This is what Joffa had to say about Melbourne Victory

[Ted Ed Fred]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

And hence the reason I will never, ever watch Australian soccer. This "our sport or nothing" hostile attitude has done it for me. You'd think we could co-exist, but no. And this is coming from someone who has played soccer, and who used to follow the EPL (admittedly it was a while ago now).

I mean, comments like that are just ridiculous.

Completely agree. Make no mistake, the diehard soccer fans want to see AFL (and rugby) dead. I mean, straight after the world cup even the President of FFA started smarting off about how soccer is well on the way to knocking the other codes off their perches as no.1, saying normal service will not be resumed smugly. I'll never understand the hostility and resentment towards Australia's game, partly because they're just setting themselves up for dissapointment after dissapointment. The best they can ever hope for is co-existance

 

[TheSaviour]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

Completely agree. Make no mistake, the diehard soccer fans want to see AFL (and rugby) dead. I mean, straight after the world cup even the President of FFA started smarting off about how soccer is well on the way to knocking the other codes off their perches as no.1, saying normal service will not be resumed smugly. I'll never understand the hostility and resentment towards Australia's game, partly because they're just setting themselves up for dissapointment after dissapointment. The best they can ever hope for is co-existance

Same thing could be said about most AFL fans.

People in this forum are too Melbournecentric. You don't realise how meaningless and tiny AFL is until you leave the Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne Area.

 

[Sir_Adrian84]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

Same thing could be said about most AFL fans.

People in this forum are too Melbournecentric. You don't realise how meaningless and tiny AFL is until you leave the Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne Area.

the soccer people or for that matter league people or anyone are no different. There are people who like some sports and others who don't. You could go further where anyone who didn;t support AUS druing the World Cup because it was soccer are disgraceful, but so are those people who watch the WC but slag off the Wallabies, the cricket team etc.

Most people here, and in Melbourne watch all sports either at the game or on TV, if anything go to Europe and see how many sports other than soccer they play.

 

[TheSaviour]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

the soccer people or for that matter league people or anyone are no different. There are people who like some sports and others who don't. You could go further where anyone who didn;t support AUS druing the World Cup because it was soccer are disgraceful, but so are those people who watch the WC but slag off the Wallabies, the cricket team etc.

Most people here, and in Melbourne watch all sports either at the game or on TV, if anything go to Europe and see how many sports other than soccer they play.

Haven't you seen the Anti Soccer media that AFL papers keep writing about? remember when Channel Seven "suffocated" soccer for the AFL. Its lcearly the other way around mate and because of that Soccer fans don't like AFL. They just don't like it being shoved down there throat all the time.

 

[Swan]

Re: Joffa has 2 teeth"

 

[Chuq]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

And hence the reason I will never, ever watch Australian soccer. This "our sport or nothing" hostile attitude has done it for me. You'd think we could co-exist, but no.

Please re-read what you just wrote, and have a think about it!

 

[bresker]

I don't think Melbourne is going to support 8 soccer teams with an average attendance of 25,000 or more in the near futire. No comparison.

Joffa and his type are suited to soccer. The chants and the flares would remind him of the birthday parties for his fellow basket cases in his sheltered accommodation.

He's more interested in the the crowd than the sport. I go to football to watch the game, not listen to people sing or set fire to themsleves. Though I must admit I'd pay money to watch a flare go out of control and set fire to its user's shiny Melbourne Victory tracksuit.

 

[Hornet]

To all the ill-informed bogans out there that have a negative opinion about soccer, do yourselves a favor and get down to a Victory game and experience something very unique in Australian sports. The chanting when done with some imagination can be very humerous eg. the south end supporters giving it to visiting opposition fans.

 

[realfootball]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

Same reason the Perth Glory were getting sellouts every match 6 or 7 years ago but now no bastard gives a rats arse.
Funnily enough, exactly the same sort of comments were said back then about the Glory as are said now about the Victory. They were winning every game, the crowd atmosphere was great (which it was), and it's the new sporting behemoth.

No, it was a F-A-D. The attraction of a few funny chants doesn't last forever. People eventually start looking at what else there is to offer, and a bunch of 4th rate soccer players not good enough to play in Europe won't cut it. Especially if they're not winning every game.

