Questions about your club

[lucarne]

Hello everybody,

I'm a french webmaster of a very recent website (one month old - I won't advertise for it without discussing first with you) that has for goal to talk about football and moreover about all footballs around the world. As you may guess, Australian A league, as so many world league, is not know in France (nothing can be found in the press). As I wrote, one of the goal of my website is to introduce what I would badly call "exotic" footballs to my readers. Thus, I'm preparing a big report on Australian A-league.

The first part will concern the league in itself, but then, I'd like to talk and introduce the different teams of this league. As I don't want to copy/paste wikipedia (which would be really interesting of course), I prefered to go to fans forum and ask questions about their favourite team (its always better to discuss with peoples).

So if you agree with that, I'd like to ask few questions about your club and I would be pleased if you could answer. It won't be long.

First of all, could you give me more details about the history of your team. It's a recent team as I red on the internet which represent a region. This, we don't know in France, as team have an old history and always defend a city. Was it difficult to rassemble people behind this team ? Your team is called Mariners : could you tell me why ? Last thing about the colors. Where do they come from ? About your stadium, can you describe the atmosphere. Are we close to south american style or more like the new english way of looking at football in a stadium ?

By looking at players that were (or are still) mariners, to be honest, I only know one : John Aloisi (especially for his spanish carreer). I've read that he just left. How was it felt by fans ? What are now for you the most remarkable players ? What do you expect for this season. At the moment your team is third thus still fighting for the title. Do you thing you'll have it this year ? You'll also play the AFC Champion's league (for the first time I think - correct if I'm wrong). What do you expect (at least to do as Adelaide last year ?) ? In Europe, Champion's league is a main event. How is it in Australia with this AFC Champion's league ?

More generally, let's discuss about australian a-league and australian soccer. If I well understood, NSL was ceased in part because of the lack of tv coverage. Are things really different with A-league ? I've seen the way the competition is organized. So if I take your team as an example, I see that last year you were first after the regular season. Then you player a semi-final versus Newcastle. You won easily but still player newcastle for the big final. Finally, it means that Newcastle which was beaten in semi-final but gained access for the final after an other semi-final like and has beaten you only once during the season (in 5 games) and were champions. For a frenchy, this sounds not so logical. What do you think about this system ? Do you know why this was choosen ? 

I have the feeling that stadium are not alway full (at least on every video I've found). Is it "difficult" to be a football fan in Australia (I mean by that : How important is football in australia ? Is it popular or not so much ? What kind of people go to football games ?).

I'll stop here (I could spend hours). Thank you in advance for your answers. I hope my topic will not be badly seen by moderators (if so, let me apologize), I hope my english was correct and "understandable". I'm planning to look at you game against Queensland (the big match of the week-end). I wish you good luck.

 

[kevrenor]

Welcome Lucarne ... where in France, and which team do you follow?

I will attempt to answer, but I hope others also give their view. Several groups of answers matching your questions.

A.
The club is the Central Coast Mariners FC. It represents the region called the Central Coast in the state of NSW, on the Pacific coast, and which lies within the 150km between Sydney and the more northerly small city of Newcastle (our two greatest rivals, or derbies as the British call them).  Fans do however come from a wider area, particularly the northern areas of Sydney (which is quite close for travel, by road or train) where I live. One of the main business centres is Gosford, where the Bluetongue Stadium is located.  The club was formed in late 2004, many months after the previous national football competition (the NSL which started in 1977) folded.  The new competition is the Hyundai A-League, and our club was a founder member.  The Mariners name came from the involvement with a famous sailor in the start up of the club (and of course our closeness to the bays and the sea).  The colours are based on the blue and yellow of the region, though  we play in navy blue and deep yellow.  The stadium holds 20,000 approx. and all seats are close to the action, giving a good experience. Our average crowd this year will be around 11,000. Australian football crowds are quiet in their support. But many fans, including the unofficial supporter group, the Marinators, attempt to give vocal (UK style) and very limited tifo (say German) style support in the northern area of the stadium and also provide active support elsewhere, and on away trips.

A.
John Aloi$i played a short term role for us last season but his move to Sydney FC was not well received mainly as his statements about his new club tended to reflect badly on our club. Others can fill you in on that.  We have just lost Mile Jedinak to Turkey, and our most remarkable players now include Danny Vukovic (gk), Dean Heffernan (fullback), Adrian Caceres (mf), and Sasho Petrovski, Matt Simon and Dylan Macallister (all strikers).  We are aiming to be Premiers again (top of the table) but also to qualify for the Asian Champions League, and to win the finals cup and become A-League Champions.  We hope. The Asian Champions is very big for our club, and although new for Australia is already a well recognised competition. We would hope to do as well as Adelaide, but just to compete will be great,

A.
The NSL ceased mainly due to very bad administration, no cooperation between many groups in football, and no money in the game (of which TV was a part). Things are very different with the A-League, though after 4 season we cannot be sure of the future as yet. I will let others talk about the first past the post vs finals but finals cup leading to a Grand Final is a very Australian way in sport.


