http://australiansoccer.com.au/public/article/show.asp?articleid=8008&menuItemID=
The Australia Soccer Association will announce the 8 teams of the new A-League competition which will replace the old National Soccer League which finished in April of 2004.


About time!! :D

8 doesn't sound like enougth teams

8 teams initially. O'neill is looking to set a foundation, then expand the competition into north queensland, canberra, tasmania, Asia, the works.

Can't wait for our next game against the Glory. That caning you boys gave us in the finals last season really hurt. Thank god I didn't go through with the bus trip to Subiaco for that. I struggle to give a fuck about any of the other teams. It's all about beating the Glory now, not only because the Melbourne Knights are gone, but because of the rampant pillaging of SA soccer talent the Glory were responsible for a few years ago. Mori, Hassle, ours damnit!

Its not like that. Any player is fair game, its professional football. Which one of the 5 goals hurt the most?

Which one of the 5 goals hurt the most?

See mate, this is what I like to see. Piss me off a bit, it makes me enjoy my sport. Nothing worse than watching a match where you don't care what the result is, which is going to be most of A-League. Queensland Lions... Sydney FC.... whatever. Central Coast Mariners, geez, i've got a real beef with those central coast guys. Where the fuck is the central coast anyway?

John Oneil is definetly the man for the job when it comes to saving professional soccer in australia. I like the idea of the smaller comp and one team/city idea. Also things like booting the Brisbane Strikers and putting in the QLD Lions is also another great move, Brisbane Strikers arent much of a club in brisbane, the QLD Lions are one of the most powerful sporting clubs in brisbane, massive membership base and a strong financial base as well it should have what it takes to acquire players and bring the supporters in.

I see the A-League doing many great things for the game here in Australia. I mean just look at the MLS in america, that cracked into the market and look they are now expanding it to 12 teams in 2005 and 14 in 2006 and possibly 20 teams by 2008! I hope 2 new teams join the A-League in Melbourne and Sydney to give cross city rivalries and further expand the competition in so many ways in the next 5 years.

I think Warnies thumb received more coverage that this in Queensland, but a good editorial by Mike Coleman summed it up. It's up to the fans. The Courier Mail had received letters from strikers fans saying their's no way they'd go out and support the Lions. If that attitude holds than soccer is dead in this city. If people love the sport than they need to show it.

The clean slate is a great idea. With the Lions (name to be changed) playing in arguably the finest square stadium in the world, it will be interesting to see if they can average anywhere near 10,000 during the first few seasons.

See mate, this is what I like to see. Piss me off a bit, it makes me enjoy my sport. Nothing worse than watching a match where you don't care what the result is, which is going to be most of A-League. Queensland Lions... Sydney FC.... whatever. Central Coast Mariners, geez, i've got a real beef with those central coast guys. Where the fuck is the central coast anyway?
Until the Queensland Lions keep flogging Adelaides Force ??? arse!. Is it Adelaide Force????? I can't remember, Bring back Adelaide City Juventus, now that was a team !!!

Im so happy the Strikers didn't make it, Go the Lions. I don't like this Queensland Lions name either, they should call themselves 'Brisbane West' or something like 'Brisbane Heat'... you know some stupid name that the public like which is usually some american hyped up lingo..... as in.... Adeliade force!

They can't name the team 'Queensland something!'..... It's a Brisbane team for gods sake.

Didn't they want to call the team 'Queensland Pride' - QUEENSLAND PRIDE IS A GAY MAGAZINE!!!!!!........... imagine that! 10,000 fags at suncorp.....


Btw..... condolences to Johnny Warren and his family...

If you want to dig into the Adelaide City Force (and I welcome it, I hate that club), you're going to have to discuss it in a "SA Premier League" thread, because they haven't played top flight football since 2002 :)

Glory snares Young for A-League
Perth Glory has began its A-League preparations by signing veteran striker Stuart Young.

The Glory, one of the eight teams announced last week as part of the new national competition, has signed Young for two seasons.

The 31-year-old scored 60 goals in 130 matches with the now-defunct Wollongong Wolves, and was part of the Wolves National Soccer League grand final win over the Glory in 2000.

He will be part of the Glory's designated 20-man roster for the A-League, in which clubs will have a salary cap of $1.5 million as set down by the Australian Soccer Association.

The A-league is scheduled to kick-off in August next year.

I think they should kick off the season during the footy season. Well, it is a winter sport. But they might be worried about attendances.

