midfielder
Well-Known Member
Hmmmmmmm an AFL guy in Melbourne has blamed Soccer Mums for AFL problems indeed they may be but according to Patrick Smith to quote bid of what he said . http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25092247-12270,00.html
..AFL fears soccer like no other sport. It worries that very soon it will not be able to draw people to indigenous football but, worse, the AFL will leach fans to the international game. Thats why it is pushing ahead in precarious financial times into the Gold Coast (2011) and west Sydney (2012). The AFL heavies fear that parents will direct their children to soccer because it is a less violent game. Thus the campaign to get rid of the bump.
That the AFL is worried sick about soccer was evident last week when it backed off from demanding its NAB Cup match be played at the Telstra Dome on Saturday rather than the A-League final. Interest in soccer has grown to such an extent that the public would have howled down the AFL as bullies. As it is, the league attempts to thwart soccers growth wherever it has influence.
Soon the league commission will have to be brave enough to ask the public to decide between football and soccer. One or the other. There can be no more compromises. There must be pride and not concern in the fact football can never be soccer. It must decide who is charged with caring for the sport, who has its best interests at heart, who is best placed to take football forward. It must have the courage to decide who runs football: the marketing departments soccer mums or the AFL and the laws of the game committee.
For the moment, the mums have it.
..AFL fears soccer like no other sport. It worries that very soon it will not be able to draw people to indigenous football but, worse, the AFL will leach fans to the international game. Thats why it is pushing ahead in precarious financial times into the Gold Coast (2011) and west Sydney (2012). The AFL heavies fear that parents will direct their children to soccer because it is a less violent game. Thus the campaign to get rid of the bump.
That the AFL is worried sick about soccer was evident last week when it backed off from demanding its NAB Cup match be played at the Telstra Dome on Saturday rather than the A-League final. Interest in soccer has grown to such an extent that the public would have howled down the AFL as bullies. As it is, the league attempts to thwart soccers growth wherever it has influence.
Soon the league commission will have to be brave enough to ask the public to decide between football and soccer. One or the other. There can be no more compromises. There must be pride and not concern in the fact football can never be soccer. It must decide who is charged with caring for the sport, who has its best interests at heart, who is best placed to take football forward. It must have the courage to decide who runs football: the marketing departments soccer mums or the AFL and the laws of the game committee.
For the moment, the mums have it.
