OT - Hyundai A League Question

[TruSaint]

Just out of interest, how many on the forum here follow / support / go the A League games ?

Spending a little bit of time looking at their crowds on the web, seems impressive.

For the record, i dont watch the A league, and have little knowledge of its ins and outs, just seems to be getting a lot of attention in the media.

 

[silverex]

Wife and I are season ticket holders for Sydney FC.

This is our third season. We came on board BEFORE the Del Piero hype.

Love going to the games and it means we don't have an 'off season'.

 

[TruSaint]

Wife and I are season ticket holders for Sydney FC.

This is our third season. We came on board BEFORE the Del Piero hype.

Love going to the games and it means we don't have an 'off season'.

Interesting Silver.
They play out of the SFS yes?
Crowds look like they really get into these events.

 

[steggz]

Sydney FC supporter, living in Ulladulla, so little chance to get to games. Used to live in Sydney and went to a few games a season. For atmosphere, The Cove > Dragons Army.

 

[silverex]

Yes, SFC's home ground is Allianz or SFS.

Football (soccer) is a different culture to rugby league and that means the crowds are different in the way they act during the game.

The Cove sings and chants for the full 90 minutes of the game which creates a fantastic atmosphere.

This weeks game against WSW will be an amazing atmosphere as the RBB is by far the biggest 'away' crowd that comes to SFS.

I'd suggest you come along to experience it for yourself but unfortunately its all sold out.

 

[grouch]

Atmosphere! Singing! Dancing! Drumming! Atmosphere!

The game is shit. But ..

Atmosphere!

 

[Black Forest Dragon]

Atmosphere! Singing! Dancing! Drumming! Atmosphere!

The game is shit. But ..

Atmosphere!

I agree the game is shit to watch compared to RL. i like the way momentum really builds up and / or Teams get a roll on in RL. I like the way a big hit can be rewarded with possession for example. You can feel it, and sometimes you can even believe that your cheering in the crowd has helped add something with that momentum. You can still get a snap result say from an intercept try.

Momentum only sometimes really happens in Soccer and then often leads to lost possession. So many Goals are so sudden, blink and miss it.

But I agree, the atmosphere of the crowd in soccer is truly something Special.

 

[Black Forest Dragon]

....and there is NOTHING more annoying then a scoreless draw. !!!

 

[64 Dragon]

The most talented soccer players are a delight to watch. Players like Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi, Iniesta, Rooney, etc. are great athletes.
The thing that really, really pisses me off about soccer is how easy the players fall over and writhe around on the ground as though they have been shot.
The Aussie players are not really like that. They would rather get up and start a fight.

 

[TruSaint]

Yes, SFC's home ground is Allianz or SFS.

Football (soccer) is a different culture to rugby league and that means the crowds are different in the way they act during the game.

The Cove sings and chants for the full 90 minutes of the game which creates a fantastic atmosphere.

This weeks game against WSW will be an amazing atmosphere as the RBB is by far the biggest 'away' crowd that comes to SFS.

I'd suggest you come along to experience it for yourself but unfortunately its all sold out.

Thanks for the feedback mate.
Sold out... wow

Soccer Oz seems like its making inroads.

 

[big pat]

been following sydney fc since the inception, not interested in the wsw bandwagon.

 

[silverex]

been following sydney fc since the inception, not interested in the wsw bandwagon.

Pat, do you go to the games?

We wish we'd started following from the inception. Only starting to follow a couple of seasons ago we missed SFC's premierships. Would have been nice to enjoy the 2010 victory in the same years as the Dragons.

Better late than never - story of my life.

 

[FlameThrower]

We'll for what's it worth WSW had to cap membership to 17000 or thereabouts and are pushing NSW govt to upgrade Parra stadium to 30,000 I'd say these are great problems to have for a a club not even 1 full year old! Merchandise, tribalism, made Grand Final all in 1 year.....pretty impressive....

 

[jenninga]

Atmosphere! Singing! Dancing! Drumming! Atmosphere!

The game is shit. But ..

Atmosphere!

Yep,and when a goal is scored AGAINST them they still chant and sing as if nothing happened.

 

[jenninga]

....and there is NOTHING more annoying then a scoreless draw. !!!

This is a myth bought up by journos who know nothing about the game.Sure games are decided by goals ,however when watching games we want to see quality and I have seen many drama filled quality scoreless draws over the years.I have also seen many crap games with plenty of goals due to crap defending.
Same in league,i'd much rather see a close low scoring game with great defence and contest rather than a 46-26 high scoring low quality game.

 

[Twenty10]

When wanderers start losing, crowds will start dwindling.
Plus crowds are not the biggest barometer of the sports popularity or success.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Good thing about the A-League is it gives you something to watch during the off season on prime time. I prefer the EPL but to watch them games live it's late night or early morning kickoffs which makes it hard to watch it with a group of people. It is a good atmosphere and sometimes better than the NRL. The standard is no way near as good as EPL and for good reason but still good to watch. Much better than the cricket that's for sure.

If the season started and finished the same time as the NRL I would like to see how much crowd they would get. I am hanging to get to a Wanderers game. All games are nearly sold out which is very impressive. Imagine that for an NRL side? Unheard of since I followed rugby league.

 

[LatK7]

I signed up for a Wanderers membership before their first season. It came at the recommendation of a mate of mine. He's a keen football fan and I thought it was good the west would finally have a team (massive supporter base west & southwest). Plus I figured it gave me something to do in the off season.

Anyway, enter season 1. Modest crowds/performances soon exploded into a juggernaut. I went to all the home games, Melbourne Victory away (which was a great, great experience) and all semis/GF. Was pretty amazing to be a part of, and it's great to see the game going strong. I still think the test will come when we hit a slow season or two, but the RBB and a decent showing from the casual fan base has done very well so far.

I highly recommend going to a game featuring Sydney FC or WSW, if you can land tickets. The atmosphere is very different to Rugby League/AFL/Union and it's enjoyable to get into, especially if it's a slow point in the game. Also, pay little attention to the violence angle painted by some of our friends in the media - it's mostly nonsense.

Enjoy the football!

 

[Godz Illa]

Good thing about the A-League is it gives you something to watch during the off season on prime time. I prefer the EPL but to watch them games live it's late night or early morning kickoffs which makes it hard to watch it with a group of people. It is a good atmosphere and sometimes better than the NRL. The standard is no way near as good as EPL and for good reason but still good to watch. Much better than the cricket that's for sure.

If the season started and finished the same time as the NRL I would like to see how much crowd they would get. I am hanging to get to a Wanderers game. All games are nearly sold out which is very impressive. Imagine that for an NRL side? Unheard of since I followed rugby league.

Sums it up pretty well. Fans of EPL or some other Euro league who go to A-league games purely to emulate the atmosphere. The on-field stuff is a secondary concern, if a concern at all.

 

[silverex]

The main reason we started supporting Sydney FC was to attend games during the off season. This was before Del Piero came (I didn't know who he was before he signed) and before the Wanderers were formed.

The amount of support that the Wanderers enjoy is amazing considering this is only their second year in the competition. They had to cap their membership at 17,000 whereas Sydney FC have only just scraped over 10,000 members.

I hate to admit it but the RBB on Saturday night were incredible (apart from the flares and crackers). To have the whole of the SCG end of the SFS and three bays on the eastern side in a sea of red and black and also doing the Poznan was pretty spectacular.

But, as previously said in this thread, we'll see how well their supporter base does when they are not so successful.

Sydney is Sky Blue.