They should sell the game to players of Europe, as a start in may/june will coincide with the premier leagues of Euro finshing in april/may. Finish the season by the summer or start of oct. Hard to bring players to of that calibre, but they've done it with county cricket in uk. As most young players here, try the english competition after the oz cricket season. Im not though it'll work with soccer!?!

I think they should kick off the season during the footy season. Well, it is a winter sport. But they might be worried about attendances.

They should sell the game to players of Europe, as a start in may/june will coincide with the premier leagues of Euro finshing in april/may. Finish the season by the summer or start of oct. Hard to bring players to of that calibre, but they've done it with county cricket in uk. As most young players here, try the english competition after the oz cricket season. Im not though it'll work with soccer!?!

I don't think they will be getting too many quality European players with a salary cap for the entire team on $1.5 million Australian dollars...

Welcome to the Mickey Mouse A - League. I give it 3 seasons before crowds die in the ass and the John O'Neil is made to look like the fool that he is.

LOL @ the poxy names:

Central Coast Mariners
Newcastle Jets
Melbourne Victory

hahaha

Only team with a decent name is Sydney FC. They havent tarnished their name with some cheesy, tacky nickname.

And whats this one city one team bullshit? Absolutely fcked!!!

Only team with a decent name is Sydney FC. They havent tarnished their name with some cheesy, tacky nickname.

not true, you dont even know the name of the brisbane team yet. Currently the Queensland Lions, soon to be Brisbane......?

Only team with a decent name is Sydney FC. They havent tarnished their name with some cheesy, tacky nickname.


What about Adelaide United Football Club?

I don't think they will be getting too many quality European players with a salary cap for the entire team on $1.5 million Australian dollars...

The entire team salary cap is not $1.5 million. Teams are allowed one marquee player each who's salary is not counted on the salary cap.

Welcome to the Mickey Mouse A - League. I give it 3 seasons before crowds die in the ass and the John O'Neil is made to look like the fool that he is.

LOL @ the poxy names:

Central Coast Mariners
Newcastle Jets
Melbourne Victory

hahaha

Only team with a decent name is Sydney FC. They havent tarnished their name with some cheesy, tacky nickname.

And whats this one city one team bullshit? Absolutely fcked!!!


Would you prefer Adelaide Juventus, Melbourne Croatia, South Melbourne Hellas?

Ummm.... yes I would. Why? Dont you? Some kind of racist are you? Dont want "ethnic" teams in the league?

Queensland will have the Queensland Lions in the "A" League.

Would you prefer Adelaide Juventus, Melbourne Croatia, South Melbourne Hellas?

Yeah bring on Adelaide City Juventus, Perth Italia, South Melbourne Hellas, Sydney Croatia, APIA, Brunswick Juventus, Brisbane City Azzurri, Marconi, Sydney Olympic, West Adelaide Hellas, ST George Bucharest... :runaway:

Ummm.... yes I would. Why? Dont you? Some kind of racist are you? Dont want "ethnic" teams in the league?

Queensland will have the Queensland Lions in the "A" League.

It wont be called the Queensland Lions, they are going to run a competition in the Courier Mail soon asking for people to come up with a 'better' name for them....

Ummm.... yes I would. Why? Dont you? Some kind of racist are you? Dont want "ethnic" teams in the league?

Queensland will have the Queensland Lions in the "A" League.

No, i'm not a racist, and no, I don't want mono ethnic clubs in the league. Any other stupid questions? Let me guess, pissed off South Melbourne supporter?

You dont want mono-ethnic clubs in the league?

Then why are the Queensland Lions in there?

yob - your name says it all...... let me guess... johnny come lately football fan?

Ummm.... yes I would. Why? Dont you? Some kind of racist are you? Dont want "ethnic" teams in the league?



Humm, lets see. In the last 5 years of the NSL I have had lit fireworks thrown at me while singing the Australian national anthem away to the Sydney Croats. Small children were also in the groop where these fireworks landed.

I have been screamed at by 2nd and 3rd generation "Australians" that "Australia is shit" while walking into the football ground at King Tom.

On Australian day when Sydney Croatia came to Northern Spirit they booed throught the anthem and threw lit flares. The few songs that snag in English were generally about how crap Australia is.

Away to Melbourne Croatia the Australia flag one peson carried was spat on, and we had to leave the ground on the NSFC team bus, on the advise on Melbourne Croatia officials. I have no doubt what would have happened if we had just wandered out into Sunshine and tried to find cabs.