A. Football in Australia has a long history, since 1880, but it has waxed and waned in support, but now it is steadily growing. It is the most played amateur team sport, and that helps with spectator support if the football is good, and marketed well, in good stadiums. TV coverage has helped. It has been very hard being a football supporter in Australia (I have since 1956) but it has got much better with the A-League, the 2006 World Cup, and our acceptance into the Asian Confederation.

 

[loyalist]

Were not actually a club we are a franchise

 

[rosko]

Nice answers Kev... Good to see you have taken the time to answer so much, and so well.

There really is not much to fill in the spaces, even where you say you leave it to others to answer regarding finals... There is no better answer than to say it is Australian.. All of our sports hold their competitions in just this way.

The stadiums are a little empty, though no different to most sports within Australia, we can be a lazy lot.  ;D  For many years, still in it's own way, it has been difficult to be a football supporter in Australia. Many Australians have very little or no respect for diving/simulation, and this is reflected in the derision toward 'footballers' for many years. There has been a turn around with the inception of the A-League and the additional coverage football now receives in the media. The Central Coast, once known as a 'Rugby Heartland', has a growing supporter base, and some of the 'lack of noise' Kev speaks of is due to this fact. Many of the supporters of the Mariners are families with young children who go to the football. In 5yrs, I believe the Mariners may have the most parochial and loyal fans in the competition, yet without the 'hooligans' many in Australia associate with football in this country.

The Asian Champions League, while new, is growing in popularity, I for one cheered Adelaide on their campaign into Asia, as many would have. The Mariner's fans are looking forward to the visiting Asian teams in the next few months.

I hope to see many more additions to this thread with advice on the Mariners, and corrections to any and all mistakes we make as we go through the history....

 

[brett]

I will add to kevrenor's comprehensive answers:

Around 2004-2005, football in Australia underwent massive reform and transformation.

The previous football association - Soccer Australia - was poorly run for a number of reasons that are too many to go into here. Bad politics, greed, mismanagement are some of the reasons. The National Soccer League had some success stories, but clubs came and went, and media coverage was extremely poor. Many of the clubs were formed by post-war European migrants, and therefore the clubs aligned themselves to those home countries such as Greece and Croatia, and there were a perception in the 'mainstream' media and population that these sorts of clubs were inaccessible. This whole time, football was the most played sport at junior level, but way behind cricket, rugby league, aussie rules, and other sports at the elite level. The socceroos rarely played a game on home soil.

I think it was in 2003 when Soccer Australia went to the Australian government and said "we've got no money". The government intervened and ordered an investigation into football. The resulting 'Crawford Report' was full of recommendations about how to fix the sport. A brand new association was formed, which is now known as the FFA. The FFA launched the A-League in 2005 with 8 teams: 6 major Australian cities, one from New Zealand, and one regional club: the Central Coast Mariners. The idea was to divided by geography, not by race or descent. That has worked to an extent.

The A-League started a feel-good wave for football here that climaxed when Australia beat Uruguay to qualify for its first world cup in 32 years. The media and everyone else suddenly loved football (they largely started calling it football rather than soccer for the first time). With the Socceroos having good success in the World Cup as well, it has been a new dawn for football in Australia. We also moved from Oceania into the Asian confederation meaning we have lots of home games against quality opposition for the first time. The sport has a positive vibe around it at the moment.

That's a bit of a snapshot as to how we got here and the current mood in football in Australia.

The Mariners have had several notable players (you would have seen on wikipedia no doubt):

Michael Beauchamp - defender, germany world cup squad member who left for Nurnberg and now Aalborg.
Tony Vidmar - socceroo legend, defender
John Aloisi - striker famous for winning penalty against uruguay to get us to world cup
Mark Bosnich - one of Australia's best ever players, maybe the best ever, who of course went off the rails after playing for Man U and Chelsea.

As for the finals system - opinion is split over this in Australia.

Many 'genuine' football fans who follow overseas clubs would prefer a standard league system, with the addition of a proper Cup that is separate from the league. The tradition is all sports in Australia is that the home-and-away season is followed by playoffs to decide the champion. There are people who prefer this system. For the A-League, from a commercial point of view, it has been important to have the Finals Series to attract big crowds and TV audiences, as well as media attention. It also makes it important to make the top four in the league, keeping interest in the lower placed clubs.

These commercial implications for a growing league are probably the most important factor at this time, making the debate about 'what is the best system' redundant.

 

[brett]

Were not actually a club we are a franchise

Lucarne: Technically we are a franchise: when the A-League was formed, the FFA selectively handed out licenses to groups who had enough money and the right business plans to succeed in the new competition. This is ongoing as we look to expand to 12 or 14 teams.

But other than that, we're a football club by definition.

 

[Redline]

Were not actually a club we are a franchise

Lucarne: Technically we are a franchise: when the A-League was formed, the FFA selectively handed out licenses to groups who had enough money and the right business plans to succeed in the new competition. This is ongoing as we look to expand to 12 or 14 teams.

