Well, the numbers over many decades speak for themselves.

As I said, soccer has been the major participation sport in NSW for over a century. People often forget that.

So I get back to the key point I was making, backed up by a century of data: they play the game in big numbers but they don't appear to take an interest in the professional competition (relatively speaking).

But they do, this is my point!!!!

You are comparing VFL/AFL against NSL/A-League.

I'm comparing AFL against football, Man U (80K in 3 mins) against Collingwood (8K)in Australia (home of AFL).

Edited by robbos: 29/1/2013 09:55:17 AM

Victorian Rules Handball/Boganball HQ , is clearly driven by fear:

Fussball ist unser leben said | January 28th 2013 @ 3:35pm |Report comment
You will find that Reynoldsinski, is the new user name for a poster, who trolls The Roar’s Football forum.
He used to post under the name, The Cattery, TC, MyLeftFoot, MisterFootball, etc. but, eventually, he keeps getting banned.
He’ll soon create another username, to transition when “Reynoldsinski” gets an inevitable ban for being a serial pest.

You're talking about one club that visits Australia every 15 years - I'm talking about people paying to watch 25 games per season - in very, very large numbers.

I would have thought it's driven by a 155 year tradition and meticulous long-term planning.

Interestingly, at least two soccer fans on this thread have boasted of applauding people ripping down auskick posters in Sydney - fear indeed.

Interesting facts.....AFL also give away 4 times as many free tickets as people take them up on it.....now

From another site:

WSW Total Home Crowd Average: 11,677
GWS Total Home Crowd Average: 10,825

WSW Home Crowd Average with derby game removed: 10,849
GWS Home Crowd Average with derby game removed: 8,087


GWS Home Crowd average at SKODA Stadium only (6 games - Manuka & Blacktown games removed): 8,118

Giants Government money invested 90m upgrade of Skoda.
WSW Government money invested 0m using existing Parramatta.
Total cost of Giants so far 20m
Total cost of WSW so far 5m including wages to the end of the season.
Money earnt from the gate Sydney Giants = 200k
Money earnt from the gate Sydney WSW = 2m
5

Oh, and they've had 10 years of thinking about it and 5 years of planning compared to 5 months.

WHatever way you look at it, it's pretty shithouse and laughable from the afl

One is a global game watched by somewhere in the vicinity of 1 billion people, and the other is a game played in Australia and watched by 3 million people, alas I am unable to find the breakdown based on states, I wonder how many of those 3 million were outside Victoria?

There really isn't a comparison, Football will eventually win, unless the AFL thinks of a way to make it a global game, as the world becomes more global, we will look for a common language, including sport, and Football is so far ahead that there is little chance of anything else coming close.

Are you for real? last year was the first visit of Collingwood to West Sydney & they got 8K, they do not play in West Sydney 25 games a year & no they do not get large numbers.

i am talking about the following of Football against the following of AFL, yes I know you misunderstood :^o . The best teams in the world of football will always outdraw the best teams in the world of AFL in West Sydney.
Even the lowly Melbourne Heart playing in the lowly A-League outdraws by 2 times, the best AFL team Collingwood in the best AFL competition.

Best to remember that, while Melbourne is in Australia, Australia is not Melbourne, you AFL fans get very confused by this.

I'll trust my own eyes, thanks.
The amount of Juve shirts on Saturday night was, to a fan of the local game, sickening.

I went to Melbourne for the game and 2 of the people I went with also wore Juve shirts but they are also fans of the A-League.

We are from Adelaide but travel once a year in January for a weekend to Melbourne with the kids to watch a blockbuster game (last year was the derby) so you can not always just count the shirt being worn as being a Eurosnob. But some would definitely be there just for ADP, but not as many as I initially thought, it was very pro Victory crowd from where I was.

Hang on! Western Sydney is meant to be the "heartland" of Soccer in Australia. That's what all you Sydneysiders keep telling us. 11k average is pretty crap for the supposed heartland :-".

