The A‑League's problem isn’t football, it's culture. Unless that changes, nothing else will

[MoorePark]

Think that’s just a matter of semantics; it’s about engaging w/️-mad communities full-stop, regardless of whether they’re more recent ones or as you mentioned, the immediate post-WWII influx.

The post WWII influx communities aren’t even communities anymore, maybe only Croatians, Serbians and the Turks.

99% of them couldn’t a give a shit about local football, they just need 1-4 games a year to get their fix and that is it. Ultimately, you go past customs in Australia and your mind only works with what is trending. The NSL was a trend, the A-league is a dying trend, the sooner the football administrators realise to just make the actual match goers happy, engaged, it’s all they can do. It’s hard though as there is zero indepedent media on a wider scale like in almost every country that can push pro-local football narratives. People only work with propaganda.

 

[HonestSpursFan]

View attachment 4829

I've always admired how the Germans do their football (fan-owned, not corporate). Portugal and Spain do it too (at least for some clubs, e.g. Barcelona and Real Madrid).

Benfica Lisbon recently had presidential elections where members from around the world voted to re-elect Rui Costa with 65.89% of the vote. They broke a world record with 85,000 members voting in the election from around the world, smashing Barça's record of 57,088 back in 2010. They even set up polling places around the world. Benfica had more voters than all but six Portuguese municipalities did at the local elections a few weeks before.

"We are all Benfica!"

Speech by President Rui Costa, re-elected with 65.89% of the votes, at his taking of office....

www.slbenfica.pt

Benfica breaks world record with over 85,000 votes cast in historic election – Portugal Resident

Portuguese club SL Benfica made history over the weekend with the club’s presidential election drawing more than 85,000 members to the polls.

www.portugalresident.com

Electoral commissions could do the same thing (plus probably online voting). The NSWEC for example runs elections not just for the state and LGA councils but also for clubs and associations (e.g. in March they're running elections for the Smithfield RSL Club).

What we do - NSW Electoral Commission

Find out how the NSW Electoral Commission works to run elections with transparency and equality.

elections.nsw.gov.au

Elections - NSW Electoral Commission

Australians eligible to vote, choose people to represent them at three levels of government, a parliament or council, which is made up of representatives.

elections.nsw.gov.au

 

[Sutherlandbear]

It was OK, but with no prior knowledge or exposure to the A-League they needed it to be more of an event in order to get hooked.

Australians in a nutshell.

 

[Sharkman84]

This isn't the case though. The actual ethnics now are Brazillians, Colombians, Somalian's etc, the communities that came in the 50-70s do not care about football. Bulldogs, St George in the NRL and AFL or Liverpool in Vic. Go sports.

Same thing applies in the AFL states. Most of Melbourne's old ethnic communities flock to Carlton. Same in Adelaide, most go to watch Port Adelaide, Perth its Freo.

 

[HonestSpursFan]

Same thing applies in the AFL states. Most of Melbourne's old ethnic communities flock to Carlton. Same in Adelaide, most go to watch Port Adelaide, Perth its Freo.

I feel like this is partly the case but not entirely. Look at our young talents, plenty of them still have a Wog background.

Antonio Arena at Roma's academy is only 16. He's Australian but has Italian descent through his grandparents and has dual Australian and Italian citizenship and has represented Australia and Italy as a youth international (my hopes are that he follows Alessandro Circati and chooses the Socceroos rather than Cristian Volpato who clearly has the Azzurri on his mind).

Similarly Daniela Galić (aged 19) is a Young Matilda with five Matildas caps (and I pray and hope she gets picked for the Asian Cup squad) and is of Croatian descent. She plays for Vittsjö in Sweden (previously she was at Twente in the Netherlands and before that at Melbourne City) and is absolutely on fire. Another great part too is she clearly wants to play for Australia rather than Croatia. Similarly Indi dos Santos at Sydney FC, an absolute gun who I and many others think will be one of the next big things, is of Maltese and Portuguese descent.

Even a quick look at the last Young Socceroos squad shows that eight of them had Mediterranean surnames and five had African or Arab surnames, as did six of the last Young Matildas squad (which also had one Asian, one South Asian and one Pacific Islander surname, with the Islander being Grace Kuilamu who is of both Fijian and Romanian descent). So I think it shows that we still have a lot of ethnic talent, but the scope is widening from just Europe to also include other parts of the world. Personally though if he or she is a good footballer, that's all that matters.

 

[BA81]

I've always admired how the Germans do their football (fan-owned, not corporate). Portugal and Spain do it too (at least for some clubs, e.g. Barcelona and Real Madrid).

Benfica Lisbon recently had presidential elections where members from around the world voted to re-elect Rui Costa with 65.89% of the vote. They broke a world record with 85,000 members voting in the election from around the world, smashing Barça's record of 57,088 back in 2010. They even set up polling places around the world. Benfica had more voters than all but six Portuguese municipalities did at the local elections a few weeks before.

