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The Australian Championship šŸ‡¦šŸ‡ŗšŸ†

Less said about this the better:
One of the things I realised where I think we nailed it. I was at the round two match at Marconi, they played at 3:00pm in the afternoon against South Hobart. I talked to a lot of people in the corporate box. One said ā€˜we’re going to this game and then we’re going to head down the road to watch the Western Sydney Wanderers play.’ And that’s when it dawned on me.
It’s about football. This is almost a festival of football. And this idea that fans can just engage in multiple competitions, multiple products, and multiple teams.
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What a traitorous thing for him to say/see!
 
Less said about this the better:
One of the things I realised where I think we nailed it. I was at the round two match at Marconi, they played at 3:00pm in the afternoon against South Hobart. I talked to a lot of people in the corporate box. One said ā€˜we’re going to this game and then we’re going to head down the road to watch the Western Sydney Wanderers play.’ And that’s when it dawned on me.
It’s about football. This is almost a festival of football. And this idea that fans can just engage in multiple competitions, multiple products, and multiple teams.
What a traitorous thing for him to say/see!
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Traitorous??? I dont follow your logic?

I just think its a little disingenuous to say that just becuase ONE corporate sponsor was keen to finish his obligation amongst the pleb wogs he was sponsoring and scuttle across town to sit his air conditioned sky box and watch the plastics perform is some sort of indication thats what rusted on generationla Marconi supporters really want is a "festival of football pty ltd"
 
Again, I think APIA did very well in this, but imo Marconi could have done equally well in terms of crowds if they’d been dealt a similar hand in terms of scheduling. APIA had 2 Friday night games against Sydney rivals who brought away support, and played Sunday afternoon games for their other matches. Marconi had 3 Saturday midday kick offs, 2 against completely unknown smaller opponents and one Friday night game with an hour long delay due to extreme weather/electrical storms. Also Marconi has better more stable financial backing than APIA who have gone into a partnership with a separate entity, where as Marconi owns its own infrastructure and massive assets as well as an ability to access non ticket sale related revenue..which the club itself owns, it’s not reliant on a handout
 
Seems like a genuine passionate guy but........ only thing I got out of the article was the most poignant fact proving why this will never happen:

For example, let’s look at last weekend’s Australian Championship semi-final between Marconi Stallions and Moreton City Excelsior.

There was not one post on Football NSW’s Facebook page promoting Marconi’s biggest home game of the year.
 
Good luck to both clubs and their fans tomorrow... whatever happens may this be the start of a new future for both of our clubs AND all the other wonderful football clubs and people so long left out in the cold...
As I say, the are traditional clubs are stronger together under one umbrella in a single league rather than diluted across state leagues. This is a start. Both clubs are worthy of having their name be the first on the trophy
 
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Maybe its just me being suspicious as usual but something about the response goes beyond the usual bullshit corporate double-speak to my ear.,
I believe he has some pretty broad ndas where he can't speak negatively about his employer
Maybe its just me being suspicious as usual but something about the response goes beyond the usual bullshit corporate double-speak to my ear.,

Thats ONE way of looking at things I suppose:
We only had clubs in New South Wales and Victoria and at that point, July and August of 2024, they were probably the darkest days, where we had to sit down with the clubs and acknowledge that they wanted to play, we wanted to play, so it was just a case of having a series of workshops where we we tried to remodel the competition format to make it work.

This blatantly false - Nobody agreed, especially not the Federations from what Ive been told:
Before we entered the RFP process, we had a series of non-negotiables that we shared with the clubs. And one of those non-negotiables was that we’d have a national footprint. And everyone agreed that having eight clubs in two states didn’t fulfill that obligation. So at that point, we’re in a a place where they want to play. As I said, we wanted to play and we wanted to play in 2025, but it was a case of trying to find a format where we had the national footprint.

South Hobart looks at Avondale and just cries at this:
When I talk about the brand DNA of the Australian Championship, we had identified authenticity as one of the key elements of the brand. Obviously there’s a lot of history, a lot of pedigree amongst these foundation clubs; proud history.