Of course all us "tards" :roll: down here in Melbourne will continue to sell out AAMI Park and get 40k+ at Etihad this weekend. Shows once again that Sydney talks Soccer but Melbourne does Soccer.

Edited by Jeff W: 29/1/2013 01:23:42 PM

I would guess that Barcelona, Real Madrid and several EPL clubs are more popular than Juve. Hence there are plenty of euro snobs who don't follow Juve.

Isn't the issue the other way around, for all the people that sit on their arse and watch AFL the number of people that actually want to play the game is very poor. For all the women that go to games almost none of them will actually play the game.

Participation in sport has a huge rewards for the community it Promoting healthy lifestyles, improves fitness and decreasing pressure on the health system saving Australians Billions of dollars.

All the Billions of dollars spent on viewing professional AFL supports only 800 players and a few corporate fat cats.

The numbers again were there are twice as many female football players in West Sydney then there are female AFL players in the whole of Australia.



Edited by clinton: 29/1/2013 02:27:26 PM

AFL is really a non issue in western Sydney. I lived there for the first 26 years of my life and I've met a grand total of 1 AFL fan. Mr aerial ping pong can crap on about crowds and cat memberships all he likes but I think it's got more to so with his insecurity that AFL cant get a foothold in its neighboring state let alone become an international game.

Many people in western Sydney watch NRL and play soccer. Sydney is so diluted in NRL teams that most have different loyalties. Now we finally have an HAL team if our own it seems everyone is getting behind it. There is no battle for the codes in western Sydney we follow nrl in the winter, soccer in the summer. If the AFL is lucky they will mention who won the final in the paper each year.

You seem confused not knowing Skoda is right next door to ANZ so it wasn't the first time Collingwood played in Western Sydney. The first time Collingwood played at ANZ in 2003 against the Swans 72,393 turned up. Now thanks to Eddie they've played there every year since, averaging about 45k in recent years, rather than the SCG which gives the Pies an onfield advantage :roll:.

As I said in an earlier post, Eddie has clearly done a great job convincing Sydneysiders that Collingwood is the be and all of the AFL. Conveniently left out is they are one of the most unsuccessful clubs of the past 50 years. Just two premierships in that time and both of those were to due to extraordinary circumstances. Soccer fans don't need to use the global appeal of Man Utd to bag Collingwood. Onfield success or lack of it is enough on its own. Man Utd has owned the EPL and won 12 premierships (soon to be 13) plus two Champions league and 4 FA Cups in the past 20 years. Prior to the EPL Liverpool was the biggest and most successful club in England but not anymore. It's Man U and daylight to the rest. That isn't the case with any club in the AFL no matter what Eddie thinks. The salary cap and draft system prevent any club dominating for long periods.

"Melbourne does soccer" is the best laugh I have had for a while. You lot are the voyeurs of football. Like to watch but won't take part. Get back to me about your place in football when you don't have the lowest rate of registered players in the country. Even the football backwater where I live has more than twice the rate of player registrations.

Edited by gyfox: 29/1/2013 03:03:57 PM

I had actually forgotten Collingwood and the Swans had already drawn 72k to a home and away game.

That's a pretty good crowd for footy in a non-heartland area.

AFL has the dollars to burn so can afford to punt on Western Sydney. Unfortunately in the long term I think they will successfully establish a team. At the very least it will continue to be a sell point for pay TV rights. That said it will do little to establish AFL as a kids sport in the west. The Swans, despite their success have made only small inroads into promoting AFL kid's participation.

Football will still be king as far as participation. Particularly as it now has the advantage of being a year round game. By being able to watch and support the A League in summer and play in the winter is a huge plus. Futsal is also expanding rapidly as a summer participation outlet for kids as well. None of the other codes offers this year round comprehensive opportunity to play and support their game.

Plenty of people to go round, no matter how big soccer's participation gets, there will be plenty who enjoy having a kick of the footy, and watching a match on the weekend.

Plenty of people to go round.