You're talking utter rubbish.

Yes, Perth 'Gory' may have been a bit of a fad, but thats because the NSL was a joke. It was a well run club with money pumped into it, but it couldn't last financially under the old administration and Tanna pulled out eventually. I am also led to believe that the sporting culture in the west remains overtly AFL., with soccer having to struggle to compete to gain any exposure.

Well I can assure you, it aint like that here. Sydney in particular is a multi-code city, and if you look at the papers, the exposure and the 'care-factor', soccer is arguably the no2 code here now. And it is strong at every level. The novelty over here, if anything, is AFL. Soccer is a different ball game now, with huge backing from very powerful people. The marketing of the game, on a tight budget is second to none, and I'm convinced that this is no fad. The second year of any start up comp is tough, but the a-league crowds on average are up on year one. I dare say you are coming from a very WA viewpoint. Sure, Perth Glory may possibly even get the boot, but the a-league is alive and well, and looks in good shape overall. It is VERY well run.

Sure, the standard isn't great, but it isn't 4th rate as you say. I've been to literally hundreds of soccer matches around the world, and the standard is no worse, on average, than serie B in Italy. If you reckon the a-league is 4th rate, you should see some of the lower euro matches i've been to. Many players in the A-league can, and have, cut it in top filght euro comps. That is unquestionable. In anycase, you don't need to have the best comp in the world to have a thriving league. J-league, K-league, are examples outside of europe.

 

[realfootball]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

Completely agree. Make no mistake, the diehard soccer fans want to see AFL (and rugby) dead. I mean, straight after the world cup even the President of FFA started smarting off about how soccer is well on the way to knocking the other codes off their perches as no.1, saying normal service will not be resumed smugly. I'll never understand the hostility and resentment towards Australia's game, partly because they're just setting themselves up for dissapointment after dissapointment. The best they can ever hope for is co-existance

I don't know if that is the case. It may be true that, from what i've seen, Sydney FC fans have a dislike of AFL quite alot, (much to my displeasure), but I don't find much resentment between either of the rugby codes here and soccer. Sydney tis a multi code city. Also having spoken to a number of Victory fans, they told me, (maybe this is wrong), but, in general, there is great cross over and respect between fans of soccer and afl in Melbourne. I don't even think it is 'co-existence'. I think it is more likely people will enjoy the choice more and more in the future.

IMHO, die hard soccer fans want AFL to go away no more than Die hard AFL fans want soccer to disapear. There will always be an element of supporters in each code who believe 'my sport is the only sport' .

 

[Rob]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

You're talking utter rubbish.

Yes, Perth 'Gory' may have been a bit of a fad, but thats because the NSL was a joke. It was a well run club with money pumped into it, but it couldn't last financially under the old administration and Tanna pulled out eventually. I am also led to believe that the sporting culture in the west remains overtly AFL., with soccer having to struggle to compete to gain any exposure.

Not during the summer it aint. But in any case, how's that different to Melbourne?

Well I can assure you, it aint like that here. Sydney in particular is a multi-code city, and if you look at the papers, the exposure and the 'care-factor', soccer is arguably the no2 code here now.

Couldn't even get 10,000 through the gates last game. Shows what happens when the team isn't winning every game. It's not like they're crap either. Imagine how poor their crowds would be if they were losing every game - i'd imagine less than 5,000 would be the norm.

And it is strong at every level. The novelty over here, if anything, is AFL.

A pretty long lasting novelty. They've been drawing strong crowds - much higher than any soccer club - for ages.

Soccer is a different ball game now, with huge backing from very powerful people. The marketing of the game, on a tight budget is second to none, and I'm convinced that this is no fad. The second year of any start up comp is tough, but the a-league crowds on average are up on year one. I dare say you are coming from a very WA viewpoint. Sure, Perth Glory may possibly even get the boot, but the a-league is alive and well, and looks in good shape overall. It is VERY well run.

Big deal. My point was that Melbourne is going through exactly what Perth went through years ago. Perth grew out of it. Read the post before yours by Hornet to prove my point. The attraction isn't the game at all, it's the atmosphere, which is what was drawing full houses for the Glory all those years ago. But that won't last for the majority.
That they're about as popular as aids now has nothing to do with how well they're run off the field - it's simply because people will not become lifelong fans based on decent atmosphere. The novelty of 3 or 4 thousand poms yelling 'stick Croatia up your arse' or 'F**k off back to Sydney' was fun for a while, but eventually just got boring.

