Hate to say it BUT

[midfielder]

Look I really hate to say this but as much as I would like Sydney to come last.

Football needs a strong Sydney side, man a crowd under 11, 500 I realize against NZ team, but there crowds are falling. Much of the judgment on football comes out of the Sydney / Melbourne mix and Sydney are letting us all down.

I think to many of the Sydney FC guys from board down to player level have their hand on it as how can you have over 100, 000 registered players in a city of 4.5 million and draw 11, 500.

Any comment about Sydney !!!! ??

[Fish]

The league needs all team to be strong , popular and profitable tbh f*** the special treatment for Sydney.
They are the club that have had very favourable coverage in print and media, let them battle like the rest of us have had to do for 2 seasons.
Noone should be held responsible for signing David Zdrillic though , seriously he is getting worse and he only played 15 or so minutes

[Pete]

sjf said:

Noone should be held responsible for signing David Zdrillic though , seriously he is getting worse and he only played 15 or so minutes

Well, we hold him responsible for all the sensationalist muckraking media stories, so I guess Sydney can hold him responsible for signing Zdrillic. (Richard Noone that is )

[Pete]

A part of me is thinking "Stuff 'em let them choke on their own vomit after the party has finished."

But we do need a financially sound, competitive Sydney, as well as the other HAL teams.
I hope the FFA is monitoring all clubs equally and ensuring that a struggling Sydney is not allowed any slack on the franchise conditions.

Sydney could do no worse if they got Frank to sell his share to another investor and relocate westward to Parramatta Stadium (reinvent themselves).

At least using Parra Stadium would be less costly than the SFS, and their long term viability easier to achieve. They could have 15K easily at Parra every week and pack it out when the team is playing well. It would help the atmosphere of any match to play in a smaller venue that can get close to capacity rather than having bragging rights about being in a big stadium, having significantly more overheads, and a half empty stadium for most matches except for the odd blockbuster.

[~Floss~]

If Sydney can't properly support one team, then it just means when the league expands there will be no second sydney team - maybe second teams for vic & qld, or regional nsw.

That suits the mariners fine, as this is already the highest concentration of teams within a small area.

I can see the merit in moving sydney fc west

[greenpoleffc]

Moving to Parra is a great idea (as I have a company car space available 2 mins from the ground) :-)

I would be more sympathetic to SFC's plight if their wasnt such media bias towards them.

[serious14]

I dunno, Zdrillic thinks the whole situation is pretty funny......



Oh man, I havn't stopped laughing at that mob since full time. Zdrillic?? Zadkovich?? Popovic?? ROFLMAO!!!!

Seriously though, Sydney - you are a DISGRACE!!!! If the same percentage of the Central Coast rocked up as per tonight's crowd, there would be 825 at the game. Uncle Frank has taken a good thing and is slowly ruining what really should be the biggest/2nd biggest club in the country..... that said, Branko isn't really helping.

*wonders how long before a 'Branko out' chant fires up in the Cove*

[blackadder]

Like any sport in Sydney there is the large bandwagon element, they have a charmed run in the press and other media for a couple of years, lets see if the Media have the balls to put them in the spotlight.

[brett]

blackadder said:

Like any sport in Sydney there is the large bandwagon element, they have a charmed run in the press and other media for a couple of years, lets see if the Media have the balls to put them in the spotlight.

OR let's see if the media directs their love to a nearby and far more worthy rival.

[curious]

Agree that a venue change would help with easier access from the suburbs & a smaller stadium that doesn't resemble a ghost town with less than 25K.

The Aleague won't be taken seriously & fully accepted when the largest Australian city won't support it. Like it or not, we all need a powerfull Sydney club.

BTW.......Sydney will always get more media attention as all major NSW "media" is centralised in Sydney, the majority of NSW readers, listeners & viewers are in Sydney & they want news about their team. The same treatment is given to the Swans, Sydney based NRL clubs & the Waratahs.
Commercial reality.

The same can be said for Newcastle media & the Jets, Brisbane & the Roar, Melbourne & Victory ect. ect.
CC tends to suffer the most because of minimal local media in the smallest of the Aleagues regions by quite a large margin.

[radinho]

midfielder said:

Look I really hate to say this but as much as I would like Sydney to come last.