Western Sydney has a huge population, but attendances at live sport are pissant in all honesty - so there are plenty of people left over to attract to live sport, of any kind.

I haven't followed all the discussion in this thread, but whenever you post, Mr Football, it seems to generate polemics.

Yet there are two long term 442 members who have posted on another forum that 442 lacks enough diversity of opinion. If they followed your 442 participation more closely, they would get more of what they want.

You know who you are lads, speak up.[-x


And, Mr Football, have you heard of Oppositional Defiance Disorder? I think you suffer from it on 442.

I agree on your second point. Enough diversity of opinions sometimes changes mine.

As for your definition of pleasure, it smacks of casuistry. You are probably not going to alter the consciousness of your adversaries, me being one, so why bother? I am guilty of the same behaviour in other scenarios.






Edited by Decentric: 29/1/2013 03:38:17 PM

Surprisingly, i am aware of Collingwood's recent lack of success in recent years. I'm only using Collingwood, because they are AFL's biggest club, (attendances & membership, as per most AFL fans measure of biggest). Many an AFL fan not called Eddie, on this forum has told me that Collingwood is the biggest club in Australia, hence the comparison to Man U.
2003 is a long time ago, 8K is the last time, this great club grace Western Sydney.

80K in 3 mins for Man U is great for a country not deemed the heartland of football.

Not that it's important, but 8k is not the last crowd Collingwood attracted in Sydney, two weeks later, they played the Swans at Stadium Australia and attracted 46k, which, once again, is a decent crowd for Sydney.

In other words, the seemingly least liked football code in Sydney, probably got the biggest crowd for a home and away match for the year.

I would have agreed with you in the past.

However, don't Sydney/WSW combined draw bigger crowds than Heart/Victory combined on average on a weekly basis?

Now that you mention it, yes, I'd have to agree with you, the two Sydney clubs are now drawing more than the two Melbourne clubs.

I think it's far too early to say whether that will continue indefinitely, but that's definitely the case now.

The pay TV ratings for the weekend came through and I just updated my regular thread on Extra.

I've just noticed that the WSW home game rated only marginally higher than the Sailing.

Also, no EPL in there. It squeezes in occasionally - but very rarely.

No other sport made the top 20 from Friday to Monday (apart from the A-League and Sailing that is, although one A-League game failed to make the top 20).


Edited by Mister Football: 29/1/2013 03:48:16 PM

In total 10k more have gone to games in Sydney but there has been one more game played there. The derby in Melbourne will change the status.

Yes, my little knowledge of AFL, here is my explanation;

31K Swans fans, every Swans fans from around the world for biggest match of year.
7k magpies fans both up from Melbourne & living in Sydney
8K expats from vic, sa & wa following their 2nd favorite team anyone playing Collingwood.

72K in 2003 to 46K in premier winning season last season big drop.

80K in 3 mins for Man U for meaningless friendly in country where football not in top 3 sports in country is impressive.

If I was the AFL I would be seriously worried about their product in Western Sydney and Sydney as a whole.

If they had 72,000 at a game in Homebush in 2003 and only 46,000 at the same game in 2012 then that is a 36% decline in attendance in the 9 years. That sort of decline can not be sustained :-"

On a serious issue, again the game was between the Swans and Collingwood, the discussion is regrading Western Sydney Football V AFL in Western Sydney which would be the GWS

Another AFL stooge on an Australian Football forum:oops:

Do a u turn and head back to bigVFL [/quote]
You would know all about trolling after being banned from bigfooty for making a fool of yourself with your anti-Aussie Rules crap. Hypocrite! In fact there was a conspiracy theory on there at the time that you and Mr Football were the same person playing troll/anti-troll at once.

People can follow more than one sport passionately especially when their seasons don't clash. So code haters like yourself can GAGF!



Not based on this thread including your post. There's no 'code battle of Western Melbourne/Brisbane/Adelaide/Perth/Hobart/Canberra/Darwin etc ..." threads. The fear is definitely mainly emanating out of Sydney these days. Smell the fear! :lol: