Take 20 seconds to support a Canberra A-League football (soccer) team

I just don’t understand the passion that the anti-A-league for Canberra listees are displaying. If you don’t agree with the bid, don’t go to the website and vote and when/if we get a team here – don’t go to the games. Simple really.

For those who do love the round ball game get in there and vote as I’ve just done and I will see you all at the first home game – bring it on!

Nambucco Deliria said :

The A-League concept isn’t anything new at all, merely a continuation of American football’s franchised-based operation whereby ‘made up’ teams with no history or tradition play out sterile ‘sport as entertainment’ matches for a largely uninformed ‘family’ audience. No promotion or relegation = little or no interest for the last third of the season – and the more teams introduced to this league means there will be more teams playing pointless dead rubber matches as each season progresses.

I haven’t seen any ill considered or ill informed comments about players in this thread, or for that matter finances. I went to my first football match in 1973 (the FA Amateur Cup Final at Wembley Stadium), and before coming to Australia in 2003 went to matches all over Europe, so I think I know a little bit about football when I comment on the players currently plying their trade in the A-League. As a brief example, George – let’s look at a couple of players involved at the weekend for the Newcastle Jets – Mark Milligan and (Canberra’s own)Kaz Patafta, both of whom couldn’t leave the A-League quickly enough when they thought they could earn big money in Europe. Milligan, supposedly the best young centre half in Australia, couldn’t get a sniff and Patafta, after an abortive spell with Benfica came home as well. There are many more as I’m sure you’re well aware, George, so please don’t try and make out people ‘naysaying’ this project don’t know anything about football.

I agree that a promotion relegation system would be ideal. I also appreciate your comments in regard to the A-league being a franchise style set up.

However, because you know so much about football you will understand the reasons why neither a promotion/relegation system is workable in Australia and why the franchise style approach has been taken.

I don’t reckon the FFA would claim this is an ideal approach either, but under the circumstances of trying establish the long term viability of a national league I think starting afresh like they did was the best foot forward. This is neither the time or place to go into some of the background issues that saw FFA come to this decision, but you’re sure to know the reasons anyway.

An A-league team in Canberra might fail. But it might just work. Instead of sooking about why it won’t work, either shut up and let it reach the inevitble failure you claim, or just put your hand up to support the bid and enjoy the ride.

Life’s too short to be a miserable shit every day.

Sakkers, good to see you guys are getting some serious numbers behind the bid. I wouldn’t worry about the negative comments as stated above. The new slogan should be “Don’t hate, appreciate”.

The A-League concept isn’t anything new at all, merely a continuation of American football’s franchised-based operation whereby ‘made up’ teams with no history or tradition play out sterile ‘sport as entertainment’ matches for a largely uninformed ‘family’ audience. No promotion or relegation = little or no interest for the last third of the season – and the more teams introduced to this league means there will be more teams playing pointless dead rubber matches as each season progresses.

I haven’t seen any ill considered or ill informed comments about players in this thread, or for that matter finances. I went to my first football match in 1973 (the FA Amateur Cup Final at Wembley Stadium), and before coming to Australia in 2003 went to matches all over Europe, so I think I know a little bit about football when I comment on the players currently plying their trade in the A-League. As a brief example, George – let’s look at a couple of players involved at the weekend for the Newcastle Jets – Mark Milligan and (Canberra’s own)Kaz Patafta, both of whom couldn’t leave the A-League quickly enough when they thought they could earn big money in Europe. Milligan, supposedly the best young centre half in Australia, couldn’t get a sniff and Patafta, after an abortive spell with Benfica came home as well. There are many more as I’m sure you’re well aware, George, so please don’t try and make out people ‘naysaying’ this project don’t know anything about football.

One thing is for sure, Canberra would win hands-down any competition based on pessimism and the art of whinging.

Such ill-considered and ill-informed remarks and stereotypes about the biggest sport in the world (players, financial, crowd) perhaps suggest the naysayers seem a little threatened.

The A-League concept is fairly new and is a part of the continued evolution of football in Australia.

I applaud and encourage those who are working so hard to have Canberra participate in the A-League.

