Are we at deaths road ?

[magpie joffa]

To be honest with the way things are going AFL football as we know it today will not be around in ten years time, Interstate clubs seem to be getting all the deals at the expense of the melbourne based competition look no further than brisbane and look at the dosh the AFL has chucked to sydney over the years ( if there has been one pleasing aspect of the AFL gone mad over the last 2 decades it would of been the failure of the sydney experiment and its lack of success).

Players are getting too much money and its sending clubs bankrupt, players managers need a rocket up the rear end for too long now they have held the game to ransom, its possible that within the next 2 years the existance of footscray and nth melb and probably a few other clubs will not be able to operate.

Can anyone see the madness that is happening before us, has the AFL become so blind that it cant see its own decline.

Maybe it would certainly be a blessing in disguise if the AFL competition did collapse we then could go back to ametuer footy and start again.

No one seems to has the answers the AFL have become dictators it doesnt listen to the consumer...and right now the consumer is shit scared of losing something very sacred and meaningful to ones lives..the existence of there very own football team.

So what do we do ?

Its time to get radical and save what is ours, the AFL comp doesnt belong to a group of over paid ego maniac executives it belongs to all people.

I say and this is only my opinion the AFL commission has to be accountable its time to have a system in place where you and myself democratically vote in and vote out ,in who we want to run the competition.

Its time to cap individual player payments for arguments sake lets say that no player can earn anywhere in excess of 150 grand a year if the player doesnt like it he doesnt play football for anyone.

You can laugh and scoff at what i have just said but im telling you at this very minute the AFL is stuffed and the hole its digging is getting deeper and deeper.

The game must be returned to its people !!!



.........................
Much mythologised,frequently misrepresented,collingwood has become a legendary place,from its slums rose a football club that would give its people hope,love and a sense of belonging,the collingwood football club gave its poor a sense of pride, it would quickly grow into the greatest sporting institution in the world...the collingwood football club to it's people is life.
........................

MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS
joffa@magpies.net

[Lorelei]

If you look at leagues like the Diamond Valley league - that are getting stronger crowd wise - must have something to do with a backlash against the AFL.

Grass roots is the key. Kicking on the ground after the match, even running on the ground at half-time - all that stuff is what people love. And while a lot of that is not logistically possible at an AFL game the league is getting further and further away from that - I think that is a major factor.

It is not 90,000 corporate sponsors that sit in torrential rain and pay to get in the gate at an Anzac Day match. It is the supporter.

I know we need the sponsors but I'd hate to see clubs playing footy for the SPONSORS instead of the SUPPORTERS. And the more this happens the more people will revert to paying 50c for a dim sim at a canteen that is staffed by wives and girlfriends and tooting horns after a goal.

And with some of the crap football that we are having to watch even local leagues are producing decent footy.

Thank God we barrack for Collingwood. For that we are truly blessed!


Jen




--
Floreat Pica
BRING BACK NED!
"This is a man's world
But it would be nothing
Without a woman or a girl"

[Cam]

Couldnt agree more with the 150,000 a year. It will happen too. The days of the Koutas and Careys and Hirds are over. Just like the Dot.com boom-to-bust, same thing will happen with pro-sports in australia. we simply can't afford to put up the cash that overseas markets put up for their sports stars.

Hard at it. The Collingwood way.

[mandy]

I think it can be saved, but there needs to be a lot of changes made. And they need to come fast and be fairly harsh.

Call me naive, but as far as I'm aware, the AFL is hired to run our competition. They don't own it and they don't own the clubs. They're a body put in place to ensure the competition is run FOR the 16 clubs. They should never be seen to be making a profit as all funds should be returned to the clubs they're working for.

And further to that, as an AFL member, they work for me. I pay my membership every year and as such should have a say. Why is it that as a Collingwood member my opinion is asked on who runs "my" club? Elections come up and I'm asked to vote. Does this happen at the AFL?? No chance!! I'm told who will be telling me what I get and (more often than not) don't get and I bloody better not question that!

It's time for change. The clubs need to be bigger that the League that runs the back office.

Colours are an illusion. There is only black and white.

[magpie joffa]

Lovely stuff a very good read...why do we need sposorships ?

We had player payments and no sponsorships once upon a time, i guess the need for sponsorship was to cover the huge cost of player payments its intersting to look at footscray this year they were in very big trouble until they found sponsorship.

Sponsorship isnt the trouble its why we need sponsorship and our reliance upon it that causes trouble.

And tess the collingwood move to the glass house or olympic park is a good move and it is for the betterment of our club..what i mean is we the supporter, the people who pay money and financially support our club must have a say in the running of the AFL competition that's what democracy is all about and the AFL commission should be elected by the people and made accountable while in office...it is dispicable and an outrage that AFL football is no longer affordable to many people.

The finals ticketing fiasco has gone on for too long, so when i say return the game to its people im not wanting a return to an era long gone..all im asking is its time for all of us to stand and say enough is enough its time to get back to basics before the competition we all love collapses.

I as a financial supporter of the collingwood football club cast a no confidence vote in the running of our game by the present AFL administration.


Any comments ??


.........................
Much mythologised,frequently misrepresented,collingwood has become a legendary place,from its slums rose a football club that would give its people hope,love and a sense of belonging,the collingwood football club gave its poor a sense of pride, it would quickly grow into the greatest sporting institution in the world...the collingwood football club to it's people is life.
........................

MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS
joffa@magpies.net

[mka]

I have said it before. we are nobodies. they do not care about us supporters as they rely on our passion. they believe we will follow our team regardless of what they do. And they are right. Have a think about it. They gave the Eagles a playing list that assured them of a Flag. We still followied the pies with blind hope.
They gave the Crows all sorts of Priorities . They win a couple of Flags. We still follow with blind hope.
They gave Port Adelaide two years to get hold of the best SA could Offer. We still follow with blind hope
They gave Brisbane umpteen handouts and then Fitzroys best and well as Fitzroy Father & son players as well as an inflated salary cap. We still follow in blind hope.
The AFL wants the interstate clubs to win flags, not us.
The only way I believe we will ever get a voice is if enough supporters get together and start to threaten the major sponsers of the AFL. This may get us a voice. If you had 20000 people writing to sponsors and telling them we will not buy your product,then maybe the AFL will be forced to give us an even playing field. This is all we want, nothing more but an even playing field.

[Dr Alf Andrews]

Sometimes you gotta wonder if the A.F.L. could run a chook raffle.

[Cam]

They could, but you'd end up winning a sparrow.

Hard at it. The Collingwood way.

[AnthonyC]

Good topic Joffa, and good reading everyone.

Hard to say isn't it. Pouring all that money into sydney, has it been a success? (and btw mka don't forget the $4mill odd that the AFL paid to the bears for the merger.)You could argue that growing the game to the point where an organisation is willing to pay $500mill for TV rights for 5 years means that you have created a very good product. Sadly for supporters who are older than 20 or so that remember the 6 games on a Saturday arvo, we miss it, but we're never going back.

Hate to say this but I dont think that the average supporter woud be able to appoint a board to run a company that has an annual revenue of $120mill odd, but I do see your point. We feel that WE are losing (lost) OUR game. We love the game so much (and make/made it what it is), and the bloody corp's bleed us dry for the privilege of watching it. The costs to run the game are increasing at an unbelievable rate, the player payments only amount to about a 1/3. In total you need almost $20mill (today) to run a footy team after paying the players to generate a reasonable profit.

Several years ago I might not have thought it, but in 2003, I think the truth is (unfortunatley) there are too many teams in Melbourne.


Go Pies!

[blackmissionary]

The whole thing smacks of the way American sport is, a team is just a franchise. If there's the potential of making more money elsewhere that's where they'll go. Player payments either have to stop somewhere or smaller clubs will go bust.

Currently reading "The Nuclear Survival Handbook - living through and after a nuclear attack" 2nd Edition by Barry Popkess (1985)

[MarkT]

I don't begrudge player the oney they earn. There is a massive amount of money generated by the AFL football competition. The players are full time professionals and we expect them to train in November for late March start to the season. It is very difficult to have any sort of meaningful career and they end up in hospital on any given match day. They may retire minus a knee ligamnet or two and have trouble just walking properly at the age of 30.

The problem is not the amounts paid to players. Forget the stupidity of Kouta getting $1.2m in a backloaded contract. The Blues have well and truely made a bed they deserve to lie in. With any luck or justice it will be a long time before they show their faces in our half of the ladder.

The problem is the money it takes to run the AFL machine. It is a huge money waisting organisation. They are reactionary instead of proactive. They basically have a product that sells itself. If there is anything that will get footy clubs back on an even footing it is a significant reduction in the AFL body. I would slash their budget by at least half for a start and force them to cut staff and programes that are basically ego projects. I would also make the AFL publically accountable for income and expenditure so they cannot pursue secret agendas like they do now.

The other side of the equation is revenue generation. Until marketing and merchandising is put totally in the hands of the clubs the revenue will never be maximised. It is the clubs that sell football mecrchandise not the mother body. Who want an AFL cap? People want Collingwood caps - some even want Carlton caps but not for much longer. Leave it to the clubs to sell their merchandise to their supporters and encourage some flair.

[Pies Premiers 2003]

What is happening to the afl?

Well it appears the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer...

If the AFL actually cared about the supporters, theyt would have ultilised waverley park....instead they build a massive TV studio in docklands....they dont care about the costs to families..or the size of the crowd.... The afl would rather have a corporate pay for seats all year and not turn up then have a family come to the match....

Its all about the $$$$$

Soon the stands will be empty...but with the magic of TV they will just digitally fill the stands....

Its a shame that it all comes down to $$$$....but unfortunately it makes the world go round


THE PIES GO MARCHING ON

[Murray]

Great Topic and fantastic reading.

I think like most things Footy has it Good times and Bad times.
There is no doubt in my mind the AFL could do things a hell of a lot better they tend to always go for the worst oiption on anything (except the Filth).
I think at the moment we may be going through or entering a down period but people really love footy and it will bounce back bigger than ever, the redeveloped MCG will bring in more people.
I really think player payments will be scaled back and there is probably some justification for that.
Kouta is reportedly on a million a year, if that's true NO club could sustain that.

I think it is a little different for us, I think we are entering a boom time. Our profits are up, we are moving to the old glass house, our young team is putting together on the field, our sponsorship is the best in the AFL and we have stable management.

Will footy be around in ten years? Yep it will be, but it will be even more further removed from the average person. A membership of some kind will be the only way you will get to see it live.

DISCLAIMER - If any of my posts are contrary to the views of Mike or any of the other Mods then my views and opinions are to be totally ignored.

[couragous cloke]

this has been a great read!!! my opinion is that u probebly shoudl cut the afl a bit of slack! lets all remember that it aint easy to run the biggest sport in australia! its not as easy as u think at all! there's so many suggestions but its not as easy as u think to put them in place!

feel free to loudly dis-agree! lol

footy ROX!

[carlabuckley_05]

is anyone else on a million bucks?

carla

there are two types of people ... those that barrack for collingwood ... and those that wish they did ...