I think we saw the opportunity to unlock that potential. I’ve talked a lot about intergenerational fan connection. This idea that you used to go to the game with your grandparents and now you have the opportunity to take your kids and I think that’s what’s been unlocked in the last few months.

End goal WAS always pro/rel but the very next line is suddenly ISN'T?
But obviously the end goal was always promotion and relegation and this idea that we wanted to build out the ecosystem.

I think there’s probably been too much focus on promotion, relegation and actually it’s about expansion, it’s about growth and ultimately this competition exists to elevate or raise the professional standards of clubs in Australia.

Less said about this the better:
One of the things I realised where I think we nailed it. I was at the round two match at Marconi, they played at 3:00pm in the afternoon against South Hobart. I talked to a lot of people in the corporate box. One said ā€˜we’re going to this game and then we’re going to head down the road to watch the Western Sydney Wanderers play.’ And that’s when it dawned on me.

It’s about football. This is almost a festival of football. And this idea that fans can just engage in multiple competitions, multiple products, and multiple teams.
He has signed some broad ndas, including not being able to speak negatively about his former employer or reveal stuff about the rfp process

on the p&r comment his view, shared by many in the fa, is to promote teams until there is an A1 and A2 league and then do p&r, apparently similar to Japan. The main difference with the article from Vince Rugari is that the FA appear to want the expansion to happen through promotion rather than new franchises (Joseph said as much on the show)

it probably looks safer to those in charge, so I can understand why its attractive and in the end I can live with it if it happens. Problem is there are risks with doing things that way. I'll go into one of those risks in tomorrows pod
 
Again, I think APIA did very well in this, but imo Marconi could have done equally well in terms of crowds if they’d been dealt a similar hand in terms of scheduling. APIA had 2 Friday night games against Sydney rivals who brought away support, and played Sunday afternoon games for their other matches. Marconi had 3 Saturday midday kick offs, 2 against completely unknown smaller opponents and one Friday night game with an hour long delay due to extreme weather/electrical storms. Also Marconi has better more stable financial backing than APIA who have gone into a partnership with a separate entity, where as Marconi owns its own infrastructure and massive assets as well as an ability to access non ticket sale related revenue..which the club itself owns, it’s not reliant on a handout
cheeez man thats really talking you guys up that for sometime haven't done much contributing to the trophy cabinet with all that resource don't forget to mention you were demoted to NPL2 '16 from memory.
Our little under resourced Club and separate entity haha a near on 20yr sponser have accumilated more trophys the last 5/8yrs you wish for lets present some balance, importantly what we haven't won been runners up league wise and Waratah Cup winners 18/24 and runners up 17/23 - where are you guys.
IMO despite the unsuitable game times/storms etc was a shame I don't think would have been a massive increase in crowds for it hasn't been solid for years you'd agree ?
There's a bit of a resurgence which is great I'm happy for youse but I think between APIA/SU have been far stronger overall for some years barring your exceptions.
Good luck in the GF I really hope you snag it like at Leichardt for both your opponents play a better game.
Hoping I can stream it whilst in the no1 MacKingdom Saudi Arabia haha
 
The main difference with the article from Vince Rugari is that the FA appear to want the expansion to happen through promotion rather than new franchises (Joseph said as much on the show)
Whereas I suspect the APL prefer it be via new franchises.
 
cheeez man thats really talking you guys up that for sometime haven't done much contributing to the trophy cabinet with all that resource don't forget to mention you were demoted to NPL2 '16 from memory.
Our little under resourced Club and separate entity haha a near on 20yr sponser have accumilated more trophys the last 5/8yrs you wish for lets present some balance, importantly what we haven't won been runners up league wise and Waratah Cup winners 18/24 and runners up 17/23 - where are you guys.
IMO despite the unsuitable game times/storms etc was a shame I don't think would have been a massive increase in crowds for it hasn't been solid for years you'd agree ?
There's a bit of a resurgence which is great I'm happy for youse but I think between APIA/SU have been far stronger overall for some years barring your exceptions.
Good luck in the GF I really hope you snag it like at Leichardt for both your opponents play a better game.
Hoping I can stream it whilst in the no1 MacKingdom Saudi Arabia haha
It’s not an attack on APIA, I said they’ve done well. I don’t know how you’d read it as such. Im just saying if Marconi had played united on a Friday night instead of south Hobart on a Saturday at 1pm there probably would have been 4K plus there too. And if it wasn’t for the storms there might have been another 500-1000 at the Heidelberg game. None of this has anything to do with how many trophies APIA have won in the last decade. No one has the facilities/assets/ access to capital that Marconi does without outside investment, including a league clubs. It just seems like some commentators are making judgements on these clubs based solely on this tournament with seemingly little idea of the history or historical context/understanding or anything else what’s happened up until this point
 
