I know it is not AFL or the Dees  but soccer has had a good week. Shot themselves in the foot twice in the one week. First the finals fiasco and then the riots last night. I don't understand the game but it is distressing  to see fellow melbourneians acting like complete idiots. Thank god my game as not descended to these levels. I would never take my GDs to a soccer game, I just hope they don't feel the need to play it. 

 

Very ordinary scenes. Puts our title of worlds friendliest city in jeopardy.

....and soccer wonders why it can't get ahead in this country.

We had a Dutch visitor a couple of years ago, who was a fanatical soccer fan back home.  But when I suggested we go to an AFL game she was terrified, yes terrified.  She was accustomed to being bussed to opposition grounds ( even for local games) and parked behind barbed wire to be separated from opposition fans.  Then the same procedure going home.

So when we arrived at the MCG where fans of both teams walked to the ground together, sat together , and then walked home together, she was simply blown away. 

Soccer will have badly behaved spectators until they find a way to increase scoring.  It must be the most frustrating game to watch if you are invested in one side or the other.   The AFL could give them advice on contrived ways to increase scoring and maybe introduce ad breaks.😁

I also have read reports that ethnic origins of supporter groups is creeping back into soccer. That won't help.

4 minutes ago, sue said:

Soccer will have badly behaved spectators until they find a way to increase scoring.  It must be the most frustrating game to watch if you are invested in one side or the other.   The AFL could give them advice on contrived ways to increase scoring and maybe introduce ad breaks.😁

I also have read reports that ethnic origins of supporter groups is creeping back into soccer. That won't help.

Make the goals a metre wider, scoring problem solved. 

52 minutes ago, george_on_the_outer said:

....and soccer wonders why it can't get ahead in this country.

We had a Dutch visitor a couple of years ago, who was a fanatical soccer fan back home.  But when I suggested we go to an AFL game she was terrified, yes terrified.  She was accustomed to being bussed to opposition grounds ( even for local games) and parked behind barbed wire to be separated from opposition fans.  Then the same procedure going home.

So when we arrived at the MCG where fans of both teams walked to the ground together, sat together , and then walked home together, she was simply blown away. 

One of my sisters and her husband lived in England for two years. He described a similar situation to your comments above George. He went to two games of the top league and one were he was among the visitors. The home team could not leave the ground until the visitors had all gone and we're on trains etc. It is no due to my upbringing as a Aussie rules family in the country  but last nights affair  is just so far removed from my experiences it seems like it should be in another country.   

Edited December 18, 20222 yr by old dee

5 minutes ago, old dee said:

Make the goals a metre wider, scoring problem solved. 

and get rid of the stupid offside rule

might see more offense instead of continual defensive possession game

Try as I might I don't understand the flares  in soccer games. Does anyone know?

12 minutes ago, old dee said:

Try as I might I don't understand the flares  in soccer games. Does anyone know?

it's boredom 

19 minutes ago, sue said:

Soccer will have badly behaved spectators until they find a way to increase scoring.  It must be the most frustrating game to watch if you are invested in one side or the other.   The AFL could give them advice on contrived ways to increase scoring and maybe introduce ad breaks.😁

I also have read reports that ethnic origins of supporter groups is creeping back into soccer. That won't help.

Scoring or lack of has absolutely nothing to do with badly behaved fans. Don’t believe it’s the most frustrating game either, the millions that follow and love it will tell you that. 
People can hate on the game all they want, it’s their prerogative but there’s been a lot of times where I’ve found a 0-0 draw as thrilling as a close AFL game. It’s all about the anticipation where one goal could win the game. 
And that was absolutely dismal behaviour last night, those responsible for attacking the goalie should never be allowed anywhere near a stadium ever again.

Was the 2-2 goal scoreline in the AFLW GF "boredom"?

26 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

and get rid of the stupid offside rule

might see more offense instead of continual defensive possession game

Round Ball=Predictability no wow factor

Off side Rule= Ridiculously absurd

Limited Scoring= Boredom

Homicidal maniac supporter base= Trouble

Edited December 18, 20222 yr by picket fence

6 minutes ago, mauriesy said:

Was the 2-2 goal scoreline in the AFLW GF "boredom"?

Not to me as I did not watch it. However 2- 2 in soccer would appear to be a big score line. I am not canning Soccer I just don't understand the game. 

Soccer is far the most popular sport in the world for a reason. Brings joy to hundreds of millions. and is easily the popular sport in Australia to play. 
I’ve been to many A league matches and I find there are less fights and personal abuse that footy matches. The media don’t like reporting on all the fights at the footy for some reason. Believe me or not 

I’m upset about last night, a few hundred absolute morons who should be thrown in jail. Absolute disgrace. Has reversed all the goodwill gained from the World Cup and will set the game back even further. 

14 minutes ago, mauriesy said:

Was the 2-2 goal scoreline in the AFLW GF "boredom"?

was for some, maurie

but i wouldn't be so judgemental of a process still in transition

It's not soccer per se. Billions of the world's population like it and follow it. I don't quite get it either, but that's not a reason to dismiss it.

The situation the other night was some angry testosterone-driven males protesting about something they didn't like (shifting finals to Sydney) and resorting to violence. Whether soccer promotes that is a good question, as it has a history.

