I thought Eric was a striker not a midfielder?

:lol: Anabalon. I still remember his tussle with Joe Vrkic where he got his shirt ripped to shreds by Joe:lol: :lol:

There certainly is a lot of talent in the Marconi Squad. Look out for a good year from last year's finalists. In particular attacking midfielder Anabalon and the african boys.

Marconi have to actually get decent crowds for this to happen:lol: :p

If I may ask, why do you go to watch Olympic if you object to "monoethnic" clubs? Surely you should be going to a club with a different ethnic background to your own in order to provide a greater diversity of support in the league.

Agree with you there Neil.

I suspect an a lot of people stay away because they have been TOLD that they will encounter ethnic issues. It's certainly never been my experience at South Melbourne - I'm not Greek, I'm not an Aussie, but I feel completely at home there talking football, I suspect that any genuine football fan who rocked up to Sydney United, Melbourne Knights, Olympic, Marconi, etc., would enjoy the football once they got over their pre-conceived fears.

There were undoubtedly problems in the past, but the ethnic card is waaaaay overplayed. Was it Croats and Greeks fighting when Knights took on South Melbourne? Or was it Knights vs South Melbourne - a long term footballing rivalry.

*5,000 Croatians in Edensor Park (like I said, just an arbitrary estimate).

Actually at Marconi there is no real ethnic division anymore. It's an Aussie crowd, simple as that.

People complain about the ethnic extremes of the old NSL, but look at any football club in the world - their hardcore fans are all (arguably) based on some sort of prejudice. Because the NSL was a niche (it was never mainstream or even popular), the vast majority of their crowds were the hardcore supporters, so instead of saying "all the people who go to Sydney United games are Croatians", why not ask "why didn't non-Croatians living in Edensor Park go to Sydney United games?"

Ultras in Europe tend to be political and radical, which covers the majority of continental football. Furthermore, as an example, Ajax fans call their club "Jewish" because of it's heritage. So imagine casual fans didn't attend Ajax games, or Lazio games. The crowd would be a homogeneous grouping of like-minded people sharing some sort of ethnic/political or social trait.


As a parallel - compare Celtic (Irish) & Rangers (British) with Sydney United (Croatian). What is the difference? They are both clubs founded and are continuously championing a foreign identity. Either (a) "normal" less radical supporters make up a high percentage of supporters or (b) the radical supporters are so high in number that they can support the club! Since there are only about 5,000 (complete arbitrary guess), it was the failure of the general public to support their clubs which led to their downfall.

Ethnic fans formed the foundation for NSL clubs, but the rest of the building was neglected by the rest of Australia.

...hopefully that makes some sort of sense.

Interesting assesment by Sterrey, maybe The Youth League should be scrapped and the A-League Clubs play in each State's Premier League run con-currently with the A-League. Or fixtured in a way to assist A-League Clubs competing in the ACL.

This would lower costs, increase interest in State Leagues, improve scouting new talent, assist in developing new talent and provide suitable competition for A-League reserve players.

You complain about the lack of coverage but also complain when they cover the state league....

this website is a joke

move this to grass roots

actually lets stop all football in the country and only have the a-league

And now for the articles on SA, WA, Qld etc etc. IE put some other bloody state league soccer in...there are always just bloody NSW stuff

\:d/ Sign him up Con

Interesting is he trying to say that the A-League youth league is pointless???? and wants the best young talent to focus on playing in the state leagues

I see that Marconi have lost their Captain, Nahuel Arrarte. He's signed with a K League side. Apparently he impressed the Koreans at a trial game Marconi had with a visiting Korean club side at Valentine Park.
Good luck Nahuel.

Mate, I sympathise with your plea and I also want to see a lot of A-League fans go and support their local state league team.

But, the only "traditional" reality I see in the occasional state league game I attend is that most clubs still to this day draw support from the single ethnic community they're attached to.

We still to this day have the situation in state leagues where all greeks support a greek club, all croatians support a croatian club, all serbians support a serbian club etc. etc.

This fact doesn't bother me personally because I still watch the odd game of my old NSL club, but it obviously affects the majority of football fans who turn their backs to football during the winter months by not attending state leagues games or follow their local team.

Anyway, I hope the situation in the state leagues is rectified one day with a big bang similar to the A-League, because we all want to see football enjoy the same level of success and popularity at all levels and club competitions. :-k

Good Luck to the kid. I trust Lee Sterrey's opinion at spotting talent.

Get him to the Jets, From the man who gave us the great Ali :D

Hmmmmmm.
this kid is so good hes playing in the second tier comp in NSW. and already they are listing him as being a future brosque
what a talent....

please move this to grass roots football!!!!!!!!!!

if u want rules follow them!!

Grass roots what a joke. but move it now

As opposed to the unreal football played everywhere else.

Could Be? so much for rising star, he's not aiming very high. more like rising street light if Brosque is the yard stick

Wow! that is a big wrap... If he works really really hard, he too can one day be a mediocre A-league player like Brosque

Go Marconi! Very interested to see this kid in action. I implore all A-League fans to go out and watch your local state league teams, in particular the NSWPL. This is where real, traditional football happens.


What do you think about the FourFourTwo article Sterrey's Star In The Making?
EXCLUSIVE: Marconi Stallions coach Lee Sterrey believes rising star Jared Lum can be as big as former protégés - Sydney FC hitman and former Stallion Alex Brosque.

Have your say.