Will soccer ever be a serious threat to footy, long-term?

[Established1870]

I don't think rugby (league or union) will ever expand outside the North-East of Australia in terms of support, kids taking up the sport and all that other stuff. Soccer however seems like it's on the rise.

Opinions?

 

[bombersfan4000]

I don't think rugby (league or union) will ever expand outside the North-East of Australia in terms of support, kids taking up the sport and all that other stuff. Soccer however seems like it's on the rise.

Opinions?

No

 

[Garlic muncher]

I don't think the rugbys are any threat at all, but i think games like soccer and perhaps basketball have the ability to get big participation numbers that could impact junior and eventually senior club numbers.

Basketball and soccer are not going away, it is up to the AFL to devise new programs, new initiatives and fund junior football and make the game exciting to kids, in fact competition is good and keeps the AFL on its toes.

Perhaps in the future AF may become even less of a contact sport in attempting to keep participation levels up, by the time many kids reach mid teens and older football becomes problematic as i remember seeing many mates dropping out for various things but employment and the fear of injury stopping them from working ( apprenticement, self employment etc ) is pretty strong.

Personally i think AF is a great game , more contact than soccer but way less than the rugbys, requires a really diverse skillset unmatched IMO.

The Daley Thompson of sports.

 

[madmug]

As l've previously said. Soccer will never grow to anywhere near the size of the AFL. The best soccer players will ALWAYS go overseas where the money is. In Europe or Asia. As a result the Aleague will always stay as a 4th rate competition.

 

[jatz14]

As l've previously said. Soccer will never grow to anywhere near the size of the AFL. The best soccer players will ALWAYS go overseas where the money is. In Europe or Asia. As a result the Aleague will always stay as a 4th rate competition.

The A league does not have to do well for soccer to really hurt footy. A growing phenomenon is the kid from the footy family, obsessed with FIFA 16 or whatever, who only wants to run around trying to be the next Ronaldo, and who has zero interest in AFL. This is hurting participation in grass roots (article on that this weekend somewhere), and if it gets much worse, it will really start to bite.

You get enough teenagers who get their sporting fix on a soccer field, and their viewing fix watching the European leagues on TV, and who have no interest in either the A league, or the AFL, and this hurts footy a lot more than it hurts soccer.

 

[footyfan1978]

Some time ago there was a Gary Ablett playing soccer. I watched on late night tv out of curiosity. In the end the curiosity factor could not hold my attention. Was nothing like watching Gary Ablett of aussie rules football version skill on show. Just never gotten into soccer although as a sport I respect it as a game a lot more than games like Rugby and Basketball that never have interested me. Watched the odd FA Cup years ago but tended to fall asleep.
A league soccer has enough trouble of it's own competing with Big Bash crowds, Tennis etc. Women's Football League starts up after Big Bash next late summer period. Makes it even harder for soccer to catch the hearts and minds of those with free time to watch sport then.

 

[Gigantor]

The A league does not have to do well for soccer to really hurt footy. A growing phenomenon is the kid from the footy family, obsessed with FIFA 16 or whatever, who only wants to run around trying to be the next Ronaldo, and who has zero interest in AFL. This is hurting participation in grass roots (article on that this weekend somewhere), and if it gets much worse, it will really start to bite.

You get enough teenagers who get their sporting fix on a soccer field, and their viewing fix watching the European leagues on TV, and who have no interest in either the A league, or the AFL, and this hurts footy a lot more than it hurts soccer.

There's something in this, about the FIFA games franchise capturing the interest of young people - but that doesn't really help the A-League, if anything, it helps consolidate the A-League as a 3rd tier comp in the popular imagination. So such distractions don't come into being part of the competition between domestic sporting leagues, but just one of the many distractions which mean people might be lost from following all local sport.

I note that many of the metrics we use in analysing the popularity of our leagues are no different now than what they were when the A-League was formed (in terms of disparity).

 

[Kwality]

The A league does not have to do well for soccer to really hurt footy. A growing phenomenon is the kid from the footy family, obsessed with FIFA 16 or whatever, who only wants to run around trying to be the next Ronaldo, and who has zero interest in AFL. This is hurting participation in grass roots (article on that this weekend somewhere), and if it gets much worse, it will really start to bite.

You get enough teenagers who get their sporting fix on a soccer field, and their viewing fix watching the European leagues on TV, and who have no interest in either the A league, or the AFL, and this hurts footy a lot more than it hurts soccer.

I don't share your view that junior participation somehow transfers to actively following a sport in the adult years. I accept yours is a widely held view - do you have any stats to support it. I look at basketball over the last 30 years to support my scepticism, all those kids in Chicago Bulls shirts in the 90s.

