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joffa corfe
PREMIERS 2010
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
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Post subject: I plead with Collingwood | |
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Connolly: AFL far less personable than A-League
http://smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/what-the-afl-could-learn-from-the-aleague-20141027-11cfic.html
In purely scoreboard terms, Saturday night's A-League derby between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City was, in the finish, a bit of a rout. Yet the post-game talk universally was of a stunning night for local soccer. Why? It was the atmosphere.
I've been to something like 1500 AFL games in my lifetime and only a handful of A-League fixtures, but the different feel at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night was remarkable. The place simply buzzed.
The derby drew 43,729, more than for all but two of the 48 AFL games played at Etihad Stadium this year, but this was about more than numbers. It was about the noise, the colour and the excitement generated.
Which, heading towards 2015, and a season the AFL has unofficially dubbed "the year of the fan", is an example the indigenous code needs to study very carefully.
Soccer has always had it over the indigenous game for the quality of its crowd chants and singing, but this wasn't just about clever quips and taunts to opposition fans.
There were banners and waving flags aplenty, mass twirling of coloured scarves, and a constant wall of noise generated by the fans, not by ear-splitting and intrusive advertising booming across the PA system at the breaks, a staple of AFL on this occasion thankfully absent.
It was a salient reminder for us older football types of how AFL used to be as a live experience, and perhaps the extent to which the commercialisation and homogenisation of our own code has chipped away at it.
Watch any clips from the old VFL days and you're reminded again. For starters, there were up to eight or nine different venues, each with their own character and quirks, compared with just two in Melbourne now.
Have a look at any home-and-away game from the 1970s or '80s, let alone finals at the MCG or Waverley, and you'll see grounds decked out in club-coloured banners stretching around most of the stands.
They were works of art, slogans that borrowed from old verse or simpler rhymes, the lettering bold or in some memorable cases in Old English script.
Then there were the cheer squads, whose floggers stretched around the fence further than you'd ever see today. They threw copious amounts of crepe paper streamers and ripped up phone directories. Each week, the area behind each team's goals resembled a sea of colour and movement.
The reason you don't see these things any more is in most cases the same: overly draconian health and safety measures and corporatisation of the game to within an inch of its life.
First it was players tripping on streamers and a couple of silly escapades where floggers caught on fire, which led to restrictions on their size. Then came the complaints from sponsors about the streamers covering up the perimeter advertising that began to encase grounds. Good luck finding a square inch of an AFL ground these days not sold off to sponsorship.
There are a lot more AFL games per season than there were 30 years ago. But a lot less differentiation, too, as will happen when roughly 100 games are scheduled for just two multipurpose stadiums that a large contingent of clubs all call "home", though the term regarding Etihad and the MCG should be used loosely.
Social clubs remain anchored at the old suburban bases of those still retaining some connection with them. The grounds of today may have post-match function rooms for the clubs hosting games there, but there's a transient feel, the lack of club culture palpable.
Even beyond that, I hear consistent complaints from football fans about the "nanny state" intruding on their football-going experiences. Signs any more provocative than "Go Pies" being frowned upon or confiscated. And, believe it or not, supporters being warned by security staff for barracking too loudly.
The AFL has had enough trouble this year, amid confusing ticketing systems and unfriendly scheduling, convincing followers to actually turn up to games. The last thing it can afford is to make them feel like naughty schoolchildren when they do.
Which is why, for a hard-core AFL supporter, last Saturday night felt something like a trip back in time. Real passion and involvement, unstymied by over-officiousness. Loads of colour and movement. And lots of noise actually generated by fans rather than speaker stacks.
