Expansion Thread 🪜

[HappyGuus]

@LFC @Monoethnic Social Club

Confirmed:

Shaheed Bhagat Singh FC is a Sikh ethnic football club based at Andrew Smith Oval in Adelaide, playing in the SAASL Amateur League Sunday Division 7.

Andrew Smith Oval also hosts:

• Maiwand FC - No longer part of a league - Afghani
• Adelaide Dragon FC - SAASL Saturday Division 3 Red - Bhutanese
• Zomi United Adelaide - No longer part of a league - representing the Zomi people, an ethnic group originating from the border regions of Myanmar (particularly Chin State), north-east India (especially Manipur and Mizoram), and parts of Bangladesh

Whilst two of these are no longer part of leagues, they would have been at some point across 2023-2026 as I've had them included on the nation-wide club database.

There may possibly be more than just that one, but that was just me searching "Singh" in the database because I recalled one with that name.

Good pickup. I remember looking through the old SA yearbooks and there have been a bunch of Indian based teams over the years, maybe it peaked 20ish years ago.

 

[Glenardo]

I think he was more impressed with the "Yeti" bit. As was I hahahahahahha

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

View attachment 9216

Ive actually been to one of their gala days, my daughter's best friend in Primary school was Nepali

 

[Glenardo]

Ive actually been to one of their gala days, my daughter's best friend in Primary school was Nepali

Community is exploding at the moment. Gone from being a tiny little group 10-15 years ago to now being up there as the one of biggest migrant groups in the country. As with most migrant groups, largest communities in Sydney and Melbourne. Many of them work in kitchens as their pathway to permanent migration status. Again, most of them like soccer, but tend to support Ronaldo or Messi rather than a club or even the national team. Who are horrible btw haha even worse than Italy

 

[LFC]

Nic for the record I stand corrected I no longer think there are NONE, just that there arent that many in comparison to the number of migrants.

THANKS NCB amico, mate, pisano barring gifts hahahahaha 1 is betta than none, nessuno, κανένας upa

 

[NicCarBel]

There's Reservoir Yeti(Nepalese) from Melbourne, Khalsa(Punjabi) Lions also from Melb but they play in the proverbial Sunday-leagues, not the actual FootballVIC pyramid.

There was a Rohingya United some years back(from Brisbane I think) but I dunno what's new w/them; I assume they've likely folded by now.

I need to work out which non-league leagues to add to this database - only ones I've sort of said yes to (But haven't actually done yet) are the church leagues

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

THANKS NCB amico, mate, pisano barring gifts hahahahaha 1 is betta than none, nessuno, κανένας upa

I think you need to go and lie down old man, too much gayfl for you.

 

[HonestSpursFan]

yes I can imagine this more down south than up north for eg.....

Ironically in India football is biggest in South and East India.

 

[HonestSpursFan]

Sam Kerr could be the biggest ambassador for the Indian community in Aus, but she doesn’t seem to acknowledge or talk about that side of her heritage at all. Which is her right, not criticizing her.

She’s mentioned it a few times but she’s classified as Anglo-Indian (European and Indian mixed), as her family in India were both of English descent and of Indian descent. Anglo-Indians often only speak English, remained tied to the British Crown, migrated out of India after independence and originally sided with the British (despite identifying as culturally distinct) and opposed independence which was backed by indigenous groups (similar to how, traditionally, Caldoches and Zoreilles in New Caledonia and Pied-Noirs in Algeria are/were against independence and remain(ed) tied to the French Republic despite also identifying as culturally distinct).

 

[HonestSpursFan]

There was a Rohingya United some years back(from Brisbane I think) but I dunno what's new w/them; I assume they've likely folded by now.

The Rohingyas are from Rakhine in Myanmar. They’re a heavily persecuted, predominantly Muslim minority that remains denied citizenship due to racist Burmese laws (which class them as being “Bengali”), making them stateless (they’re the largest stateless ethnic group in the world). Most have fled as refugees to nearby South Asian countries or to Australia.

