Soccer, the national sport.

[Pip-Boy]

Just heard on the news that in the latest studies undertaken by the australian beureau of statistics, soccer is the sport with the highest level of participation in australia, including both rugby codes, afl, and cricket.

perhaps there can be an end to this silly argument that soccer is not as popular as other sports in australia now :)

im looking for an online source now

[Mr.T]

It may be popular but its not our national sport. Our national sport is AFL.

[Pip-Boy]

there is no official "national sport"..

the national sport is the sport that is played by the nation, opinion based only

[Beef_Taco]

no duncan, i saw this on the news, AFL is still the biggest, soccer is creeping up but isnt yet. get your facts straight, otherwise the news are lying to me and you have them right

[Idol]

too bad the australian soccer team sux the WANG

[RibenaBoy]

i think it all depends on what's shown on tv..
world sports like tennis, basketball and soccer not shown..
man, we're slipping further and further behind in these world sports...
they wont even show euro 2004!!!

[Catch-22]

4char
Australian soccer chiefs have seized on Australian Bureau of Statistics findings suggesting the round-ball code is the country's most popular sport - at least in participation terms - to urge grassroots supporters to back their plans for radical reform of the game.

[Pip-Boy]

thanks catch, my search skills suck.

there you go beef :)

[Pip-Boy]

no wonder i couldnt find it

catch you are a member of the age?

[chriz]

i think it's funny how they always say soccer is the most popular sport.
look at the aussie premier league....it's a peice of sh*t
same with america..it's suppose to be the most played sport there too....and look at the state of the game there.
lol

[Catch-22]

no wonder i couldnt find it

catch you are a member of the age?
nup :)

http://news.google.com/news?q=australia+soccer+popular+sport&num=50&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&sa=G&scoring=d

[Pip-Boy]

i think it's funny how they always say soccer is the most popular sport.
look at the aussie premier league....it's a peice of sh*t
same with america..it's suppose to be the most played sport there too....and look at the state of the game there.
lol
regardless, it IS the most played sport. kind of odd, isnt it, that a game that we have such a ****ty league for, still draws more players to its ranks than the games that are meant to be our "national sports"?

[Dukey]

too bad the australian soccer team sux the WANG
maybe if the friggen aus coach would get off his sorry arse and get the international guys to actually come and play and not let their clubs dictate who plays, if they played as well as our local stars we would make it to the World Cup stage i reckon eays, but with these international clubs telling our stars when they can play, we will never see our beloved aussies in the world cup :(

[Dukey]

i think it's funny how they always say soccer is the most popular sport.
look at the aussie premier league....it's a peice of sh*t
same with america..it's suppose to be the most played sport there too....and look at the state of the game there.
lol
no television or advertising wouldnt help at all,
if it was advertised and televised it would become more popular
i remember before Channel 7 had the rights to it, they paid a huge amount i remember, and they only televised highlights on a monday night at a very late time.
look at the last world cup
channel 7 outbidded SBS for the right to the world cup back in 2002 and then decided to only play the Quarter Finals/Semis and Final, now if that isnt stupidity i dont know what is.

[DarK]

no duncan, i saw this on the news, AFL is still the biggest, soccer is creeping up but isnt yet. get your facts straight, otherwise the news are lying to me and you have them right
Negative
Dunno where you have been, but Soccer took over Cricket as the most played by youngsters... there was no mention of AFL :P

Sorta makes sense when it's a skill based game (*suppost* to be no physical contact) and you had the world cup given a lot of press a few years ago, gets all the little fellas hyped to play

[Dukey]

Negative
Dunno where you have been, but Soccer took over Cricket as the most played by youngsters... there was no mention of AFL :P

Sorta makes sense when it's a skill based game (*suppost* to be no physical contact) and you had the world cup given a lot of press a few years ago, gets all the little fellas hyped to play
if u ask any kid nowadays, they would know who Ronaldo his, over any AFL player, eg. Shane Crawford of Plugger :P

[Pip-Boy]

there was mention of afl in this analysis - soccer has higher participation rates than any other sport in this country currently

and also, when compared to the kind of coverage that afl gets in victoria, or rugby in nsw/qld.. soccer is almost a non-event in the media. imagine if this wasnt the case..