Of course soccer has its own cultural nuances, its own vibe. But occasions such as the Melbourne Victory-Melbourne City derby just serve to reinforce that, at this critical juncture in the AFL public's relationship with the game, it's a feel those running the show could do a lot worse than reacquaint themselves with
Lets make sure we get it right with the new Barrackers End i plead with you, Time to stop the whistling lets now do some dancing...Im not hearing much excitement and that bothers me....Lets not stuff this one up . _________________ Football is Greatness
http://youtu.be/tJwoKbPOsQE |
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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Location: Andromeda
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Great article, Joffa, thanks for posting. I'm not usually one to endorse copying other sports, but in this case we could do worse than follow the A-League model. If it works for them, why not us? _________________ All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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joffa corfe
PREMIERS 2010
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
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Post subject: | |
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David wrote: | Great article, Joffa, thanks for posting. I'm not usually one to endorse copying other sports, but in this case we could do worse than follow the A-League model. If it works for them, why not us? |
Cheers for the reply mate _________________ Football is Greatness
http://youtu.be/tJwoKbPOsQE |
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schuey07
Joined: 05 Aug 2008 Location: Mount Waverley
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It will never work while the club controls the cheer squad. The terraces are run by the fans for the fans. Last year the North terrace had a year long protest against the club because the club was trying to impose measures the NT opposed. The club folded and our NT has grown.
The difference is the club and the AFL would never hand control over to the fans. I agree it would be awesome if the atmosphere was as good as Saturday night, I don't think it ever will though. |
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joffa corfe
PREMIERS 2010
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
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Post subject: | |
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schuey07 wrote: | It will never work while the club controls the cheer squad. The terraces are run by the fans for the fans. Last year the North terrace had a year long protest against the club because the club was trying to impose measures the NT opposed. The club folded and our NT has grown.
The difference is the club and the AFL would never hand control over to the fans. I agree it would be awesome if the atmosphere was as good as Saturday night, I don't think it ever will though. |
schuey07
Our terraces are dying at the MCG so we ask is it our club instructing the MCC security to police anti fun or is it just the MCC with tea pot rules ? in fear of offending the theatre goers ? This is a very real and if we sit back and do nothing it will get worse.
Gillon has promised 2015 to be the year of the fans, Well Gillon if your serious lets read where you have instructed the MCC that its ok to stand behind the goals and patrons will not be evicted for doing so (in our case three bays wide known as The Barrackers End )
Lets read where its ok to bring the biggest mother of all flags to wave about and not have them confiscated because of some over size bullshit thing.
Lets read its ok to chant what we like as long as it is not over offensive not to be told by club or MCC if you chant that again you will removed from the stadium.
Lets read that the person who goes week in week out is the person we want to look after and not the tossers who decide for whatever reason today looks a good day for the footy.
Lets read we want all bays behind goals to bring fun and passion back to our terraces and not be told to sit down and shut up and please don't dare yell out to the goal umpire he's a wanker because if you do you will be removed from the stadium.
Lets read hey guys we got it wrong we're sorry we now appreciate what you supporters bring to the game..Bring it back ten fold.
Lets read we have a new section put aside at the MCG for those who pretend to be offended by the passionate ones.
Lets read passion has nothing to do with hooliganism
Lets read That all interstate games at the MCG all kids will be free of charge, People on welfare in you go at five bucks.
For Gods Sake lets read something Gillon ???
Stop the whistling and lets get dancing!
Im getting all mind tied and tongue tied there both racing one another with words... Im hoping your guessing what im trying to say _________________ Football is Greatness
http://youtu.be/tJwoKbPOsQE |
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joffa corfe
PREMIERS 2010
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
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I stand with the Melb City supporters at the active supporters end and cry..What has happened to our once great AFL game ? You know the one its been falsely called The Peoples Game!! _________________ Football is Greatness
http://youtu.be/tJwoKbPOsQE |
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larrylj
Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Location: Richmond, Vic
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There was a great atmosphere when the Ponsford stand opened as the Collingwood end in 2004 (?). Slowly been eroded by all the things listed above. WE NEED to take it back.
Come on Eddie and Perty let's get things moving. You are great Collingwood advocates--get the AFL and MCG on side please or it's only going to get worse. _________________ Pies Forever,
Forever the Pies |
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Sav
Joined: 09 Apr 2006
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Joffa I have noticed that most A league supporter groups have a bloke out the front starting cheers with a megaphone, I'm sure that wouldn't be allowed at the mcg?
