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aussie scott21
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We can refresh 'stale' A-League, claim South MelbourneA-League aspirants South Melbourne believe they can help galvanise "a stale" competition, as an impending solution to Australian football's governance crisis looks set to put expansion back on the agenda. By Dave Lewis 13 SEP 2017 - 6:44 PM UPDATED 18 MINS AGO If this week's behind-closed doors accord between the state federations and FFA over the composition of an expanded 9-4-1-1 congress is approved by FIFA - despite opposition from the clubs - then the threat by the world governing body to seize power in Australia in November will be removed. That would pave the way for FFA chairman Steven Lowy and his board to revisit the process of making decisions over big ticket items, such as expansion from 2019 onwards. Four-time NSL champions South - who will grasp an FFA Cup semi-final spot if they beat Gold Coast City on the Sunshine Strip next Wednesday - see themselves as the most likely of up to 10 would-be expansion teams to set pulses racing in a league struggling for deeper traction in Australia's congested sporting marketplace. Just a month out from the kick-off of the 2017-2018 A-League season, anticipation is hardly at fever pitch. "The competition is stale, there is no doubt about it," said South's bid chief Bill Papastergiadis. "Look, presidents of the A-League clubs are telling us that. If the participants are telling us that, you can only imagine what the support base thinks. "The A-League club presidents think expansion is absolutely necessary ... there are not enough teams and there is not enough excitement in their opinion. "We need to make the jump from 10 to 12 as soon as possible. That's where promotion and relegation will also come into play, because it will create that fascination with the bottom of the league as well as the top. "We don't have the depth of talent in Australia anymore, and I think we are all in unanimous agreement that there needs to be more opportunities for players than exists at present. "It's because we don't have a deep and rich number of teams competing and that means players are not given the opportunity." Papastergiadis said the governance issues plaguing FFA had only hardened the NPL club's desire to reclaim a place at Australian football's top table, insisting they would be hard to ignore because they invoke both passion and vitriol. "One A-League club owner put it to me like this, 'a team like South has as many enemies as it has supporters and that creates significant interest'," Papastergiadis said. "That's because people love to hate the club as well." He said South's FFA Cup run was indicative of what they could offer as an A-League participant in waiting, as they seek redemption against the side who knocked them out of the competition two years ago. "I think it speaks volumes about the depth of the football club, from our playing capacity, to our coaching ability, and we are getting hundreds of supporters booked in to make the journey up there," he said. "There will be at least 300 to 400 heading to Queensland. "It was always our aim to show FFA and the general public that we have a team that is capable of playing at the highest level in this country, and can be shaped into an A-League team. "Expansion will be measured on facilities, financial ability, ready-made teams, an impact within the community, and a broad-based club. The feedback we're receiving from FFA has been positive. "We tick all those boxes. I don't think any other expansion club does that the way we do. "If we make it to the semi-finals, we will be only the second non-A-League team to have done that." South, who need only gates of 1500 to break even at their 13,000-capacity all-seater Lakeside Stadium, believe they are a model in the self-sustainability. That contrasts starkly with Melbourne City, who need crowds of 14,000 per game to break even on their AAMI Park deal. Should they be granted an A-League license, Papastergiadis is confident South would attract crowds averaging around 10,000, which would generate over $1.5 million annually in gate takings.
We can refresh 'stale' A-League, claim South Melbourne | : The World Game
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433
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Popcorn.gif
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hames_jetfield
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Didn't they get a three figure attendance at their last FFA Cup game?
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RedshirtWilly
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keep stirring the pot boys - they're not going away
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TheSelectFew
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But then the league becomes a bigger stale pot. Expansion is a band aid with reform being the solution.
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aussie scott21
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+xBut then the league becomes a bigger stale pot. Expansion is a band aid with reform being the solution. 
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aussie pride
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Can't argue with what has been said.
The build up to this season has been dull and we are stagnating as a league.
I reckon fox sports would enjoy South in the league. They certainly like creating a headline and would be hated by many opposition clubs building up interest towards games.
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southmelb
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Ive got an idea..how about shutting up until next week, i swear it never ends well for us on field when this crap starts, everything said in that article has been repeated 50 times already, Give it a rest. Plenty of hype and fluff pieces to be had if we make the cup semis..it should be the only focus for the club now.
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aufc_ole
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South, who need only gates of 1500 to break even at their 13,000-capacity all-seater Lakeside Stadium, believe they are a model in the self-sustainability. That contrasts starkly with Melbourne City, who need crowds of 14,000 per game to break even on their AAMI Park deal.
Interesting.
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southmelb
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If we keep it strictly to on field, we are the last Victorian team standing in the ffa cup, shouldn't we be promoted by default?
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aussie scott21
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+xSouth, who need only gates of 1500 to break even at their 13,000-capacity all-seater Lakeside Stadium, believe they are a model in the self-sustainability. That contrasts starkly with Melbourne City, who need crowds of 14,000 per game to break even on their AAMI Park deal.
