Soccer Vs AFL

falcon91 · 18-11-2005, 08:21 PM

Reading the Adelaide Advertiser (Local Rag) today and there was a question on will AFL stand up to the new interest in Soccer. Will AFL fans now support Soccer at the determent of AFL??????

max^power · 18-11-2005, 08:29 PM

I can't stand AFL, but i would like to see soccer get even coverage in the media. AFL has had it too good for too long.

MickyB · 18-11-2005, 08:58 PM

I like soccer, but there is no way I will support it ahead of AFL. Although we won on Wed night and it was a great game, it made me realise how good AFL is.

Bucknaked · 18-11-2005, 09:09 PM

The soccer on wednesday was an international. A game of importance which squillions of people watched. After it's all over, (world cup) we will all go back to the sports we love to watch and forget about the soccer. We will have a fascination with it for a while. Soccer has it's core supporters. The rest of us didn't see it purely as a game of soccer, but we saw it as another Australia team competing on the world stage. I mean how many of us watch all the games at the olympics to support our country. The only swimming I ever take an interest in is at the Olympics. For the next 4 years, i couldn't give a hoot. It's all about supporting an Australian Team.

Already i'm over the soccer. Bring on the 06 AFL season.

JD86 · 18-11-2005, 09:23 PM

iv grown up watching AFL and i love the game. i dont mind the soccer and would watch and support it. but AFL is a way better game if you ask me

phoon · 18-11-2005, 10:03 PM

You run your guts out for 80 mins or so, come of the ground, go home and the missus says "who won"?. You say, "nobody dear, it was a nil all draw". Whats the point. The only way I would become a fan of soccer, is if they got rid of the offside rule. That would allow more goals to be scored and make for a better spectacle. Why is there so much violence at soccer games. I'll tell you why, cause the spectators are bored. As skilled as the players are, they cant keep spectator interest long enough to stop fights breaking out in the crowd.

MethodX · 18-11-2005, 10:12 PM

I seriously hope soccer takes off now.

Hopefully now the pro media bias towards the English game and national team will subside and we can get, some real soccer reporting and development.

AFL is ok but not as good as it used to be, with the unfairness to the VIC teams, and too much Eddie Mcguire.
Plus its only played in Aus.

Perana · 18-11-2005, 10:13 PM

Soccer = Real football...

Nuff said

phoon · 18-11-2005, 10:25 PM

I reiterate, get rid of the offside rule and make more spectator friendly and scores of people in Australia would become more interested. It is certainly a skillful game. GET RID OF OFFSIDE RULE I TELLS YA.

**Polyal** · 18-11-2005, 10:28 PM

lol..soccer will never be more popular in this country than AFL; there is far to much history/culture behind AFL here than "football".

What bucknaked said is spot on, seriously, who here even really cared about soccer until wednesday night? I cant wait to watch us compete against the best in germany, but we will get flogged. But still it is a great achievement to make it that far, and we have nothing to lose.

As soon as the world cup is over and we are out, soccer will be back to the middle of the sports section. Sad but true.

The only reason 50% of the people watched it last wednesday night is because its Australia, if it was an "A League" team VS Uraguay (sp?) then no one would give a toss.

MethodX · 18-11-2005, 10:30 PM

We will see when we are in the Asian cup and our A leauge teams r in the Asian champions leauge next year.

fingers crossed.

**Polyal** · 18-11-2005, 10:40 PM

yeah it will be interesting indeed, I hope it takes off, but the AFL is just to big for any other code in Australia. The fact that it is truely a national sport helps its cause.

Still, go the ROOS!

NC 5ltr · 19-11-2005, 12:08 AM

im not sure about local junior leagues etc....but isnt soccer played in summer and AFL in winter? if yes there would be no conflict of competition between the 2.

max^power · 19-11-2005, 01:25 AM

There's violence in every sport! Cricket is a good one, AFL is no different.

AFL gets way too much media coverage in Melbourne, the players can't fart without it being on the news. Other sports should be entitled to the same coverage as AFL gets, but that will never happen.

MRJUCY · 19-11-2005, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phoon

You run your guts out for 80 mins or so,

Football is played for 90 minutes.