[Fatso]

http://www.australiansoccer.com.au/public/article/show.asp?articleid=7706&menuItemID=

The main problem with australian soccer is that it fails to capitalise on it's huge junior involvment. When you look at most clubs, they can field 7 or 8 teams per age group up to about under 10's then they struggle to field significant numbers in the older age groups where they lose players to other sports. That combined with a lack of media coverage (apart from the last couple of world cup qualifiers) and an lack of support for the national competition means we lose our top players to overseas clubs where they bound into big money contracts that can conflict with national duties.

Channel 7 has arse raped the coverage of soccer (as well as the coverage of rugby union) by cherry picking the big games and not backing up the codes with decent regular coverage. The only major coverage that Rugby Union gets is the internationals and the Tri Nations (about 10 games per year), other than that it's the Sydney club rugby games on the ABC. Soccer gets it worse than that.

[Thade]

Soccer is the second best sport there is, AFL and Rugby = D:

Basketball should be played more though. -_-

[chriz]

i guess it's first in best dressed when it comes to media coverage

obviously afl+cricket were the first sports being covered, and they grew from there.
It's hard to introduce a new sport into the media, nobody wants to watch it at first and tv companies don't have the patience to wait that long.

America is already saturated with baseball, football and basketball. I don't think there's any room for soccer. Same with Australia it's cricket, afl, rugby. In Europe the only sport there is Soccer, and there's noway you could introduce other sports there.

[Dukey]

the US actuallly took into soccer after they hosted the 1994 World Cup :P
im pretty sure they won the rights for the event and then went and found out what the game actually was :P

[Fatso]

If there's no room for soccer, why is there 500,000+ players willing to ante up with their rego fees? I think that as all the codes are growing shows there is some market there for it, not to mention the popularity of overseas soccer in Australia.

I think the television companies (channel 7 in particular) are more interested in buying cheap, crap shows from the states rather than have the cojones to pay for quality coverage of local sports but will cherry pick the sports rather than let them go to a competitor who won't pay as much but will provide a more comprehensive coverage. The sporting bodies do themselves a disservice by selling their rights to a station like that.

[M@ndrake]

i just read this thread.. and ..

BUUULLLLSHHHHEEEEETTTTT!

i dont believe those stats one little bit. i think that those stats were all taken from melbourne where there is a larger soccer following to voer in other parts of the country and they have been generalised as a statistic for the whole country...

sure the little kids may play soccer... but by the time they get older most convert to league or union... and now days AFL is creeping up as a big sport too.. no one even talks of the soccer.. at least thats the way ive observed things here in brissy.

[ToFu]

aus soccer is that good to watch anyway :\

[Fatso]

i dont believe those stats one little bit...

sure the little kids may play soccer... but by the time they get older most convert to league or union...

Point 1: It's true
Point 2: Therein lies Soccer Australia's main problem.


Perusing through this thread is funny, at the mere mention that a sport maybe more popular than AFL, all these melbourne people start jumping up and down :moose: OMFG Heresy!

[Catch-22]

i dont believe those stats one little bit. i think that those stats were all taken from melbourne where there is a larger soccer following to voer in other parts of the country and they have been generalised as a statistic for the whole country...
they said on the news last night that they were taken in syd.

[Beef_Taco]

sorry duncan, i must have listened wrong or something...mayb it was WA they were talking about, because it dosnt seem to be the most played over her compared to AFL and cricket, there arent as many clubs.

[RibenaBoy]

if u ask any kid nowadays, they would know who Ronaldo his, over any AFL player, eg. Shane Crawford of Plugger :Pthats cos only victorians give a **** about afl..

