for the criticism of football and league.
Complaints here:
http://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/contact/index/id/142/h/Feedback-Complaints

- As the SMH is a private business the only thing i can do is tell everyone that the paper is terrible and that they are best getting their news online from a variety of sources.

Thaanks for those links. Will make use of them.

Interesting that the SMH use 'football' to mean 'soccer' - yet its stablemate in Melbourne, 'The Age' use 'soccer' - even for the Craig Foster ramblings.

From memory the FFA (there's the problem, Australian Soccer's head organisation has "Football" in the title) applied for the right to use the term Football was were given the all clear.

Who did they apply to? Who has the right to "approve" the use of a generic word like 'football'?

 

[shifty mp]

From memory the FFA (there's the problem, Australian Soccer's head organisation has "Football" in the title) applied for the right to use the term Football was were given the all clear.

Clearly within the ABC there is a heightened regime of political correctness that directed ABC types e.g Mr Whately to call Aussie Rules ARL, & rugby league NRL, BUT they should not carry any weight with other media sources.

Good on Michael Lynch for referring to the A-League as soccer.

Be a long time before anyone suggests the Pies change the name from Collingwood Football Club. Our version of the Toorak Toff would have him 'shot at dawn'.

 

[Mr Ripper]

Even the hated Foster as resorted to calling it Soccer again!

Jets don't fall from clear sky

Craig Foster The Age
April 15, 2012
.
Blaming the owner for the Jets woes unfairly clears the FFA of any wrongdoing.

SOCCER doesn't just have an elephant in the room, we have a herd stampeding through and, all the while, we keep looking elsewhere instead of facing the tough questions.

Methinks this is an Age policy. Check out the SMH's corresponding piece.

Football doesn't just have an elephant in the room...

 

[kennerado]

lol, so technically if they called it "Association Football" would that be ok?

 

[finders]

I just ripped off a complaint and I suggest everyone that hates the way the FFA and the compliant Sydney based media are trying to force the name Football on to us.

http://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/contac...ack-Complaints

 

[finders]

lol, so technically if they called it "Association Football" would that be ok?

Mate their are 4 codes of Football in Australia and only one can be described as AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL and it aint the imported game of Soccer!

Its just a cunning marketing ploy by Lowy who thinks his money can buy him anything he wants.

Its also about making the next generation think that soccer is the only real football played in OZ.

 

[Demonoid]

As others have pointed out, it has NOTHING to do with whether Lynch or Foster etc want to use the term football or soccer. It is an Age policy for term to be soccer. The Sydney Morning Herald Use football. So Fosters weekly Sunday article always uses the term football in Sydney. Most weeks, the Age (being the sister fairfax publication in Melbourne) will also pick up his article (but not always if it purely a Sydney bias) and will change the term to soccer.

As far as I know, Its still called soccer in SA (The Advertiser) and WA (The West Australian), as well as the Herald Sun (Mel), Daily Telegraph (Sydney), and Courier Mail (QLD). Fox sports use Football.

 

[Stewies Power]

It's only the ****ing Sydney media that insists on calling soccer football. No Adelaide made stories ever call it that. I'm sure it's the same for other football cities. If national news all of a sudden started coming out of Melbourne this would be fixed. I hate Sydney centric media, biased Sydney sports first, wrong name for soccer etc.

 

[Hoops]

I don't have a problem with the FFA or any commercial media calling soccer "football", It's their choice. But when the ABC first did it on their website 7 years ago I complained to the ABC and got a response as shown below

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3198497

 

[Starburns_]

My interest in soccer has diminished over the last half a dozen years or so (not that I was ever likely to care about a 5th rate competition like the A-League, but it certainly affected how much I cared about overseas leagues or internationals), and I would consider much of the reason is the attitude of the FFA and w***ers like Craig Foster with regards to the term "football". The AFL using the term "AFL" to re-brand the sport doesn't help though.

I don't have a problem with the FFA or any commercial media calling soccer "football", It's their choice. But when the ABC first did it on their website 7 years ago I complained to the ABC and got a response as shown below

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3198497

That's a pathetic response from the ABC and lacking in logic, many more people would call soccer "soccer" than would call Australian football "AFL". Much to that guy's disappointment though, it'll never be an accepted change, in fact things are more likely to change back to the way they were once interest in soccer drops again.

 

[TheOz]

Several points:

- I refuse to have Foxtel installed at my house do to the fact that they insist on calling soccer football. I let them know this when ever they call me up to install as well.

- I have been contemplating writing a detailed comprehensive analysis to the ABC about its bias in this matter. As a government run organisation it should have no preference. I am certain though that cause is the Chief Sports writer who is a massive soccer fan.
Complaints here:
http://www.abc.net.au/contact/complaints.htm

- I have also considered a similar report about SBS about its abuse of taxpayer money by putting way too much emphasis on soccer news and being basically a stronghold for the criticism of football and league.
Complaints here:
http://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/contact/index/id/142/h/Feedback-Complaints

- As the SMH is a private business the only thing i can do is tell everyone that the paper is terrible and that they are best getting their news online from a variety of sources.

Are you serious? Jesus friggen christ talk about being an anally retentive arsehat.
Why don't you try and do something constructive like attempt to get laid for the first time in your 45 odd years or however long you've wasted oxygen on this planet for.

 

[wikipediaAFLproject]

Are you serious? Jesus friggen christ talk about being an anally retentive arsehat.
Why don't you try and do something constructive like attempt to get laid for the first time in your 45 odd years or however long you've wasted oxygen on this planet for.

Which bit do you have a problem with?
Perhaps its my determination to succeed in all aspects of my life?

Perhaps you think that the structured response of my position means that I am one of those guys who watch football and nothing but football 24/7. However this is a football forum, and I am not going to talk about my interest in arts, music, academic debate, hiking etc.

Also nowhere near 45 (not even half) but very confident of my superiority over you in this area.

 

[Professor Knowall]

Are you serious? Jesus friggen christ talk about being an anally retentive arsehat.
Why don't you try and do something constructive like attempt to get laid for the first time in your 45 odd years or however long you've wasted oxygen on this planet for.

Personal abuse is always an argument that's already lost.

 

[zachary]

I don't have a problem with the FFA or any commercial media calling soccer "football", It's their choice. But when the ABC first did it on their website 7 years ago I complained to the ABC and got a response as shown below

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3198497

What a patronising jerk that ABC guy was - and wrong! Football is not soccer's "proper" name - "Association Football" is. According to him Rugby League and Rugby Union have "proper" names, but he is quite happy for the ABC to call Australian Football "AFL" because it's easier for them, even though he admits that is wrong.
Apparently the Australian game doesn't deserve a "proper" name.
I feel like calling them the "BBC" in retaliation, but that would be flattering them.

 

[Stewies Power]

What a patronising jerk that ABC guy was - and wrong! Football is not soccer's "proper" name - "Association Football" is. According to him Rugby League and Rugby Union have "proper" names, but he is quite happy for the ABC to call Australian Football "AFL" because it's easier for them, even though he admits that is wrong.
Apparently the Australian game doesn't deserve a "proper" name.
I feel like calling them the "BBC" in retaliation, but that would be flattering them.

As I've said before it's the ****ing Sydney centric biased media who make these shit calls.

 

[Sprout]

I refuse to have Foxtel installed at my house do to the fact that they insist on calling soccer football. I let them know this when ever they call me up to install as well.

That is deadset one of the dumbest things I've ever read on this forum.