 

[LB#16]

Soccer will always be similar to Basketball in this country. People love watching the top flight competitions from overseas and love watching the star players and teams live when they come to our shores but the local competition will never be the biggest competition in the country.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

I think it is still a long way off but I think it is possible, the AFL are actively helping soccer by reducing our game to a shadow of its former self.
I am still of the belief that the AFL will have a tipping point and there will be a breakaway to save Australian rules Football at some point.

 

[Established1870]

You get enough teenagers who get their sporting fix on a soccer field, and their viewing fix watching the European leagues on TV, and who have no interest in either the A league, or the AFL, and this hurts footy a lot more than it hurts soccer.

I would agree with this, but then there's something else that negates this opinion (although it does have truth to it). A lot of soccer people have stated with the rise of immigrants from soccer loving countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, more talent would come through the ranks and with increased participation numbers, would challenge the bigger sports here. I can think of 2 people from any of those areas that have decent careers in pro soccer right now. Meanwhile, the AFL has Aliir Alliir, Lin Jong, Oleg Markov, Rueben William, MAJAK!, Bacher Houli and a lot of other players with cultural backgrounds all playing our game.

 

[Garlic muncher]

I would agree with this, but then there's something else that negates this opinion (although it does have truth to it). A lot of soccer people have stated with the rise of immigrants from soccer loving countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, more talent would come through the ranks and with increased participation numbers, would challenge the bigger sports here. I can think of 2 people from any of those areas that have decent careers in pro soccer right now. Meanwhile, the AFL has Aliir Alliir, Lin Jong, Oleg Markov, Rueben William, MAJAK!, Bacher Houli and a lot of other players with cultural backgrounds all playing our game.

It is nothing new, the game has been embraced by immigrants for 150 years, from the UK, Irish immigrants 150 years ago to present, the Germans who settled in SA to the post WW2 Southern Europeans to Africans presently.

 

[jatz14]

I don't share your view that junior participation somehow transfers to actively following a sport in the adult years. I accept yours is a widely held view - do you have any stats to support it. I look at basketball over the last 30 years to support my scepticism, all those kids in Chicago Bulls shirts in the 90s.

I do accept that there is a tenuous link between junior participation and long term support. However the AFL risks a lot if it assumes that will always be the case. Is there a tipping point? Is there a level of junior engagement that will flow on to changed habits as adults?

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[Garlic muncher]

I do accept that there is a tenuous link between junior participation and long term support. However the AFL risks a lot if it assumes that will always be the case. Is there a tipping point? Is there a level of junior engagement that will flow on to changed habits as adults?

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The AFL must invest big time in helping out club, rural and metro, building up club facilities is the way to go, a club can give direction, discipline and mateship to kids and adults alike and bring the community together and at the end of the day that is what sport is about.

 

[Kwality]

I do accept that there is a tenuous link between junior participation and long term support. However the AFL risks a lot if it assumes that will always be the case. Is there a tipping point? Is there a level of junior engagement that will flow on to changed habits as adults?

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For soccer its how the fans love the game at its highest level, is there a parallel with the scaling down of country footy for us?
Competing with wall to wall TV coverage - probably a plus for the AFL at this point in time.
That tipping point is so apt a description

 

[Colonial]

Basketball and soccwr have always had massive junior numbers comared to other sports.
Its not new and nor does it transfer to the main comps on this country. Hense the A League and NBL both struggle.

Edit. I do like both those games to. But they just dont have the mature bodies or dollars to be able to take on the AFL or NRL.

 

[madmug]

Basketball and soccwr have always had massive junior numbers comared to other sports.
Its not new and nor does it transfer to the main comps on this country. Hense the A League and NBL both struggle.

Edit. I do like both those games to. But they just dont have the mature bodies or dollars to be able to take on the AFL or NRL.

Again, the best players in these sports go overseas, NBL go to the USA, Europe & China. Soccer its Europe & Asia. It will always limit their potential the threaten the AFL.

 

[jatz14]

Again, the best players in these sports go overseas, NBL go to the USA, Europe & China. Soccer its Europe & Asia. It will always limit their potential the threaten the AFL.

The threat to the AFL is not from the A league, so it's inability to grow is irrelevant. It is from soccer itself. People think the talent is stretched thin now, what happens if the best junior's start dreaming of playing for Man U or Real Madrid, and not Eagles or pies?

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[Slax]

The threat to the AFL is not from the A league, so it's inability to grow is irrelevant. It is from soccer itself. People think the talent is stretched thin now, what happens if the best junior's start dreaming of playing for Man U or Real Madrid, and not Eagles or pies?

