Hey mate that's disgusting behaviour and I hate that you had to experience it on a football pitch...or anywhere else for that matter Thanks for taking the time to explain btw. 

With the U20 WC was that the time they formed a swastika in the stands against Israel?  I despise that nationalistic, racist garbage but you're right, a few really rotten apples shouldn't paint the whole picture....

pretty decent! Thanks for the info!

The FFA Cup shows what is possible with football in this country. I am legitimately so excited so see the second and maybe even third tier of football advance the game.

Yes, the game last night showed that there isn't that big a gap between the APL and NPL, so the NSD should be a viable entity from the get go. And the third tier also makes sense.

On a different note, how good is the Victorian NPL. Several teams coming through the Australia Cup look good. Maybe fighting the angst of the AFL dominated media etc gives the teams there added strength and purpose.

I heard a filthy rumour last weekend........  NSD start date now pushed out to March 2024 or maybe 2025 or ........... not sure of the model yet, still "consulting" with stakeholders.
Apparently the APL were popping champagne corks this week....... 
I hope it happens in your life time bud, Im in my 40s and I dont think Ill get to see it in mine :(

This thread was started in 2017 with the NSD to kick off in 2018.
I wanna see it happen (and it will), but it will take ages.

For the record, I seem to recall various announcements about Football Australia being about to create a national cup a good 2 or 3 years before the FFA cup started.

Only one person had the clout to get this off the ground, early on when he had all the "stakeholders" by the short and curlies.
It didn't happen then, and now with:
 - dozens of stakeholders to appease, plus
 - the APL and A-League clubs being more powerful than ever,

well, let's just say, it involves many more degrees and levels of fine tuning, lobbying, bludgeoning and duchessing - in no particular order.

And, if it does get off the ground - there are really no guarantees that it will look anything like many were hoping.

The only guarantee is that the financial investment of a bunch of foreigners will be protected above everything.....

No.  First big "event".  The initial group of four playing in Sydney was Australia, England, Argentina and Cameroon.   England beat Cameroon in the first game with two dodgy as shit diving penaltys (iirc) in a game Cameroon dominated.  The match was at the Cricket Ground No2 Oval where the SFS now stands.  It was 2 matches, one ticket, in one night.  There was a large "English Supporters" group all decked out as "bovver boys" who were singing and jumping around seeming noisy but harmless, at one end.  Next to them on the South East side were the Argentine supporters with drums, horns, banners and streamers.  There would have been maybe 500ish in each group and they were side by side more or less.

Australia beat Argentina 2-1 after yet another dive was awarded a penalty against the home side.  At the end of the game, the crowd started to disperse slowly through the narrow exits when all hell broke loose.  The "English" fans suddenly advanced on the Argentine crowd chanting "Argentina you're out" while throwing bottles, sticks, bins, and anything they could rip up really.  I was (with mates) maybe 20 metres away from the clash line desperately seeking shelter as rocks and bottles starting hitting people and buildings around us. 

A massive surge erupted at the exits and people were screaming and trying to run over other people.  The Argentine men seemed to form a barrier in front of the "boys" and just stood there soaking it up before the line was charged.

At that point, hell was loose on earth.  I stood back to back with my mates and we just stood and tried to survive and help people get by.  I saw an old couple, seemingly in their 60s or 70s go up a wall and over a barbed wire barrier.  They got hung up but didn't care just kept going.  Bottles smashing, people screaming.  And I mean the kind of screams of mortal terror that Hollywood can't emulate.  It's a horrible sound that still makes me choke.  As soon as we could, we backed around and went over the fence on to the field.  There was about a dozen cops who had formed a ring near the south-east side.  A couple of others were charging into the mess and dragging out the badly injured and laying them in the middle of the ring for protection.  There was an "English" supporter with a corner flag who was trying to skewer the wounded. 

The papers reported the next day that many had been stabbed.  I don't know because I didn't hang round to chat.  Ran to the western side and found a way out.  Across the park and we ran to all the way to Central listening to the sirens and finally calmed down.

Next match there was a ring of riot police 2 metres apart right round the ground watching the crowd.  Perfect behaviour!

Comes the semis and England was knocked out by Qatar at the SCG.  Hardly a cop there.  Pitch invasion with the "bovver boys" using bottles, fists and boots in an attack on the Qatari players as they tried to get away.  A couple of England players tried to protect them, so they were attacked too.
Oddly enough, this crowd behaviour did not enhance our game in the eyes of the wider public.

How the fuck we ever deserved a chance again after that disgrace I will never know.
Now the zinger.  A lot of effort by the Sydney Journos was put in to find out who was involved and of course to beat it up and muck rake.  (They were probably entitled this one time).
It was reported and interviews were published in the papers, and on air, that a large number of the "hooligans" were just local lads who thought it might be fun to emulate the problems that were tearing the English Leagues apart at the time.

I don't know.  I don't care.  But the living memory of those and one other occasion (also Sydney) make me just shake my head when I hear people complain of too much police presence at big games.  It doesn't upset me at all.

