Football wars continue

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Authored by: Chris
on Sunday, May 31 2009 @ 05:10 pm ACST

Enjoyed reading your comments on the prospects of the different codes. Most of the A-League soccer clubs are running at a loss, although I notice the new Gold Coast United team is backed by a billionaire, who will no doubt blow a lot of money on the franchise for no return.

In regard to the comments about it now being called "football" by the media, it is interesting that "soccer" was actually a term coined by the English tabloids in the 1880's to cover English football. Soccer was a play on Association Football with the 'soc' part starting the word soccer. Check out wikipeadia to verify http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associat...#Etymology

This is interesting because my English friends in Sydney typically question me when I call it soccer, claiming it's not called soccer, so I enjoy referring them to the history on wikipeadia.

It's disappointing the media in this country have rolled over to the likes of Frank Lowy & co and started calling it football when in this country it should be referred to as soccer,as it is in USA, Canada, New Zealand etc, where it is not the preeminent footbal code. Speaking of Frank Lowy, it's also disappointing after the refuge and wealth Australia has given him that he is now on a single minded mission to grow soccer to the detriment of a unique part of Australian culture - Australian football. Australian football was invented in Australia and has been played here for 150 years and it would be nice if Mr Lowy provided some support to the game that is a key part of Australia's heritage and socio-cultural fabric.

AFL & Rugby followers shouldn't be worried about soccer and the A-League, no matter how much of Mr Lowy's and taxpayers money is shovelled into it, the best players will always be drawn to the bigger money and markets in Europe. The A-League will never be anything but a second rate league for those who weren't good enough to make it or a retirement ground for those who did. Whereas AFL and the rugby codes will generally have the best on show in Australia (although there may be some risk the best rugby union players will start moving to rich European clubs in places like France). For this reason alone soccer will never dominate as a professional code in Australia.

All that being said I very much enjoy watching the socceroos and hope they go as best as possible in the World Cup next year. And I hope our best soccer players continue to strut their stuff in the major European leagues, but I won't waste my time and money going to watch A-League teams.

The AFL is easily the wealthiest sport in Australia with sustainable underlying earnings and support. Soccer survives professionally on government grants and rich benefactors. Most rugby league clubs make a loss and survive on pokie machine revenue. The League-ies cannot sustain the current payments to players and the leakage to rugby union, which is currently a stream trickle will eventually be a gushing river. Rugby union is not in a great state in Australia at the moment but as the second most popular football code in the world its future is without doubt.

Rugby unions next side will definitely be in Melbourne - that's where the greatest bulk of untapped tv ratings are. They already get ratings from western sydney and the Gold Coast.

My tip is that over the next 20 years rugby league will continue to diminish into a small time provincial code as rugby union drains it of its better players and resources. Soccer will be around, probably in the A-League format, but the A-League won't have any major players or any of its players in the full strength socceroos side.

AFL will be the dominant code and rugby union should be relatively strong if they can get their house in order, which it looks like they're doing with the new competition format next year (look out League). Having said that they have a lot of work to do with the Australian sides at the moment not making the finals and the new Melbourne side to further spread thin the talent base - this just means League will be raided for more players sooner rather than later.

AFL needs to press ahead and receive support from its fans for the Gold Coast and Western Sydney expansions and at the sametime increasingly turn its attention to the international market.

According to the 2008 AFL Annual Report AFL now has approx 690,000 participants in Australia (a 50,000 increase on the year before), including Brett an increase in South Australia. The same report says there are approx 45,000 participants overseas. With its current emergence in many overseas countries I would not be surprised, with a little more AFL support, if we find in 20 years the international participation rate has increased 10 fold. And just maybe in 20 to 30 years we may have an international team that can put up a competitive effort against Australia.

Football wars continue

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Sunday, May 31 2009 @ 09:44 pm ACST

I can't fault Lowy for supporting soccer in Australia - he's a great migrant success story and Australia is one of the world's great multicultural melting pots, bringing all sorts of customs and cultures together in one country. I just take issue when the existing cultures within Australia are not respected or are dismissed - promote your own, but don't talk down that of others, and don't tell them that yours is the only real football.

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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

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