Agree totally with this. The A-League will grow slowly but never to a level where it competes with the AFL. What will happen is that there is less junior talent coming through into the AFL and the standard will drop. We are already seeing that the expansion to 18 teams has impact the standard of the games because there weren't 80 new players up to the standard.

Kids will want to play in Europe or China (watch it is growing fast with big $$), but domestically now it is fully professional with players able to make a good living from it, so that will keep teenage talent interested where previously they swapped to AFL in their mid-teens.

 

[Garlic muncher]

Agree totally with this. The A-League will grow slowly but never to a level where it competes with the AFL. What will happen is that there is less junior talent coming through into the AFL and the standard will drop. We are already seeing that the expansion to 18 teams has impact the standard of the games because there weren't 80 new players up to the standard.

Kids will want to play in Europe or China (watch it is growing fast with big $$), but domestically now it is fully professional with players able to make a good living from it, so that will keep teenage talent interested where previously they swapped to AFL in their mid-teens.

Really !, - i really wonder how many kids have swapped from soccer to football in their mid teens and made it to the AFL, they may have been playing both codes, but if they just played soccer i would be surprised to see a handful, basketball however may be a different story, but there is a reason for that - a shortage of big men is the reason.

There is actually great depth in medium sized midfielders through the various state leagues, but there is a shortage of good big men and AFAIK there always has been.

 

[jatz14]

Really !, - i really wonder how many kids have swapped from soccer to football in their mid teens and made it to the AFL, they may have been playing both codes, but if they just played soccer i would be surprised to see a handful, basketball however may be a different story, but there is a reason for that - a shortage of big men is the reason.

There is actually great depth in medium sized midfielders through the various state leagues, but there is a shortage of good big men and AFAIK there always has been.

Talented kids in their mid teens do it relatively easily. Marginally talented kids less so. In any case, sporty kids may well do both. My son has flip flopped between the 2 several times, and is a case in point. He is not a huge talent, so the years spent playing soccer limit how far he can go in footy.

I Play in a vets comp, and our players have as many kids playing soccer as footy. It's easily a 50:50 split.

If this is widely replicated, do you think there are no long term implications in having a large percentage of the kids of footy players play soccer and not footy?

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[Slax]

Really !, - i really wonder how many kids have swapped from soccer to football in their mid teens and made it to the AFL, they may have been playing both codes, but if they just played soccer i would be surprised to see a handful, basketball however may be a different story, but there is a reason for that - a shortage of big men is the reason.

There is actually great depth in medium sized midfielders through the various state leagues, but there is a shortage of good big men and AFAIK there always has been.

You'd be amazed at how many do, AFL is a sport built on athleticism, not precision skill which makes the swap a lot easier to do.

 

[Garlic muncher]

You'd be amazed at how many do, AFL is a sport built on athleticism, not precision skill which makes the swap a lot easier to do.

Name some kids that never played football but soccer all their lives and swapped over mid teens and made it to the AFL, i would be surprised if there are many.

 

[Garlic muncher]

Talented kids in their mid teens do it relatively easily. Marginally talented kids less so. In any case, sporty kids may well do both. My son has flip flopped between the 2 several times, and is a case in point. He is not a huge talent, so the years spent playing soccer limit how far he can go in footy.

I Play in a vets comp, and our players have as many kids playing soccer as footy. It's easily a 50:50 split.

If this is widely replicated, do you think there are no long term implications in having a large percentage of the kids of footy players play soccer and not footy?

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Club football usually gets them back, i have found that compared to a basketball, soccer and even a cricket club, rural and metro football clubs have a bonding and mateship between the players that you don't tend to find as much at other sports clubs.

 

[Rob]

Talented kids in their mid teens do it relatively easily. Marginally talented kids less so. In any case, sporty kids may well do both. My son has flip flopped between the 2 several times, and is a case in point. He is not a huge talent, so the years spent playing soccer limit how far he can go in footy.

I Play in a vets comp, and our players have as many kids playing soccer as footy. It's easily a 50:50 split.

If this is widely replicated, do you think there are no long term implications in having a large percentage of the kids of footy players play soccer and not footy?

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I really doubt that many kids in their mid teens are elite at both soccer and footy. They're completely different sports played at the same time of the year. By that age you'd be well and truly involved in serious academies and/or rep teams if you're any chance to make it in either sport, and it's highly unlikely many kids are in both.

Cricket and football, for sure. And many kids have had to make that choice as to which sport they'd like to play professionally.