I've said, nowhere near the same amount of people like/watch/follow/attend the A-League than the AFL. There is much more money involved with sponsors, TV rights, etc, due to this. It's just all so obvious that I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be explaining with soccer being inferior to footy IN AUSTRALIA!
As I've said, I don't really follow the A-League or soccer at all. But from what I can gather, most of the players are really pretty average on a world-scale. People from other European countries would probably see our league as a joke. Most of the players are from other countries or have strong heritage in other countries anyway. It really isn't much of an Australian league. That's the beauty of footy, it's almost all stuff we've produced and I don't know about you guys but I get a huge sense of pride from this. No disrespect to anyone from another country, I'm not trying to be racist, but naturally we should all be more proud of a game, league and the great players which we have all produced ourselves. Obviously the AFL is the best league of its kind in the world, the A-League is far from it.
I barely agree that soccer is a part of Australian culture, its mainly just been brought in recently by the large amount of immigrants to our country. Football has much stronger ties with our heritage. Back as recently as the 80s even, barely anyone played soccer and the A-League was non-existent
*I can already see myself getting abused for this post*
Oh god. Seriously?
You have just regurgitated the same ludicrous statements.
So is McDonald's better than a lasagne your mum or dad cooks? Because McDonald's is richer and eaten by more people and has more cultural relevance. Is that absolutely appalling tripe Two and a Half Men better than an underground indie flick? No way. These things are subjective. You can like certain things, but it doesn't mean that they are better. These things you have pointed out are just examples of popular culture - and popularity and money does not govern how good something is.
I pointed out that Australia has a history of immigration. It is the footprint of all of us. Unless you're indigenous, I can guarantee you'll be the product of a migrant. Those migrant forefathers played the world game. This country is born from immigration! Soccer has been around in Australia as long as football. Soccer has enjoyed strength and enjoyment for that time.
Have you heard of the 'Golden Generation'? No? Heard of Harry Kewell, Mark Bosnich, Stan Lazaridis, Mark Schwarzer, Mark Viduka, Vince Grella, Marco Bresciano, Brett Emerton? I'm sure you have. These guys are all in their 30's. That means they played soccer in the 1980's. Coincidentally, these guys played in the three greatest leagues of the world - in Spain, Italy, and England. Nothing to scoff at. Before that, Australia had representatives playing in the best leagues.
Australia's immigration patterns have seen an influx of new Australian's from a certain geographic. And those countries don't have a huge soccer backgrund. So again, your perception is totally warped.
We had a league - The National Soccer League. It was barely fantastic, but it was pretty heated.
People only started playing the game recently? Australia qualified for a first World Cup in 1974. Before you were born. We had a bevy of quality footballers. You may not know, but there was this guy called Johnny Warren. He was, and is, heralded as an out and out legend of not only Australian soccer, but Australian sport. He was our George Best. Have you ever seen the spine tingling video of John Aloisi tapping in
that penalty? Did you see the elation of the crowd? Can you hear the near tears of Craig Foster? Foz screams something about "this is for Johnny Warren". And those people in the crowd? Those eleven Australians on the pitch? They were happy because they beat a duct of 32 years... a duct's end that signified a pay off for decades of the sport in the country without reward.
Do you know Joe Marston? The guy lives humbly in a Sydney home. He was the first Australian to play in an FA Cup final - and he was considered one of the best on the ground. He's in Preston North End's all time XI - an all-time team that includes one David Beckham.
Yet, let us entertain a hypothetical: If the A-League only got people playing the game, wouldn't that make it a resounding success? You know soccer is the number one sport for juniors in this country?
Australia has long had a soccer background. Don't be so ignorant.
Is the Australian Football League something crafted by Australians? Yes. But you know what? Those Australians were immigrants. The blokes at Melbourne who drew up the rules, they were probably at least half English or Irish or Scottish. This country is reared on a hybrid of difference. That's why people enjoy living here.
Also, how Australian does Demetroui sound? What about Pavlich? Daicos? Jakovich? Jesaulenko? These guys came from European backgrounds, and pretty immediate ones. So we shouldn't be proud of these out and out legends because they aren't "awssies"?
Not only have you come across as flogging a dead horse, but also slightly racist. And i'm not being hypersensitive, because I know how unnecessary hypersensitivity and racism can be. I love our Aussie Rules. I absolutely love it - that's why I'm here. But I am also a lover of football, or, "soccer". I'm also a hater of ignorance - especially when it comes to this country's fine history of sporting calibre. So I'm not anti-footy or anything like that.
This is infuriating. And the consistently annoying low quality of the posters around here is disappointing. Please don't be so daft.