But other than that, we're a football club by definition.

lol How did Newcastle get in then?

 

[brett]

Were not actually a club we are a franchise

Lucarne: Technically we are a franchise: when the A-League was formed, the FFA selectively handed out licenses to groups who had enough money and the right business plans to succeed in the new competition. This is ongoing as we look to expand to 12 or 14 teams.

But other than that, we're a football club by definition.

lol How did Newcastle get in then?

Good point - although you could highlight 'enough money' and say the same about us

 

[Redline]

Aren't we one of the better off clubs due to our sponsorship levels?

 

[~Floss~]

I see that last year you were first after the regular season. Then you player a semi-final versus Newcastle. You won easily but still player newcastle for the big final. Finally, it means that Newcastle which was beaten in semi-final but gained access for the final after an other semi-final like and has beaten you only once during the season (in 5 games) and were champions. For a frenchy, this sounds not so logical.

lol that's brilliant

 

[ticker]

I see that last year you were first after the regular season. Then you player a semi-final versus Newcastle. You won easily but still player newcastle for the big final. Finally, it means that Newcastle which was beaten in semi-final but gained access for the final after an other semi-final like and has beaten you only once during the season (in 5 games) and were champions. For a frenchy, this sounds not so logical.

lol that's brilliant

The truth is, however, that the two teams played each other 6 times last season and the Jets beat us in 3 of those matches. We only beat them once, the other two were draws.

I also can't believe the mods automatically change Aloisi to Aloisi, damn commies.

 

[brett]

Aren't we one of the better off clubs due to our sponsorship levels?

We are nowadays.

 

[adz]

I also can't believe the mods automatically change Aloisi to Aloi$i, damn commies.

Who the f**k are you?

 

[loyalist]

I also can't believe the mods automatically change Aloisi to Aloi$i, damn commies.

Who the f**k are you?

thats ticker

 

[ticker]

Hi

 

[lucarne]

Hello again,

First of all, thanks for your answers, really full of informations for someone like me who didn’t know so much about Australian soccer (even if, as a French, I do remember a guy called Kevin Musc**t – I’m kidding, several Australian players are present in Europe and I still remember your game against Italy in 2006 and this famous penalty).

@kevrenor : I live in Montpellier (along Mediterranean sea for the one who never heard about this city), but my club is Girondins de Bordeaux (from the city where I grew up). I have to say something funny about that : your next opponent, the Melbourne Victory wear exactly the same kind of home kit than Girondins. But maybe you know this team ?

It should be very exciting to be part of this adventure, exciting and also scaring because future is uncertain. Can you feel this mixture of enthusiasm and uncertainty in the stadiums? I'm thinking about the teams that disapeared after the end of NLS. This should have been tough for their fans, as they had to find a new club to support? Is it the case for some of you? How do you feel with that? Was there some kind of resitance against that (people often say that this kind of questions are typically french as we always protest against everything  ;D). Before CC Mariners, were there one or many leading teams in your region?

@brett: i would also say that a proper cup competition (as FA Cup in England) is important. This helps to make football more popular as everybody likes stories of amateur teams beating top professional. Has it ever existed in Australia before ? Because now this is impossible with a closed system based on franchise even if this could have been done with all the other australian soccer teams that play in state leagues.

PS : it was a good idea to follow your today game....7 goals in one game...unfortunately, that was not good for you.

 

[dibo]

even if, as a French, I do remember a guy called Kevin Musc**t

was it christophe dugarry he punted over the sideline in 2001?

 

[loyalist]

yeah it was

did a bit of damage too iirc

 

[kevrenor]

Lucarne, what is the web site address, and when will your report be published?

my club is Girondins de Bordeaux (from the city where I grew up). I have to say something funny about that : your next opponent, the Melbourne Victory wear exactly the same kind of home kit than Girondins. But maybe you know this team ?

No, but I have been to Bordeaux, and along the Girond. Time in Blaye, and visiting the wineries nearby.  I have some Breton ancestors so keep an eye on Stade Rennes and L'Orient.

It should be very exciting to be part of this adventure, exciting and also scaring because future is uncertain. Can you feel this mixture of enthusiasm and uncertainty in the stadiums? I'm thinking about the teams that disapeared after the end of NLS. This should have been tough for their fans, as they had to find a new club to support? Is it the case for some of you? How do you feel with that? Was there some kind of resitance against that (people often say that this kind of questions are typically french as we always protest against everything  ;D). Before CC Mariners, were there one or many leading teams in your region?

No leading team based in the area, though some clubs a few levels down.  Northern Spirit from northern Sydney did have some following in the area, an also a few Newcastle Breakers.

'enthusiasm and uncertainty' ... good choice of english

There was some resistance once it had all happened, esp. in Melbourne and some clubs based on one ethnic groups (eg. Croations, Greeks, Serbs), but really the administration of the NSL was so bad and clubs going bankrupt or folding anyway that it was a relief for most, though it was indeed tough (but I've had 5 clubs I supported 'fold' over my 58 years).

 

[MattSimon]

lolz