The Name of Our Game

[Bumpswithagrin]

I drive past a primary school once a week which has a sign up saying something along the lines of "Congratulations to our under 9s netball and AFL teams for making the finals"

 

[HaroLad]

I drive past a primary school once a week which has a sign up saying something along the lines of "Congratulations to our under 9s netball and AFL teams for making the finals"

Nothing offends me more than that, honestly.

I actually sat an exam a few months ago with a question that said "playing AFL outside in the rain".

I wrote "this is not a valid question as AFL is not a sport". I wonder if I got marks as technically you can't mark that down.

 

[saintal]

The constant use of "AFL" and "AFL Footy" to label the sport shits me too.

Like most I watched the Jacko v Sheehan stoush, and it was refreshing to hear Jacko continually refer to Australian Rules Football. Rarely hear that title used anymore.

Ideally there would be an independent organisation that oversees the sport across the country. The AFL is a professional league within the sport and shouldn't be considered the custodians of the game.

 

[HaroLad]

The constant use of "AFL" and "AFL Footy" to label the sport shits me too.

Like most I watched the Jacko v Sheehan stoush, and it was refreshing to hear Jacko continually refer to Australian Rules Football. Rarely hear that title used anymore.

Ideally there would be an independent organisation that oversees the sport across the country. The AFL is a professional league within the sport and shouldn't be considered the custodians of the game.

Agreed.

The governing body of the sport in Europe is "AFL Europe", this brand is the same for other places, "AFL India", "AFL China" etc.

It's an Australian League, not an international governing body.

 

[Established1870]

Ideally there would be an independent organisation that oversees the sport across the country. The AFL is a professional league within the sport and shouldn't be considered the custodians of the game.

This times a bloody million!

On the topic of the thread, I don't really care that much, although if people call footy "AFL", I'll lose it and kick them out of my house. I will admit to calling association football "soccer" for the sole reason of pissing off the fans of it that I know.

I like football/soccer, but what pisses me off most is the fans (Australian association football fans). "WE'RE GONNA OVER TAKE AFL IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS!". There are so many things that piss me off when I hear or see that being said. I actually want to cause physical harm to A-League fans because they got on my nerves that much, none more so than WSW fans.

 

[Pessimistic]

Soccer fans do say soccer will take over, but if you push them to validate that, it always involves the govenment making it happen and afl somehow rolling over.

 

[WatsamattaU]

Watched a major European soccer competition for the first time on Bein sports. Barcelona needed to win in order to win the title.

Suarez scored a goal, and their was no emotion. Nothing compared to an AFL Grand Final.

That's probably because they were playing one of the worst teams in the league away from home, they were expected to win and did.

You will find that in general, European fans are much more 'emotional' and passionate than Aussie Rules supporters.

 

[Damon_3388]

Soccer fans do say soccer will take over, but if you push them to validate that, it always involves the govenment making it happen and afl somehow rolling over.

What I don't understand is why one sport has to "take over" the other. Why can't all sports co-exist? I mean, pretty much everyone I know who's into footy is also interested in another type of sport in some form or fashion, so where does this idea come from that you can only play or follow one?

 

[HaroLad]

What I don't understand is why one sport has to "take over" the other. Why can't all sports co-exist? I mean, pretty much everyone I know who's into footy is also interested in another type of sport in some form or fashion, so where does this idea come from that you can only play or follow one?

They can coexist to some extent, but I've had a few friends who growing up were good footy supporters who now have mostly ditched the game in favour of soccer (ugh), and then I've known soccer fans who have no interest in the Australian game whatsoever.

I think it's a problem.

 

[Damon_3388]

They can coexist to some extent, but I've had a few friends who growing up were good footy supporters who now have mostly ditched the game in favour of soccer (ugh), and then I've known soccer fans who have no interest in the Australian game whatsoever.

I think it's a problem.

Yeah but I don't think one necessarily has to "rule" over the other as such, or that the sports need to operate and make moves in paranoia and fear of each other.

Soccer has the highest junior participation rate of any sport in the US at the moment, and I don't think anyone who plays, watches or is in charge of other sports cares less. I know there's a greater population to go around over there, but it's not Highlander, there doesn't just have to be only one.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I drive past a primary school once a week which has a sign up saying something along the lines of "Congratulations to our under 9s netball and AFL teams for making the finals"

May as well put up a sign that says

"If you want your kids to grow up as uncultured swine, this is the school for them"

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

its a valid point. people arguing from all codes over a friggin name ffs are indeed minnows.

fwiw, the word football is used here to honour the british ancestory and settlement of australia. the presence of the union jack and monarchy ties us with the united kingdom. as a result, football is used to describe the sport.

Possibly the biggest load of ahistorical nonsense I've ever read on BF. The word "football" was being used in Australia to describe Australian Rules in the mid-19th century, when we were still a British colony.

 

[Gibbke]

fwiw, the word football is used here to honour the british ancestory and settlement of australia. the presence of the union jack and monarchy ties us with the united kingdom. as a result, football is used to describe the sport.

