The marketing was essentially club based, soccer Australia never did anything.

I remember the current Perth CEO Peter filopoulos saying that when he was at south the club would hand pick 2-3 games per season to seriously promote and hit the mainstream outlets, these games would often attract 10k+, the problem was we and the rest of the comp didn't have the resources to do this every week, obviously a competent governing body combined with Foxtel/internet coverage etc would have come in handy back then.

We might be getting less people now because we are in a state league but more people know what SM is doing now compared to 15 years ago. Hell we could put up a bogus expansion story and many thousands will read across the various social media platforms, back then you would be hard pressed to even find a match report.

The NSL was always going to die the way it did. Hostile, mocking media, volunteer based clubs, no marketing, part time squads, little or no off field professionalism, old suburban grounds with minimal spectator facilities, WC qualification disasters every 4 years......the list is endless. But the funny thing is given the above negative factors there were many great sides produced that played superb football and countless champions produced. NSL clubs had a more 'footballing' focus and passionate people involved. They knew football rather than 'business'. Give these teams and players today's 'stage' and I have no doubt that the football produced would probably be of an equal or higher standard. Obviously we'll never know.

Yep, all very serendipitous really, lets be honest.

Imagine the hal for a second with no pay tv and no social media revolution, with us still kicking shit in oceania.

The FFA (Frank Lowy) saved Australian domestic football by creating the A-League.
from the opening round 63,000 watched the 4 games
Sponsors, fans all jumped on board from the start.
Not to mention approx 65 players returned to Australia to play

Yep, Foxtel digital started in 2004 just as the NSL died. The A league was the big new feature on the platform in late 2005, we qualify for the World Cup 2 months later, social media starts to make its way in around 2006 and explodes in the years that follow.

Basically if they wiped the NSL out 5 years earlier and started the the A league in 2000 it never would have gained the traction it did. in 2000 the best you had were a couple of forums, you can forget about online video coverage and a huge chunk of the population didn't even have Internet then. Everything is at your fingertips now.

Yep it died on the cusp of the pay tv - social media revolution... two massive things that the hal has largely survived off.  

And true biggie, we were still in oceania then..,, a lots changed in the world since then. 

The NSL had a 3-4 year run on pay tv back when many people didn't have it, and the few that did were already split between 2 pay providers, the other issue was aside from showing a few lives games a week the NSL had no other type of coverage on the platform, think of where the NBL sits in the pecking order now at fox but much much worse, most of the televised games featured northern spirit, Perth glory and south Melbourne, not surprisingly these 3 clubs had the biggest crowds, the rest were regularly ignored so the coverage was useless to them, even when abc was showing 1 live game a week they were basically showing the same teams and the only way you got on tv is If you played the 3 mentioned, the south Melbourne games on Sundays were usually delayed as well as only Friday and Saturday night games were shown live. They were also paying peanuts at the time.

The game obviously had no internet/social media presence back then, this didn't allow the players to become celebrities, nowadays even the presenters are well known, Tara, bozza etc, back then I think it was Paul wade and mike cockerill, they would be on tv twice a week and then never seen or heard feom again until the following week. You didn't have channels like fox sports news that would have daily NSL segments the way it is now.

Would the NSL have survived if a provider like fox had come to the party? Yes, would crowd averages be as big as they are now? No, because you would still have a large number of teams in Sydney and Melbourne where the support would be split. Did the NSL fold at the absolute wrong time? Yes yes yes, it died in 2004 just as the Internet/social side was on the verge of taking off, add World Cup qualification and it's dream land.

I have no mentioned sbs coverage at all up until now because back then most only put it on after 10 to watch softcore porn so it had releatively little meaning outside of the few wogs who watched it during the day.

The NSL was doomed -- dwindling crowds no TV coverage

Basically in short if the NSL had been given the nurturing that the HAL got would it have evolved? TV deal, joining AFC etc.

Just a quick question for those in the know. I myself remember the NSL but being too young I don't remember the politics.

Was there any hope for the NSL?

In the way that if they had received a deal like the original HAL Foxtel one, would the NSL evolved into a professional league the way the NRL and AFL did?