Football needs a strong Sydney side, man a crowd under 11, 500 I realize against NZ team, but there crowds are falling. Much of the judgment on football comes out of the Sydney / Melbourne mix and Sydney are letting us all down.

I think to many of the Sydney FC guys from board down to player level have their hand on it as how can you have over 100, 000 registered players in a city of 4.5 million and draw 11, 500.

Any comment about Sydney !!!! ??

we only have a population of 170,000 and were only 2000 short of sydnys crowd thats pretty sad.

[Andy]

radinho said:

midfielder said:

Look I really hate to say this but as much as I would like Sydney to come last.

Football needs a strong Sydney side, man a crowd under 11, 500 I realize against NZ team, but there crowds are falling. Much of the judgment on football comes out of the Sydney / Melbourne mix and Sydney are letting us all down.

I think to many of the Sydney FC guys from board down to player level have their hand on it as how can you have over 100, 000 registered players in a city of 4.5 million and draw 11, 500.

Any comment about Sydney !!!! ??

we only have a population of 170,000 and were only 2000 short of sydnys crowd thats pretty sad.

We actually have a population of over 300,000.

[Perm]

i disagree with a move to Parramatta Stadium. any move like that would show as the club being demoted.
either stay at SFS with all its tradition (great stadium, shit rent) or move to Stadium Australia, where they would be paid by the gov to play there and it would make Sydney FC available to Western Sydney.

[wombat]

Loved seeing Sydney lose again and was shocked at the pathetic crowd. The Cove were rock solid (and the little crew of 50 serbs or whatever they are in the corner) but rest the general support is a joke.
Sydney were shite last year (without a marquee player) but the media had a scapegoat in the hapless Terry Butcher. This year they have a marquee player and are even worse..... however, Branco was the media's golden boy so it will be funny to watch how long its takes them to turn on their own and realise that the players they have are simply not good enough no matter who coaches them.

Personally i'm enjoying them squirm at the moment.

[shelleybeach]

they need their own ground to create a real home

[midfielder]

Agree with those saying move west also get Frankie off the board. The staring you in the face problem Sydney have is there entire board all come from Eastern suburbs and think that’s the football family think like they do. Big surprise Sydney FC its actually a working persons game and move west to where you have a massive and largely untapped fan base. Also get some ordinary people who know how to talk to the associations.

How the F can you have so many players in Sydney full the pubs when the Socceroos are playing, generally good media and not be able to make a connection with the football family.

Because whether we like or not the A-League measure of success is being measured by Sydney & Melbourne crowds. I hate to say this but Sydney come a close fifth or sixth and do not be as pathetic as you have been.

[Jesus]

Sydney should stay in sydney. Better off getting a second "westy FC" to make some rivalries, and create some media coverage.

[marinermick]

jesus said:

Sydney should stay in sydney. Better off getting a second "westy FC" to make some rivalries, and create some media coverage.

I agree, Sydney is big enough to easily support two teams.

The argument that just because Sydney FC is not doing well there should not be a second Sydney team does not wash we with.

Just because Sydney FC is poor in its marketing, poor in its connection to the community and poor in its engagement of the football public does not mean that the people of Sydney should miss out on seeing A-League action.

The fact is that football is strong in the west and for a host of demographic and geographic reasons they cannot go to a game.

A second team will create an intense derby and what Sydney FC will lose in people switching teams (minimal) they will gain in far greater numbers from media exposure, rivalry and the numbers associated with derbies.

The move to Parra or Homebush would be a disaster as well given the numbers at games hosted at Parra Stadium.

[curious]

Agree that West Sydney can suppoort a second team, however it will do nothing to improve Sydnet fc's problems in attaining better support. In fact I think it will shift some support (some of the existing football followers) to another club. A Derby being the exception.

Sydney simply doesn't care to support football in decent numbers & they need to find out why before they can change it.

On a personal level, after paying to watch sport for many years & receiving 3 - 4 hours entertainment value for my dollars, which btw is the way, %90 of Sydneys sports fans have been used to for generations, it's a new experience to pay a similar amount for 90 mins. Even NSL fans had 3 hours. A youth league will improve the value of course.
That's a small point but I think it's relevant in a new market.

[Ursus]

NSL used to be one game.
Youth team first was only in the final season. Or is my memory going?