Frank Lowy has announced on TWG on SBS that the Socceroos will play Turkey for 2 games this year in May. Most Likely in Melbourne & Sydney but Perth Has put in an application to the ASA about hosting an international for many years but this may be the chance they could get since they hosted Ghana in 1995. Well it isn't set in stone but Lowy stated that they have come to a verbal agreement. Lowy has also stated that there will be 1 more home international! We will wait and see. GO LOWY!
Glorious_Fan The Oceania WC 2006 playoffs are in mid-to-late May also (ie the group stages) with the 1st home & away playoff (Oceania Championship) in October. Perhaps AUS will be using these two games against Turkey as a warm-up to the playoff tournament. Andy T.
yes that is correct so the Turkey games will be used as a warm up against New Zealand, We have never played Turkey, only at U23 level. in the past 2 years we have added 3 teams we have never played to our 'played' list. Do you think Perth will get a game?
Glorious_Fan Don't know. Guess it will depend on where the WCQ's (2nd phase) are to be played. If Syd/Melb/Bris, then maybe Perth/Adelaide could be Turkey ??? Still think the European clubs & Euro-based players will try to get the Turkey game dropped and/or go missing themselves, especially after all the rubbish that's just been trotted out to the ASA (eg Kewell, etc). Andy T.
No i am sure that They will play in the Australian games as I am sure Turkey will take this seriously. Turkey and Australia have had their differences but the bond is there and i am sure this will symbolise unity in the world at the moment. Perth sould get the gig and Melbourne. Kewell and Dukes and the like will play for sure.
I'm expecting turkey to send a strong squad, and hopefully we will get a near full strength team together as well, although I will beleive that when I see it. Hopefully one of the games is in Sydney (I can get there easily). Personally I think Melbourne will get one and the other I wouldn't be at all surprised if it ended up in perth. Does anyone know where the qualifiers are being played? It would probably make sense to play them in regional areas (Adelaide, Newcastle, Brisbane etc) if the fields are suitable.
Yes i believe that they should field strong teams minus an injury. But i am sure it will be Perth and Adelaide because of Adelaide United's success. The WCQ's will be in Coffs Habour or Newcastle, And the Final in Sydney. And the Playoff spot there too. But it is a tough call this. I am glad we have A Newcastle supporter here, what has happened to the 8000 average crowds in Newcastle? please tell me what is the story in Newcastle. We did have a Northern Spirit fan here about 4 months ago and an Adelaide United fan but they have been VERY quiet, it is just Me, Crowdie, NEK and a few others.
I really think the big problem in Newcastle was the change in venue. It was fine for the first two seasons when the crowds were 10,000+ but for anything less the atmosphere is bad and the place looks empty. The southern hill was also basically full of tennagers who were there for what appeared to be some kind of fashion show. They were essentially just there to be seen, and stopped coming when the team stopped performing. In hindsight they should have stayed at Breakers Stadium where 14,000 is the capcity and 8,000 still looks full. Add to that that no rugby league teams play there and the crowd is vitually on the field it is a much better venue for soccer. Unfortunately there is no going back as it has been converted for greyhound racing. I think the reason for the crowds going down was that after we finished 3rd in the second season, the club sold a lot of good players and then bought a bunch of players from the Northern Spirit. I could never work that out, they struggled down there and then played no better up here. This year was even worse. Add to that the complete lack of advertising this year and it all adds up too disaster.
Yes i believe it is a shocking rugby ground and a football ground, Breakers stadium was very good, I agree with those teenagers as that is what has happened at the Glory too, Maybe the ground should have the fans closer to the action for football and rugby. I have been to both grounds and Breakers stadium was better.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the knights in a month. The new stand on the eastern hill looks like a mound of dirt at the moment and they have their first game on the 6th April. I really can't see how it will be finished. Hasn't stopped them selling season tickets though. I am hoping that the new stands will make a difference. Certainly atmosphere should improve when the stands have a roof on them, but I guess will still need to get crowds to make noise. I beleive the next stage (the southern hill) is due to begin just in time for the next United season, assuming we are in the new APL.
