Bias of the a-league

[Hellenic_blue&white]

Again, how did South Melbourne not getting in the A-League have anything to do with Wellington? Have I completely missed some important history here?

Its not Wellingtons fault Sth Melbourne didnt get into the ALM, Stupid decisions from the FA at the time made it happen by putting in Western Unit and the Bulls when there was already a club (Hellas) with its own stadium and fan base and great football history in Australia.
Wellington is not a basket case nore Auckland b ut the expansion clubs have been (all but Auckland).

Neither South fans nor the club itself, have ever blamed NZ sides to be fair nor held any grudges against them on this, that im aware of anyway! Our problem was always centred on those at fault for the travesty that has been our continued exclusion SA/FFA, APL & PFA....

What happens in the closed franchise driven AL is their issue and doesnt affect us in the least (bc we are not a stakeholder) as they have made clear, for this very reason though, I am so wholeheartedly against any AL voices being involved in ANY capacity regarding the NST etc.

For me i have a bigger issue with any AL second sides being in the NPL than i do the NZ sides being in AL.

 

[Hellenic_blue&white]

I'm kind of torn on this one. I think that these two NZ clubs do add something to the A League but then you have clubs like South Melbourne and Marconi who most people would agree should have been in the competition since day 1 but have been completely ignored by the powers to be.....

They (NZ) add way more than Western Utd as has been evident.... All the hatred/bias was shown early on against South especially (and is still evident in many AL voices to this day) to justify it so its not a matter of being ignored as much as it is an attempt/hope to shaft us into oblivion.

If I was a fan of South Melbourne or maybe Marconi I'd be spewing at seeing NZ clubs in an Australian top.tier league while my club was ignored.

The NZ sides had little to do with this. We ve long accepted that it had nothing to do with us meeting the brief set ... our focus is elsewere now and has been for a while which is why we have put so much into NST and been its loudest proponent and looked at OFC etc

I also have sympathy with tsf's assertion that these NZ clubs do get a bit of a helping hand in some respects and in 2 or 3 years Auckland will probably not be flavour of the month anymore.

This is an AL matter, let those supporters sort the qualms out, i will argue that come AU Cup matches its evident that AL sides that get the helping hand when threatened by NPL sides.

 

[HappyGuus]

Neither South fans nor the club itself, have ever blamed NZ sides to be fair nor held any grudges against them on this, that im aware of anyway! Our problem was always centred on those at fault for the travesty that has been our continued exclusion SA/FFA, APL & PFA....

What happens in the closed franchise driven AL is their issue and doesnt affect us in the least (bc we are not a stakeholder) as they have made clear, for this very reason though, I am so wholeheartedly against any AL voices being involved in ANY capacity regarding the NST etc.

For me i have a bigger issue with any AL second sides being in the NPL than i do the NZ sides being in AL.

Thanks for clearing it up mate. I thought it was bizarre that South were being used as a excuse to kick out the NZ clubs.

On the seconds in the NPL, yeah it's not ideal but it is common and accepted around the world, even in the best leagues of Spain and Germany.

 

[Football us life]

They (NZ) add way more than Western Utd as has been evident.... All the hatred/bias was shown early on against South especially (and is still evident in many AL voices to this day) to justify it so its not a matter of being ignored as much as it is an attempt/hope to shaft us into oblivion.

The NZ sides had little to do with this. We ve long accepted that it had nothing to do with us meeting the brief set ... our focus is elsewere now and has been for a while which is why we have put so much into NST and been its loudest proponent and looked at OFC etc

This is an AL matter, let those supporters sort the qualms out, i will argue that come AU Cup matches its evident that AL sides that get the helping hand when threatened by NPL sides.

All fair points...

 

[Hellenic_blue&white]

Thanks for clearing it up mate. I thought it was bizarre that South were being used as a excuse to kick out the NZ clubs.

Not from US mate...

On the seconds in the NPL, yeah it's not ideal but it is common and accepted around the world, even in the best leagues of Spain and Germany.

Yes agreed, but in leagues with P&R and ppl were the excluded cant complain

 

[grazorblade]

Thanks for clearing it up mate. I thought it was bizarre that South were being used as a excuse to kick out the NZ clubs.