"We are all Benfica!"

Speech by President Rui Costa, re-elected with 65.89% of the votes, at his taking of office....

www.slbenfica.pt

Benfica breaks world record with over 85,000 votes cast in historic election – Portugal Resident

Portuguese club SL Benfica made history over the weekend with the club’s presidential election drawing more than 85,000 members to the polls.

www.portugalresident.com

Electoral commissions could do the same thing (plus probably online voting). The NSWEC for example runs elections not just for the state and LGA councils but also for clubs and associations (e.g. in March they're running elections for the Smithfield RSL Club).

What we do - NSW Electoral Commission

Find out how the NSW Electoral Commission works to run elections with transparency and equality.

elections.nsw.gov.au

Elections - NSW Electoral Commission

Australians eligible to vote, choose people to represent them at three levels of government, a parliament or council, which is made up of representatives.

elections.nsw.gov.au

I think that if just in general A-League club-memberships came w/the ability to vote on matters regarding a club, it would be a game-changer. Of course that means in effect the club would no longer classify as a ‘franchise’ in the strictest definition, but it would certainly be a sizeable leap forward.

 

[HonestSpursFan]

I think that if just in general A-League club-memberships came w/the ability to vote on matters regarding a club, it would be a game-changer. Of course that means in effect the club would no longer classify as a ‘franchise’ in the strictest definition, but it would certainly be a sizeable leap forward.

Exactly! For another example, Culers voted to kick out their then-President Josep Maria Bartomeu in 2020 during Barça's financial crisis (they failed to win a trophy that year and lost 8–2 to Bayern in the UCL) by triggering a vote of no confidence (they got over 20,000 signatures), and rather than face defeat in a referendum he and the board quit. If that were the case in the A-League then teams like Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory would've kicked out their owners ages ago.

 

[melbcityguy]

It was OK, but with no prior knowledge or exposure to the A-League they needed it to be more of an event in order to get hooked.

Well they will never be football fans then. That's the whole experience init some matches will be shite and others will be best night of your life not knowing what you're getting is part of the fun imo

 

[Sutherlandbear]

Well they will never be football fans then. That's the whole experience init some matches will be shite and others will be best night of your life not knowing what you're getting is part of the fun imo

Bang on the money MCG.

 

[BA81]

Well they will never be football fans then. That's the whole experience init some matches will be shite and others will be best night of your life not knowing what you're getting is part of the fun imo

True. That being said, it wouldn’t hurt the league IMO if more of its clubs committed to playing proactive-️ regularly; even then of course not every match is gonna be a 5-4 thriller like last night’s, but in a league w/o relegation(the threat of missing out on finals/winning the wooden-spoon notwithstanding) it’s pretty rich in light of Staj and Uffy’s recent pressers to have such boring AF, conservative play hold more sway over the comp than it by rights should..and expect us to just accept it

 

[HappyGuus]

Not just the A-League but Oz football in general, I think we are very whiney and woe is me bunch, and the many genuine concerns get buried in the nonsense.



"I'm not going, it's too hot for a two hour night match" - but I'm happy to sit in the burning sun for 35 hours this week at the cricket.

"It needs to be on free to air" - but it is.

"I'm not paying for Paramount+" - but it's only one dollar a week when on sale.

"The players are too old and need more youth"
"The players are too young and need more experience"

"Too many goals, defence is shit"
"Not enough goals, attack is shit"

"The quality is rubbish" - says the person who hasn't seen a second of it for a decade.

"Not even good enough to compete in Asia" - but we are.

"They shouldn't have left Foxtel" - but they didn't want us.

"Where's the crowd?" - but it's actually still ok or larger than other first or second tiers.



90% of social media comments get filled with the same bullshit time after time. I doubt there are bots with an interest in attacking Oz football haha, it's just staggering how many clueless wonders are out there repeating the same junk comments. It's nauseating. Any useful comments about real issues get buried down the list.

 

[MoorePark]

90% of social media comments get filled with the same bullshit time after time. I doubt there are bots with an interest in attacking Oz football haha, it's just staggering how many clueless wonders are out there repeating the same junk comments. It's nauseating. Any useful comments about real issues get buried down the list.

Australian based profiles on facebook comments suggest to me that Australia has to be top 5 unhappiest countries in the world, the whining about everything is insane.

I go on to Ukrainian or Croatian football facebook feeds, nothing alike even when they have different issues but at the same scale.

 

[Sutherlandbear]

Not just the A-League but Oz football in general, I think we are very whiney and woe is me bunch, and the many genuine concerns get buried in the nonsense.



"I'm not going, it's too hot for a two hour night match" - but I'm happy to sit in the burning sun for 35 hours this week at the cricket.