Sure, the standard isn't great, but it isn't 4th rate as you say. I've been to literally hundreds of soccer matches around the world, and the standard is no worse, on average, than serie B in Italy. If you reckon the a-league is 4th rate, you should see some of the lower euro matches i've been to. Many players in the A-league can, and have, cut it in top filght euro comps. That is unquestionable. In anycase, you don't need to have the best comp in the world to have a thriving league. J-league, K-league, are examples outside of europe.

You keep telling yourself that. I've seen it all before, as has any medium term Perth resident. People get attracted to the atmosphere and the chants - then after a while they start looking at the product. Most of them leave.

 

[realfootball]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

Not during the summer it aint. But in any case, how's that different to Melbourne?

The difference is, Melbourne people have a club for themselves that is well run under a proper administration, for the first time. Perth glory are currently administered by the FFA from sydney, hardly effective for the fans, or potential punters. Media wise, i've looked closely at the newspapers of both cities regularly, and it is quite plain to see that the victory have far expousre in the media. I could be wrong, but I think soccer just has far more acceptance in Melbourne than perth.

Couldn't even get 10,000 through the gates last game. Shows what happens when the team isn't winning every game. It's not like they're crap either. Imagine how poor their crowds would be if they were losing every game - i'd imagine less than 5,000 would be the norm.

Yes, but it's true of sydney in general. They hate losing, and tend not to go to, irrespective of the code. Fans here, of all sports vote with their feet. the 10K you mentioned was against the knights, a club that should not be in the league, and the crowd was no worse than last year for the same fixture.

A pretty long lasting novelty. They've been drawing strong crowds - much higher than any soccer club - for ages.

And I've been going for ages. Infact, i've been going since season one in sydney, and after that first year, the crowds dropped off to just a few thousand at times, for quite along time too. It was miserable. In comparison, Sydney FC, second year in, looks in much better shape than the swans did at the same time. It still isn't a game of the masses here.

Big deal. My point was that Melbourne is going through exactly what Perth went through years ago. Perth grew out of it. Read the post before yours by Hornet to prove my point. The attraction isn't the game at all, it's the atmosphere, which is what was drawing full houses for the Glory all those years ago. But that won't last for the majority.
That they're about as popular as aids now has nothing to do with how well they're run off the field - it's simply because people will not become lifelong fans based on decent atmosphere. The novelty of 3 or 4 thousand poms yelling 'stick Croatia up your arse' or 'F**k off back to Sydney' was fun for a while, but eventually just got boring.

You could be right, but I don't think so. It may be that people in WA are less interested in soccer, or perhaps more likely, the glory peaked when they had to work under the old nsl regime. Generally, the FFA franchises are sound, financially, something the glory never was.. But we will just have to wait and see.

You keep telling yourself that. I've seen it all before, as has any medium term Perth resident. People get attracted to the atmosphere and the chants - then after a while they start looking at the product. Most of them leave.

Yes, but you keep talking about Perth as the example. It is not representative of Australia. The crowds are up overall, second year in. You would think many would have given up by now, but the opposite is true, and the second season is usually the toughest of all.

 

[krisholio14]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

Yes, but you keep talking about Perth as the example. It is not representative of Australia. The crowds are up overall, second year in. You would think many would have given up by now, but the opposite is true, and the second season is usually the toughest of all.

except when the national team makes the WC finals prior to that second season commencing.

im just interested to know how soccer now is any different to basketball here in the 90's? and they are two most played team sports worldwide, so i dont want to hear about 'the world game'

i will also say that i am a big soccer fan (ive been following WHU longer than Geelong even), have been for years, and do go to victory games myself.

 

[Rob]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

The difference is, Melbourne people have a club for themselves that is well run under a proper administration, for the first time. Perth glory are currently administered by the FFA from sydney, hardly effective for the fans, or potential punters. Media wise, i've looked closely at the newspapers of both cities regularly, and it is quite plain to see that the victory have far expousre in the media. I could be wrong, but I think soccer just has far more acceptance in Melbourne than perth.