Yet away trips to Canberra, Gippsland, Brisbane, NZ all were trouble free.

So yes, given my person experience the "ethnic" teams were never going to improve and were holding the league back.

Let them stay in the state league, where their few fans can carry on however they like and let the national league grow into a league supported by a far larger number of people then were ever interested in the ethnic NSL.

I went to Adelaide United last year and was attacked by a group of 'yobs' as we were leaving the stadium, booing and swearing at us, throwing bottles of beer at us as well.... great for a so called 'mainstream' club.

The fact that the 'ethnic' clubs kept football was kept alive in this country for so many years escapes you?

And what makes you think that this league will do the trick? By alienating the real football fans in this country (yes the 'ethnics')???

The fact that the 'ethnic' clubs kept football was kept alive in this country for so many years escapes you?


Since you like the idea of the 'ethnic' clubs you will feel they kept the game alive. As i'm white, I feel that they held the game back. I would also say that for every person supporting an 'ethnic' there was probably 5 other people watching Match of the Day and dreaming of Football in this country sorting the mess out.


And what makes you think that this league will do the trick? By alienating the real football fans in this country (yes the 'ethnics')???

Again, you believe that only the 'ethnics' are the real football fans. I believe this is a pile of crap. If it were only 'ethnics' who loved football why do so many people play the game? Why did 19k people watch Australia v Solomon Islands in a game that was rather meaningless? Why did 3,000 Aussies travel from London to Reading to watch Australia play Jamacia? Why does the World Cup rate so well on TV? It's far more than just the 'ethnics' watching. You might also look at the number of football magazines for sale. Again I really doubt this is just for the 'ethnics'.

Why do I think the new league will work?

1) Perth Glory and AUFC had excellent crowds in the NSW with bugger all media coverage. I am sure with some media coverage they will get bigger.

2) Northern Spirit showed that if you have the money to market in Sydney, 15,000 will pay to wath football.

3) For the first time, the people at the FA have said that a sole focus on qualifying for the world cup will not fix our problems.

4) For the first time there is a commercial pertner (Hyundai) that can afford to promote the league. They are already placing colour ads in the major papers. This will not only raise the profile of the league, but by spending advertising money, they encourage the media to pay more attention to the league.

5) For the first time, the stadiums used will be major sporting locations with public transport. Clubs like Marconi, Sydney Croatia, Melbourne Croatia were never going to attract major crowds to their "middle of nowhere" stadiums.

The A-League is not going to be a success overnight, but it stands an excellent chance of developing into one of Australia's major sporting league.

1) Perth Glory and AUFC had excellent crowds in the NSW with bugger all media coverage. I am sure with some media coverage they will get bigger

Havent had a bad season as yet, lets see if they do have a bad season what crowds they will get.

2) Northern Spirit showed that if you have the money to market in Sydney, 15,000 will pay to wath football.

Giving away 14,000 free tickets every week will allow you to get 15,000 people per game. As soon as this stopeed we saw how many people followed the Spirit.

3) For the first time, the people at the FA have said that a sole focus on qualifying for the world cup will not fix our problems.

Agree, but what does this have to do with kicking out all the clubs that kept football alive in this country?

4) For the first time there is a commercial pertner (Hyundai) that can afford to promote the league. They are already placing colour ads in the major papers. This will not only raise the profile of the league, but by spending advertising money, they encourage the media to pay more attention to the league.

So in the past, Coca Cola and Ericsson werent big enough commercial partners in the NSL?

Since you like the idea of the 'ethnic' clubs you will feel they kept the game alive. As i'm white, I feel that they held the game back. I would also say that for every person supporting an 'ethnic' there was probably 5 other people watching Match of the Day and dreaming of Football in this country sorting the mess out.

Carlton, Collingwood, Northern Spirit, Brisbane Strikers, Auckland Kingz, Newcastle Breakers, Newcastle United, Paramatta Power were so called "mainstream" clubs and they did what? have some big crowds for a few games when they were handing out free tickets and as soon as that stopped the fans left.

I went to Adelaide United last year and was attacked by a group of 'yobs' as we were leaving the stadium, booing and swearing at us, throwing bottles of beer at us as well.... great for a so called 'mainstream' club.

The fact that the 'ethnic' clubs kept football was kept alive in this country for so many years escapes you?

And what makes you think that this league will do the trick? By alienating the real football fans in this country (yes the 'ethnics')???

