Uh Oh, sparse crowd for GWS. Whats the capacity at the oval?

$200M investment will need more people than that

I knew itd be shit , that derby was mostly red and not a indication to what crowds they would get this season (no im not a AFL hater i like ARF)

Gold coast got 17k which was suprising.

Edit:the stadium is preety packed its only a 10k capacy though Probably 8k.

Edited by glory recruit: 15/4/2012 01:46:08 PM

Yeah it is by no means empty but considering the size and publicity, personally I was expecting it to be sold out and people shoe-horned in. It looks more sparse than a 12K Victory game and they play at a much bigger ground.

Ordinary for an AFL game but would be acceptable for us. But in the A-league a crowd that size would have a great atmosphere, this game has the atmosphere of a mass Yoga camp.

Edited by clinton: 15/4/2012 01:52:27 PM

im watching the game and its a blow-out. and btw gws giants have 49 members on their official forum. pretty low considering they had two years preparation and are a month into their first season.

GWS games wll be blow outs all season they're expected to do worse then GC in there first season.

6875 at GWS

If ever you needed more proof that a lot of Sydney don't care about AFL.....

An a-league crowd lol will be interesting if media says anything.

Edited by glory recruit: 15/4/2012 04:14:09 PM

they dont even have seats. l o l

There real stadium isnt finished yet.

on fox they were saying they will be lucky to win one match this season.

wtf.

why go watch a team that will always lose. at least football teams can be competitive no matter what the budget.

Edited by beersandwich: 15/4/2012 04:23:19 PM

Yup they r predicted to not win a single match.

Yeah 1 of the pros of football is that a team can be competitive from the get go and also football games can change lead in 5minutes even if there 3nil ARF games blow out by a lot and its been happening more and more lately.

Defently 1 of the cons of AFL imo.

Is this some sort of joke. Because if this is the crowd it is pathetic don't they have 10K members and they couldn't even be bothered to turn up to their first home game. Hate to see what the crowd will be like next year when it's not brand new and flashy.

:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

For a capacity of 10k, I don't think it's really that bad a result. They've never really had good crowds there for their trial games either. I think the AFL are more concerned about building GWS into their strategic push to have their game move away from the Vic+a few interstate stigma.

Will certainly be interesting to see what they get at Skoda though. I for one plan to attend, if not for the game, then just to check the stadium out.

I really like GC stadium its nice.

8,294 members according to their website many of whom are Canberra based. I wouldn't have expected much more than what they got at Blacktown. They will get more when Skoda Park is finished because it is more central to their prospective fans and fans these days expect better facilities. A venue with only 1600 was never going to draw a decent crowd.

they have canberra based members? weird.

I was gonna say. haha. But why start the team if they don't have a stadium yet? Felt like I was looking at a VFL match. Looked very amateur with everyone standing/laying down.

Good god wtf are geelong wearing.

Check it out at next year's Easter Show.

1. Your money won't be going to the enemy.
2. You will be amongst a bigger crowd.
3. There will be some entertainment happening on the infield.
4. There will be something to do before and after you leave the ground.

;)

They will have this issue at the start of every season. Being the RAS Showground the RAS's Easter Show has priority use I understand. I'm not sure how long it will take to get the surface back in good nick after the show is over each year.

So where are all the people touting how great the AFL expansion plan is? The only thing the AFL does better is having a ridiculous amount of resources so they can lose a $100million on a club.

Less than Gold Coast Uniteds first home attendance.

$200M.... Thats 30K per person!

Some claim that the AFL model for expansion is one we should follow. Umm.. wheres the proof in that?

The team had a year to build up its squad, play matches and gain a foothold in the market, and this is all it can produce? In it for the long haul is one thing to say, but theres always a line in the sand moment that decisions will need to be made.

The AFL have taken a massive risk here, and it may well have bitten off more than it can chew. Time will tell.

They should've just paid 15k to any person to go to the game... Would've got double the crowd.

FSN saying that McKinna is set to be named inaugural manager, although haven't seen that rumour anywhere else yet.

Is that a good move :-k

wonder if the locals would appreciate his style of play? I know they need to start recruiting but they dont have a ceo or a confirmed target culture or playing style.

While I would prefer someone else, Lawrie does have a few things in his favour, he knows the area very well having spent a lot of time out here both as a player and a manager and he also has very good experience as a manager of a new A-League club and knows how to deal with most of the challenges associated with getting a new club up and running.

Edited by sydneycroatia58: 15/4/2012 07:01:54 PM

I don't see the AFL model being applicable in our case. Maybe you could get a new side playing in a state league for a year or two and build up a base, but you can't get the big names, for our league at least, playing in the state league for a year or two while the base develops. Bringing Wellington in on short notice worked pretty well, and I'd rate Western Sydney as a better chance than they ever had.

As a side note, the Wellington Pheonix really don't get enough applause for what they achieved. They came in on short notice following the worst performance over two seasons one could imagine from the Knights and did damn well. They finished below Perth only on goal difference and averaged a solid 11,500 in their first season. They have since made a real statement that they are here to challenge and despite their brand of football I have always been impressed with them. It is also worth noting that Perth Glory were an established team before the A-league era, and yet after only a few months preparation Wellington came in and at worst equaled them on and off the park. I also remember their 2-2 draw in their first ever A-league game against the reigning Champions Melbourne Victory as well.

Anyone wondering if rushing Western Sydney only need to look at the success of Wellington to know it can work, but only time will tell if it does.