The media tends to reflect the interest of it's readership. When the Glory was strong, they used to get strong media coverage. Now that they're weak, the media doesn't care because their readers don't care. I'm sure the Victory is getting pretty good coverage in Melbourne (they should be), because they are attracting a fair bit of interest from the general population.
You seem to think it works the other way around - the media generally doesn't operate like that.

Yes, but it's true of sydney in general. They hate losing, and tend not to go to, irrespective of the code. Fans here, of all sports vote with their feet. the 10K you mentioned was against the knights, a club that should not be in the league, and the crowd was no worse than last year for the same fixture.

Didn't Sydney win the league last year? Surely you wouldn't expect them to have declining crowds.

And I've been going for ages. Infact, i've been going since season one in sydney, and after that first year, the crowds dropped off to just a few thousand at times, for quite along time too. It was miserable. In comparison, Sydney FC, second year in, looks in much better shape than the swans did at the same time. It still isn't a game of the masses here.

Don't undersell it, even when the Swans won 4 straight spoons, they still averaged nearly 10k. And back then it wasn't a competition that had nearly as much publicity as the A-League. In the Swans 3rd and 4th years when they were competitive, they were averaging over 20,000. And this was over 20 years ago, when people weren't as affluent and not as likely to attend sporting events. You really can't compare the 2.

You could be right, but I don't think so. It may be that people in WA are less interested in soccer, or perhaps more likely, the glory peaked when they had to work under the old nsl regime. Generally, the FFA franchises are sound, financially, something the glory never was.. But we will just have to wait and see.

True. But I don't think people decide whether or not to go to a soccer match on the basis of how financial the club was.

Yes, but you keep talking about Perth as the example. It is not representative of Australia. The crowds are up overall, second year in. You would think many would have given up by now, but the opposite is true, and the second season is usually the toughest of all.

I talk about Perth as the example because that's what i'm familiar with, and it sounds so familiar. With the Glory, it took them 2 or 3 seasons to start attracting decent support as well. People aren't just going to jump on board because it's new, word had to get around that it was different and worth going to. That seems to be the case with the Victory, they look to have built a reputation for being a different sporting experience. But that seems to be based almost entirely around atmosphere, not the actual product. Go back to the original post - nothing much about what a great game soccer is, only how people make so much noise and generate so much atmosphere. A bit like buying a packet of chips because of how cool the packet is. Eventually people have to open the packet and try what's inside. If they don't like it then they're probably not going to buy it anymore.

I'd imagine you being from Sydney would have a reasonable idea of the phenomenon - you must remember the Northern Spirit.

 

[Ted Ed Fred]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

Same thing could be said about most AFL fans.

People in this forum are too Melbournecentric. You don't realise how meaningless and tiny AFL is until you leave the Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne Area.

I don't live in any of those areas. Last time I checked AFL was Australia's number 1 sporting code by any measure, so what does that say about how meaningless the other codes are I wonder. AFL is the number 1 football code in WA, Victoria, SA, Tasmania, NT (even if RL do force channel 9 to show rugby first) and the stats show it's about 60-40 RL-AFL in QLD. So it's "tiny and meaningless" in Sydney, and even there crowds for Swans games are consistantly larger than the crowds for Soccer and Rugby.

If you love soccer just focus on it and enjoy it . If you're constantly worrying about AFL and it's popularity you're always going to feel resentful and bitter.

 

[gotheflag]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

You will find Perth's best season average attendance in the NSL was their second season when they finished pretty low I think.

Mind you Perth media are knobs.

 

[mustapha]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

except when the national team makes the WC finals prior to that second season commencing.

im just interested to know how soccer now is any different to basketball here in the 90's? and they are two most played team sports worldwide, so i dont want to hear about 'the world game'

i will also say that i am a big soccer fan (ive been following WHU longer than Geelong even), have been for years, and do go to victory games myself.

With the changed qualification process I doubt that we will be waiting another 32 years for the next World Cup appearance. Our national team will be playing in major tournaments (World Cup, Asian Cup) more often. Has there ever been as much public interest in basketball as there was for the World Cup this year? Would a boomers final be played to 10,000 people at Federation square. I think that there is also a strong ethnic population that has an attachment to football. I doubt that basketball in the 90s had this. For the first time in years people can follow a professional league at home.