So you are one of those South Melbourne fan boys? Great stuff, especially how you losers started a brawl with fans under the eastern grandstand. Yes, your fans started it.

Or are you one of the Melbourne Knights (okay, ALL of the Melbourne Knights) fans that got removed by a horde of police for trying to start brawls i the north east pocket? Or one of the Knights fans that threw firecrackers at Adelaide United fans at Slummers Street?

Gotta love "those" ethnics. I'm an ethnic, but I struggle to be as much of a dickhead as the Knights and Hellas fans i've come across.

Anyway, you've taken enough of my time, meet my ignore list, and have fun in the VPL.


Now, onto multicultural football.

Can't wait for the new league, without all the dickhead baggage laying around. I must admit, being in a crowd of 16,000 screaming AU fans when we sunk South Melbourne in last season's finals was special. Very special. I can only imagine what it would've been like being amongst 40,000 screaming Perth Glory fans at Subiaco.

Giving away 14,000 free tickets every week will allow you to get 15,000 people per game. As soon as this stopeed we saw how many people followed the Spirit.



I did IT support for Spirit during the first 3 years. Your ideas about free tickets are incorrect. Yes Spirit gave away between 500-1000 tickets each week as well as having some juniors attend for free. There was never 14,000 free tickets. I also recall that the free juniors were not included in the crowd count.

There were two reasons the Spirit crowd fell away so badly. In season 1 & 2 there was a lot of money spent on advertising. This dried up at the end of season two. At the same time the quality of football also went downhill. Bad decisions were made by the club and things got worse. Losing 4 & 5 home games in a row is never good for the crowd figure of a new club. By the middle of season 3 I doubt most people in the area knew when the games were on.

Towards the end of season 3 and onwards there were a lot more free tickets, but the early seasons crowd figures were mostly made up of paying people.

Tancred - would you agree that the affiliation with Rangers further depleted the support base?

So you are one of those South Melbourne fan boys? Great stuff, especially how you losers started a brawl with fans under the eastern grandstand. Yes, your fans started it.

Or are you one of the Melbourne Knights (okay, ALL of the Melbourne Knights) fans that got removed by a horde of police for trying to start brawls i the north east pocket? Or one of the Knights fans that threw firecrackers at Adelaide United fans at Slummers Street?

Gotta love "those" ethnics. I'm an ethnic, but I struggle to be as much of a dickhead as the Knights and Hellas fans i've come across.

Anyway, you've taken enough of my time, meet my ignore list, and have fun in the VPL.


Now, onto multicultural football.

Can't wait for the new league, without all the dickhead baggage laying around. I must admit, being in a crowd of 16,000 screaming AU fans when we sunk South Melbourne in last season's finals was special. Very special. I can only imagine what it would've been like being amongst 40,000 screaming Perth Glory fans at Subiaco.


Is that when the referee was paid to throw the game for Adelaide United? YEs I remember that.

PS There is a surprise waiting for the AU fans when they come to Melbourne. Enjoy the trip over.

Tancred - would you agree that the affiliation with Rangers further depleted the support base?

I'm not sure if many people stopped going because of Rangers. When Rangers purchased the club the fan base was shrinking, but I am sure that any hardcore Celtic fans stopping attending. At the time if Rangers had not come in, NSFC would have gone bust.

The problem was at the same time Rangers lost 10's of millions of pounds in the UK, and never had the money to make Spirit work. They kept the club going, but did not invest the required money to make it work. Then when they should have sold, they wanted to recoup their investment and that was never going to happen. This sent the club even further downhill.

The problem with soccer in Australia is that it has always, and still is regarded as “Wog Ball”. Apart from the Australian Fans that follow the English Premier League, mainstream Australians will always regard it as Wog Ball. Back in the 60’s and 70’s soccer in this country was relatively strong. The reason being is because there were more ethnics here that supported it. Now when I say ethnics I mean two of the biggest non English speaking races which were the Greeks and the Italians were in abundance and still alive. 30 to 40 years on, all these Greek and Italian fans that were around back then have mostly died. Now even in Brisbane, I remember back in the late 70’s when Brisbane City (Italian background) and Heidelberg Utd (Greek Background) played at Perry Park in Brisbane. Perry Park can only hold about 5000 people but on this day the ground was packed, reportedly about 10,000 people turned up, they actually had to lock people out. It wasn’t even a final, it was just sought of a top of the table clash. Back then for Brisbane, the crowd was buzzing and the atmosphere was electric. It was an atmosphere that would of made any other of the mainstream codes in this country jealous. It even got live television courage on the then channel 0 with Paul Buongorno doing the pre host show, I can’t remember who did the commentary.