On the seconds in the NPL, yeah it's not ideal but it is common and accepted around the world, even in the best leagues of Spain and Germany.

Yeah to be honest i dont mind 2nds in lower leagues. Its pretty normal. Though i think all clubs in the npl and nst should get that option as well. Would deepend the pyramid in all states

 

[Quicky]

Like it or not Aucklands necessary right now for the money they brought into the league. It's probably propping the whole thing up in the short term.

On field, I actually think its been good to see full stadiums. They're a tough team with a clear Kiwi identity.

It'd be nice to be more stable than to basically have to say yes to a franchise because the leagues so desperate for funds.

I hope we can stabilise financially.

 

[Quicky]

Are south melbourne folk complaining? Looks like victory fans?

Victory! I knew it was them! Even when it was the bears, I knew it was them.

 

[Hellenic_blue&white]

Like it or not Aucklands necessary right now for the money they brought into the league. It's probably propping the whole thing up in the short term.

As long as FA via funds from grass roots isnt bailing any AL/APL out then good luck to all of them from me!

On field, I actually think its been good to see full stadiums. They're a tough team with a clear Kiwi identity.

Now this isnt in line with the success story some AL ppl keep telling us about!! All we know of is full stadiums everywhere, the TV just films in the wrong directions, always!

It'd be nice to be more stable yhan to basically have to say yes to a franchise because the leagues so desperate for funds.

APL = stability! Have no doubt about it! Its been proven. Surprised they havnt considered singapore franchise yet!

I hope we cqn stabilise financially

There is always the option of 'applied hibernation' though so no need to stress!

 

[Quicky]

As long as FA via funds from grass roots isnt bailing any AL/APL out then good luck to all of them from me!

Now this isnt in line with the success story some AL ppl keep telling us about!! All we know of is full stadiums everywhere, the TV just films in the wrong directions, always!

APL = stability! Have no doubt about it! Its been proven. Surprised they havnt considered singapore franchise yet!

There is always the option of 'applied hibernation' though so no need to stress!

Who is talking success atm except the perpetually cheery disposition of the broadcaster?

The league has big issues. Covid took a bat to it's finances. The league wasn't in a position to take that hit.

We'll see if it can recover. If the league falls over it'd be a disaster for Australian football imo.

 

[HappyGuus]

Covid took a bat to it's finances. The league wasn't in a position to take that hit.

Unfortunately, I think they were in the best position ever. A fresh broadcast deal and a chunk of the company bought from them, and they pissed much of it away on KeepUp.

Why they chose to go down that expensive path at the height of COVID... have enough heads rolled over that? Unbelievably stupid stuff. I don't disagree with the concept of KeepUp, but the timing could not have been worse.

If they didn't start KeepUp then the league would've avoided austerity. Thankfully, the APL had a billionaire willing to invest

 

[Hellenic_blue&white]

Who is talking success atm except the perpetually cheery disposition of the broadcaster?

The head of your entity... the APL!

The league has big issues.

The league has one issue, itself, if we are being realistic!

Covid took a bat to it's finances. The league wasn't in a position to take that hit.

Yes it did, like the world over, no longer a convenient truth when everyone else recovered long ago! Did covid not affect the AFL, NBL etc etc in same way here, why the stark differences?

We'll see if it can recover.

if it does, can it start by paying that debt owed to FA so the rest of us that actually fund the FA via our teams and juniors could get a bit of a break? Imagine for a second if that $4.1mill writen off (from the estimated to be written off $11mill) had gone to the NST for a h&a what a growth we wouldve actually seen for AU football....

If the league falls over it'd be a disaster for Australian football imo.

Why should it be a disaster, it wasnt when the NSL was killed off for 'some better good'... If anything it may well allow for a proper eco system to come to fruition finally, all under the FA, and above all NO APL... wouldnt that be interesting!

 

[Sutherlandbear]

The head of your entity... the APL!

The league has one issue, itself, if we are being realistic!

Yes it did, like the world over, no longer a convenient truth when everyone else recovered long ago! Did covid not affect the AFL, NBL etc etc in same way here, why the stark differences?

if it does, can it start by paying that debt owed to FA so the rest of us that actually fund the FA via our teams and juniors could get a bit of a break? Imagine for a second if that $4.1mill writen off (from the estimated to be written off $11mill) had gone to the NST for a h&a what a growth we wouldve actually seen for AU football....