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Whereas I suspect the APL prefer it be via new franchises.
would love to know their view

at the moment we are lucky for them to tell us a game is on. More secretive than the free masons
 
It’s not an attack on APIA, I said they’ve done well. I don’t know how you’d read it as such. Im just saying if Marconi had played united on a Friday night instead of south Hobart on a Saturday at 1pm there probably would have been 4K plus there too. And if it wasn’t for the storms there might have been another 500-1000 at the Heidelberg game. None of this has anything to do with how many trophies APIA have won in the last decade. No one has the facilities/assets/ access to capital that Marconi does without outside investment, including a league clubs. It just seems like some commentators are making judgements on these clubs based solely on this tournament with seemingly little idea of the history or historical context/understanding or anything else what’s happened up until this point
Yes understand and we know about your resource that tbh hasn’t brought much fruit success on the pitch where it counts.
Most of your patrons frequent the great facilities but have been missing at games for years - maybe crowds would have e spiked well maybe average I understand.
Today’s commentators mostly are young uns who are only learning now having a championship gig - hopefully next season they are more informed.
The FA should be providing a pre school history lesson in the first place :)
Anyway I get your outlook I know you have commended us but it did read like a little did to me even though not meant to be.
It’s your time to shine coming up after a long time - hope your do end up with a late grab and dash as per Leichardt.
 
Yes understand and we know about your resource that tbh hasn’t brought much fruit success on the pitch where it counts.
Most of your patrons frequent the great facilities but have been missing at games for years - maybe crowds would have e spiked well maybe average I understand.
Today’s commentators mostly are young uns who are only learning now having a championship gig - hopefully next season they are more informed.
The FA should be providing a pre school history lesson in the first place :)
Anyway I get your outlook I know you have commended us but it did read like a little did to me even though not meant to be.
It’s your time to shine coming up after a long time - hope your do end up with a late grab and dash as per Leichardt.
Maybe Im easily pleased, but I think the crowds at the big Italian derbies, derbies v Sydney united, rivalry games v Rockdale, even the semi v Blacktown a couple years back etc at npl level have been pretty decent in recent years, the stands have felt full enough. Infact I’d say the biggest crowd Marconi have had this season came in the npl finals v Sydney united (I know there was a lot of away fans), not in the Australian championship.

Anyway, I didn’t mean it as a put down to APIA, the only reason I even mention APIA is because the article I was responding to basically inferred that APIA should get promoted to the A league but Marconi don’t meet minimum standards. My point being Marconi are quite possibly the club with the most sustainable business model in the country. There’s a reason why Marconi were one of only 2 clubs to play in very season of the nsl.

As you say, many of the opinions being given seem like one’s formulated by people who are just learning who these clubs are for the first time and judging them on face value after watching a couple of games
 
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got around to reading this

would be pretty happy with that vision, or any vision. Main nitpicks would be
1) if you have new franchises join the pyramid make it a competitive bid process where the best vision (rather than the most money) wins. I think that would be better than centrally planning which areas to put a club in. What if no one wants to buy a canberra or goldcoast club but someone wants to buy a sunny coast club?
2) npl finals should include top 2 or possibly 3 for some leagues so you can have group stages and a transfer window. You don't want a bottle neck in a pyramid because the main benefit of a pyramid is any club feels they have it under their control to get promoted if they are good enough.

glad to hear some vision. I was baffled that everyone sung the praises of scwhabs article when there were no specifics. Even by his own history story, every historical revolution in Australia I believe had people laying out a vision with specifics calling for change
 
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