The end of Victorian Football

[mightytiges]

Oh God NO! 

At Football Victoria’s AGM on Friday night it was announced that as from February the 19th, 2007 Football Victoria Ltd will adopt the trading name of AFL Victoria – a significant move designed to enhance the position of Australian Football as the number one sport in the nation.

The AFL brand is Australia’s number one sporting brand. Having Victoria’s peak football body taking on the AFL Victoria brand will not only strengthen Victorian Football but also assist the game nationally by having the home of football identifiably linked to the AFL.

While using the trading name AFL Victoria, the AFL Victoria board will maintain the legal/corporate identity of Football Victoria Ltd.

While the name change will strengthen the football brand in Victoria, there will be no change to the independence of the Board.

The AFL Victoria board will remain an independent, autonomous entity. The organisation will continue to proudly and loudly represent the needs of the Victorian football community.

There will also be no change to the name of any Victorian league or association such as the Victorian Football League. The TRUenergy VFL and TAC Cup will continue to be known as the TRUenergy VFL and TAC Cup.

There will also be no change to any of the existing operational reporting structures:
• within AFL Victoria
• between AFL Victoria and the AFL
• and between AFL Victoria and our members.

The most notable change for the footballing community and the public will be the appearance of the new AFL Victoria logo on all our development staff’s apparel and support material. This will assist development activities by using the recognisable AFL brand as a symbol of quality and credibility which will ‘open doors’ for AFL Victoria’s people. The reality is that young people recognise the AFL brand and want to be associated with it. This movewill help to spread the Australian Football message to more young people and create more participants for schools and clubs across the state.

Adopting the name of AFL Victoria will reinforce the organisations own position and also boost the position of the AFL brand as AFL Victoria works and the AFL work together to expand the reach of football in the face of increasing competition.

http://footballvic.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&aid=115194

[Fishfinger]

I reckon the nuff nuffs (hope it's ok to call them that, seeing it's true  ) who prattle on that the AFL should disregard the premierships prior to 1990 will love this. 

On the bright side, any ordinary player in a local side will be able to boast that they play AFL. 

[mightytiges]

Twiddledee and twiddledum, Andy D and Adrian "here's another reactionary rule change" Anderson are footy's worst enemies. Stupid decisions like this that so easily throw out the word football that represents 150 years of history of Aussie rules show the AFL has no idea and how out of touch they are with the week in week out supporters.

Hey Andy, how about instead of nothing name changes like this you follow the A-league's example and give the members of the participating clubs first choice of getting a seat at the grand final  . 

The sooner these two clowns move on, the better off Aussie rules will be  .

[WilliamPowell]

The sooner these two clowns move on, the better off Aussie rules will be  .

And there in lies the problem - it's not even referred to as Aussie Rules anymore.

My nephew and nieces have just moved to Qld - and up there it isn't Aussie Rules - they call it AFL. My nephew's been told by his new mates- he follows and plays AFL. That's how it's been marketed and sold. Auskick is not promoted as a way to learn Aussie Rules but how to play AFL.

Unfortunately it's not just north of the border (interstate) either. When the peanuts lived in NE Victoria the Auskick clinics were the same, said you were playing and learning to play AFL.

Reality is the brand "AFL" is the most recognisable sporting brand in the country.

End of the day if a name change can help the state body generate more $$$ through sponsorship etc then it should be a good thing. It's about time the AFL gave back to this state - if a change of name does that then so be it

The VFL comp and TAC Cup are not changing their names it's only the governing body - well that's how I read it

[mightytiges]

I can understand footy being called AFL in the northern states as it's coming from a minority stance and the term "AFL" is easily recognisible there to newbies to our game. But in Victoria footy is the dominate code and when someone says football they usually mean Aussie rules. AFL is the name of the elite competition; not the name of the sport. I barrack for the Richmond FOOTBALL Club; not the Richmond AFL club. I better not type that because Andy D and AA will probably change that too. How does removing what makes our game unique make us standout more?! ???  How does giving the name Football to the sole use of soccer (which I follow as well) help the branding of Aussie Rules in its heartland? I'm pretty accepting of change but this is one change to 150 years of tradition that makes me  and because in time they will remove the explicit word Football from the competition names as well. Alienating your heartland only leads to disaster in the long run. 

[one-eyed]

AFL plans to take over lower levels of game
Caroline Wilson | October 12, 2007

AN INTERNAL feud between the AFL and its Victorian heartland has threatened to erupt over the AFL's push to overthrow the VFL's governing body and replace it with an advisory board hand-picked by the competition's head office.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has outraged key directors on the board of AFL Victoria — the independent body that runs the game across all levels below the AFL, including the VFL, the amateurs and at community level — by recommending it be disbanded.

The historic push from the game's head office came in a written request from Demetriou in the belief that a push towards a national governing body would be better equipped to oversee the game at its second-tier level.

The move would mean the game in its traditional state of Victoria would be restructured and commanded from head office via a chief executive who reported to an advisory board in the manner of the game in developing states NSW and Queensland.

Peter Schwab, the recently appointed chief executive of AFL Victoria — previously known as Football Victoria — would run the competition under the new model.

But the independent board of the Victorian body met last Friday and unanimously rejected the proposal.

Strong resistance is expected to continue from the VFL and its clubs, who were outraged yesterday upon learning of the Demetriou proposal to — in effect — take over their competition.

The traditional VFL clubs were vowing to fight to maintain a structure similar to that of the SANFL and the WAFL, competitions the AFL has claimed have remained strong because of massive income from their stadium deals with AAMI and Subiaco.

Full article at: http://realfooty.com.au/news/news/afl-plans-to-take-over-lower-levels/2007/10/11/1191696082795.html

[tigersalive]

That is disgusting.

Here on the NW coast of Tasmania are in the same position.  The AFL took over Southern Football and is now run by the absolute wanker in scott wade, who is killing the Devils at the same time with the aid of Darren Creswell.  Seriously worst person ever is scott wade and his me first, football prosperity later attitude. 

Luckily we told them to go fly a kite here in the North and our NTFL league is as strong as ever, we have a great CEO that just pretty much tells AFL Tas to get stuffed every time they poke their head in and try to tell us what to do with our League.

It hurts in AFL sponsorship since we dont welcome them, we dont get much funding as the SFL who gets coverage all over the web.  For example I bet if you go to find a website you'll find Southern Tasmania Football or some poo but no mention of the NTFL which if I remember correctly has beaten the SFL in 4 out of the past 5 clashes, yet no one would know about us only the SFL coz they gave in. But I tell ya what our game is better for it because it's run by a bunch of blokes who love football, not run by money or wankers like scott wade who thinks he's gods gift to everything.

End Rant.

[mightytiges]

Good on the NTFL, tigersalive. It's just the AFL being power hungry at the expense of local leagues.

[one-eyed]

AFL Victoria's new website - www.aflvic.com.au - PLEASE BOOKMARK!

AFL Victoria's new home site - aflvic.com.au - and AFL Victoria member sites are now online. Please discontinue use of the old Football Victoria domain websites (footballvic.com.au).

For the latest news and information in Victorian footy, head to www.aflvic.com.au

Please add www.aflvic.com.au and remove www.footballvic.com.au from your bookmarks.

For the VFL, head to www.victorianfootballleague.com.au

For the TAC Cup, head to www.taccup.com.au

For individual club sites, for eg. Eastern Ranges head to easternranges.aflvic.com.au

The old Football Victoria sites will be switched off.

http://coburgtigers.footballvic.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&aid=128431

[WilliamPowell]

The correct web-site link for Coburg is

www.coburgtigers.com.au

What shocking looking web-sites they are. Taken nearly a month to get the links etc to work properly.



 

[mightytiges]

AFL Victoria