Although I do hope that soccer in this country does take off again, but I really do think that the ‘Wog Ball’ mentally really does effect the direction of soccer in this country.

When they tried to eliminate the ethnic values out of the game in Australia, which in my personal opinion was a step in the right direction, they realised afterwards that the mainstream Aussie crowd base was not going to be as easy as what they thought. But it can happen, some good examples are probably Perth Glory and the crowd the Brisbane Strikers pulled in for the Final against Sydney Utd / Croatia – 45,000 people (maybe even more if it were a bigger stadium because they had to lock people out). Now that is pretty good considering that Brisbane would probably be the least ‘Soccer City’ out of all the major capitals.

Mainstream Aussies really have to get the ‘Wog Ball’ mentality out of their head for the game to succeed here.

The entire team salary cap is not $1.5 million. Teams are allowed one marquee player each who's salary is not counted on the salary cap.

Which probably means they are allowed to have one past it ex international who is getting close to his 40s... ;)

Still better than nothing though. How about a Gazza? That would be cool. No, not Gary Ablett folks, I'm talking about Paul Gascoigne... don't know who the f*ck he is? Don't worry then, stick to footy/rugby/cricket/lawn bowls... :)

NCC1701D,
I gotta disagree there. That may be the common belief but in fact soccer is now the most played sport in Australia amongst youngsters. It certainly is gaining in popularity. I really don't think the 'wog ball' moniker really counts anymore because many Aussies and Asians play it as well, and I know that from personal experience, for when I was in high school soccer was the most popular participation sport as well.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying soccer is the mainstream sport in Aus, it probably never will be, but at least at grassroots level it does have a solid support base.

Which probably means they are allowed to have one past it ex international who is getting close to his 40s... ;)

Still better than nothing though. How about a Gazza? That would be cool. No, not Gary Ablett folks, I'm talking about Paul Gascoigne... don't know who the f*ck he is? Don't worry then, stick to footy/rugby/cricket/lawn bowls... :)

NCC1701D,
I gotta disagree there. That may be the common belief but in fact soccer is now the most played sport in Australia amongst youngsters. It certainly is gaining in popularity. I really don't think the 'wog ball' moniker really counts anymore because many Aussies and Asians play it as well, and I know that from personal experience, for when I was in high school soccer was the most popular participation sport as well.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying soccer is the mainstream sport in Aus, it probably never will be, but at least at grassroots level it does have a solid support base.

I don't think soccer will ever be the no: 1 sport in Aus either, I suppose the biggest problem we have here is that the kids that are playing it at junior level have no incentive to go on to the 'top league' in australia. Even though it is the highest particpation sport in Aus, you've only got two options when you get to a certain age.... go overseas and play if you're good enough, or stay here and find another job because soccer won't pay the bills. Hopefully this 'A league' is a step to change all this.

I still believe though that the majority of Australians still associate soccer with the 'wog ball' brand and the crowd violence that is associated with it overseas - and to a certain extent here. But you are right in a way, things are slowly changing, hopefully for the better.

Removing ethnicity (or the individual feifdoms as John O'neill put it) is in the long term interests of Australian Soccer.

Let's look at Brisbane. 20 Years ago AFL had no presence here. 15 years ago it struggled on the back of support from a small but loyal bunch of expat Victorians. Now it's a mainstram sport alongside Cricket, League and Union. Crowds are huge, TV audiences are respectable and media coverage is good.

Soccer on the other hand has gone backwards. The Strikers proved that there are at least 42,000 people who care about soccer in this city when they hosted a final, but even at the height of their popularity, they were only drawing 7000 fans to home-away games.

The majority of Australian's still can't relate to the local league. The few who care follow English Teams. The local comp is derided not just because of the lack of big names, but because so many teams are indicative of what almost could be considered a "special interest group". Italy is an amazing place to visit, but as an Aussie, I have no interest in following an Australian based Italian Soccer Team (random hypothetical example).

I think another thing working against Soccer outside of SA and WA (where it is doing extremely well) is the saturated market. People in Queensland and NSW already follow a host of Rugby League, Rugby Union, Cricket and now AFL teams. Throw in V8 Super Cars, Formula 1, international Tennis, Golf and Swimming, Basketball etc and it seems you really have to have soccer in your veins to get involved in it (is that an argument to keep thing's the way they were?).

