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Football wars continue

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Thursday, February 19 2009 @ 09:48 pm ACDT

I don't mind a bit of swearing but not the best choice of words.

Yeah I hope you are right but I think it's fairly clear that the shift is more deep seated here. It could be a coincidence but the under 20s around me (friends and families) tend to be more into soccer. Even the grandkids of one of the all time greats of footy, Barrie Robran, have reportedly taken up soccer - he was a great with North Adelaide, his sons played for Adelaide and Hawthorn. Any one event like that is fine, but you hear too much of it. Another worry is that Adelaide has not been out of the finals for several years, and although up and down, Port have hardly been a cellar dweller. Where to when that happens? Truth is that in terms of crowd and finances Port are causing quite a few concerns.

I suspect the era when the VFL was gobbling up the SANFL's best players did a lot of damage - the SANFL clubs were just trying to survive and have been ever since (and 2 had to merge), so I suspect footy lost some ground there. They were just trying to keep their existing crowds, not attract new people. It's also well known that the main non-SANFL league here, the "amateur" league, has been a very rough league, especially below A grade, which probably hasn't helped attract or keep kids in the game. Obviously not enough done with migrant communities either - improving now but an uphill battle. More than anything else I suspect footy was arrogant that it was #1 and didn't do enough to protect that position. I have/had no problem with soccer having a successful niche, but obviously the trajectory that it may swamp footy is very disturbing.

I'm sure there are a lot of positive Auskick numbers to say I'm overstating the problem, and it's obviously worse at the moment as it has been a long summer with no AFL where soccer has easily been the #1 sport item each week - maybe I'll be more upbeat in the middle of the year.

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

Football wars continue

Authored by: flyinghigh
on Friday, May 29 2009 @ 06:36 pm ACST

its the middle of the the yr brett...r u feeling alittle bit more upbeat..is the talkback sports shows still 50/50 footy/soccer or has life turned back to normal..over in perth there was talk of a small european club championship match last week and a 1 line write up on another non important match(FA cup)this week....there has been more talk about the wildcats than the glory this yr and when they talk about these clubs its allways about survival...also something out the blue I have noticed over the last few yrs that sunrise and the today show(both out of sydney)have started to put afl reports before nrl reports when they do there daily sports review..I know its nothing major and may not change the sydney sports landscape but r they accepting it that its here to stay

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

Football wars continue

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Friday, May 29 2009 @ 10:03 pm ACST

Yeah obviously in AFL season things swing back a long way, though there's still a growing level of soccer discussion on radio in Adelaide even in AFL season. It's not the end of the world but put it this way, if Aussie Rules was growing in influence at the same rate in say Europe or North America as soccer is in Adelaide, I'd be a very happy man.

It was interesting to note that Adelaide's A-League soccer team has had their owner hand back the license - they'll still exist but will have to be supported by the A-League. In Rugby Union there's talk there could be another Super 14 franchise in Australia, based on the Gold Coast - what a crowded market suddenly.

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

Football wars continue

Authored by: Ash Nugent
on Saturday, May 30 2009 @ 11:56 am ACST

Brett - interesting how you mention the new Rugby Union franchise could be on the Gold Coast. Is this a report from South Australian papers? All the Victorian papers argue Melbourne is a shoo-in having missed out against W.A. last time (mistake) and ARU not wanting to create divisions amongst the existing markets.

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

Football wars continue

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Saturday, May 30 2009 @ 06:09 pm ACST

You would think Melbourne is the logical choice, and maybe that's how it will turn out, but The Australian seemed to think they had an inside word to the contrary:

Gold Coast looms as major player in ARU's new plans

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

Football wars continue

Authored by: Aaron Richard
on Saturday, May 30 2009 @ 04:54 pm ACST

From what I remember reading in the paper a few weeks ago, apparently the Melbourne Victory (for o/s readers, the only A-League soccer club in the city, and one of the most successful in the league so far) have made a 7-figure loss this season just been. I'll try and find the article I saw that in.

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN