It was an exciting game with a great atmosphere. The game deserved more than 11000 supporters. And that's one of the reasons why we didn't get the WC; the local game isn't supported.
Carvels what happened to the 25k plus crowds that Victory used to get.
Honestly mate what is it. I have never been to a game but there were a lot of people who have jumped off the league. Whats the issue?
11k is a very poor crowd. Still more than most of Kangas games though..lol
League expanded too quickly and before it was financially stable to sustain it. The FFA had got ahead of itself based on seasons 2 and 3 and the Socceroos effort in Germany in 2006. Going into Nth Qld and GC has added nothing except an added expense and negative publicity for the A-league and Heart offers nothing different as far as social demographic and geography to the Victory. The season is now too long (30 games) so dimishes the need to go to every game and forces the need for games to be played midweek to fit the season in. Australia doesn't have a midweek football culture in any code. For the Victory crowds at AAMI are around 5k less than at Etihad. It's more expensive to go to AAMI as well. I also believe the FFA's bitterness towards Aussie Rules and arrogance during the WC bid over the past 2 years has been a major turn off to neutrals and those that like both sports but prefer Aussie Rules. The vitriolic rants of Craig Foster, Michael Cockerill and co. are the sport's own worst enemies. Even Andy Harper and Simon Hill couldn't help having a dig at the AFL straight after the WC bid loss. Sydney-based jealous losers who hate everything about Melbourne including the Victory
. The problem is they are often the face of Aussie soccer
and when the sport needed to include mainstream Australia they push them away and in terms of Craig Foster calls us all "ignorant bogans"
. The FFA have also done sweet bugger all in terms of advertising of the A-league in recent years. There's going to need to be some contraction of the league and dumping of the small dead-weight clubs to get the A-league on a stable footing. Ben Buckley will probably get the flick as part of the process. Hopefully he doesn't return to AFL either if he leaves soccer.