Ultimately, as far as I'm concerned, the long term success of the sport depends on it's ability to capture the eye of the mainstream, rather that flirt with a niche market that will never really see the sport take off.

Soccer fans are always quick to point out the number of people playing the game, but it's worth noting the "softness" and lack of expense associated with the game is the driver of it's popularity.

Other than touch footy, Soccer is the only "football" attractive to the average girl. Parents love it as their kids don't get hurt and it's cheap.

Compare it to cricket where you have years of back pain, bruises, hits in the nuts or eyes, skin cancer and nearly thousands of dollars of equipment......or traditional brands of footy where your running into people or jumping into the air.....that reminds me.....another thing holding back soccer in Aus is they way so many players act like girls.
A mate of mine was one of 20,000 at an Olympic Soccer game at the gabba booing foreign players for acting like cheating skirts. Aussies used to watching Mugby or Aerial Ping Pong won't tollerate some pussy breaking a nail then calling for a stretcher just to get a corner. Play your sport like a man...and put country before club. Anything less won't cut it in this market....

Well said Mr Mac I also dont think this latest attemp will get the support they are hoping for because of all the reasons you stated. With no "star" players (they are all overseas making huge money) and no FTA TV and only 8 teams I think the new comp will struggle to get a foothold in a very compeditive sports market.
A few years back Basketball was touted as the next big sport to sweep the country but after a couple of good seasons it has slipped back to the second string sport it always was despite having Olympic and International status. The same result is staring this 'new' A league in the face.

Well said Mr Mac I also dont think this latest attemp will get the support they are hoping for because of all the reasons you stated. With no "star" players (they are all overseas making huge money) and no FTA TV and only 8 teams I think the new comp will struggle to get a foothold in a very compeditive sports market.
A few years back Basketball was touted as the next big sport to sweep the country but after a couple of good seasons it has slipped back to the second string sport it always was despite having Olympic and International status. The same result is staring this 'new' A league in the face.


I always like reading your views, because they show how insolent you are. If it isn't big in Victoria it's nothing, seems to be the message. Well, in Perth and Adelaide, soccer managed crowds up to 17,000 and 16,500, with a near media blackout, besides radio broadcasts and brief television highlights on SBS. Furthermore, basketball isn't the second string sport you wish it was. The Adelaide 36ers throughout their history have sold out their 8,000 seat arena, while Perth Wildcats have had a surging interest in the Wildcats. It's only the pathetic Melbourne Tigers, with their sub 2,000, sometimes sub 1,000 (:runaway: ) crowds, that show it to be a second string sport. Perhaps you should just face the fact that, as far as sport goes, it's Melbourne that's a second string sporting city compared to the rest of Australia.

Can you believe Melbourne is the only major city in this country that doesn't have a proper rectangular pitch stadium? Pity Melbourne hasn't caught up to the likes of Perth, who for the second time in recent years is looking to redevelop their Soccer ground into a world class venue.

http://www.austadiums.com/forum/images/membersequity.jpg

Sensational stuff Perth.


Good luck watching the soccer from the stands at Colonial stadium. Nose Bleed seats in the front row :eek2: Maybe that Labor government of yours should drag your sporting infrastructure kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Hey yob where did I mention Melbourne?
The fact is that without good support in Sydney and Melbourne this league will fail, just because you get some half decent crowds in Adelaide and Perth wont save it.
Its ment to be a"national" comp and without heavy support in our two largest cities by far it has no hope of being successfull. Lets face it the only time soccer gets big crowds is in Melbourne and Sydney when the Socceroos are playing internationals.
People in Sydney and Melbourne have many sporting options to spend time and money on and wont watch second rate sporting contests

In the months leading up to Spirit launching there was a real buzz online about the club. Several websites, a mailing list and very busy message board.

In the last couple of weeks a very similar experience has been developing around SFC. Talking to many regulars at the Solomon Island game, a lot of people will be following SFC.

Last weekend I spent some time with a cousin on the central coast. Again, there is a buzz up there about the club. It's the first time they will have there own team in a national competition. One team, one city has worked before and it should work again around Gosford.

barneybuck, I don't live in Melbourne and I don't really know if the Melbourne team will work (I hope they do but Melbourse can be....well..a little insular.) But living in Sydney I know the Sydney team will work. Expect an opening night crowd of 25K and a season average of 15K (Unless we are crap and then expect a season average of 10K)

When you examine the new teams, it appears that, with the possible exception of Central Coast, the only side with any doubts of its success is Melbourne Victory.