Obviously the NSL turned a slight corner once Perth and Adelaide United joined, given time could that have lead to the whole league advancing?

My understanding is Carlton and Collingwood and Parramatta weren't accepted that well as they were run by RL and AFL clubs. Was there ever any talk of a Melbourne Victory or Sydney FC joining the NSL to try and rival AU and Glory, I do understand SMFC etc did pretty well on their own in that regard.

Curiosity is all that Spurs this on I'm not looking to start a shitfight.

People probably think im a melodramatic crackpot when i crap on about what a corrupt megalomaniac this bloke is. Shifty prick who tried to strong-arm, it all backfired, and now hes getting his revenge. Make no mistake. Its all about ego and power with him. The last thing he gives a fk about are football communities.  People today really dont know anything about what he did and how it all went down. And sure its a joke and a travesty that no one talks out...no one touches this with a ten foot pole... but what more gobsmacking is how many idiots actually defend him without actually knowing the history. Let alone defend his current evil deeds on show: nepostism.

Lowy has been made to sound like the saviour by most sections of the new dawn, this doesn't bother me, what bothers me is people who have absolutely no knowledge claiming that lowy left the NSL because he felt it had no future and walked away, firstly lowy ran his club into the ground, they had no supporters despite lots of on field success and paid off refs, the NSL lasted decades after lowy left and did well under the conditions it operated in, lowy thought the whole thing would fall over immediately after he left, he was proven wrong, his return to the game had an element of revenge about it and the pure disdain he shows towards the old NSL clubs proves it.

These are the facts, lowy pulled hakoah out of the NSL a week before the start of a new season and caused chaos, he was a lunatic, threw the toys out of the pram and went home whilst the rest rolled there sleeves up and killed themselves to keep things going, these are not the actions of a man who loved his club nor his sport. Now people may say big deal who cares, the entire football fraternity at the time cared and most were glad to see the back of him, it's a shame most are too scared nowadays to speak out against him.

He absolutely did. Threw his toys out of the pram and drove them into oblivion. 

Thats why i laugh when posters make idiotic comments about the return of the nsl. Lowy was part of the nsl...and a very negative part of it at that... and now hes running the new comp, and hey presto, the same shit that happened then, is happening again, except lowy is on the other side of the coin now lol. Disgruntled owners unhappy with the way the game is being run. Oh the delicious fking irony.

The nsl is already back. And i have no doubts lowy can and will repeat his past feats..but this time on a national level... and drive the entire game into the ground this time. 

Didn't he drive Sydney Hakoah bust. There were a few allegations from NSL die hards in the early days. Im  curious now how long fans will stick with this?

Unfortunately, you are right. Which will send the A League the way of the NSL. Byt will Frank Lowy still be available in another 10 years?

There will be no expansion. 

#firein
#yourefired
#fireup

Sunshine Coast A-League bid forces critical meeting

Woodall, a lawyer who founded Sunshine Coast FC a decade ago, said he had been considering making a bid for some time.

Tripathi, a Brisbane-based, Indian businessman, has recently been in talks with Woodall's company about possibly joining forces with SCFC in a bid.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) is expected to release the expansion criteria for potential bids soon, with the likelihood of two clubs being added to the competition in 2018-19.

"I've met with the gentleman only once," Woodall told The World Game. "My staff have met with him two or three times.


Wollongong 'ready to meet any expansion criteria FFA sets'

Wollongong Wolves CEO Chris Papakosmas has stated the club has financial backers ready to support a bid for inclusion in the A-League and that it would meet whatever expansion criteria Football Federation Australia set.

"We're still a fair way away from any type of arrangement, but I'll be meeting with him again myself next week.

"I've asked some pretty probing questions, I suppose, and I want some answers on things before we hang our reputation with him.

"So we're happy to talk, but we're looking for something concrete because before we would join in a bid together we want to be happy with it."

A report in The Courier-Mail newspaper on December 17 said Tripathi had a consortium of overseas businessmen "ready to bankroll a bid".

Tripathi was quoted in the report saying: "My idea for an A-League club on the Sunshine Coast is real."

