ATAR Notes: Forum
General Discussion => Sport => General Discussion Boards => Football (Soccer) => Topic started by: costargh on January 22, 2008, 02:44:25 pm
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Who follows it?
Interesting lead up to the finals even though Melbourne Victory aren't in it. =(
Expansion set to be happening next year with the inclusion of the Gold Coast Galaxy and Northern Thunder in the league.
Also the youth league looks set for initiation in the 08/09 season.
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I just got into it recently after going to a number of Victory games. Its a shame we made our run too late, since had we been in the finals we would have given the rest a real scare. At least theres the Asian Champions League to look forward to, starting on March 12.
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but with the addition of more teams it may ruin the league :(
it's doing fine so far.. i don't see the need for more teams
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Well, if there's demand for it, I don't see why there shouldn't be a lower tier, which would allow more people the opportunity to play, and can help foster professional football in Australia.
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A lower tire? As in a 2nd division. I'd be opposed to that. A national 2nd division would not have enough demand and would be financially unviable. The travel costs etc would make it a disator waiting to happen.
I'd support an expansion of the league for a number of reasons.
1) Currently the schedule goes like this.
Each time plays every team 3 times. 7 * 3= 21 games
If your team does not make the finals you basically have played all the matches you can for the year. So for a professional footballer, to be playing competitive football for only 21 weeks is pretty crap.
2) For players who are on the fringe of breaking into national selection, playing in Australia does not offer enough game time which limits their potential to show that they are match fit for national selection even if they have all the talent in the world.
Players who have cited this as a reason for leaving the a-league include David Carney and Nick Carle.
3) Like Coblin said. Demand. There is a strong demand for a team in the Gold Coast. They have a large enough potential market and the gold coast is a fairly untapped market. (No AFL team)
The gold coast model also has a sound business plan from what I have heard with plans to invest in the booming property market up there to bring about an annual non-football revenue of about $5 Million every year from 2010 onwards.
4) The only way that players in this country are going to be able to develop is if they are given an opportunity to play at a professional level. You could potentially have some great prospects playing at an amateur level who have simply not been spotted or young players may see football as a hobby rather than a serious career path.
More clubs means more places for young players across the board and therefore more players who can add to the potential stars for Australia.
Eg. Before the A-League, Roddy Vargas was playing in the VPL, a state league. Now he has come through Melbourne Victory and has been selected for training squads with the Socceroos and has been named for an extended player list for the Qatar game on the 6th of February.
Theres probably some more reasons but I cant think of them right now.
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The expansion of the A league was always gonna be inevitable, given its growth in the past couple of seasons. However, introducing a 2nd tier system isnt viable yet, due to the standard of competition here, and the fact that there would be very few turning up to watch 2nd tier games.
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The national youth league however, I endorse. The FFA have agreed to carry the bulk of the expenses associated with the Youth league so that each a-league team can have a youth league tied to it without the financial burdens. The youth league encourages a perception of football as a career and gives youngsters a starting block to formally engage in a career in football. This has positive flow-on effects for the national competition because youngsters playing at a high national level will become better players which will increase the standard of play in Australia which will mean more sponsors, more money, more potential transfer fees etc
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The national youth league however, I endorse.
I think that's what I meant! I wanted a bridge for the youth to enter professional football :)
There would probably be much better demand for that too.
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Yeh definitely Coblin! The excitment factor of young and emerging players is really high in Australia. Zullo? Kruse? Patafta? James Holland? All these kids send people crazy when they play and it would be great to find some gems out there.
I think any short term loses made on a youth league would be outweighed by the long term benefits!
(If I could get a business-ey job to do with Football I'd be there. Its my dream job)
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Yeah, I follow the A-League, although now that Victory is out I've lost interest. I also follow the Champions League & to a lesser extent the Premier League. However, I think I'm going to have to ditch the 4am matches this year lol.
In regards to the youth, we should have a system like Europe & South America where they play Futsal (indoor soccer) and learn more skills and ball control rather than spending all their time running on a full field. Plus it is so hard to maintain all the fields now, esp. with water regulations.
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Yeh the FFA are introducing SSG (Small Sided Games) in the near future at U/8's level and lower and will gradually make changes to U/9/10/12's from what I have heard so that games are played with 5 a side and an emphasis on positive football is taught. (Not bombing long etc)
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I don't follow it because they don't show it on free to air television, therefore, I can't watch it.
They need to do that.
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I just got into it recently after going to a number of Victory games. Its a shame we made our run too late, since had we been in the finals we would have given the rest a real scare. At least theres the Asian Champions League to look forward to, starting on March 12.
Victory was a shambles this year. Allsopp is a disgrace and should be sacked immediately. Could not strike a matchstick. Merrick should be sacked for not playing Kaz more. Kemp, Love, Ljubo, Brebner, Vasilevski an Berger all need to go.
And we don't need to expand so soon. Talent will be diluted and the level of play will become even worse.
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I don't follow it because they don't show it on free to air television, therefore, I can't watch it.
They need to do that.
If u dont have foxtel, u can always watch it on the net via streaming. A site u can use to get links to games is www.goaltube.org, whilst there are a number of programs u can use to watch games like Sopcast.
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I don't follow it because they don't show it on free to air television, therefore, I can't watch it.
They need to do that.
If u dont have foxtel, u can always watch it on the net via streaming. A site u can use to get links to games is www.goaltube.org, whilst there are a number of programs u can use to watch games like Sopcast.
I am also a victim of the Tiny Download Limit :P
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Lol Does anyone remember when Channel 7 had the rights to the old NSL? They didn't show any games for some reason and it killed the sport. Foxtel is at least dedicated to the a-league and have helped its success so much.