The responding article in todays Australian was from Smith as well, but it was quoting Buckley - everything good it had to say about the A-League seemed to be followed by "so says the FFA". It still tried to be a negative peice but anyone inteligent enough would notice that the facts interfere too much with the negative comments of yesterdays article. I've been waiting for these articles to come out, it is just the anti roundball brigade getting themselves ready for the December anouncement, if we get the cup then any success we have will be passed off as "only because the WC is coming", if we don't then they will be ready with the knives and the "we told you so's" about the impending doom they think wil be coming Truth is - as Buckley, amoungst others, points out - the A-League has hardly been a failure, and whilst winning the cup will give us a boost for sure, not getting it won't put much of a dent in the progress we have made. When the A-League first began they said they wanted average crowds of 10,000 and teams able to cope with $1-2M per year losses after 5 years. Low and behold we got this despite expanding a year earlier than expected and coping with the GFC. In the medium to long term the only code that is in any danger is NRL as AFL has their cash box, Union has the support of the upper end (may remain "small" but will always remain) and the world game is just that - as well as having the highest (and still growing fastest) participation rate. IMO NRL should still be fine though as there is no reason all codes can't co-exist.
None of the codes are going to vanish, but whats at stake is juniors and market share. Union is in deep shit here, the Socceroos are well on the way to replacing the Wallabies in the national consciousness and their inability to get a pro-league up leaves a gaping hole in the development pathway. League has problems in that it has limited national appeal, it's international competition isn't much more than a joke and the Storm bust threatens their only inroad outside of NSW QLD NZ. AFL's big push may solidify their credentials as a national code but the absence of a credible international competition of any sort is Football's ace in the hole - both for attracting juniors and building status as a national representative sport.
A nothing article from two of the hall of famers It's Harry-gate By Phil Rothfield and Rebecca Wilson From: The Sunday Telegraph August 29, 2010 12:01AM A LEAK from inside the headquarters of Football Federation Australia about a secret meeting between Harry Kewell and Ben Buckley is being blamed for the superstar's spectacular falling out with his World Cup team-mates in South Africa. We can today reveal certain players took offence to Kewell privately meeting soccer boss Buckley to complain about what he considered an unprofessional attitude within the team not long after Tim Cahill was ejected by bouncers from the Kings Cross nightclub, Trademark, in June last year. At the time, goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and most of the players criticised the media coverage of Cahill's drunken behaviour, insisting it had been blown out of proportion. But a year before the World Cup, a concerned Kewell organised a face-to-face meeting with Buckley to express his concerns about team discipline, or lack of it. Details from the meeting were eventually leaked to the Socceroos players, who accused Kewell of going behind their backs. We understand that Kewell told Buckley players often broke curfews when in camp. "Harry wasn't dobbing anyone in - he was just trying to make FFA aware of what was happening because he believed a more professional approach was required before the World Cup," a source told us. When we tracked down Buckley on Friday, he confirmed he met Kewell but denied the meeting created tension in the Socceroos camp. "That's not right at all," he claimed. "I meet with all the boys at different times about different issues. "They are private conversations and I'm not going to go into what was said, but I'm not even aware of any rifts in the team. "After the first game at the World Cup there was a lot of soul searching done, but that was it." http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/its-harry-gate/story-e6freye0-1225911271865
F**k I hate the Terrorgraph and those two idiots masquerading as journalists! grrr their constant futile attempts to drag football down to the neanderthal level of their favourite code of Thugby League is getting old real quick. We as football fans should hire al-Qa'ida to knock the two of them off! I'm in for $100, anyone else?
Hinds is back in the 'file' more in the link: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/billionaires-brawl-puts-lowy-on-the-ropes-20120302-1u85g.html
He might have some points but they get lost in the waffle. Medal mix-up just part of A-League's year of shambles and shemozzles
It was stupid what these Wanderers fans did, esp. when it leads to headlines like this: Hooligan horror as Western Sydney Wanderers fans run riot
Of those 100, about4 or 5 actually did anything physical. The pitch invader was an RRB capo who accidentally fell off the stand. In large, predominantly male groups with plenty of alcohol this stuff is going to happen whether it's football, NRL, AFL, cricket or a night out on the town. The police still won't listen when supporters have asked to have certain streets closed for 15-20 minutes. Instead, you get hundreds/thousands all bunched along walkways and spilling onto places like that restaurant. The lessons are there to be learnt, it just depends if we want to learn.
Other support groups manage to self-police. These guys don't, and Victory still haven't. Did like Channel 7 morning reporting the 'violent brawl' at Parramatta station, that consisted of the two groups slinging insults and chanting 'whoareya' across several platforms.
