Grand Final - FFA will do it again

[Wombat]

If anyone thinks that the FFA clowns are not biased against CCM then they need their bumps read.
....Only team that doesn't get a home grand final regardless.
....Danny scapegoated with ludicrous suspension to cover incompetence of appalling ref.
......Perez, only player suspended for so called diving (Baird doesn't count as his was clear cut).
.......Fleecing of fans for finals football tickets.
........breeze appointed as ref whenever they don't want us to win.

The FFA are a corrupt blight on the game and probably think Sepp Blatter is a great visionary leader!

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

If anyone thinks that the FFA clowns are not biased against CCM then they need their bumps read.
....Only team that doesn't get a home grand final regardless.
....Danny scapegoated with ludicrous suspension to cover incompetence of appalling ref.
......Perez, only player suspended for so called diving (Baird doesn't count as his was clear cut).
.......Fleecing of fans for finals football tickets.
........breeze appointed as ref whenever they don't want us to win.

The FFA are a corrupt blight on the game and probably think Sepp Blatter is a great visionary leader!

Conspiracy much? We get as much of a mix of referees as anybody else. As for Danny - that was, by far, the strongest evidence AGAINST the theory that the FFA hate us.

Why? Well, nobody would argue against him getting a hefty suspension, but the issue was the length of the suspension. The minimum 12 month suspension simply occurred because that's what their regulations required. So even at that point it's ridiculous to claim they were 'out to get us'.

But then they went out of their way to help Danny out, giving the breaks in the suspension to permit him to play in those Olyroos matches. They certainly didn't have to and they made a joke out of their own regulations in the process - but far from being a sign that FFA hate us, they went out of their way to help Danny out.

I'm certainly not trying to claim that FFA don't play favourites at times (can't figure out why we were held responsible for the confrontations that Jets started at that GF), but this conspiracy theory nonsense isn't likely to contribute to a reasonable argument we could put towards FFA.

They're a greedy, incompetent bunch of liars who don't take great pride in 'integrity', but that's about as sinister as it gets.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

All this is a pointless discussion though - we're mostly in agreement about how disgraceful the FFA are on this.

I believe, without a doubt, that they contributed to our unsuccessful 'home' GF.

You simply cannot create the same atmosphere when you're not playing at home. Not just in the stadium either - I'm sure we could all imagine the party outside the stadium even before the match started. The team earned the right to pull up down a drive lined with Mariners fans and to see everything the fans created for them, and that was stolen. Of course that's going to have an effect on the match.

And those pricks want to screw us again.

As others have said, NOW is the time to do something about it - but what?

I'm going to write a letter to the Express later in the week, hopefully it gets published. I'm not optimistic that CCEA will care in the slightest, but if they publish some of our letters then at least this raises awareness amongst those not on this forum.

Sure, we could start emailing FFA - and this might help change somebody's opinion, but I'm not optimistic. It's an important part of any campaign, but I don't think that will be what makes the difference.

So, my suggestions:
-We get a petition going. If we can get 10 000 signatures arguing for leaving the GF on the coast this may help. I don't know if it's a good idea to state in such a petition that the undersigned will (or will consider) boycott the GF if it's not on our home turf, but if the FFA start getting visions of a mere 15-20000 turning up to their showpiece event, and 1 in every 2 or 3 seats being empty, then they may start to listen. We distribute signature sheets to anybody who wants one - many of us work on the coast so wouldn't have to go too far out of our way to accumulate signatures.

-In order to support the above, we could potentially get the local radio stations on board to support such a petition, and a campaign of bombarding the FFA with emails. I think it'd be easier to get the radio on board than the CCEA

-I don't know if there's an official supporters club these days like the Marinators club used to be, but if there is then now is the time for leadership. It may be possible to get some media - papers, even local TV, to talk to the supporters club. Might be optimistic, but be awesome if it were possible.

-And, of course, a campaign of emails to the FFA and to the CCEA to get letters posted in the paper (keep it up until the end of the season!).

We may not make the grand final - but all we want is a promise that, if we do qualify first(not just this season, but any season) we'll get to host the GF as any other team would.

 

[awaba]

i'm totally for the final of the cup being played here ... largely as i prefer the Premiership (League) as the main title to win so the second title for me is secondary. And i hate the idea of going to Sydney for much of anything these days!

But ... looking at ticket allocations in a 20k capacity venue. How many of these would actually end up being available to local fans? Considering it is a league run event not by the club. So factoring sponsors, media allocations, away fans etc. That being said its quite possible much of that allocation wouldn't be taken up for a game that isn't in Sydney. Guessing there still might not be all that many public tickets available for a game at BT. Which could lead to more people missing out.

Personally i'd still rather it was in Gosford. They could add an overflow screen nearby for the extra fans. Just adding these comments to balance out the "FFA are incompetent" line as i think there is some (flawed) logic to their approach to this...

 

[style_cafe]

If we do get to the grand final again it wouldn`t be that difficult to bring Bluetongue up to at least 25,00 capacity.

At the moment the sidelines are approx 8m from the field if the signage were moved in by 3m another 4 rows of (temporary) seats could be installed.
This would give an additional 800 seats on the eastern side & approx 200 on the western side.

Under the scoreboard a temporary grandstand (similar to the circus)could be erected.This would be approx 10m x 70m adding another 1750 people.

At the other end (inside the existing fence) approx 80 x 10m could seat another 2000. (albeit level seating not tiered)

Behind bay 16 another temporary stand above the walkway could hold another 1000

That would add another 5750 seats bringing the capacity up to nearly 26,000.

Put the big screen in the park across from the club,fence it & charge say 25% of the normal tickets adds another say 5,000 & we`re up there with around 30,000 similar to other grand finals.

I`m sure with buses etc. from surrounding parks, parking wouldn`t be a problem.

With a bit of planning the logistics could be acheived for us to host a grand final.
We just need the club to put forward the right blueprint to the FFA to show it can be done.

 

[Bex]

Loving those ideas.

 

[MagpieMariner]

Considering that our finals will be competing with the other codes, this discussion may be irrelevant. Considering that we won't know who will be entitled to host it until after the second week, the big stadia may well be already booked by the other guys. In fact I'll be very surprised if their season isn't already booked.
FFA may have to play it at Gosford even if we don't make it