Interesting. "Should they be granted an A-League license, Papastergiadis is confident South would attract crowds averaging around 10,000, which would generate over $1.5 million annually in gate takings." What is the math? $1500000 / 8500 /16 games equals ca $11 per ticket? That doesnt seem right.
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melbourne_terrace
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They aren't wrong. South's inclusion would be a huge sugar rush and the derbies would be insane. Wont fix any systematic problems in the league but it will certainly make this stale league more tolerable in the meantime.
Viennese Vuck
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aussie scott21
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+xThey aren't wrong. South's inclusion would be a huge sugar rush and the derbies would be insane. Wont fix any systematic problems in the league but it will certainly make this stale league more tolerable in the meantime. Yes you get PG, AU, WSW & SFC matches as well. It would ensure a new stronger energy from other clubs wanting to get into the league. It may be enough to carry the league for several years.
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bohemia
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+xThey aren't wrong. South's inclusion would be a huge sugar rush and the derbies would be insane. I'm an AU fan and would love to play them again. I remember when we played them in a NSL final at Hindmarsh. Poutakidis goes Bruce Lee on a hopeless ball on the wing for a straight red. Souths fans on two fronts slamming the refs decision - the souths fans at the self proclaimed "clarendon corner" 70m away facing the players backs, and the souths fans in Melbourne who had no actual way of watching the match but bagged the ref anyway. People talk about salt in the HAL days, FM, nothing rivals the salt after that game. The penalty handing us the win just made the salt even saltier. From the whole history of AU in the HAL I have never heard a louder noise at Hindmarsh than when 16,5k went nuts after Richie Alagich slotted that penalty. Not once. It would be close between Victory and Souths as to which would be the bigger derby with Adelaide. Melbourne City isn't even in that conversation. Bring it on
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southmelb
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+x+xThey aren't wrong. South's inclusion would be a huge sugar rush and the derbies would be insane. I'm an AU fan and would love to play them again. I remember when we played them in a NSL final at Hindmarsh. Poutakidis goes Bruce Lee on a hopeless ball on the wing for a straight red. Souths fans on two fronts slamming the refs decision - the souths fans at the self proclaimed "clarendon corner" 70m away facing the players backs, and the souths fans in Melbourne who had no actual way of watching the match but bagged the ref anyway. People talk about salt in the HAL days, FM, nothing rivals the salt after that game. The penalty handing us the win just made the salt even saltier. From the whole history of AU in the HAL I have never heard a louder noise at Hindmarsh than when 16,5k went nuts after Richie Alagich slotted that penalty. Not once. It would be close between Victory and Souths as to which would be the bigger derby with Adelaide. Melbourne City isn't even in that conversation. Bring it on That game was broadcasted live into melbourne on radio, probably the only time i have felt physically ill after a match, 16.5k, tense crowd,one of johhny warrens last public appearances as well. I couldnt bring myself to watch the full replay on sbs the next day. I can just remember images of the south players throwing shirts into the crowd post game and photos of people crying, one moment you are on the verge of a semi final, the next you're relegated. If the planets allign this match would pack out lakeside, and you can bet that night in 2004 will forn a lot of the hype and build up to the game.
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aussie scott21
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+x+x+xThey aren't wrong. South's inclusion would be a huge sugar rush and the derbies would be insane. I'm an AU fan and would love to play them again. I remember when we played them in a NSL final at Hindmarsh. Poutakidis goes Bruce Lee on a hopeless ball on the wing for a straight red. Souths fans on two fronts slamming the refs decision - the souths fans at the self proclaimed "clarendon corner" 70m away facing the players backs, and the souths fans in Melbourne who had no actual way of watching the match but bagged the ref anyway. People talk about salt in the HAL days, FM, nothing rivals the salt after that game. The penalty handing us the win just made the salt even saltier. From the whole history of AU in the HAL I have never heard a louder noise at Hindmarsh than when 16,5k went nuts after Richie Alagich slotted that penalty. Not once. It would be close between Victory and Souths as to which would be the bigger derby with Adelaide. Melbourne City isn't even in that conversation. Bring it on That game was broadcasted live into melbourne on radio, probably the only time i have felt physically ill after a match, 16.5k, tense crowd,one of johhny warrens last public appearances as well. I couldnt bring myself to watch the full replay on sbs the next day. I can just remember images of the south players throwing shirts into the crowd post game and photos of people crying, one moment you are on the verge of a semi final, the next you're relegated. If the planets allign this match would pack out lakeside, and you can bet that night in 2004 will forn a lot of the hype and build up to the game. Can see SM getting SFC or WSW (if they win). FFA will see to that. Sydney derby is 21st Oct and Cup semis are 17th and 25 th October.