I see in the Canberra Times today John Macnamara pushing the furphy (again) that the Canberra United women’s team’s appearance in the W-League grand final is further proof that an A-League team coming to Canberra is an inevitabilty. But again, like everyone parrotting the nonsense emanating from Capital Football’s always-amusing pronouncements on this matter, he doesn’t waste any time explaining why this is so.

Sakkerz, is it possible to have Foundation Members automagically added to that list? Presumably stumping up $200 cash is a reasonable sign of support.

In addition to Primal’s response, and just in case p1 still hasn’t worked it out … A = Australia.

p1 said :

I was wondering last night, are the second and third level Soccer leagues called “B-League” and “C-League”, or is “A-League” simply a name for marketing.

‘A-League’ is a mimic of other major soccer leagues in Asia. Japan’s professional league is the J-League, South Korea the K-League, Singapore the S-League, etc.

I don’t care if we get an a-league team or not, soccer just isn’t my thing..but I’ll specifically avoid anything that includes “Forward this to at least five of your friends”. Errrgg.

Pointless waste of time. The A-League is mickey mouse competition full of no-name Europeans and South Americans and young Australians not good enough to get a game in Europe. Oh and ageing Australian internationals looking to screw a bit more cash from the game. I’ll pass on that pledge, thanks.

I was wondering last night, are the second and third level Soccer leagues called “B-League” and “C-League”, or is “A-League” simply a name for marketing. Because if it is, then it is lame, and almost like there are trying to hide the fact that soccer is involved, because they know that the only people that will care are those who use it as a proxy for age old conflicts, whether they be between housing estates or ethnic groups.

Get yourselves an arab or yank with too much money to buy a team. You could pay $220 million and get Kaka.

Who cares about soccer ? How about we get a proper AFL team here?

I do.

I hate aerial ping-pong.

MrPC, as for ‘scum’ at a football match, watch “Green Street Hooligans” and then tell me that the Aussies are bad.

You might even start singing “I’m forever blowing bubbles”….(hubby’s a Westham fan)

pfft…canberra needs an a-league team like it needs a hole in the head….this bid is a total waste of time and money and is doomed to failure anyways…..

MrPC, is there any league you approve of?

Do you seriously think that overnight Canberrans will transmogrify into scum-of-the-earth scum-sucking scum-buckets just ’cause they get an A-league team?

The AFL are only interested in expanding into places with high birthrates and low housing costs (leaving surplus cash to feed their one armed bandits, err, pokies, as well as buy overpriced merchandise, all the while encouraging kids to play their game and perpetuate that cycle of pokies, breeding and despair).

That’s why they are moving into the Gold Coast and Western Sydney.

Canberra is a pretty expensive place to raise a family, and we have a few too many educated people who see through the thin veneer of entertainment and see pokies for what they really are (voluntary taxation of the poor).

I don’t think we’re likely to fit into the AFL’s business plan anytime soon.

Heck, if the Raiders weren’t already here, we probably wouldn’t fit the NRL’s business plan, which is very similar.

*YAWN*

Who cares about soccer ? How about we get a proper AFL team here

I’ve lived in Melbourne. The A-League team there brings out the loudest and most annoying scum of the city and brings them all together.

The scum are ruining the relocatable ground level seating at Docklands Stadium (Telstra Dome) by jumping up and down on said steel structure throughout the entire game.

After the games it’s rather scary to be in the same public transport vehicles as them. If I were running the ACTION drivers union, I’d be thinking of encouraging drivers to refuse to do overtime on game nights after the second or third game.

MrPC said :

Do we really want to make it easy for riots to start?

[Yes!! *heh heh heh* Ooops, sorry ….]

Oh, c’mon! I’m sure we’ll survive somehow. If it was going to encourage riots I doubt that all of the politicians would have been so keen to become Foundation members.

Ugh. This is just what Canberra doesn’t need. Do we really want to make it easy for riots to start? (Well, this is the Riot ACT after all). Do we really need a weekly event that brings out louts and hooligans together on a weekly basis?

Too easy!! Hope you get a good response, even though I wouldn’t know one end of a soccer ball from the other …