You make a good point about how sanitized footy has become. As a kid, making cut up paper and streamers to chuck at the footy was a thrill. It added to the whole atmosphere of the game. The loss of these small things have deminished the footy experience imo.
bring back the old aussie rules footy culture before aussie kids start to think soccer culture is more exciting and decide to play and follow that game. _________________ go pies! |
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joffa corfe
PREMIERS 2010
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
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Post subject: | |
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Sav wrote: | Joffa I have noticed that most A league supporter groups have a bloke out the front starting cheers with a megaphone, I'm sure that wouldn't be allowed at the mcg?
You make a good point about how sanitized footy has become. As a kid, making cut up paper and streamers to chuck at the footy was a thrill. It added to the whole atmosphere of the game. The loss of these small things have deminished the footy experience imo.
bring back the old aussie rules footy culture before aussie kids start to think soccer culture is more exciting and decide to play and follow that game. |
Maybe a good old fashioned Revolution is in order..We'll storm AFL House and take back our game....
Just joking of course, No one is listening because no one cares, People in there droves have headed back to suburban football....Its all very sad it's doing my head in so bad it'll burst any day now _________________ Football is Greatness
http://youtu.be/tJwoKbPOsQE |
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Member 7167
"What Good Fortune For Governments That The People Do Not Think" - Adolf Hitler.
Joined: 18 Dec 2008 Location: The Collibran Hideout
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I love your passion Joffa and you and the article are correct. The AFL and the MCG have sanitised the crowd and in doing so we have lost a bit of our soul, passion & heart.
I have no issue with the clubs involvement in the Cheer Squad as long as it takes the stance to enhance and not to control. The club has massive resource at it fingertips and it needs to invest in the cheer squad and not sanitise and control it to an inch of its life. As a club there are other things that are very important and it is not all about corporate profit and the football department. We do not want cheer squad members who behave like robots waiting for the next instruction. To gain what we have lost in the last we need passion and spontaneity.
As an example, would it hurt for the club to rope off an area near gate one on a Saturday afternoon before the game a couple of times a year and cook them a few sausages and generate a sense of community and appreciation. An effort to generate a bit of enthusiasm, appreciation, support and comradery would go along way. _________________ Now Retired - Every Day Is A Saturday |
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swoop42
Whatcha gonna do when he comes for you?
Joined: 02 Aug 2008 Location: The 18
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If our club continue with the loud-o-meter next year then they clearly have no idea of what supporters want.
Get rid of this gimmick, the loud and intrusive music before the game and at breaks and the piped in fake crowd noise.
Christ the way the game has gone in recent years even the atmosphere generated and roar of a crowd once so spine tingling in the lead up to the opening bounce of a big game has been ruined by blaring music and that damn fake crowd roar when the umpire holds the ball aloft.
Hell this year channel seven even managed to miss the opening bounce of two finals if I recall correctly. How pathetic is that by the broadcaster!
It's not rocket science, stop the americanisation of our native game, allow the crowd more freedom in the ways they wish to support, give permission for the clubs to make home games feel like just that and trust in the supporters of our great game to restore the natural order of things to how they once were. _________________ He's mad. He's bad. He's MaynHARD! |
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John Wren
"Look after the game. It means so much to so many."
