Canberra A-League Bid Gathers Pace

Thanks 2604. I was going to let JB’s comment through to the keeper, myself. But that’s only because I’m thoroughly sick of the raiders-bashing and league-bashing that is so in vogue at the moment.

(Also because this thread is about the A-League bid and I would have therefore been off topic)

I didnt know we had a W-League team until they turned up on weekend afternoon television. It’s been fantastic to watch, and I’m not surpirsed people are turning up increasingly to see them play.
Who cares about another mens team (A League) for Canberra when we have the W League to enjoy!

Hdopler said :

Nope, just more hyperbole, AFL has 10,000 registered players in the ACT, and combined with Rugby that definitively disproves the first point from that link.

You got a source for that claim of 10,000 AFL players in Canberra? I’d be very surprised if that were the case fella.

johnboy said :

Be great for the Brumbies if this can finally put the Raiders out of their misery.

What misery? The Raiders are one of the most financially secure clubs in the NRL and had a fantastic season in 2008. They finished sixth on the ladder, won four Dally M awards (Best Captain – Alan Tongue, Best Coach – Neil Henry, Best Winger – Colin Best, Best Lock – Alan Tongue), and had two players in the 25-man Kangaroos squad (Terry Campese and Joel Monaghan, both home-grown talent). The team also recorded an increase in their average home crowds in 2008, to just under 12,000 (a number skewed by having only 6500 turn out to the home game v Penrith when it was snowing).

And the Brumbies? Missed the finals for the fourth year in a row, fewest number of Wallabies of any Australian franchise, decline in average home crowd numbers to just above 14,000. I’ll agree with you on one thing, Johnboy – the Brumbies do need a boost of some kind.

How does that answer the argument I was making? The point I was making, if I wasn’t clear enough, was that that piece of info, offered by the Media Liason Officer of the franchise bid was just one of many pointless pieces of obfuscation and feelgood meaninglessness amongst many, all in some way presented as proof that it is necessary for Canberra to have a team in the A-League; but, since you choose to argue the toss… If the A-League was a proper league – wih multiple divisions, promotion and relegation and ‘real’ teams, as opposed to made-for-TV franchises,just like Brazil, then maybe Canberra would stand a chance of moving organically through the divisions. But it isn’t, and, as I’ve said here and elsewhere many times but haven’t received an answer – where are the players coming from? Why does having a lot of junior players automatically equal attendances of 15,000 to see a team of unknowns?

Nambucco… Brazil’s professional football competition is divided into 3 divisions and they have a promotion and relegation system (which the A-League does not have). Brasilia has two football teams in the national competition. Brasiliense Futebol Clube and Sociedade Esportiva do Gama are play in the Brasileiro Série B (the second division).

John Thistleton’s piece was a complete and utter uncritical puff piece that was so full of holes and fuzzy logic it must have been written for him by the franchise themselves.
It was full of tosh like ‘the A-League without a team from the Nation’s Capital is not a good look’ – has anyone told the Brazilians – by some way the most football mad nation in the world- that their league is rubbish because there’s no team from Brasilia in it? Would it make a World Cup bid from them less credible? No.It matters not one iota to an Australian bid for the World Cup if Canberra has a team in the league or not, since Canberra Stadium isn’t big enough capacity wise to stage World Cup Finals matches anyway.
There aren’t enough good players in Australia to sustain an 8 team league – where are all the new players coming from to play in a 10, 12, 14 team league?

The team behind the franchise bid are so caught up in their Munchausenesque daydreaming they don’t seem to have spent any time on the gritty realities.

Hdolper… is that 10,000 registered AFL players in total or just juniors? I have a feeling that number is across all age brackets including the senior men. There are only 13 junior clubs in the ACT competition (including Yass) which means that each club would have to have a minimum of approx. 769 junior players each. That means assuming there are 12 junior age divisions each club has a minimum of 64 players per age division or 3 teams per club as a minimum in each age division. That is definitely not the case – there were about 12 divisions in ACT junior AFL across ALL junior age groups in total.

If each AFL team has 25 players and each of the 13 junior clubs had a team in each of the 11 divisions that would give 3575 junior AFL players. Let’s be generous and say 4000 juniors. I don’t think your numbers stack up. Sorry.

There are over 30 junior football clubs in the ACT. You can find the Capital Football Annual report at http://www.capitalfootball.com.au/docs/library/General/Capital%20Football%20Annual%20Report%202007.pdf

Nope, just more hyperbole, AFL has 10,000 registered players in the ACT, and combined with Rugby that definitively disproves the first point from that link.

MWest said :

According to the A-league 4 Canberra site: http://www.a-league4canberra.com.au/site/capital.php

“The ACT has a strong football community, from junior players through to masters (over 35s), with a greater number of registered participants in the ACT than any other form of football with:

* Approximately 13,000 registered juniors (more than the other three codes of football combined)
* Approximately 4,000 senior men; and
* Approximately 1,200 senior women”

The Capital Football Annual Report is not out for 2008 yet. It should have the exact numbers. I know there were over 12,000 registered juniors in 2007 and it had been growing at greater than 7% per year. Senior men’s football has had a 10% or higher growth rate over the past few years.

Also, since it is in summer, it ensures more people involved in Football during the winter time can come. I know I am having withdrawal symptons right now, I need my football and I am missing it currently.

I would have gone to the last pre-season game earlier this year, but it was right bang in the middle of our season, so I know I lot of people didn’t go and watch, simply because they were kicking the ball around themselves.