Football in Australia responds magnificently to World Cup disappointment.

Subprime

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#51
Hey, you're the ones claiming that AFL is by far the best and could effortlessly sweep away any other code if it tried. Not me.
When did I claim that?

Footy is actually difficult to organise and play, big ground required, 18 players a side plus interchange, funny shaped ball and all that. Not to mention its got competition everywhere it goes.

None of that detracts from the merits of the great Australian game though.
 

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Munro_Mick

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#52
VFL & AFL are the same organisation with a different name. The only clubs that compete in the AFL that weren't in the original VFL are Adelaide Crows, Port Power and Freo. Every other team was in the VFL.

NSL & A League are two completely different organisations with almost nothing in common. Only 2 teams survived - Adelaide United (who started up in 2003 anyway) and Perth Glory (who started in 1996). In other words, the 2 newest clubs in the NSL who had the least historical connection to the league.

A League is 5 years old, AFL is 100 years old. Surely you aren't comparing the change from NSL to A League to the VFL changing its name to AFL?

JSL to J League is a different kettle of fish; JSL was an amateur competition and Japan didn't have a serious football competition until the J League began in 1992.

The AFL and VFL ARE 2 completely different organisations with completely different authorities.

Do you recall that Australian Footy was the first code to run a 'Crawford report'. The institution of an independant commission rather drastically changed the management structures.

What confuses some is that the morphing happened gradually - rather than a distinct line in the sand.

The morphing included during the 80s the relocation of the Swans, the establishment of an independant commission, the inclusion of Brisbane, West Coast and later the Crows, the rebranding of the league and the adoption of a whole raft of national responsibilities for the code that had no been part of the previous organisations remit.

The AFL is far, far, far from the same organisation as the VFL was.
 
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#53
I have a different take on where aus soccer should go.

A domestic league will always have problems.

Now big clubs in europe would like nothing better than to leave their competitions and have a full time champions league

Bigger cities in asia should try to achieve this with their soccer clubs. The value would be boosted and therefore the standard of players.

naturally a Melbourne and a Sydney club would be members.

A-league would just be a subsidised feeder comp
 

Munro_Mick

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#54
I have a different take on where aus soccer should go.

A domestic league will always have problems.

Now big clubs in europe would like nothing better than to leave their competitions and have a full time champions league

Bigger cities in asia should try to achieve this with their soccer clubs. The value would be boosted and therefore the standard of players.

naturally a Melbourne and a Sydney club would be members.

A-league would just be a subsidised feeder comp
(I) tend to agree. I've suggested in the past that regional expansion is an unnecessary limiter to the clubs that COULD be great. The Australian domestic context dictates some form of level playing field, otherwise, the A-League be just a couple of super clubs and a bunch making up the numbers.

The desire to compete on a club level via international tournaments (ACL etc) means that the clubs with 'super' potential should not be restrained.

However, the need to run Confed & FIFA approved domestic structures seems the main hinderance to an effectively Super 15s style regional multinational structure.

But certainly - - as a poor mans AFL/NRL domestic comp, the A-League is behind the 8 ball domestically, let alone, as a poor mans EPL/Serie-A/Bundesliga - - the A-League is behind the 8 ball internationally too. That and the J-League got a heap of otherwise white elephant stadia built back in 2002 that Japan was pretty desperate to use again!!
 

Dirty Bird

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#55
(I) tend to agree. I've suggested in the past that regional expansion is an unnecessary limiter to the clubs that COULD be great. The Australian domestic context dictates some form of level playing field, otherwise, the A-League be just a couple of super clubs and a bunch making up the numbers.

The desire to compete on a club level via international tournaments (ACL etc) means that the clubs with 'super' potential should not be restrained.

However, the need to run Confed & FIFA approved domestic structures seems the main hinderance to an effectively Super 15s style regional multinational structure.

But certainly - - as a poor mans AFL/NRL domestic comp, the A-League is behind the 8 ball domestically, let alone, as a poor mans EPL/Serie-A/Bundesliga - - the A-League is behind the 8 ball internationally too. That and the J-League got a heap of otherwise white elephant stadia built back in 2002 that Japan was pretty desperate to use again!!
it's a tough decision to be made

force the league to be even, would keep a full league of viable clubs, though we'd struggle on the international stage due to a lack of those powerhouses

or get rid of the limitations, let clubs buy, buy and buy. It'll make 2, maybe 3 powerhouses, but then the rest of the league will struggle, and with a lack of interest in those areas, the whole league could crumble, with it down to 5, maybe 6 teams. We might go better internationally, but the domestic scene will be embarrassing, 2-3 clubs fighting for it year in, year out, and the remainder of the small league being cupcakes, leading to less and less interest in those teams. It'd be pathetic

we're setting it up as basically a (very, very) mini Bundesliga
if we get rid of the limitations, the league can very quickly head down the path of the Scottish Premier League

I'd much rather be in a league where everyone has a shot, be it Adelaide, Melbourne, Bayern Munich, or Hoffenheim
compared to a league where the same teams would win it year in year out (Melbourne, Sydney, Celtic, Rangers)
 

finders

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#56
Soccer is in trouble in Australia with most of the A League broke and you will find Lowy will lose interest now that he cant grandstand on the back of the WC bid.
 

JD-Roo

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#57
Soccer is in trouble in Australia with most of the A League broke and you will find Lowy will lose interest now that he cant grandstand on the back of the WC bid.
I don't think it will be so much a case of Lowry losing interest.

More likely he'll get the shits with the ungrateful pricks in the media (and the sheep that follow) who were calling for Buckley's head only a couple of weeks ago and are now beginning to find polite ways in the media to try to say Lowry himself is 'past it'.

Pre-WC descision he was a genius in the soccer media. Fickle lot, aren't they?

Does anyone know how much money 'Uncle Frank' actually puts into Australian soccer himself?
 

McCrann

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#58
Soccer is in trouble in Australia with most of the A League broke and you will find Lowy will lose interest now that he cant grandstand on the back of the WC bid.

I think Lowy will stick around - he's got the 2015 Asian Cup as his "crowning glory" now - hopefully (for his sake) with Australia winning it.

Whatever happens to the A-League - it will definitely still be going in 5 years time - because of the Asian Cup and a new Foxtel rights deal.

It really is apparent though that the future of the A-League will be dictated by the amount of money Foxtel ends up throwing at the A-League for the next rights deal (2013 onwards I believe). That is the defining moment for the code in this country.

For people like Clive Palmer though, what is the point of continuing to pour money down the drain on the Gold Coast if there's no payoff in a decade's time?

I can see old Clive pulling support for the Gold Coast at the end of this season very easily.

Will be good for the Suns for sure.

I must admit - it was a surprise to read this.

Article on Clive Palmer said:
Clive Palmer was a skinny kid from Surfers Paradise who, as a schoolboy, could run like the wind -- an above-average scholar who was quiet and reserved but popular among his schoolmates.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2008/06/07/12153_more-gossip-news.html

Anyone know what his kids are into? Are they as big on the Soccer as he is?
 
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