Queensland Lions - big money, extremely well resourced (they own a bunch of AFLQ clubs' social clubs, in addition to their own assets). World class venue, with a tenancy deal that ensures they can be viable there.

Perth Glory - the measuring stick of Australian soccer. Massive, continuing crowd support, fantastic venue, established niche in Perth (go the glory shed!).

Adelaide United - Massive levels of support, great venue, already has cult heros. Adelaide supports domestic sporting competitions like no other, as proven by the support of AFL, SANFL, NBL, NSL. The possible withdrawl of AU from the new league caused enough stir to get politicians involved!

Sydney FC - limitless porential. The Spirit example shows that a side can count on strong first up support. Their key failing was a lack of resources - the new APL stipulated that clubs be very well resourced, so no problems there. Great venue. The only fighting to do with Sydney FC was who owned the most of it. Great logo too :)

Newcastle United - very regularly drew 10,000+ crowds, but suffered with the decline of the NSL. A new league means a clean slate. Again, great venue.

Auckland - who cares really, but they've had past strong crowd support. Poor crowds recently because of on field performance and the overall decline of the NSL.

Melbourne Victory - already strong concerns over its financial viability. No adequate venue. Melbournites don't bother with domestic sport unless its AFL. Past startup soccer clubs have never reached great heights and failed miserably.

Melbourne Victory - already strong concerns over its financial viability. No adequate venue. Melbournites don't bother with domestic sport unless its AFL. Past startup soccer clubs have never reached great heights and failed miserably.


The other concern with Melbourne is every other club had $5 million ready on the launch day. Melbourne only had 500k, though it was from the owners pocket so you would hope he could get the rest on the money together.

I will admit that Melburnians can be insular and parochial but thats the reason despite the Gold running out over 100 years ago that we have built a mighty city from nothing much to start with.
I make no apologies for the way we are but its the making of us. What other pissy little provincial city in Australia at the time would have had the balls to go for the 1956 Olympics and get them?

The other concern with Melbourne is every other club had $5 million ready on the launch day. Melbourne only had 500k, though it was from the owners pocket so you would hope he could get the rest on the money together.
The big problem all "start up" sports have in Victoria is the strangle hold that Australian Football has on the population and that transfers to sponsership dollars.
With 10 AFL clubs in Melbourne needing about 20 million bucks a year to survive it dosent leave much to go around particually after the other high profile sporting events like the F1 GP,Moto GP, Mel Cup carnival and the Australian Open tennis get their piece of the pie as well.
So it dosent surprise me that the Melbourne Victory is finding it hard to get backing.
I dont know what yob is on about with the stadium thing, Olympic Park is quite capable of holding 20,000 which is more than is adequate for the soccer and Rugby League at the present time and if they can get better than that on a regular basis there is Telstra dome in rectangle form ..

Well, we can have a grand debate about how Olympic park's dimensions don't make it a good soccer stadium for fans, but you know what, i'll just say Melbourne Victory chose Docklands over Olympic Park. That sums up Olympic Park's value as a soccer stadium.

I dont know what yob is on about with the stadium thing, Olympic Park is quite capable of holding 20,000 which is more than is adequate for the soccer and Rugby League at the present time and if they can get better than that on a regular basis there is Telstra dome in rectangle form ..

The problem with Olympic park is that lack of corporate facilities. To get major international corporate sponsers the A-League stadiums needs to have a certain level corporate facilities, and as far as I know Olympic park does not meet these.

If the seats can be moved inwards at docklands, and Melbourne can get 15K-20K, and a good price for stadium hire then I get the feeling that's where the games will be.

ill throw my support behind the new brisbane team when the new a league starts and get myself down to a few games. im hoping they dont name them something really poxy which im sure will happen. here hoping the whole concept works out.

WA back in contention for world soccer game
http://www.thewest.com.au/pictures/100-gen12soccer.jpg
Perth is back on soccer's senior international agenda after 10 years in the cold.

And a Socceroos side, packed with English Premier League stars such as Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Mark Schwarzer, could be strutting its stuff at Members Equity Stadium as early as next March.

Perth last hosted a senior international match at the WACA in 1995 when the Socceroos played Ghana.

Australian Soccer Association chief executive John O'Neill, who was in Perth yesterday to take part in the National Leaders in Sport Conference, confirmed the governing body was ready to showcase the Socceroos in WA again.