History straight off the back of Grandpa Simpson's matchbox. Soccer administration uses the word football these days because every combination of the word "soccer" and "league/association/federation" they came up with before was synonymous with a bankrupt or failed administration of the past. Johnny Warren mumbled something in the 1970's about the game being called football everywhere else, and by the time 2004 rolled around, there wasn't much left anyway. British ancestry...? It's colloquially called "the wog game" in this country, and it's not the British driving it and never really has been, exemplified by the non-Anglo communities who've historically formed and run the teams. If anything , Australian Football is a far more Anglo-Aussie originated and backed sport than soccer has ever been here. The move to axe ethnic affiliations came from the pages of a How To manual owned by business-minded suits, not from a British nationalistic manifesto...

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

its a valid point. people arguing from all codes over a friggin name ffs are indeed minnows.

fwiw, the word football is used here to honour the british ancestory and settlement of australia. the presence of the union jack and monarchy ties us with the united kingdom. as a result, football is used to describe the sport.

And what's more, your argument, such as it is, could equally be applied to "soccer", which is as British a word as "football" is.

 

[peternorth]

They can coexist to some extent, but I've had a few friends who growing up were good footy supporters who now have mostly ditched the game in favour of soccer (ugh), and then I've known soccer fans who have no interest in the Australian game whatsoever.

I think it's a problem.

Similarly I've seen people go to storm games instead of simply going over the tracks to the footy. I thought they were lost, but nope they wanna watch rugby league.

How can we tackle this problem? People who are traitorous to the national game, what can we do to them? I know some people who also go to watch the a-league and also went to watch hume city play the other night. but they also have membership to footy teams (i cant say afl either. its footy or aussie rules!)

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Doing a report on this, anybody still have any clues as to why major media outlets have switched from soccer to football in recent years?

My guess is because Frank Lowy paid them a pooload of money to make the switch.

I will admit I have no evidence whatsoever, but it certainly happened suspiciously quickly.

 

[peternorth]

And what's more, your argument, such as it is, could equally be applied to "soccer", which is as British a word as "football" is.

hey whoa, im on your side. I lived in Britain for years in the 80s. Took a few sherrins over, tried to educate them on our game. At first they loved kicking the sherrin with me at lunch time, but i think it was a novelty to them and it soon wore off. I tried to tell them their game is called soccer too, but it didnt work (they were just kids I suppose).

and that's another thing. the ball is called a sherrin! not a burley

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Soccer/Soccers-Australian-name-change/2004/12/16/1102787198112.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Soccer/S...ll-in-Australia/2004/12/16/1102787198357.html

?

And there in a single stroke they P***ed away the chance to positively differentiate their brand in the hugely-crowded Australian football market.

No other country in the world has four major codes of football, so here it's all about standing out. Instead they opted for resentment and confusion.

I think the A-League has already peaked, frankly. Hard to see where further growth is going to come from, and I think their bloody-mindedness about the name of the code is one of several missteps they've taken which have all but guaranteed it will never dominate here, like it does in other countries.

 

[peternorth]

And there in a single stroke they P***ed away the chance to positively differentiate their brand in the hugely-crowded Australian football market.

No other country in the world has four major codes of football, so here it's all about standing out. Instead they opted for resentment and confusion.

I think the A-League has already peaked, frankly. Hard to see where further growth is going to come from, and I think their bloody-mindedness about the name of the code is one of several missteps they've taken which have all but guaranteed it will never dominate here, like it does in other countries.

but isnt that what we want?

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

but isnt that what we want?

No objections from these quarters.

 

[benji2]

What do they play in the SANFL and WAFL? It's not AFL (though they play teams from the AFL/with AFL players now). Still Aussie Rules Football to me

 

[SloppyJoe]

I mainly call it the footy. Often I will say football. Aussie rules every now and then. I don't really call the sport itself "AFL".

When referring to the round ball game I say soccer a lot of the time, but use football just as much.

I find that I tend to change it up depending on who I am speaking to. It's just commonsense really.

 

[barmy44]

made it to page 3 so far... man, there is nothing more petty and baffling than someone telling someone else that their subjective choices in what to watch/like are 'wrong'.

also, 'code wars' are moronic.

 

[peternorth]

No objections from these quarters.

one argument is that the game of soccer/football is s**t and it will never catch on. that being the case we have nothing to worry about, and nothing to lose sleep over

it's like the far right complaining about muslims and want to ban them coming here to stop terrorism here. but without muslims, and therefore no terrorism, the far right dont have someone to target. it's a love/hate relationship.


now that i think about it, why are we attacking soccer/football? our anger should be directed at the AFL. They changed our thought patterns and manner in which we call footy afl. Why cant the brand be AR (Aussie Rules) and the league be called A.R.F.L???? Jesus, it's HQs fault this has happened. Sometimes we have to look inwards rather than blaming others.

This whole outrage has nothing to do with the NRL/A-League/Super Rugby.

 

[Ice-Wolf]

Why cant the brand be AR (Aussie Rules)

Because it sounds stupid. Australian Football is the proper name.