[DarK]

care = 0

No matter what happens i'll always love AFL over any sport

i play soccer, but it can be the biggest bitch to watch sometimes... Don't get me wrong, I like soccer, but AFL just sends it packing anyday

[Lan0s]

I've always prefered soccer to AFL . . . to play anyways. Maybe cause I'm a nance, or maybe it's becuase I am way more skilled with my feet and a round ball, but I just love playing soccer.

and M@ndrake, trust me mate, there are way more soccer players then there are AFL players. A larger percent of the "ethnic" kids (asian, greek, italian) play soccer than say anglo saxon kids play AFL. It is also to note that there are far fewer ethnic kids playing footy then there are anglo's playing soccer. Overall soccer is cheaper, easier, less injury prone, less demanding for kids and parents to particiapate in, and thats why it's more popular. It is the world game :)

[RibenaBoy]

aussies play AFL.. others dont.. simple

[M@ndrake]

answer this.

how come no one goes to watch soccer matches? like the NSL fixtures?..

im not saying that what lanos pointed out is incorrect.. all im wondering is if it is the case taht lots of ppl do play sccer.. how come they cant get 50, 60 thousand ppl crowds like afl and the State of origin does?

[Pip-Boy]

because the australian soccer league sucks. like has already been stated, nobody takes it further than participation, because all the good players that do come from australia undoubtedly end up overseas. if this could be changed, soccer would be even more popular

[DarK]

more kids play soccer cause it's a safer game, parents rather it
simple as that

soccer, compared to AFL NRL NRU, is boring to watch
you go spastic when someone shoots because it hardly happens in a game - it's constant in AFL NRL and NRU, so much more exciting to watch and support (personal opinion)

[DarK]

answer this.

how come no one goes to watch soccer matches? like the NSL fixtures?..

im not saying that what lanos pointed out is incorrect.. all im wondering is if it is the case taht lots of ppl do play sccer.. how come they cant get 50, 60 thousand ppl crowds like afl and the State of origin does?
There's not a hero that stands out in the Australian comp that little kids can relate to because it doesn't get the TV coverage

People want to watch the Barry Hall's, Matty Lloyd's, Willie Mason's (maybe not John Hopoate... but you get the drift)
There's nobody the kids can look up too, because it's not given the coverage

the kids are the sports... watch in 10-12 years time you will see the soccer stars come through because of the increase in world cup coverage over the last two world cups

[CeLi]

more kids play soccer cause it's a safer game, parents rather it
simple as that

soccer, compared to AFL NRL NRU, is boring to watch
you go spastic when someone shoots because it hardly happens in a game - it's constant in AFL NRL and NRU, so much more exciting to watch and support (personal opinion)
Nail on the head. Soccer is a heaps popular sport till most kids hit 13 (grade 8). Then they all want to play league because they are older, and now there parents will let them etc.

I played soccer for club from when I was 6-13. First year of high school I played both, then dropped soccer for 2, just played league. But now I play soccer again.

Only reason I went back to soccer is I ****ed my back and could never play a contact sport like league ever again. I know heaps of people in my team about half actually from soccer went to league that year.

Most kids change because they want to be like their favourite league player here and play for their team etc. Because soccer has no main tv coverage (sbs) none of the kids have anything to look up to and a will to play on with it.

Like Pip said, if soccer could get some decent media coverage, and kids have something to look up to and be like etc, in 5 years you would see a massive change in soccer in this Country,

[Fatso]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/13/1087065032692.html

The biggest growth rates in Sydney are being recorded north of the harbour and in the inner west. But the Sutherland soccer association remains the biggest in NSW, with the under-6 competition stretching from the A to the O divisions - with nine or 10 teams in each
A lot of sports would be terribly jealous of figures like that.

Soccer is just one of the sports that people do rather than watch, that being said if there's 500,000 playing and they take 2 people to their game to watch, that's a potential audience of 1,000,000 per week, not many sports pull that in a weekend.

[LOKO]

AFL is only called the "national sport" because we invented it (well.. heavily modified an already existing game, but still). Aussie rules only ever really got off the ground in Victoria, SA and WA (and maybe NT), and is only now starting to become popular in Queensland and NSW (and pretty much only thanks to the teams they have there not completely sucking for a change).

Interestingly, I read last year that soccer is becoming much more popular amongst male kids, while on the other side of the coin, there are more and more female kids boycotting soccer in favour of AFL. So we may yet see a AWFL (though I'm sure they'll think of a better acronym, unless they want people saying "AWFL is awful")

[Fatso]

that 1/2 million players is also NSW alone and not a national figure. It is also only players over 14 years,so probably doesn't include the real strength of support in the young kids before they bleed off to other sports.