I hope that the AFL administration are concerned about the rise of football in Australia (there is really no need to be as both games can co-exist). Hopefully their irrational concern plays a small part in preventing the competition from becoming more of a farce than it already is.

 

[Lockyer24]

I still love AFL the sport a lot more than the round ball code but theres no doubt at all in my mind the vibe of the crowd is 100 times better at Victory games that any Collingwood games I attend.

Victory is developing a very strong and loyal fan base, anyone who thinks it is just a fad has no idea. Sure you will have your bandwagoners but with 11,000 members already the core is very strong.

 

[Coastering]

I have been a member of Victory since the club started. I have played soccer all my life and I still do. Compared to AFL I find soccer incredibly boring. To say that the 'vibe' at Victory matches is better than AFL is wrong. Sure the crowd goes insane when a goal is scored. Big deal! For more than half the game the crowd is dead quiet as the ball bounces back an forth through the middle. You get a cheer squad who are so bored that they spend a large part of the game singing songs. AFL crowds don't go insane the way soccer fans do but over the course of an AFL game there is more participation from fans than in an a-league game. That's because AFL is a far more interesting game than girly ball.

 

[mustapha]

I have been a member of Victory since the club started. I have played soccer all my life and I still do. Compared to AFL I find soccer incredibly boring. To say that the 'vibe' at Victory matches is better than AFL is wrong. Sure the crowd goes insane when a goal is scored. Big deal! For more than half the game the crowd is dead quiet as the ball bounces back an forth through the middle. You get a cheer squad who are so bored that they spend a large part of the game singing songs. AFL crowds don't go insane the way soccer fans do but over the course of an AFL game there is more participation from fans than in an a-league game. That's because AFL is a far more interesting game than girly ball.

You are a member of a club that plays a sport that you find boring. You pay at least $100 to watch a sport that you call "girly ball" . You participate in "girly ball". You must be incredibly wealthy if you can afford to offload money into things that you don't like.

PS I have been an Essendon member for 65 years but I hate Aussie Rules and I can't stand watching it.

 

[Coastering]

Ha, I wish. A Victory membership costs $160 per year. That works out to $16 a game, so it saves me money if I go to every game. I joined last year because I know someone involved with the club and I wanted to support them. I joined again this year as I need to watch some sport during the AFL off season, and I don't follow cricket. I do enjoy going to the games where I catch up with mates. I am unsure if will renew my membership next year, at this stage probably not, it's not worth the money.

I love playing 'girly ball', I just find it boring to watch.

AFL is a far more interesting spectator sport than soccer. I am sick of all the 'I went to my first a-league and now I am a convert' comments I hear recently. Once you get over the singing crowds, the flares, the big goal celebrations and focus on the actual game, it's quite dull.

 

[bzparkes]

Soccer would never replace AFL as our no.1 sport for the simple fact that it's played in the AFL off-season. How can anyone even consider that the A-League would conquer AFL when they're not even played in competition to each other? You'll find that most ppl who will end up watching the soccer in years to come will pretty much only watch it because Australia will play in the World Cup more often, just like they do with World Cup rugby. It's a bit like when parents enrol their kids in a particular sport whenever an Australian does well at it, the novelty soon wears off.

The Soccer supporters here who do follow A-League will all follow some European-based team first, that you can all but guarante. The fact that they can't watch their team play here makes them want to go to A-League matches, which is most likely why they follow A-League I suspect.

AFL will never be knocked off it's perch as Australia's No.1 sport. It's our indigenous game and too ingrained in our culture. Besides, why would we want some European import to knock off a game that we created?? The mind boggles...

 

[Ron The Bear]

If I was getting paid I would say whatever they wanted as well

My first thought also, far too complimentary about a run-of-the-mill mid-season soccer match for someone who must have been amongst the ~100,000 at the 1990 GF (unless incarcerated at the time). My interest in soccer is fleeting, I'll watch Premier League or the national team on TV but generally fall asleep unless there is some sort of wager involved.

