FFA shooting itself in the foot AGAIN

[kruddler]

the rules are the same.  The sport is the same the clubs in the top flight are not.

Im a south Melbourne fan.  Have been my whole life. When FFA disbanded the NSL clubs were invited for an A league licence.

They had already made up their mind about which clubs they wanted and didn't want in the top flight.

So pretend for a moment, instead of expanding the vfl, the afl disbanded the vfl, decided to restrict the offers to only a couple of clubs from each city, and irrespective of what offer Carlton put forward, a different flavour of the Melbourne demons are going to get one license.  At first they only take the one Melbourne club and all of us are frozen out, Carlton, Collingwood essendon and Geelong all out irrespective of what happens you're not getting in.

Time comes to expand the comp, and the process for applying is open to all parties its not, they bring in a hawthorn equivalent.  Then they open up to a 3rd club again, and instead of opening up the comp in earnest they go with the Werribee tigers instead.

In the meantime Carlton who were the most successful club, have been stuck in the vfl playing against the North Ballarat roosters. And Port Melbourne boroughs instead.

Oh and the A league was supposed to have a FIFA mandated second division with promotion relegation but they've strung this out a lot further down the road to ensure if and when the clubs actually get their chance to climb back up to the top flight they do so having lost an entire generation of fans, and the previous income streams that were associated with being an iconic club.  They'll get the chance one day, but by the time that rolls around they'll be the equivalent of Carlton post salary cap rorting, and I wonder where we would be today without our history, the pratts, chris Judd, and the fact that we were only stuck in football purgatory for about 8 years, and due to mismanagement found ourselves right back there 4 years later.

South Melbourne soccer club hasn't been involved in the comp since 2004.  We are almost 20 years gone.  What would that have done to Carlton? 

OK, thanks for explaining.

You writing that triggered something in the back of my brain which may or may not be true.
Is it possible that the reason South Melbourne were not invited back because there was a lot of trouble with those fans?
Were they the black sheep of the group (The Port Bogan equivalents - or even Adelaide fans when they noticed a victorian license plate in the car park so they spat all over it....only to later realise it was their new coach - soon to be dual premiership winning coach - Malcolm Blight!)

I may be thinking of something else, but for some reason my brain is telling me you were not invited back because you were not welcome back because of the grief you brought.

[madbluboy]

It's because they were ethnic.

They were forced to chang their name from Hellas to Lakers and also banned Greek flags at the games.

Their reasoning was to be inclusive to all Australians. So they created a club that's anthem is to the tune of Scotland the Brave.

The irony is as a Scotsman I went to more South Melbourne games than Victory.

[kruddler]

It's because they were ethnic.

Ethnic or otherwise, were those fans more of an issue than others?

[madbluboy]

Ethnic or otherwise, were those fans more of an issue than others?

They had rivalries with other clubs but nothing like the organised hooliganism we are seeing with the Victory.

[Gointocarlton]

They had rivalries with other clubs but nothing like the organised hooliganism we are seeing with the Victory.

These f-wits are just imitating what they do in other countries, especially England. Fortunately for soccer in Australia, there are so few of them by comparison that they should be easily weeded out the problem will go away.

[Thryleon]

OK, thanks for explaining.

You writing that triggered something in the back of my brain which may or may not be true.
Is it possible that the reason South Melbourne were not invited back because there was a lot of trouble with those fans?
Were they the black sheep of the group (The Port Bogan equivalents - or even Adelaide fans when they noticed a victorian license plate in the car park so they spat all over it....only to later realise it was their new coach - soon to be dual premiership winning coach - Malcolm Blight!)

I may be thinking of something else, but for some reason my brain is telling me you were not invited back because you were not welcome back because of the grief you brought.

The fans of the 80's and early 90's were involved in dust ups with rivals.

South Melbourne had their old home ground at middle park.  Once they moved from that ground to Bob Jane, there was minimal fan altercations happening. 

Beyond that my post is a window into my psyche.  FFA didn't want us greeks represented in the Australian national league.  Any which way you cut it the two biggest Melbourne clubs were the Melbourne knights, and South Melbourne FC and both were denied an A league licence. 

I decided if they didn't want us, I dont want them either and wish them nothing but misery and failure. 

[northernblue]

That’s nice Thry but they didnt want thuggery, hooliganism and old ethic tensions from Europe here in Australia, but you overlook that bit.

[DJC]

That’s nice Thry but they didnt want thuggery, hooliganism and old ethic tensions from Europe here in Australia, but you overlook that bit.

Yes, all clubs were required to ditch their ethnic affiliations in the hope that the tensions that often arose at games would dissipate.

As I’ve mentioned before, my late brother was a police officer and, as a young constable, was often on duty at footy and soccer matches.  He loved working at the footy as there was rarely any trouble and he was virtually being paid to watch the game.  Soccer duty was different; he had to earn his money and regularly had to defend himself from “supporters”.

The other thing about South Melbourne FC is that they were in voluntary administration and didn’t apply for a spot in the new league.  Perhaps that financial/administrative hiccup has affected their subsequent applications.  Despite that, there’s no doubt that they are one of Australia’s most successful sporting clubs.

[Mav]

They stopped the UK crowds throwing darts, it's pretty hard to believe the authorities couldn't stop the flares if they wanted to!

I remember a photo in one of the papers over here of a fan at a UK soccer match during the peak hooliganism being gently escorted by 2 policemen, presumably for medical treatment. He had a dart embedded in the bridge of his nose ?. He looked as though he was in shock, quite understandably. He was either the unluckiest guy on earth to be struck by the dart or the luckiest given that an inch either way would have taken out an eye. What kind of arsehole would turn his back on the ground so he could throw a dart into the crowd facing him?

[Gointocarlton]

That’s nice Thry but they didnt want thuggery, hooliganism and old ethic tensions from Europe here in Australia, but you overlook that bit.

My brother played soccer for an Italian club here in Melbourne at a decent level, there were a couple of teams he played against that were of other ethnic groups (which I wont mention) who were absolute animals. They weren't there for soccer, they were there to fight, pure and simple. They were mimicking what their comrades where doing over seas. Im sure some of the younger ones (born here) didnt even know what they were fighting about. Refs refused to turn up to their games, of course when someone from the opposite team offered to ref things escalated even more. I think that stuff has been weeded out now, I dont know for sure as my brother is now retired from the game.