Well Con and Remo have gone shopping so i would assume they are in the APL Sammydog I believe to make a successful league you need teams in Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle, Canberra & Wollongong as they have high rates of junior football. (Canberra & Newcastle being the biggest)
Hopefully you are right guess we will find out very soon. I think that rather than cull regional teams that may be viable, they should really loss the NZ team first. I don't see the point of helping NZ's development at the expense of our junior development areas.
Yes true they are one of the large problems that were contributing the NSL. Johnny Warren hit the nail on the head in why the NSL has slipped away to its death in the 70's sport wasn't run like a business, in the 80's it did and the NSL was set up in the 70's mould so it didn't have room to grow and adapt. I have always been a big advocate of having a Canberra side. The Cosmos must come back!
Damn you Aussies have Big Island syndrome. Start thinking big picture. If FIFA sees the OFC as Australia with a few other countries thrown in then they will continue to treat the OFC as a joke. If you want to see what can be achieved by countries helping each other than look no further than Rugby Union. Australia used to be a complete joke. South Africa and New Zealand started playing against Aussie teams in the Super 10 tournament (as it was called back then) and now Australia has some of the best Rugby players in the world. Another example is cricket. Australia has worked with New Zealand cricket to improve the quality of the Black Caps. Now the Black Caps are ranked 4th in ODIs and 6th in Tests so have some political clout when there is a problem and because Kiwis and Aussies are so similar if the Aussies are against it then generally the Kiwis are as well. Two countries voting for something is better than one. So rather than thinking small think what is best for soccer in Australia in the long term. Crowdie
Crowdie, Until AUS & NZ disaffiliate from Oceania, nothing will change for either country,vis-a-vis the world of football. Oceania are considered & treated as a joke by both FIFA & it's other confederations. It's just another Septic Bladder "good idea" gone wrong. Death to Oceania, long live AUS & NZ football. FIFA will eventually have to take note, even under it's own political and corrupt characters, rules & processes. Cheers. Andy T.
Crowdie i am not anti-NZ but it works better with the super 12's not the NSL. NZS and the ASA need to fix their leagues first THEN we can have teams crossing over.
With Sydney being closer to Auckland than Perth and immigration not being an issue (for people outside our area Kiwis and Aussies can travel back and forth and work in either country just like the European Union) I am not sure why an Auckland team can't compete in the NSL. There are no professional or semi-professional leagues in NZ for Soccer New Zealand to "fix". Could NSW have a professional soccer league? Remember that we only have four million people in New Zealand. Crowdie
but the NSL is very fragile and the likes of Perth, Adelaide and then the Football Kingz with Brisbane make it very unstable. maybe in the 2nd or 3rd APL season like in the MLS they had new teams come in at the 2nd and 3rd seasons.
So what you are saying is the NSL should be a limited tournament with only teams geographically close to each other playing? Crowdie
for a few seasons just to establish itself. That is all. Then a NZ side could enter. If we have a first division in 6 seasons time it would be bad if the Kingz end up there. :O
look there has always been this WA vs 'the rest' so if that happened i reckon we would support our team. Look i think for now we need to see how it goes and have no trans tasman sides for a season BUT reserve a spot for them as this is our goal to make a workable league.
What I was getting at was that if they dropped the Kiwi side surely they would drop the Perth side? Crowdie
Why would they drop a Perth side? We are the best fans in the Land and our Adelaide brothers are helping us by also being great fans (they should of came to Perth Oval when they played here) No Perth side means ----> No league getting off the ground. The businesses here are 150% behind the Glory and any football code that represents WA. (Glory want a super 12's side too) I am sure the costs of flying Perth, Adelaide & Brisbane sides will hurt eventually. Can we talk socceroos here?
How far is it from Perth to Sydney? If the league was kept geographically close then Perth is history. Crowdie