I love football & can't stand AFL but I don't see it making any real dent in AFL's crowds etc & nor do I think it should. Hopefully it will increase interest in the game tho but I don't see why it has to be to the detriment of any other sport.

Walkinshaw · 19-11-2005, 03:54 AM

once we get bundeled out of the 1st round of the World Cup soccer will fall back to its position as the 4th "football" in the country. Don't get me wrong, i love my soccer, but its just not an Australian "media sport" yet

honer · 19-11-2005, 04:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perana XR8

Soccer = Real football...

Nuff said

Not if your an Aussie.

Blue Oval Mopar Man · 19-11-2005, 04:07 AM

Neither ! They are both as boring as watching paint dry ! But each to his own ! Id rather be out dirt biking than wasting my time watching bad acting and and guys engaging in rough foreplay with eachother !

Racecraft · 19-11-2005, 07:40 AM

I am soccer fan,ex-player and coach. I personally don't care how big the game becomes in Australia, as far as stealing spectators from other codes. Eventually the money in the domestic game will entice the better players and that will wash onto the crowds. We have quality players and until the Gay League is full of them, I'll follow our best players around the world if I have to. It is the most popular game played by juniors in any code in Australia.. The mighty dollar draws players away from the game around the teenage years. A byproduct of Wednesday night was the financial windfall soccer Australia received. The game doesn't need developing @ the grass roots level, kids all around turn up each week for a kick. All that has been lacking is just the sponsorship dollars to keep the talented players in the code, and the country. With the extra revenue we recieve/d from world cup qualification and the ex ARU boss running the show (not a sleazy ethnic boys club anymore) , some slick marketing and major corporate sponsors will have to hurt the other codes.

**Uncle_Ken** · 19-11-2005, 10:06 AM

Both AFL and soccer are great games to play and t watch.
Hopefully FOX sports will introduce something new and exciting for us to view, 19-23 year old Ex_playmate of the Year Nude lawn bowls
(separate womens and mens divisions of course).
Uncle_Ken

TZENU · 19-11-2005, 10:26 AM

This is an arguement that will go on forever and as a fanatical soccer fan i can sadly say that the liklihood of soccer getting bigger than AFL is probably the same liklihood as Holden making a nice car!?!?!?!

But as an Aussie love the AFL too !

NAK302 · 19-11-2005, 06:47 PM

comes down to where you live, i guess. up here no one gives a $hit about AFL it's all NRL. but the REAL football is gaining a lot of respect and it was interesting to hear how proud people were of the fantastic result the other night.
another angle is the amount of imported people that live here now who are football nuts. the hardest thing for us will be converting them to support Australia instead of their mother country.

zetec · 19-11-2005, 06:54 PM

I think this is a POINTLESS comparison by this newspaper, both sports can happily co-exist, there will always be a multitude of people who can't stand each sport, with 20 million Aussies we can quite healthily support Soccer (The true Football globally mainly because you actually use your foot unlike the others), AFL, ARL, ARU and anything else. I love soccer, enjoy AFL, enjoy Rugby and don't mind League. I'm quite able to enjoy all 4 codes, granted I odn't have the time to committ to all 4, I'm spoilt for choice. The bonus is I'll watch all the big matches of each and that keep me happy, some want to stay religious to AFL or ARL. Who cares?!!!! Let us enjoy it and stop comparing a rubbish debate.

zetec · 19-11-2005, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polyal

yeah it will be interesting indeed, I hope it takes off, but the AFL is just to big for any other code in Australia. The fact that it is truely a national sport helps its cause.

Still, go the ROOS!

Having grown up in Sydney, I'm tired of this argument - this isn't directed at you Polyal - I hear it in every corner of this great city!!!! Yes, there are teams in every city unlike any other football code, yes now that Sydney Swans won Melburnians think AFL is dominating the world, but in total honesty and no intended offence, AFL is NOWHERE NEAR even remotely as obsessed over (or even interested in) by anyone outside of Melbourne/Adelaide.