 

[HonestSpursFan]

Yep, and ultimately it failed bc of that association w/Chivas. The Mexican-Americans in LA/Chicanos who barrack for another club(and thus by default LOATHE Chivas with a passion) were never gonna get behind it, much less the other Hispanic communities such as my fellow-eans, for the same reason a Kiwi would never barrack for an Aussie team

That said, some people still maintain that had it been based out of San Diego or elsewhere in Cali(prob even El Paso in Texas) instead of being a crosstown-rival to LA Galaxy, it might've been better able to carve out its own niche w/o being dependent on that derby-rivalry w/Galaxy to justify its existence.

I think if it’s not authentic and too corporate it won’t work. Chivas was by businessmen to make money by tapping into the growing Latino market in LA. Ethnic clubs in Australia were founded by average working and middle-class immigrants from those communities as a way to stay connected with each other whilst also having fun and supporting the beautiful game.

A lot of pleb dum-dums out there still assume she's First Nations, not least bc her AFL-player brother Daniel was mistaken for such during his playing-days.

Some idiots still genuinely say it with confidence too. She has never identified as Indigenous.

 

[BA81]

The Rohingyas are from Rakhine in Myanmar. They’re a heavily persecuted, predominantly Muslim minority that remains denied citizenship due to racist Burmese laws (which class them as being “Bengali”), making them stateless (they’re the largest stateless ethnic group in the world). Most have fled as refugees to nearby South Asian countries or to Australia.

I knew all that. Aung San Suu Kyi didn’t seem to regard them as fellow-countrymen either.

 

[Glenardo]

View attachment 9216

This prompted me to ask some of my fellow chefs about Nepalese clubs in Sydney. Apparently there are multiple, including one called “Himalayan fc”

 

[NicCarBel]

This prompted me to ask some of my fellow chefs about Nepalese clubs in Sydney. Apparently there are multiple, including one called “Himalayan fc”
View attachment 9220

View attachment 9219

Have noticed a lot of the south-east Asian ethnic clubs in Australia tend to be just for tournaments, things like that

 

[Glenardo]

https://anfaaus.org.au/clubs/

Wtf there’s tons lol. More useless Australian club soccer information to squeeze into my tiny brain

 

[Son of Sam]

I knew all that. Aung San Suu Kyi didn’t seem to regard them as fellow-countrymen either.

Where is she? Didn’t she go from being a person of respect to a loathsome Islamophobe once in power?

 

[Son of Sam]

I think if it’s not authentic and too corporate it won’t work. Chivas was by businessmen to make money by tapping into the growing Latino market in LA. Ethnic clubs in Australia were founded by average working and middle-class immigrants from those communities as a way to stay connected with each other whilst also having fun and supporting the beautiful game.

Some idiots still genuinely say it with confidence too. She has never identified as Indigenous.

Yep, even though they have clear access to the internet!

 

[HonestSpursFan]

Where is she? Didn’t she go from being a person of respect to a loathsome Islamophobe once in power?

Yeah she went from being a pacifist opposing military rule and defending democracy for nearly 15 years under house arrest to defending the military from genocide charges and staying silent on the Rohingya genocide. She won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

I’m going on a tangent here but legally and morally speaking, Myanmar (Burma) is a racist country in the same way that Dixieland (the Confederate South) and later Apartheid South Africa were, only that it still exists rather than being abolished before this century, is in Southeast Asia rather than North America, and targets Rohingyas (and to an extent any non-Bamar) instead of Black people.

 

[BA81]

Yeah she went from being a pacifist opposing military rule and defending democracy for nearly 15 years under house arrest to defending the military from genocide charges and staying silent on the Rohingya genocide. She won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

I’m going on a tangent here but legally and morally speaking, Myanmar (Burma) is a racist country in the same way that Dixieland (the Confederate South) and later Apartheid South Africa were, only that it still exists rather than being abolished before this century, is in Southeast Asia rather than North America, and targets Rohingyas (and to an extent any non-Bamar) instead of Black people.

Sounds like Tara Rushton owes it to her motherland to go run for office there and 'do a Bukele'(the current president of , for context) - albeit with a girlboss touch

 

[HonestSpursFan]

Sounds like Tara Rushton owes it to her motherland to go run for office there and 'do a Bukele'(the current president of , for context) - albeit with a girlboss touch

Sounds like a great idea other than she’s an Arsenal fan!

Yes I do know about Nayib Bukele. Polarising figure in El Salvador but murder rates have gone way down during his term.