Joined: 15 Jul 2007
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Member 7167 wrote: | As an example, would it hurt for the club to rope off an area near gate one on a Saturday afternoon before the game a couple of times a year and cook them a few sausages and generate a sense of community and appreciation. An effort to generate a bit of enthusiasm, appreciation, support and comradery would go along way. |
what, and get in the way of the overpriced food vendors? you're kidding, aren't you?! _________________ Purveyor of sanctimonious twaddle. |
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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003 Location: Andromeda
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^ As with sponsors complaining about their logos being covered by streamers, so many of these changes are about little more than corporate profit margins (the same goes for the league and clubs playing the PR game). At the end of the day, the lack of a representative committee for fans has really hurt us as football supporters, because commercial entities have always had a much louder voice. The AFLFA is a great idea, but obviously still has a long way to go before it can function as a true voice for supporters. The way things are, it's just presumed that we'll passively accept whatever has been decided by the powers that be. That needs to change. _________________ All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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schuey07
Joined: 05 Aug 2008 Location: Mount Waverley
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joffa corfe wrote: | schuey07 wrote: | It will never work while the club controls the cheer squad. The terraces are run by the fans for the fans. Last year the North terrace had a year long protest against the club because the club was trying to impose measures the NT opposed. The club folded and our NT has grown.
The difference is the club and the AFL would never hand control over to the fans. I agree it would be awesome if the atmosphere was as good as Saturday night, I don't think it ever will though. |
schuey07
Our terraces are dying at the MCG so we ask is it our club instructing the MCC security to police anti fun or is it just the MCC with tea pot rules ? in fear of offending the theatre goers ? This is a very real and if we sit back and do nothing it will get worse.
Gillon has promised 2015 to be the year of the fans, Well Gillon if your serious lets read where you have instructed the MCC that its ok to stand behind the goals and patrons will not be evicted for doing so (in our case three bays wide known as The Barrackers End )
Lets read where its ok to bring the biggest mother of all flags to wave about and not have them confiscated because of some over size bullshit thing.
Lets read its ok to chant what we like as long as it is not over offensive not to be told by club or MCC if you chant that again you will removed from the stadium.
Lets read that the person who goes week in week out is the person we want to look after and not the tossers who decide for whatever reason today looks a good day for the footy.
Lets read we want all bays behind goals to bring fun and passion back to our terraces and not be told to sit down and shut up and please don't dare yell out to the goal umpire he's a wanker because if you do you will be removed from the stadium.
Lets read hey guys we got it wrong we're sorry we now appreciate what you supporters bring to the game..Bring it back ten fold.
Lets read we have a new section put aside at the MCG for those who pretend to be offended by the passionate ones.
Lets read passion has nothing to do with hooliganism
Lets read That all interstate games at the MCG all kids will be free of charge, People on welfare in you go at five bucks.
For Gods Sake lets read something Gillon ???
Stop the whistling and lets get dancing!
Im getting all mind tied and tongue tied there both racing one another with words... Im hoping your guessing what im trying to say |
Joffa I agree with what you are saying. I sit in the AFL members and I look over to the cheer squad and see how you have been neutered and my comment is always the same, the active support at the Victory is so much better. We may follow different teams in the A-league but we both agree that the terraces have way more atmosphere than at a Collingwood game. The difference is the terraces are run by the fans, in Melbourne Victory’s case the North Terrace is made up of smaller groups with their own capo’s, they then elect a head capo to control the chants.
The difference being that Collingwood controls the cheer squad, not the supporter’s. The AFL and the MCC then bend the Pies over and we end up with what we have. Until the fans take the game back it will remain bland and sterile. The other problem is you get the theatre goers who tell the cheer squad members to sit down and not make noise. If they don’t like it don’t sit behind or near the cheer squad simple. |
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RudeBoy
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
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Corporate greed risks killing the game.
I suspect only a big fall in crowd attendances next year will spur the AFL to listen to fans. The decision all those years ago to abandon suburban grounds resulted, inevitably, in the homogenisation of the game. Clubs are now franchises not representatives of communities. The AFL has treated fans with utter contempt in the way they have destroyed the sense of 'home' at the MCG and Docklands. Their insane scheduling, insulting pre-game/half-time 'entertainment', constant barraging of advertising, high prices and heavy handed policing of crowd behaviour have all contributed to a rather soulless experience going to the footy nowadays. Last year, for the first time in my life, despite being a Legends member with a reserve seat and living only 10 mins walk from the MCG, I chose to stay at home and watch my beloved Magpies on TV several times, instead of going to the game. Something is seriously wrong. |
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