Did you read the article? Of the 25 million rumoured to have been lost, 11 of that was on GC and 10 on discretionary spending such as marquees.

Interesting even in the NSL how an mono ethnic club can drag down a broadbased club that has no ethnic ties. No reason why South Melbourne Hellas would not do the same.

cheers, the other disconcerting fact is they want to join on their terms and not be beholden to the same rules as everyone else....because they believe they can do it better.

I have no doubt they believe that can do it better, and believe with absolute conviction if they get in they WILL do it better, but the ultimate reality is they wont.

And once the cracks start to appear they would never admit fault, they would blame the FFA, the other teams, Heart (even if it were dead), the weather, the economy, Tony Abbott, the marquees, anything other than themselves. Accountability and recognising weakness is not their strong point.

The thing is - we think all teams should be beholden to the same rules - we just feel that some of the rules (ownership of IP, stadium requirements, ownership models) should be different for everyone.

- Every A-league team would be better off if they owned their own IP

- Many A-League teams would be better off if stadium requirements were lowered thus increasing their options for negotiating better deals.

- There would be more options for investors, and therefore more options for expansion, if the ownership model was locked to 100% private investors.

Sounds a lot like the excuses we hear for poor Heart crowds. There always seems to be something wrong with the weather.

6,096 yesterday - for a game described by the coach as "make or break", a game they would have been confident of winning, on a beautiful Saturday evening... Even I managed to get along to the bloody game (a rare event), yet still only 6,096. And the excuse..? Perth are bottom of the league..? As if Heart fans only want to see their team play good sides and lose.

Fair enough, except that million plus annual attendances, record sponsorship, record annual turnover, record broadcast tv deals, unprecedented media coverage two consecutive and possibly a third in a row World Cup appearance, hosting AFC Cup and record growth rates in participation would suggest that they probably know what they're doing.

Sounds a lot like the excuses we hear for poor Heart crowds. There always seems to be something wrong with the weather.

6,096 yesterday - for a game described by the coach as "make or break", a game they would have been confident of winning, on a beautiful Saturday evening... Even I managed to get along to the bloody game (a rare event), yet still only 6,096. And the excuse..? Perth are bottom of the league..? As if Heart fans only want to see their team play good sides and lose.

I don't think anyone was expecting a sell out Ben. 6k isn't too shabby for a side bottom of the table and in dissaray, not quite as low as the 3-4k Chris and Arthur were predicting. Will be interesting to see what crowd they get in two weeks time v Sydney.

Would you agree that there is a massive difference between "expecting a sell out" and 7,000-8,000?

A number of pages back Joffa and I debated statistics that suggested Heart were heading toward a higher average (non derby) attendance this year than last. At that time I noted that Heart needed crowds of around 6,970 for the remaining 5 games in order to end the season with a higher non-derby average (which would be a good thing).

The game against Adelaide produced a crowd of 7,181 - which put them ahead of target, last night's game at 6,069 puts them behind. They now require around 7,300 per game to have grown this season. Very possible - Del Piero, another Adelaide game and a WSW finals chasing showdown could all push in that direction...

Would you want a club in your league that wants to kill another club to get in, or would you rather a club that wants to get in by growing the game?

Astounding - Perth Glory involved in racial incidents, and it's the other teams that are to blame.

I wonder, when Glory had a good behavior bond hanging over them in 98-99 because fans kept throwing bottles on the pitch, was that the fault of supporters of other teams too?

Police trawl soccer riot video

By Jesse Hogan
April 18, 2005 - 3:24PM

Supporters watch on as flares are thrown at Bob Jane Stadium last night.
Photo: Stefan Gorgievski

Police are furious after ethnic-based soccer violence flared again last night during a Victorian Premier League soccer clash between South Melbourne and Preston Lions at Bob Jane Stadium.

Four officers received minor injuries in the melee.

One person was arrested for assaulting an officer, with police studying video footage to try and make more arrests.

Even before play began, 9000 supporters of South Melbourne - which has a mainly Greek fan base - and the predominantly Macedonian Preston Lions were segregated at opposite ends of the stadium, separated by water-filled barriers.

Forty-five police and 40 security staff confiscated inflammatory banners and amid chanting and rising tension, delaying kick-off by 15 minutes.

A goal from ex-South Melbourne player Steve Manceski was enough for Preston to claim victory against its higher-rated opponent, but the result triggered violence in the stands.

At least a dozen flares were thrown onto the pitch after the match, while about 100 supporters of both clubs invaded the pitch after breaking down a fence.

The rival supporters also threw coins and darts at each other.

Mounted police were used to disperse the crowd.

One supporter threw a wheelie bin at a police horse.

Acting Superintendent Chris Duthie, who was working at the match, said the behaviour of some fans was "very disappointing".

"The police could do little else than try and control the crowd," he said. "If we had have gone in and made numerous arrests we would have lost our personnel," he said.

"If it hadn't have been for the police horses, I think we would have lost the day."

A match between South Melbourne and Melbourne Knights in the now-defunct National Soccer League in February last year was also marred by crowd violence.

Supporters, most of whom supported the Knights, ripped up chairs at Bob Jane Stadium and marched down Clarendon Street in droves after the match, damaging many shops along the way.

South Melbourne president George Donikian said it was likely future matches between the two clubs - which had not faced each other in 12 years - would be played away from fans.

Acting Superintendent Duthie said extra officers were rostered on as violence was expected. He said he had met representatives of both clubs before the match but was unhappy with the result.