He added that he had studied A-League clubs and concluded that single-investor models were likely to fail, adding: "I don’t want to repeat history. I want to do the right things with the right people.”


South Melbourne line up Madrid marquees

A-League aspirants South Melbourne have lined up Real Madrid greats Roberto Carlos and Chendo as their coach and technical director-in-waiting should they be granted entry into an expended competition.

Woodall told The World Game his company did due diligence on potential investors as a normal process, the same as it would on players or coaches they were considering signing.

He said that while Sunshine Coast FC might be in a position to make a bid on its own, with the team playing out of a revamped Sunshine Coast Stadium at Kawana Waters, substantial financial backing from the outside as part of a joint forces bid "may advance any plans we have to bid for a position".

"Whether we would be ready for the latest round of potential expansion on our own is something we would have to decide," Woodall said.

"Practically speaking, we've got to make sure we've got the facilities FFA consider appropriate to make us a real contender. I think that's possible with council support and that we're not far away from that.

"My company has put millions of dollars into the development of the club over a 10-12 year period. We have our own schools programs and a full-time and part-time coaching staff of 32. It's not a small club.

"I've been around a long time and I know a lot of people. Some people don't like me, some people do like me, but at the end of the day they know we're about advancing the game.

TV networks to sway A-League expansion

Football Federation Australia has asked TV networks to state their preferred A-League expansion club locations as part of negotiations for what they hope is a bumper new broadcast deal.

"If the gentleman stacks up once we've finished our process, then we'll look at joining up with him in a bid. If not, we've still got our own plans and we'll decide by mid-year ourselves whether to go ahead.

"We don't mind there is a potential investor, but we've got certain criteria going forward we would expect him to meet.

"We'll see what he's got to say and if we can put a deal together we may well go with it. He wants to put something together pretty quickly. I'll probably know within the next month whether a deal can be done."

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2017/01/14/sunshine-coast-league-bid-forces-critical-meeting

Wanderers 1880

Lol

Balgownie Rangers since 1883.

Brisbane Roar since 1957 :D

A rising tide lifts all boats. SMFC est. 1959 brings that history to the league which is lacking in it severely. Adding Wollongong would be wonderful for the same reason, albeit not as charming.

NEWS FLASH Melb Hellas will never ever be in the A-League

anyone who wants to start another thread->

Wollongong CEO on the daily football show

https://audioboom.com/posts/5473780-wollongong-wolves-ceo-chris-papakosmas-on-the-daily-football-show?t=0

need more grudge games. too many games leave little to the imagination.  Heres a different approach to expansion, it should create more big game matchups. By expanding into Townsville and Gold Coast, yes we created 3 qld teams ie. 6 queensland derbies, however a game vs gold coast or fury was seen as an unattractive fixture when they hosted them. GCU managed to pull a crowd against roar, fury, sydney fc and victory.


Perspective of 3 existing clubs and what expansion would do for them in terms of big-game appeal.

the break-up of games for wsw fans (and similarly for sydney fc):
big games: vs east sydney, victory, city, jets, ccm + south melbourne + wollongong + south sydney
small games vs glory, roar, adelaide, phoenix + hobart + geelong + brisbane strikers + canberra

break-up of games for melbourne city fans (and similarly melbourne victory):
big games: vs victory, adelaide, sydney fc + south melbourne + geelong + hobart
small games vs glory, wsw, jets, ccm, roar, phoenix + south sydney + wollongong + brisbane strikers + canberra

roar fans:
big games: vs victory, melbourne city. sydney fc + brisbane strikers
small games vs glory, , adelaide, phoenix, wsw, ccm, jets + south melbourne + hobart + south sydney + wollongong + geelong + canberra

for the other non victorian, nsw sides, expansion would have negligible influence on their crowds except maybe introducing former nsl clubs would pull a bit more for former nsl clubs such as adelaide and perth.

Top 6 in Finals

Bottom 6 in relegation play offs

Australia is unique

Won't you get bored if your team is going to finish mid table? maybe we should have a mid table relegation spot. ie the bottom 2 teams get relegated and then a team that finishes 9th also gets relegated, just so the teams that aren't in the relegation zone or aren't in the finals race have 'something to play for'.