That looks like City's draw only just last week.Ian4 said:
Only difference is that City came out with silverware.
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A-League threads [Merged]
- Thread starter Lidsand
- Start date
Only difference is that City came out with silverware.
Smoking Aces said:
Round 8
City vs Phoenix, AAMI Park
FFA Cup Final
City vs SFC, AAMI Park
Round 9
City vs Roar, AAMI Park
Yep, the jet lag and time zone disorientation those City boys suffered by hopping in their cars and driving to their home stadium 3 times in 7 days must have been extreme. Toughest road trip in world sport.
Smoking Aces said:
let me explain this to the people who do not have a proper grasp of this. never in the history of the ALeague has a team had to travel away to wellington and Perth on consecutive weekends. the FFA just rescheduled a game which means we have to do this within the space of 4 days. Plus it is in the middle of a run of 4 games in 13 days. I am *smiling* outraged.
this is not Europe where teams have big squads and can play twice a week (over much shorter distances). squads are small and not designed to cope with this amount of travel. Yes we've played a lot of Asian champions league games and have the experience to cope with it more than most teams, but that doesn't make it right.
IMO we may as well take a youth squad to Perth and park a bus as we never beat them anyway.
While I think that's great news (but not entirely unexpected), and I can understand the FFA wanting to promote it, I kind of cringe a bit when I hear it because there are some underlying problems that the 'participation rate' hides, namely:
- It's not translating into membership / support of the a-league clubs to the extent that it should - IMO being involved with junior football (soccer) over a long period is that there is not enough promotion by the FFA at these levels, they rely on the clubs doing it (Victory and GSC) but the clubs have limited resources. IMO - no excuses from the FFA on this one, they should be doing better.
- It's not translating into 1st grade players in the major leagues as per the Golden Generation era - I know this isn't a simple fix and things are being done, but we're not even close yet to getting back there. Also, junior participation is very expensive compared with AFL and many parents aren't happy about this, so the FFA needs to be careful not to kill the golden goose in a way.
- It's not translating into membership / support of the a-league clubs to the extent that it should - IMO being involved with junior football (soccer) over a long period is that there is not enough promotion by the FFA at these levels, they rely on the clubs doing it (Victory and GSC) but the clubs have limited resources. IMO - no excuses from the FFA on this one, they should be doing better.
- It's not translating into 1st grade players in the major leagues as per the Golden Generation era - I know this isn't a simple fix and things are being done, but we're not even close yet to getting back there. Also, junior participation is very expensive compared with AFL and many parents aren't happy about this, so the FFA needs to be careful not to kill the golden goose in a way.
My kids go to the Australian school our where we live. I am surprised at the huge participation rate of soccer amoungst all the aussie kids and the following of the major international leagues they have. I expected AFL and Rugby to dominate but they have nothing on Soccer.
Every saturday morning the local Aussie/Kiwi association would have 300 to 400 kids participating in their soccer league.
I expect when this generation of kids gets older, they'll retain a very healthy interest in the World Game
Every saturday morning the local Aussie/Kiwi association would have 300 to 400 kids participating in their soccer league.
I expect when this generation of kids gets older, they'll retain a very healthy interest in the World Game
some valid points above. I just think it'll take a generation for the participation growth amongst kids to translate into more bums on seats at ALeague games and a higher level of professional players. the FFA dropped the ball for a long, long time and in many ways haven't resolved many of their issues (although the NPL is a step in the right direction). but I think this is common in many Australian sports... take footy for example and the way they have neglected the grassroots at the expense of the expansion teams and so-called expansion areas.