He said a settled match schedule for Australia's national team had given Perth a genuine chance of hosting an international fixture next year. "The likelihood that Perth will get a Socceroos game is very high now that we have a proper match schedule," he said after delivering an address about managing reform to a 600-strong audience at the Convention Centre. "It's certainly in our thinking."

O'Neill said any of the proposed matches against Asian opponents in March and October and the World Cup qualifier against the Solomon Islands in September could be held in Perth.

And if Perth is granted a fixture next year, fans can expect to see the cream of coach Frank Farina's squad in action as the Socceroos' bid to reach the 2006 World Cup in Germany intensifies.

"We've got to have the Socceroos at home four times a year and in this (World Cup build-up) period we must have our best squad available. It is not negotiable," O'Neill said.

"Frank is working with a squad of about 26 players, and in the next 12 months we need those players to be getting game time together."
http://www.thewest.com.au/20041112/sport/tw-sport-home-sto129799.html

Sydney FC playing at Aussie Stadium. I think they should move to St. George Stadium near the airport. Redevelop Barton Park into a 25 000 capacity all-seat venue. Hopefully, this happens after the lease with Aussie stadium finishes. Because Sydney FC needs its OWN stadium, surely.

If this comp is done right, Sydney FC will need the olympic stadium to hold it's crowds.

The idea was to cut teams and its a good idea becuase there were so many second rate sides over east.

Perth and Brisban will own this new comp like perth and wolongong did.

Im a AFL person but i think its good for the country. Melbourne dont seem to know whats out of mebourne there sporting culture is AFL but even then they dont know about WA SA football.

Adelaide AFL, SANFL, NBL, NSL.

Perth AFL WAFL, NBL, A-League. Point being

melb AFL VFL

Sydney FC playing at Aussie Stadium. I think they should move to St. George Stadium near the airport. Redevelop Barton Park into a 25 000 capacity all-seat venue. Hopefully, this happens after the lease with Aussie stadium finishes. Because Sydney FC needs its OWN stadium, surely.

The best stadium for football in Sydney is the SFS. Sydney FC are playing there, I dont see any real need to plan to move in the near future.

The best stadium for football in Sydney is the SFS. Sydney FC are playing there, I dont see any real need to plan to move in the near future.

I agree that the best stadium for soccer in Sydney is Aussie Stadium, but my point is that, if and will soccer be as popular than the league, we may need a stadium specifically used for soccer, and soccer only?! Perhaps a while b4 this comes into practice, i.e. may take a few years to get its own purpose-built stadium.

I agree that the best stadium for soccer in Sydney is Aussie Stadium, but my point is that, if and will soccer be as popular than the league, we may need a stadium specifically used for soccer, and soccer only?! Perhaps a while b4 this comes into practice, i.e. may take a few years to get its own purpose-built stadium.

I don't see why soccer would ever need a stadium of its own - NRL uses a rectangular field, as does soccer, and it's easy enough to change the field type from league to soccer. In Australia, you simply can't afford to have a stadium that's not multi-purpose. And why on earth would you move from the SFS, which can hold 40,792 to a smaller 25,000 stadium?!?

I don't see why soccer would ever need a stadium of its own - NRL uses a rectangular field, as does soccer, and it's easy enough to change the field type from league to soccer. In Australia, you simply can't afford to have a stadium that's not multi-purpose. And why on earth would you move from the SFS, which can hold 40,792 to a smaller 25,000 stadium?!?

20k fans in a 25k seat stadium has a much better atmosphere than a half filled 40k seat stadium.

20k fans in a 25k seat stadium has a much better atmosphere than a half filled 40k seat stadium.

true but the dimensions for Rugby League are different from football as the try zones need to be large so they can safely run in and score, therefore making fans removed from the game if it was a football match as that space is wasted.


One thing i am annoyed at is Perth never signed Shaun Murphy and the new kits are not known yet!

What has Sydney FC been playing in if they have not shown their official kit? :o

PERTH GLORY's KITS
http://img38.echo.cx/img38/5953/perthgloryaway2zu.jpg
http://img38.echo.cx/img38/6493/perthgloryhome9pl.jpg


wow Reebok state that this will be the design for ALL A-League clubs


nice one Reebok! :cheers:

now what will the players font and numbers be like?


i also heard they will be NO Sponsors on the front of the kit, but i also heard that there WILL, i am not sure. Most likely they will.