There are fans nationwide, always will be. Same goes for ARL etc. It's just that ARL is too big in QLD and NSW for AFL to be declared THE national football code, I don't see why we keep having to try and claim that "our" football code is tha national one, like it makes us feel more special. Just enjoy the game for the love of it, respect the skill and be happy that its appeal is increasing, but whether or not it's the biggest - it doesn't matter, nor does it make the sport any better. We're not the USA, why should we try and achieve the same ridiculous status they have with one massive World Series this and World Series that when they're usually the only ones in the world who play it! Just because the Superbowl has so many millions of viewers doesn't make it a world sport. I can almost see Eddie Macguire now imagining the World Series AFL simply because he has a shop in Dubai and his aunty's sister's cousin in Antarctica has a friend who likes watching AFL. It just doesn't register on the scale of important world chaning events.

AFL is fantastic, ARL is awesome in otherways, Soccer is great too. They're all great and you can like which one you like. Go the Swans, Go the Panthers, Go Melbourne Spirit.

fauxpas · 19-11-2005, 07:13 PM

I grew up with my Dad waking me at ungodly hours of the night/morning to watch all the world cup and FA cup games since the 70s. I have a vastly multicultural family and the thing that binds us all is football.

Australia, being a relatively new country with small population has taken some time to embrace THE world game... no shame in it... If its at the expense of other codes of football, so be it... our population probably can't sustain so many codes anyhow...

By the way, I love Football (Soccer), Rugby Union and American Football.

I think AFL and NRL suck hard...

CongoAU2 · 19-11-2005, 07:25 PM

At the end of the day everyone is going to disagree. there are still more junior soccer players around the country than any other sport. it's the fact that there is so much biased news reporting around the country for not just sport but all news that soccer is not really heard about. It takes a game like on wednesday for soccer to really make the news yet AFL will rule the news with something so minor that we are left sittting and thinking why am i told about this.

Soccer will continue to grow bigger with the new federation in charge, and although it will still not be seen to be as big in the media and by people it will be.

EBII Fairmont · 19-11-2005, 11:39 PM

Yes get rid of the off sides. Sorry to all if i sound harsh, but its not enough of an accomplishment just to get into the world cup. Something has to be done while they are there, and all teams which don't I believe just wasted space and should have handed it to some other teams. As i am of european decent i do have very strong views when it comes to this luscious sport. But we need more teams to play like Brazil. The old traditional way. I have had enough of the faking and just passing until someone can have a good shot at goal. We need more tricks. MAKE IT EXCITING. THEY ARE ALL KILLING ME. I'm hoping i will be in Germany next year to enjoy this event and party like i never have before.

Bill

Windsor220 · 20-11-2005, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zetec

AFL is NOWHERE NEAR even remotely as obsessed over (or even interested in) by anyone outside of Melbourne/Adelaide.

i think you'll find WA is an AFL state and im pretty sure NT would be more interested in it aswell

zetec · 20-11-2005, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJLynx

i think you'll find WA is an AFL state and im pretty sure NT would be more interested in it aswell

My bad, apologies for not including WA and NT. WA definitely loves their AFL for good reason!

I am more than happy for AFL to be the biggest Aussie football code in Australia, doesn't bother me one bit, just with 35% of the population living in NSW, QLD and ACT it won't be an easy task to get them supporting it immediately given Rugby League's history! It's just a bit limiting in the end that Australia can't play AFL against anyone other than Ireland pretty much - not that that's AFL even. AFL isn't global which limits it, where as Rugby for example is more global, but not supported nationwide here! You can't win a trick!! I guess Soccer is the only one with a semblance of national following on top of the massive world following, however it'll take more than one World Cup Victory for it to become a major national headlines and sports page grabber. More marketing plus that $8 million from FIFA should do the trick!!

rodderz · 20-11-2005, 11:17 AM

pffft... there's no way AFL will be overun by soccer, the game that originated here will always be the sport of choice here, and a thrashing isnt regarded as being 2-0!

We all have opinions, and my take is that soccer would have to one of the most painful sports to watch...and the carry-on after a goal is scored makes it even worse. I wonder how so many fans and countries get so fanatical about it!