"It needs to be on free to air" - but it is.

"I'm not paying for Paramount+" - but it's only one dollar a week when on sale.

"The players are too old and need more youth"
"The players are too young and need more experience"

"Too many goals, defence is shit"
"Not enough goals, attack is shit"

"The quality is rubbish" - says the person who hasn't seen a second of it for a decade.

"Not even good enough to compete in Asia" - but we are.

"They shouldn't have left Foxtel" - but they didn't want us.

"Where's the crowd?" - but it's actually still ok or larger than other first or second tiers.



90% of social media comments get filled with the same bullshit time after time. I doubt there are bots with an interest in attacking Oz football haha, it's just staggering how many clueless wonders are out there repeating the same junk comments. It's nauseating. Any useful comments about real issues get buried down the list.

100% , bang on the money.

 

[Sutherlandbear]

And old mate Luke "Black skin" wants a franchise league to NOT act like a franchise league and engage with the soccer mad ethnic communities again???

Thats taking them back to square one surely?

Where is your “ soccer mad ethnic communities “ ? They certainly were not too mad in the championship, granted, they got higher attendances than they get in the NPL. But, overall I was underwhelmed by the attendances, as I am this season in the A league.

 

[LFC]

Australian based profiles on facebook comments suggest to me that Australia has to be top 5 unhappiest countries in the world, the whining about everything is insane.

I go on to Ukrainian or Croatian football facebook feeds, nothing alike even when they have different issues but at the same scale.

about right in near on everything about people here (Oz) - it has got alot worse with the younger gens might I add.
Moan/groan/blame about life here yet if you have travelled around the world now and then you can see its still one of the better places around despite the high cost of living.
Clean/relatively safe/welfare this welfare that - it should be boasted how well paid and looked after you actually are compared to multiple countries.
Pack of whingers alright - smell the bloody rose's.

 

[Son of Sam]

about right in near on everything about people here (Oz) - it has got alot worse with the younger gens might I add.
Moan/groan/blame about life here yet if you have travelled around the world now and then you can see its still one of the better places around despite the high cost of living.
Clean/relatively safe/welfare this welfare that - it should be boasted how well paid and looked after you actually are compared to multiple countries.
Pack of whingers alright - smell the bloody rose's.

I am not sure if it’s the younger generation doing the whingeing

 

[southmelb]

Same thing applies in the AFL states. Most of Melbourne's old ethnic communities flock to Carlton. Same in Adelaide, most go to watch Port Adelaide, Perth its Freo.

I'd be very surprised if the younger generations of the old ethnic communites arent still the primary backers of A league teams. Its very hard to imagine MV without the Italians and Greeks (granted support has declined).

In any case i think the leagues biggest issue is that the stadiums are way too big.

 

[LFC]

I am not sure if it’s the younger generation doing the whingeing

a % absolutely.

I'd be very surprised if the younger generations of the old ethnic communites arent still the primary backers of A league teams. Its very hard to imagine MV without the Italians and Greeks (granted support has declined).

no doubt down there I'd agree - no wogs/ethnics/hispanics not much football attendance barring the "events/derbies" south and north of the border.

In any case i think the leagues biggest issue is that the stadiums are way too big.

yep another agree re Melb/Syd/Briz.

 

[Sutherlandbear]

a % absolutely.


no doubt down there I'd agree - no wogs/ethnics/hispanics not much football attendance barring the "events/derbies" south and north of the border.

yep another agree re Melb/Syd/Briz.

As you can see, people who support SFC, do not agree about stadium is too big. That was proven when Allianz was under construction and the crowds alarmingly dropped off, but picked up when we returned " home ".

I don't get the thing in this country, where stadiums are supposedly too big. Look all around the world and a lot of teams play in stadiums that are supposedly too big. The prime example was Juventus at the Stade Del Alpi, that was barely half full for most of the season.

If you don't have the facilities, then even less folk will show up.

 

[LFC]

As you can see, people who support SFC, do not agree about stadium is too big. That was proven when Allianz was under construction and the crowds alarmingly dropped off, but picked up when we returned " home ".

I don't get the thing in this country, where stadiums are supposedly too big. Look all around the world and a lot of teams play in stadiums that are supposedly too big. The prime example was Juventus at the Stade Del Alpi, that was barely half full for most of the season.

If you don't have the facilities, then even less folk will show up.

though thats the point talking here, they don't fill the big stads - your avg don't fill your stad as well even when you do get back home how many times to date.
Look at AU - they mostly fill their stad - IF CCM gosford oval was in Syd it would be filled generally.
Thats the thing in this country - WSW don't fill their great new stad - Roar, well its pretty lame compared to the size of the stad.
This is Aussie football life therefore what is the point having 50+k stads so as the seagulls can pick their seats ?