Don't know Joffa (who would own up to it?) but it's one of
a) paid commentary
b) attempted troll
c) drug-addled waffle
d) Joffa is not the passionate Collingwood supporter he paints himself as, or
e) it's not Joffa.

Not worried in the least about soccer's popularity - it will stand, fall or plateau on its merits.

 

[mustapha]

My first thought also, far too complimentary about a run-of-the-mill mid-season soccer match for someone who must have been amongst the ~100,000 at the 1990 GF (unless incarcerated at the time). My interest in soccer is fleeting, I'll watch Premier League or the national team on TV but generally fall asleep unless there is some sort of wager involved.

Don't know Joffa (who would own up to it?) but it's one of
a) paid commentary
b) attempted troll
c) drug-addled waffle
d) Joffa is not the passionate Collingwood supporter he paints himself as, or
e) it's not Joffa.

Not worried in the least about soccer's popularity - it will stand, fall or plateau on its merits.

It sounds more like a passionate AFL supporter who is disappointed with the current direction of the AFL and the modern game (or possibly option c ).

 

[realfootball]

Re: Joffa says Victory game "shat on any AFL game I have ever attended"

The media tends to reflect the interest of it's readership. When the Glory was strong, they used to get strong media coverage. Now that they're weak, the media doesn't care because their readers don't care. I'm sure the Victory is getting pretty good coverage in Melbourne (they should be), because they are attracting a fair bit of interest from the general population.
You seem to think it works the other way around - the media generally doesn't operate like that.

I don't really agree with that.I think it works both ways. I could give a plethora of examples where the media itself, through top-down marketing, have created the interest and hype itself, or even held it back. For example, the daily telegraph in sydney have a liftout 'football fever' every tuesday for soccer fans, no doubt paid for by sponsors. This was never available in the old nsl. It has given exposure. The lift-out, mainly focusing on sydney FC, creates exposure and interst to those football curious. And this liftout will exposure will no continue whether sydney win lose or draw. I'm sure many people became interested in the world cup, only because of hype created around it, not through overt interest in the game itself. Media expoure alone helps and occurs not necessarily because more people attend the games.

Didn't Sydney win the league last year? Surely you wouldn't expect them to have declining crowds.

Yes, and they don't have decling crowds.

Don't undersell it, even when the Swans won 4 straight spoons, they still averaged nearly 10k. And back then it wasn't a competition that had nearly as much publicity as the A-League. In the Swans 3rd and 4th years when they were competitive, they were averaging over 20,000. And this was over 20 years ago, when people weren't as affluent and not as likely to attend sporting events. You really can't compare the 2.

Other than 86/87, the crowds up till 96 were pretty ordinary, as you have shown. But, not because of fans, but through financial luck, and a bit of help from AFL headquarters, the club kept their head above water. The club and the AFL has worked tirelessly over the past decade to hype it up, and it has actually worked to some extent. And that's my point, the difference between Perth glory and Nth spirit in the nsl, and Melb victory and Sydney FC in the a-league is that this time, the clubs have governing body administration at the highest level to ensure business success, and to guide through tough times, just like the swans had.

True. But I don't think people decide whether or not to go to a soccer match on the basis of how financial the club was.

As in previous points, media and sound administration can generate interest.

I talk about Perth as the example because that's what i'm familiar with, and it sounds so familiar. With the Glory, it took them 2 or 3 seasons to start attracting decent support as well. People aren't just going to jump on board because it's new, word had to get around that it was different and worth going to. That seems to be the case with the Victory, they look to have built a reputation for being a different sporting experience. But that seems to be based almost entirely around atmosphere, not the actual product. Go back to the original post - nothing much about what a great game soccer is, only how people make so much noise and generate so much atmosphere. A bit like buying a packet of chips because of how cool the packet is. Eventually people have to open the packet and try what's inside. If they don't like it then they're probably not going to buy it anymore.

Yes, but that's just your opinion. Many people go along to a-league games and enjoy the match, as simple as that. I do for one. Sure, it isn't the highest standard. That doesn't deter everyone. I'm confident that the lowest standard is the starting point, ie last year. Do you really think that a guy like Frank Lowy is going to not want to continually improve the standard from here? If a man like Lowy says failure is not an option, I tend to believe him.