As a society I just think we are becoming angrier about things we don't like. Read the newspapers or media and there are constant stories about anger. They promote it for click bait. The fact there's even a political party named the Angry Victorians is a good indication of where we are heading.

 The world needs a chill pill. Or a genetic program to remove the aggressive gene. Or let women run the world for the next hundred years. 

I think that perhaps people that may have grown up watching and / or playing football before being introduced to Aussie Rules at a later age have a slightly different take on what makes a great atmosphere. For me it will never be one team chanting Melbourne when they score a goal followed by the other team chanting the name of their team when they do likewise for two hours, backwards and forwards. Even with 80,000 in the ground it has always felt a bit lame. A bit like attending an NFL game perhaps. Lots of woohoo's and high fives which is all very civilised but nothing compared to the feeling of taking up one entire end of a stadium with your own tribe singing non stop for 90 minutes. Trust me, the two aren't even close. 

One problem with crowd segregation however is that it creates a lot of false bravado, particularly with the minority of people that want to emulate some the stuff they see in Latin America and Europe that has no place in our country. What happened last night was a disgrace and has set the game here back years I think. It was only a few weeks ago that the 'supporters' of an ethnic backed state league side in Sydney were giving nazi salutes. There's no question that The City Football Group (PLC) should be awarded the 3 points and Victory should have to play their next 2-3 games behind closed doors and pay a large fine. Security also need to be taking games like these seriously as there is no way either set of fans should have been able to take flares inside the ground. What possessed the city keeper to throw one back into the crowd I have no idea. 

4 minutes ago, mauriesy said:

It's not soccer per se. Billions of the world's population like it and follow it. I don't quite get it either, but that's not a reason to dismiss it.

The situation the other night was some angry testosterone-driven males protesting about something they didn't like (shifting finals to Sydney) and resorting to violence. Whether soccer promotes that is a good question, as it has a history.

As a society I just think we are becoming angrier about things we don't like. Read the newspapers or media and there are constant stories about anger. They promote it for click bait. The fact there's even a political party named the Angry Victorians is a good indication of where we are heading.

 The world needs a chill pill. Or a genetic program to remove the aggressive gene. Or let women run the world for the next hundred years. 

surely women would be equally bad? 😂

5 minutes ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

... but nothing compared to the feeling of taking up one entire end of a stadium with your own tribe singing non stop for 90 minutes. Trust me, the two aren't even close. 

 

ah gotcha. so it's more about the singing and baiting rather than the game

wouldn't it make more sense to have weekly music festivals instead?

17 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Soccer is far the most popular sport in the world for a reason. Brings joy to hundreds of millions. and is easily the popular sport in Australia to play. 
I’ve been to many A league matches and I find there are less fights and personal abuse that footy matches. The media don’t like reporting on all the fights at the footy for some reason. Believe me or not 

I’m upset about last night, a few hundred absolute morons who should be thrown in jail. Absolute disgrace. Has reversed all the goodwill gained from the World Cup and will set the game back even further. 

What reason is that?

I’d say purely because that’s what they’ve been brought up watching / playing. Not because it’s the most exciting or entertaining game to watch, AFL holds that title. 

I live in Sydney and have spoken to die hard rugby league fans who are starting to admit how boring league is, but they were brought up watching it and it’s all they know. But now betting is bigger than ever they’ve starting to place a few bets on the AFL and the natural progression was to start watching a few games where they had a financial interest and they’ve enjoyed it a lot more than league.

Just because something is the biggest or has the most supporters/followers doesn’t make it the best. Life has given us some classic examples of that.

I love how well the salary cap works in soccer.

I watch the EPL Soccer, it has an attacking ethos, European Soccer is more defensive and i stay clear of it. I am not interested in viewing a 0-0 Draw. I do believe the lack of scoring is part of the reason Soccer Fans can get violent. It is not the only reason, but it certainly gets the Blood Pressure up. 
I don’t usually watch A-League, but did last night as I wanted to see what was going to occur at 20 minutes. 
Where was the Security around the Perimeter? The A-League is a complete joke. 
the Player who got hit last night could have been killed, it was a serious hit. 
This will have serious consequences and so it should. 
Why would anyone Sponsor the Product?

Edited December 18, 20222 yr by Sir Why You Little

32 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Soccer is far the most popular sport in the world for a reason. Brings joy to hundreds of millions. and is easily the popular sport in Australia to play. 
I’ve been to many A league matches and I find there are less fights and personal abuse that footy matches. The media don’t like reporting on all the fights at the footy for some reason. Believe me or not 

I’m upset about last night, a few hundred absolute morons who should be thrown in jail. Absolute disgrace. Has reversed all the goodwill gained from the World Cup and will set the game back even further. 

Sorry DubDee, that’s hogwash. I am a City Active Member and there is always bad behaviour at Derby matches. This is just the worst example. The only reason there isn’t more of the bad behaviour is because there is no travelling support. Last night was a disgrace, but the fighting amongst rival support groups is common place. To suggest otherwise and say it’s a minority Ignores the fact that it is part of soccer (football) culture here in Australia