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Pyramid Timmy
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S & M won't fix it
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rusty
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If South were to join the A league this is what South think would happen
- sign Torosidis as marquee
- sell 20,000 memberships inside first hour, galvanising the whole Melbourne public
- first home game sells out
- second home relocated to MCG due to unprecedented demand, 98,000 tickets sold
- south attract record away attendances, selling out all away games
- south win the A league, over 200,000 memberships sold and 5 million facebook likes
- donald trump tweets his support for smfc, bringing global recognition to the club
- Real Madrid signs an exclusive partnership agreement with south, promising to develop players to one day represent the south senior team
What will happen
- first game attracts 5,000
- fight breaks out among rival supporters amid allegations of racial slurs
- police call off games due to flair incidents and melees
- FFA condemn south, south accuse FFA of racism and hating greeks
- South take FFA to high court arguing right to change club name to Hellas
- Greek government buys stake in south, with Tsipras declared its new president
- by the end of season attendances drop to 1,500, mostly media
- club goes bankrupt due to unpaid debts, proceeds to blame FFA, Australian government and racism
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someguyjc
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+xIve got an idea..how about shutting up until next week, i swear it never ends well for us on field when this crap starts, everything said in that article has been repeated 50 times already, Give it a rest. Plenty of hype and fluff pieces to be had if we make the cup semis..it should be the only focus for the club now. It's called marketing saturation. Their marketing department are making sure they don't drop off the radar. Something the FFA/HAL marketing department could learn from.
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Roberts1
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Self interest 😖
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Pyramid Timmy
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Razor Ramon
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For a moment their I thought you wrote BDSM...no, that didn't sound pretty
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Pyramid Timmy
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SSM in
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aussie scott21
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+xIf South were to join the A league this is what South think would happen - sign Torosidis as marquee - sell 20,000 memberships inside first hour, galvanising the whole Melbourne public - first home game sells out - second home relocated to MCG due to unprecedented demand, 98,000 tickets sold - south attract record away attendances, selling out all away games - south win the A league, over 200,000 memberships sold and 5 million facebook likes - donald trump tweets his support for smfc, bringing global recognition to the club - Real Madrid signs an exclusive partnership agreement with south, promising to develop players to one day represent the south senior team What will happen - first game attracts 5,000 - fight breaks out among rival supporters amid allegations of racial slurs - police call off games due to flair incidents and melees - FFA condemn south, south accuse FFA of racism and hating greeks - South take FFA to high court arguing right to change club name to Hellas - Greek government buys stake in south, with Tsipras declared its new president - by the end of season attendances drop to 1,500, mostly media - club goes bankrupt due to unpaid debts, proceeds to blame FFA, Australian government and racism Chuck the lotto numbers my way champ
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nomates
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Sth Melbourne can keep dreaming. If they get in then Wellington by rights should get a 20 year licence just on merit.
Wellington Phoenix FC
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Roberts1
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Hellas will never get in.
It's all self interest from approx 10 disgruntled bitter ex NSL fans who can't get over the fact the game has moved on without them
How long has it been
14 years and counting
😀
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Kolner
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I admire their drive, but I don't think theyre the right fit for the 11th or 12th franchise.
its also a bit rich to use their cup run as some sort of justification as to what they can do. theyre the non a-league team that's had the cushy draw, did a miraculous escape to make the round fo 32, should of lost to edgeworth at home in front of 1500 fans at best, and wont face an a-league club til the semis.
I loved watching souths in the nsl, but I think that the next teams should be fresh franchises. fox will want teams from the big cities so a second Brisbane team would be on the cards, and as for the 12th, a shire team or geelong.
would love to see a team form the gong and the nations capital but the numbers don't stack up.
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southmelb
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I think the club is right to use the cup as a platform to build itself up, when the team was winning championships and not even qualifying for the ffa cup people were saying " who cares about the npl the cup is what counts". Now that we are the last team standing in Victoria people are pointing out that we didn't win the championship this year, it's always going to be a no win situation unless we win absolutely everything year in year which no team does, I agree it's been a cushy draw up to this point, but at the same time a draw that hasn't allowed us to showcase genuine top tier potential. Edgeworth and Sorrento are hardly games that are gonna draw in the masses and contrary to what some will say just shy of 3k is pretty good against edgeworth at least, by contrast Heidelbergs 3 home cup ties in the last few years have all been against A league sides.
You can't sugar coat the importance of next weeks match, it is hands down the biggest match in our post NSL history, and if we get to the semis we will be breaking an attendance record of some sort, definately npl v interstate A league at least. If we lose we will feel it all summer as a major missed opportunity, takes a lot of luck to get to this point, we need to take it.
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alvn1
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will they give out complementary sets of binoculars on entry?  it's like someone with a mk 2 ford escort trying to join a luxury sports car club
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southmelb
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Do they give out binoculars at Etihad? The view is closer at lakeside, and pretty good in fact.
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