Why should it be a disaster, it wasnt when the NSL was killed off for 'some better good'... If anything it may well allow for a proper eco system to come to fruition finally, all under the FA, and above all NO APL... wouldnt that be interesting!

The NSL was broke, not killed off , but put out of its misery.

 

[HappyGuus]

Why should it be a disaster, it wasnt when the NSL was killed off for 'some better good'... If anything it may well allow for a proper eco system to come to fruition finally, all under the FA, and above all NO APL... wouldnt that be interesting!

I fear that we wouldn't recover from another disemboweling. When the NSL finished, there was still a lot of strength in the game here and a lot of untapped supporters without a club. The MCG would always sell out and everybody knew every player's name. Today, I feel there either isn't as much interest or some apathy towards league football here, maybe with the exception of NPL Victoria for its level. They've taken the national teams away from Melbourne and towards Sydney, same with the GF. It feels less national and more Sydney.

If it all falls over now, I just can't see us recovering to the level of when the A-League appeared. We might end up with a better system or structure, but it might struggle to get off the ground for the first 30 years. This is all just my vibes and nothing else haha. Maybe it's my age thinking that the country doesn't have the energy in it, I wonder whether the younger generations would feel better about a potential new league?

 

[grazorblade]

I dont think it would be the end of national club football but revolutions leave a power vacuum where occasionally things work out, but usually the most organized and ideologically uniform faction wins the day. That would be the pfa. If the member feds were uniform there would be a home and away nst, if the aafc were uniform there would be a breakaway league. So we probably end up with the pfa in charge and whatever they want

My guess would is they would run the a league as it was in 05, few teams, shorter season, directly run and subsidized by the fa

 

[Decentric]

I haven’t minded Kiwi teams at all, but it annoys me we have NZ teams instead of clubs from Tas, ACT, Wollongong, FNQ, Gold Coast and now Geelong after Western U’s demise.

I like the idea of Bendigo, Ballarat, Coff’s H, Darwin teams too. Many of these towns have no pro cricket, basketball, league, Aussie Rules, league or union teams to compete with either.

We don’t have many Aussies playing in the Kiwi teams either.

 

[LFC]

Rightly or wrongly - the only reason 2 NZ teams are in is paying for the license.
No more no less.
It shows other well off entities don't see the value/or wash $ in investing here in Oz (at this stage).
Not much top cry over actually it is what it is.

 

[erogenouszone]

I haven’t minded Kiwi teams at all, but it annoys me we have NZ teams instead of clubs from Tas, ACT, Wollongong, FNQ, Gold Coast and now Geelong after Western U’s demise.

I like the idea of Bendigo, Ballarat, Coff’s H, Darwin teams too. Many of these towns have no pro cricket, basketball, league, Aussie Rules, league or union teams to compete with either.

We don’t have many Aussies playing in the Kiwi teams either.

The APL is only interested in sugar hit franchises which is why the aforementioned teams can be added to the Australian Championship and slowly grow the competition in a financially sustainable and sensible way over the next few years to make it a truly national lean competition that can run alongside the A League.

 

[erogenouszone]

It was obvious last year that Auckland got a helping hand from the powers that be. But how the fark is it possible that a team from NZ gets to play from rounds 2 until 8 in NZ? It's an Australian league ffs

They are basically setting Auckland up for the whole season.

The quicker we get these teams out our league and bring in local clubs the better. They bring nothing of substance to the game in Australia. Phoenix have been a strain on the league since day dot. It's time for NZ to stand on it's own two feet and stop sucking off the teet of Australian football. We already have enough kiwis here milking us for centrelink

Other than that NZ is a lovely place and I look forward to visiting again one day.

The Wanderers got a helping hand as well with extra transfers and salary cap concessions as well when they first rocked up. Pretty standard really.

 

[Hellenic_blue&white]

The NSL was broke, not killed off , but put out of its misery.

Hate to burst your bubble, but when you have to beg to write of debts and still owe millions more, you are broke!