"I wasn't satisfied with the fact that there was no guarantees they could control the behaviour of their own fans."

He also dismissed suggestions they were unprepared for the violence, saying security officers had been checking patrons' bags while police had been using metal detectors as well.

"If you have 200 people that want to riot, it's difficult to have any number of police or security in order to overcome it."

Acting Superintendent Duthie will be meeting further with the clubs this week to determine how their will minimise violence in future fixtures between the two clubs. He forecast an alcohol ban at Bob Jane Stadium.

"There probably won't be (alcohol available) in the future, because I'm also the licensing inspector for that area."

He also said arrangements would have to be made to ensure rival supporters were not using the same toilets, as happened yesterday.

The clubs face fines of up to $10,000 over the flare-throwing.

Officials from Football Federation Victoria, which runs the Victorian Premier League, will meet to decide on punishment for the clubs.

Victorian Soccer Federation chief Tony Pignata told ABC radio the two clubs could be banned from competition.

- with AAP

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Soccer/Police-trawl-soccer-riot-video/2005/04/18/1113676681119.html

Interesting Statement, the implication being that SMFC wishes the death of Heart and working towards that out come in an attempt to place themselves in a position to take up the available franchise as second Melbourne A-League team.

The SMFC Board of Directors in developing a stratergy for the Club have never stated that as club policy. They wouldn't be able to find the time just for starters

The Board clearly is positioning SMFC as a best practice club in Victoria in various areas such as media presentation, internet presence, membership offers and growth, participation in national and international events and junior growth/development. While not limited to these areas the general approach is noted and in conjuction with excellent facilities for player and spectator.

Your statement also carries the assumption that SMFC is ready to accept a position in the A-League at the drop of a hat.

I have no doubt that the SMFC BoD policy in developing the SMFC brand is to position the Club to be ready for an A-League position long term, short term the Club is looking at fitting into the APL criteria and ideally from general discussions with board members they would like a second tier eastern seaboard competition during the Summer months of course they don't see this happening in the short term.

So maybe you need to amend that statement because SMFC is not in the business of bringing down other clubs, SMFC is in the business of running its on affairs.

Edited by Arthur: 11/2/2013 08:36:13 AM

Edited by Arthur: 11/2/2013 08:37:46 AM

Interesting Statement, the implication being that SMFC wishes the death of Heart and working towards that out come in an attempt to place themselves in a position to take up the available franchise as second Melbourne A-League team.

True enough Arthur, it is wrong to brand the club for the actions of a few, I agree my Post should read 'some supporters of a club'

Thanks for pointing out my error

Edited by Joffa: 11/2/2013 09:55:45 AM

Ethnic violence seems to always follow at South Melbourne Hellas' home ground it appears.

What's going to happen if Hellas play Preston Macedonia in a FFA cup or APL?




Edited by paulc: 11/2/2013 09:17:49 AM

Isn't that what the thread title says?

Ethnic violence seems to always follow at South Melbourne Hellas' home ground it appears.

What's going to happen if Hellas play Preston Macedonia in a FFA cup or APL?

I'm pretty sure this stat is wrong, last year 17 million was lost and it is believed that 10 million or so was lost by GCU.

Would you want a club in your league that wants to kill another club to get in, or would you rather a club that wants to get in by growing the game?

Interesting Statement, the implication being that SMFC wishes the death of Heart and working towards that out come in an attempt to place themselves in a position to take up the available franchise as second Melbourne A-League team.

The SMFC Board of Directors in developing a stratergy for the Club have never stated that as club policy. They wouldn't be able to find the time just for starters

The Board clearly is positioning SMFC as a best practice club in Victoria in various areas such as media presentation, internet presence, membership offers and growth, participation in national and international events and junior growth/development. While not limited to these areas the general approach is noted and in conjuction with excellent facilities for player and spectator.

Your statement also carries the assumption that SMFC is ready to accept a position in the A-League at the drop of a hat.

I have no doubt that the SMFC BoD policy in developing the SMFC brand is to position the Club to be ready for an A-League position long term, short term the Club is looking at fitting into the APL criteria and ideally from general discussions with board members they would like a second tier eastern seaboard competition during the Summer months of course they don't see this happening in the short term.

So maybe you need to amend that statement because SMFC is not in the business of bringing down other clubs, SMFC is in the business of running its on affairs.

Sounds Good Joffa,

But did the Heart mob shed a tear over the notion that they were manufactured and implanted over the top of existing real clubs ?

Or given that promotion/relegation has been banned. How are a clubs fans supposed to vent their aspirations ?



Edited by GCU till I die: 11/2/2013 12:45:31 PM

Such blatant disregard for Melbourne Heart's sports science facilties [-x

Ethnic violence seems to always follow at South Melbourne Hellas' home ground it appears.

What's going to happen if Hellas play Preston Macedonia in a FFA cup or APL?




Edited by paulc: 11/2/2013 09:17:49 AM

Do you believe everything you read?

And as discussed with Joffa, is it an official position of SMFC?

Are we to take everything written by a football supporter on this forum as the policy of the club or franchise they support?

HAHAHAHA but their fans are :lol: as if the bolded lines aren't the two most hypocritical statements on a thread where its title is "[crowd#] Heart OUT -> SMFC IN"!?! LOL :lol: :lol: :lol:

Well, you tell me.

The thread title was written by chris, who purports to speak on the behalf of SMFC, and has done so on many occasions.

So either yes, this is the official position of SMFC or chris and all his claims of inside knowledge on the workings of SMFC are crap.