Jesus Christ...... sounds like a battlefield. Seen a few similar incidents down here but thankfully not that many... Guys complaining about police today never had to stand behind police horses with coppers in full riot gear to watch a game between their legs... heheheheheheh
Yeah the Coca Cola Cup in 81 right? I have a real hazy recollection of Dad taking me to Olympic Park down here to see Brazil v Italy ...

Yeah that was right.  Was actually called World Youth Championship or such I think.
Some fantastic games.  Qatar was the big surprise, belted by Germany in the final though.  Maybe didn't recover after the attack.

The other team to note was the rise of Cameroon.  They looked to have a big future.  :)

Anyway this is now way off topic.
Some 2nd Div update news would be fantastic.

Good to see Brisbane City in action again this week.  Been a long time since their NSL days.  Must be busting to get serious again.

Including the final NSL season isn't all that representative because in that year, most of the clubs knew they were dead ducks. Besides Adelaide, Perth and South (in that order) bumping the averages, the other clubs were pulling very low attendances. The stench of death was everywhere that year outside Perth and Adelaide which were confident they would be included in a new league (although a big hiccup occurred later for AU after the season was run). South thought they were a strong chance and were really pushing in that year as well. Parra also pushed but besides spending big on their squad, there was nothing much going for them. Some of the clubs were quietly putting together a bid and investing nothing in the season itself (Newcastle United etc). Clubs like Spirit just wanted shit to be over.

Update on the nsd

750k liscense fee is around 3 times the running cost in the aafc proposal

does anyone know the details? Where they wanting clubs to spend 500k in wages or is the 750k a gift to the ffa?

Yep from the AAFC back in Feb 22
Participation Fees (incl. travel) 50-60 160-200 210-260 < thats the figure quoted.

If true, probably a one-off 'Bond' type payment

Part of the AAFC criteria is the financial stability of participants.

So it basically makes a kitty where if a club needs bailing out it can be drawn on?

Read the twitter comments under that link. There's a fairly good discussion going on there.

REading through that twitter discussion, most are confusing what looks like a one-off payment with annual operating costs.
They are two different things, and they should not be confused at all.
How much should such a one-off payment be worth?  Well, how long is a piece of string?
There is a risk that the FA looks at this as a bit of a money making venture.  12 x  $750,000 = $9 million
The FA aren't going to say no to a $9mill cash injection.

Might not be cash.

If it's only a Stability thing, bank guarantee or equivalent.

Note this just a rumour atm

Yes, good point, could well be the case.

Personally Im not against a one off license fee of 750k. It aligns with the club licensing parameters JJ wants to implement and, if used as a "kitty" to market the league, possible financial bonus for performance etc etc could be a good pool of funds... Any new club promoted into the top tier would need to pay the 750K as well as have all other criteria in place before promotion...... not a bad thing in my books. 
Anyway, the way I read it it is more the opening salvo of negotiations, will be plenty of back and forth before a figure is settled on I guess. At least it sort of seems like maybe something is happening.....

1 round to go and 6 points clear of second. No NPL finals series thanks to the Silverlake cheque having bounced or something ..... now what? 

Go the top of the queue

As long as you meet the other criteria

Well, the two are connected. The whole point of providing a surety  up front is to safeguard the whole competition against mid season failures that can pull the whole thing down. Think NSL days with all those 3-0 walkovers. If they can't afford the up front fee, they probably have to rethink their participation before they sign up. That said, FFA will need to negotiate on the fee if it turns out they're pitching too hard.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Aleague/comments/ws46m7/interesting_post_from_south_melbourne_in_regards/
Hahahahah these plastics are so hilarious on  Reddit. South advertised an  EOI for junior coaches and all the munchers came out of the basement screaming about how we should never be let in because we think we are better than the franchises. Hahahahahahah their whiny little rants are so delicious.... There is one of them, a Navajo chief or something who's actually screen name is "fuck South Melbourne" hahahahahahahah

It's a bit like the deep South of Amierica, blinded by racist rage.

TBH in the bigger picture for our game period it just bleeds ignorance.......

Bumping this again, because it's extraordinary that this article is 5 years old - written by the late Michael Cockerill!
They were aiming for a start date of 2018.  Yep, you heard that right.
It soon became 2020, but COVID hit, so we could excuse that for a couple of years.
I could have sworn I then heard 2022, but no, we are 75% through 2022.
Doesn't really look like they could get it up for 2023, but I guess it's still possible.

I think the reasons for the delay are two-fold:
1.  an ongoing concern about the cost of running a national comp
2.  various stakeholders putting forward conflicting models (and that includes stakeholders who arguably, should not really have a say in how the NSD is structured.

The other cautionary part of this tale is that the FA has started referring to it as the 2nd "tier".  So yeh, that's acceptable nomenclature, but a tiny bit of critical thinking would suggest that the change in terms used is no accident.

FA have to approve it and are currently 19 months into their ponderings with still no sign of a choice of model.

FA board is responsible for how fast it happens.

Pretty much this..... A few small hints dropped here and there about an announcement just before the Aleague launch... lets see?.