Nah. However, I do plan on following and watching the NSD as a neutral. Although I will always favour the Victorian sides. Well maybe not Preston, but the others are ok by me.

Can't blame a man for trying :P

Nah, there had to be a show of force beyond what you'd normally expect. It wasn't a time for a slap on the wrist. They really had no choice but to crack down. Mainstream media would've killed us otherwise. 

Even 1 or 2 games behind closed doors is nonsense. Doing that would only appease the NRL/ AFL friendly media.
Yes , ban the invaders, but not the others.

little to zero. we're talking 20 years, basically a generation. 

Yeah I agree with that... Will be a few but not THAT many... 

Quite a few have burned their bridges by now and probably wouldn't feel like they "belong" back at their respective clubs.

Most South fans I have spoken to over the past few days say they would be happy for some of these "apostates" to come back to Lakeside but there are some well known vocal "turncoats" who will have to eat a lot of humble pie before they come crawling back.... 

I tend to agree but said that as in "if they HAD to do some public charade" a closed game would achieve that and in a language that football supporters understand as it does happen around the world for large transgressions

Mainstream media would not have given a shit a week later - that is my entire point

The x games behind closed doors would have been that show of force and wouldn't have alienated everyone else

There was 60,000 at Sydney/WSW game a few years back.  What happened?  Therein lies the answer as to why crowds have plummeted over the past few years.  

Mainstream media would not forget. We'd be a target of constant sniping and sneering on talk shows and the like. Otherwise, they would ignore us even more than they're already doing. The a-league would likely disappear altogether from sport segments on the news. 

The reaction had to be harsh. They had to show the wider mainstream culture that football does not tolerate assaults on players and officials on the field of play, and that there are real consequences for such behaviour. It's a ridiculous thing to have to prove in Australia in 2023, but here we are. We brought this on ourselves. It's no one else fault. We're actually pretty fucking dumb.

Crowds aren’t as bad as they seem.

Adelaide, Sydney, WSW and CCM are up on 2018/19 averages.

Perth’s home is receiving upgrades.

Roar have sacrificed fans for lower operating costs.

MV are down but this is a temporary blip and you imagine will recover as people forget about the GF decision and pitch insurrection.

In all honesty the league probably just needs a couple of bumper derbies and a few positive headlines and crowds will slowly recover.

What happened?

It was a peak then and we are now in a trough. Ups and downs so the cycle goes.

Pathetic effort by the APL so far, but of course anything is better than Lowy, right. 

Is    that    you     Remote    Control  ?!    Was    wondering   why   u     hadn’t    posted     for  a    few  weeks 

It's already happened. It happened long before that incident. If they talk about us it's sniping and sneering otherwise they ignore us.
We had a good 10 years or so and we should be happy we lived through that

lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol

If you believe people are going to forget the GF decision, you do not understand the mentality of your average Melbourne Victory punter.

We’ve averaged 6,000 for the 3 home games we’ve had since the GF decision. It’s not a temporary blip. This is the new normal. Mark my words.

We bottom of the ladder. I'd say that is a pretty big contributing factor. Not the only one, but definitely doesn't help.

Lololololol

I know you claimed some percentage elsewhere but are you sure you are not overblowing that angle and underrepresenting the angle of a pitch invasion assault on a player leading to restrictions?

Oh and tony bald spot popovic???!!!! lololololololololol

I have no idea what I’m talking about? I am a long-term victory member (I also own shares) with my ear on the ground and I know more than what you fucking know when it comes to the views of the rank and file punter, you absolute turnip!!

Yes, the sanctions are a factor. But it’s completely naive and simplistic to suggest everyone will turn up again once the sanctions are gone. Its gonna take years (if ever).

As I stated in another thread, I would estimate the main reason for Vuck fans not showing up:
-          60% re the Sydney GF decision.
-          30% the unfair sanctions and onerous ticketing process.
-          10% on field performance.

lol all that proves you have no idea what you are talking about. What the fuck does owning shares have to do with anything? You have your "ear on the ground"? Victory has over 20k members, how many have you spoken to personally? 0.1%? Making broad strokes based on a few drunken pub chats with  OSM members doesnt give you any authority mate.

Again how do you explain the 18k who turned up, IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING the APL decision?

I will explain to you human nature;

When APL announced their decision many fans were very angry and vowed never to attend or watch an A league game again. Then over time they got less angry, and as we have seen with most clubs, they have recovered their historical averages prior to the APL decision. The exception is MV, who were hit by a triple whammy; APL crowds, clusterfuck pitch invasion, crowd restrictions and poor results. However, time, being the great healer that it is, everyone, including you, will come to accept the APL decision because your love for MV is greater than your hatred for the APL. With MV its taking a little bit longer, but good results and an epic derby will certainly speed up the process. 

The 60%, 40% blah blah is just asinine waffle.

As part of his transition into normal society his shrink told him to ditch the Etch-A-Sketch.

No mate I'm not, but apparently I'm also supposed to be 2 or 3 other people. It's fun listening to the speculation.

The grass isn't always greener, But how many here would admit they got it wrong on the need to leave Murdoch and the ffa 

Fox Sports ended up running A League into the ground while they still had broadcasting rights! Damaged the AL, then ditched it. Fuck Murdoch.

FA and Apl have stuffed up some things for sure - but I know that there wouldn’t be ANY talk -like there is now- about a NSD if old FFA was still in charge. And Socceroos under new FA just had there highest ever finish at a Wcup with 2 consecutive wins.

so my answer is a NO.

Both would be as bad

Without ,P&R driving improvement and eliminating incompetence its inevitable

You'd be blaming JJ instead of Townsend

If 60% aren't showing up because of the Sydney GF decision, then they are not true football people.

Good point. Not many would admit it as it's hard to talk with egg on the face.

See what I mean!

The old FFA kicked the NSD discussions off before the new mob rolled in. Same for expansion.

The old FFA set the precedence and left no stone unturned to qualify for the 2006 WC after many decades in no mans land. The move from Oceania to Asia, orchestrated by the old FFA was and still is instrumental in raising our game to meet the toughness required to participate. Arnold was the architect of the 2 wins you mentioned, which still pales in comparison vs the numerous consecutive WC qualifications. Nothing to do with the new FA.


 

Egg on face

Sounds familiar