Why do people "hate" football (soccer)?

[Stewies Power]

I don't hate soccer. I haven't even said anything like it.

Tha's just what they think when you have a different opinion to them. Happened to me on another page. Difference in opinion? Oh you must hate soccer! They're all the same, pretty pathetic really.

 

[Zidane98]

And football is termed 'aerial ping pong' & GayFL so dont start with the holier than thou stuff. All sports have their biased detractors. The problem in this country & the most obvious point to be made on this thread is the use & misuse of the term 'football'. Soccer try to use it like we are living in Europe or Africa where most countries have nothing else. Soccer is a minority sport. Many of us dont mind it & do support the national team, like with netball & other such games.
Thats the nub of the problem, insecure soccer people trying to lift the profile of their game. A profile which is not too impressive due to the egos of some supporters & officials who just cant bear the reality of being a minority professional sport.

Your bigotry is pathetic. Soccer isn't a minority sport despite your continual protestations. In 2002 the World Cup final (in prime time) was more watched in this country then the AFL grand final of the same year. And both teams that were playing have a very small expat community over here (Brazil & Germany). The 2006 World Cup proved just how popular soccer is in Australia. I noticed your pathetic attempt to liken support of the Socceroos to support of our netball team. Typical argument from a hardened anti football AFL loving zealot. I must be mistaken but I don't remember the Australian Netball team ever playing to TV audiences of 7 million at 11pm on a Monday night and tens of thousands of fans congregating in public areas to follow them. The biggest names in soccer would pull massive crowds in Australia (the likes of Ronaldo & Rooney). You are delusional and quite frankly pathetic if you think that soccer is a minority sport in Australia, it is a major sport in this country and always will be.

There's no problem with misuse of terms other then your own. No sport has copyright on the term "football". if you want to call it Soccer that's fine by me, just stop being a w***er and telling others that they can't call it football.

 

[WCErevival]

Soccer is a game that often doesn't get respected unless you actually play the game. I played at amatuer level when I was younger and its nothing like EPL where people are diving all over the place and faking injuries. It is quite a bit more physical than people think with severe leg injuries and head clashes common.

Soccer is really popular with children and teens and it has a fairly big following with adults too. Australias multicultural population is one reason for this. The only reason the A league isnt that popular is because the level of the league is so poor compared to the rest of the world and we have other sports we can follow. I will admit I would rather watch AFL any day of the week as soccer isn't all that interesting to watch unless its a big game. Would rather be out there playing.

 

[Roos4eva]

@Shotties..
You do realize that its okay to agree with parts of a statement without buying into the entire mandate of the person speaking don't you?
I agreed with the point that there are a sizeable amount of folks out there that are fans of both Aussie Rules AND soccer. I happen to be one. I hope that the number increases as I think it would decrease the antagonism between the 2 sets of fans(especially those who are exclusive one or the other) Take joffa for example, he regularly attends Melbourne Victory games and apparently enjoys it, do you think he'd ask a Collingwood fan who questioned his Aussie-ness or made a crack about wogball to pull his head in? I reckon he would. I think growing up Aussie Rules and growing into Soccer gives me the best of both worlds.

Have to correct you here, as he's a big Heart fan, and also loves Celtic.

 

[Normy132]

Aussie rules is football? And no I'm not against soccer at all. I'm against the fans that come here calling it its foreign name and having no respect for our national sport.

I think you'll find cricket is the national sport of Australia.

 

[Admiral Byng]

Your bigotry is pathetic. Soccer isn't a minority sport despite your continual protestations. In 2002 the World Cup final (in prime time) was more watched in this country then the AFL grand final of the same year. And both teams that were playing have a very small expat community over here (Brazil & Germany). The 2006 World Cup proved just how popular soccer is in Australia. I noticed your pathetic attempt to liken support of the Socceroos to support of our netball team. Typical argument from a hardened anti football AFL loving zealot. I must be mistaken but I don't remember the Australian Netball team ever playing to TV audiences of 7 million at 11pm on a Monday night and tens of thousands of fans congregating in public areas to follow them. The biggest names in soccer would pull massive crowds in Australia (the likes of Ronaldo & Rooney). You are delusional and quite frankly pathetic if you think that soccer is a minority sport in Australia, it is a major sport in this country and always will be.

There's no problem with misuse of terms other then your own. No sport has copyright on the term "football". if you want to call it Soccer that's fine by me, just stop being a w***er and telling others that they can't call it football.

Lol - your post just provides a perfect illustration of what he was complaining about.

Once every four years when the World Cup is on everyone becomes an armchair expert and follows it for a month or so. After the tournament is over they get off the bandwagon. Counting the bandwagoners as soccer lovers or supporters, and trying to infer from that that soccer is a major sport in this country doesn't really work. You'll find that most of the bandwagoners are usually followers of other sports who are getting their once in 4 years dose of soccer, and probably won't watch another game till the next one. The same thing happens during the Olympics.

 

[harmesy 37]

And football is termed 'aerial ping pong' & GayFL so dont start with the holier than thou stuff. All sports have their biased detractors. The problem in this country & the most obvious point to be made on this thread is the use & misuse of the term 'football'. Soccer try to use it like we are living in Europe or Africa where most countries have nothing else. Soccer is a minority sport. Many of us dont mind it & do support the national team, like with netball & other such games.
Thats the nub of the problem, insecure soccer people trying to lift the profile of their game. A profile which is not too impressive due to the egos of some supporters & officials who just cant bear the reality of being a minority professional sport.

Excellent post. "Soccer try to use it like we are living in Europe or Africa where most countries have nothing else". I agree 100% with your point of them trying to force the term "football" instead of soccer on us.

The soccer people in America should try and force the American footballers to stop calling their game football.

That would be enlightening to see the difference in response. The main difference is Australians don't have pride in their national sport (especially in central/nth nsw) - Americans do (no matter what state you are from.)

 

[Dimenhydrinate]

Thats the nub of the problem, insecure soccer people trying to lift the profile of their game. A profile which is not too impressive due to the egos of some supporters & officials who just cant bear the reality of being a minority professional sport.

So what you're saying is "Know you place and don't dare try to improve the status of your game"?

 

[Stewies Power]

Why do soccer fans need to talk about the AFL and RL in this case after their team winning like in this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZOZIt-DdpGY#t=29s

If Port won a big final or the grand final, I'm not going to start talking about another sport!

 

[.Shotties.]

So what you're saying is "Know you place and don't dare try to improve the status of your game"?

No, he's saying the people trying to do the lifting are insecure. Context of the whole post is important there.

 

[Puddy]

Soccer never has been and never will be Australia's national sport, Cricket is Australia's national sport.

 

[madmug]

Your bigotry is pathetic. Soccer isn't a minority sport despite your continual protestations. In 2002 the World Cup final (in prime time) was more watched in this country then the AFL grand final of the same year. And both teams that were playing have a very small expat community over here (Brazil & Germany). The 2006 World Cup proved just how popular soccer is in Australia. I noticed your pathetic attempt to liken support of the Socceroos to support of our netball team. Typical argument from a hardened anti football AFL loving zealot. I must be mistaken but I don't remember the Australian Netball team ever playing to TV audiences of 7 million at 11pm on a Monday night and tens of thousands of fans congregating in public areas to follow them. The biggest names in soccer would pull massive crowds in Australia (the likes of Ronaldo & Rooney). You are delusional and quite frankly pathetic if you think that soccer is a minority sport in Australia, it is a major sport in this country and always will be.

There's no problem with misuse of terms other then your own. No sport has copyright on the term "football". if you want to call it Soccer that's fine by me, just stop being a w***er and telling others that they can't call it football.

Oh dear.
I said it was a minor sport in this country & IT IS. Just look at the A-league crowds & financials. The Aleague cant get onto mainstream TV apart from the Soccer channel SBS because it is a minor sport at the professional level in this country.
Many of us like to see the national Socceroos team do well, just like other national teams for Netball, Basketball, cricket RU,R league etc
I watch bits of the Soccer world cup, I also watch bits of gridiron, bits of hockey etc, probably like many others do. I'd suggest we look at the quality of each match & turn the channel if it is a crap game, no matter what sport it is.
You assert that I am bigoted for not following some world sporting order, But I think you are sad for picking bits of what I said & then giving us the wounded heroic soccer warrior thing.
The problem is when soccer cause confusion by demanding to use the term Football or even Australian football as a badge of dominance when really the game is small & struggling in this country. Its like they are trying to make a big noise just to get noticed.
Really it just causes confusion

 

[Pilkingbod]

Why do soccer fans need to talk about the AFL and RL in this case after their team winning like in this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZOZIt-DdpGY#t=29s

One soccer fan (who happens to be the leader of the Red Army), after Adelaide United's finest moment.

Yeah, damn those soccer fans! Bunch of larrikins, they are!

 

[Tarkyn_24]

Your bigotry is pathetic. Soccer isn't a minority sport despite your continual protestations. In 2002 the World Cup final (in prime time) was more watched in this country then the AFL grand final of the same year. And both teams that were playing have a very small expat community over here (Brazil & Germany). The 2006 World Cup proved just how popular soccer is in Australia. I noticed your pathetic attempt to liken support of the Socceroos to support of our netball team. Typical argument from a hardened anti football AFL loving zealot. I must be mistaken but I don't remember the Australian Netball team ever playing to TV audiences of 7 million at 11pm on a Monday night and tens of thousands of fans congregating in public areas to follow them. The biggest names in soccer would pull massive crowds in Australia (the likes of Ronaldo & Rooney). You are delusional and quite frankly pathetic if you think that soccer is a minority sport in Australia, it is a major sport in this country and always will be.

Netball's a minority sport in Australia?

 

[Stewies Power]

One soccer fan (who happens to be the leader of the Red Army), after Adelaide United's finest moment.

Yeah, damn those soccer fans! Bunch of larrikins, they are!

Would the leader of any AFL cheersquad randomly mention soccer after winning a grand final? I think not. Soccer fans seem a little desperate and un easy that their sport is no where near as popular as the AFL and NRL in Australia.

 

[Admiral Byng]

So what you're saying is "Know you place and don't dare try to improve the status of your game"?

No, they should be ambitious, improve and grow the game by all means. Just don't pretend that soccer is already there. Apart from the Socceroos, soccer in Australia is the A-League on a week-to-week basis. A few one-off TV ratings for international matches doesn't make it a major sport on a permanent basis.

 

[Still Crowing]

No, they should be ambitious, improve and grow the game by all means. Just don't pretend that soccer is already there. Apart from the Socceroos, soccer in Australia is the A-League on a week-to-week basis. A few one-off TV ratings for international matches doesn't make it a major sport on a permanent basis.

What about PayTV ratings for the HAL this year being up 60+%
I think he's not 'pretending that the game is already there', what he's saying is that the game isn't a minor sport by any means. Its probably on the cusp of being a fully fledged member of the major sports group, but not yet. More work required by FFA and the clubs required for sure.

 

[Roos4eva]

Would the leader of any AFL cheersquad randomly mention soccer after winning a grand final? I think not.

The president of one of the competing teams on the night before the AFL Grand Final might, though:

[YOUTUBE]cOCeZ-Py2rc[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Stewies Power]

The president of one of the competing teams on the night before the AFL Grand Final might, though:

[youtube]cOCeZ-Py2rc[/youtube]

Not trolling here but what did he actually say? All I heard was mumble then soccer fans. Please quote me with what he said, cheers. And by the way that was before the grand final, not after winning it. Pretty big diff.

 

[Puddy]

he basically said Football fans were better behaved than Soccer fans.

 

[Still Crowing]

he basically said Football fans were better behaved than Soccer fans.

Yes peddling that old stereotype that if you're a Soccer fan you must be a hooligan, whereas if you're an Aussie Rules fan, you never cause trouble. Thanks to the highly publicised hooligan scourge in England in the 50s-80s, I doubt that snide little joke about Soccer fans will ever go away - not even if there was never ever a crowd incident at a Soccer game anywhere in the world for another 50 years(highly unlikely given the nature of the world and the sheer amount of Soccer played globally) . Its a cheap and easy jibe to make, and it allows people to think themselves(and the sport they follow) is better than someone else's sport(which can be passed off as foreign or a minority nothing sport)....a classic case of Cultural Confirmation Bias.

 

[Stewies Power]

Yes peddling that old stereotype that if you're a Soccer fan you must be a hooligan, whereas if you're an Aussie Rules fan, you never cause trouble. Thanks to the highly publicised hooligan scourge in England in the 50s-80s, I doubt that snide little joke about Soccer fans will ever go away - not even if there was never ever a crowd incident at a Soccer game anywhere in the world for another 50 years(highly unlikely given the nature of the world and the sheer amount of Soccer played globally) . Its a cheap and easy jibe to make, and it allows people to think themselves(and the sport they follow) is better than someone else's sport(which can be passed off as foreign or a minority nothing sport)....a classic case of Cultural Confirmation Bias.

Riots and flares in the streets after each Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory game at Hindmarsh do soccer's image in the public eye. Yes you see fights in the crowd in all sports, and the media never comment on any fights in the crowd unless they are rioting in the stadium (rarely happens in Aus) It's just when fights and riots leave the stadium that the media gets involved. And I don't know about you but I've never seen flares being lit with police controlling potential fights after footy games.

 

[Admiral Byng]

Yes peddling that old stereotype that if you're a Soccer fan you must be a hooligan, whereas if you're an Aussie Rules fan, you never cause trouble. Thanks to the highly publicised hooligan scourge in England in the 50s-80s, I doubt that snide little joke about Soccer fans will ever go away - not even if there was never ever a crowd incident at a Soccer game anywhere in the world for another 50 years(highly unlikely given the nature of the world and the sheer amount of Soccer played globally) . Its a cheap and easy jibe to make, and it allows people to think themselves(and the sport they follow) is better than someone else's sport(which can be passed off as foreign or a minority nothing sport)....a classic case of Cultural Confirmation Bias.

No different to the often repeated stereotype of the average AFL fan being backward insular bogans.

 

[.Shotties.]

Its a cheap and easy jibe to make, and it allows people to think themselves(and the sport they follow) is better than someone else's sport(which can be passed off as foreign or a minority nothing sport)....a classic case of Cultural Confirmation Bias.

You're diagnosing confirmation bias. Very droll.

 

[mojito]

People still trot out the rioters line? Christ...dramatic much?

The "riots" at HS are nothing.