[Beef_Taco]

thats cos only victorians give a **** about afl..

you havent been to perth or adelaide? its like a religion over here aswell...

dark and ryan have pretty much knocked the nail all the way into the wood. Although, i played AFL (freeball as it was called back then) from ages 6-12, then, mostly because i changed schools and the new school i went to was like a mini england. I still always loved AFL more, and was still a Eagles member. By the time i hit 14 i realized i was wasting my time in soccer and it was definatly not the sport for a person that likes to throw some weight around and lay some hits on people. So i moved back to AFL and continue to play, much to the delight of my parents. Ive been knocked out playing footy numerous times, and i believe its risks like this that scare parents to putting their kids into sports such as AFL and Rugby.

If soccer is the biggest sport in aust, it probably will be for a little while, but i cant see it lasting personally. ALOT of girls at my school have this year started to play in the female league. Its actually bigger then i thought, and believe it or not, they are making female school teams (which my school competed in this year, and got knocked out of the finalks yesturday). All these reasons help indicate to me that soccer wont continue to have to success it does. Even all the pommies at my school enjoy football, so i think things are looking good for the Aussie codes.

[Beef_Taco]

also, the thing with australian soccer is, that people dont really enjoy it, and are passionate about it, there are quite a few good players out there. Its just that noone cares about it, its hardly televised.

soccer may be a less demanding sport on kids, which is why soccer is getting the numbers, but now that girls can play auskick, and that auskick is growing in big ways, football will take over. Soccer seriously is a boring sport to watch, i occasionally watch the od game with my local italian team playing in it, but sheesh, watching a game with no goals scored, not exactly my description of excitment

[Pip-Boy]

well the thing about that post beef, is that it is all your opinion. an opinion which has proven to be incorrect, as soccer has overtaken football in popularity in young children. and auskick has been available to girls since it started, my sister played auskick around 15 years ago.

football WAS the top dog, and no longer is.

[Lan0s]

There's not a hero that stands out in the Australian comp that little kids can relate to because it doesn't get the TV coverage

Thats true becuase soccer in Australia is primarily an amatuer sport. Its only at the NSL level are players paid to play, whilst say in England, even 2nd or 3rd division players get paid. Unfortunately the way soccer is managed in Australia is so sub standard that it discourages the youth to keep on playing after, say, 14.

And in relation to what DarK said, I find that only AFL comes close to being as exciting as soccer for me. Rugby just doesn't do it for me . . . it just appears to me as a game of brawn and muscle over skill (my opinion, feel free to argue.)

[Glide]

http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~glide/gbs.gif

[Fatso]

Thats true becuase soccer in Australia is primarily an amatuer sport. Its only at the NSL level are players paid to play, whilst say in England, even 2nd or 3rd division players get paid. Unfortunately the way soccer is managed in Australia is so sub standard that it discourages the youth to keep on playing after, say, 14.

And in relation to what DarK said, I find that only AFL comes close to being as exciting as soccer for me. Rugby just doesn't do it for me . . . it just appears to me as a game of brawn and muscle over skill (my opinion, feel free to argue.)
Bingo, I think that's the problem, the game's management.

As far as the games heros go, they are all overseas playing in Europe (Kewell, Viduka, Bosnich(untill that coke incident), Schwartz, I don't follow the game so that's all I can name) so there's not the connection with them that there is with the local sports. Besides what they can potentially earn over there would be as much, if not more than the entire wages bill of a Rugby League or AFL team's roster, so you can't blame them really.

I enjoy watching any kind of football really, even if Union is my favourite (where brawn and skill mix really well). For $12 down the road I can watch 5 games in a day if I want and the Extra Dry is nice and cold ;)

[Dukey]

i just read this thread.. and ..

BUUULLLLSHHHHEEEEETTTTT!

i dont believe those stats one little bit. i think that those stats were all taken from melbourne where there is a larger soccer following to voer in other parts of the country and they have been generalised as a statistic for the whole country...

sure the little kids may play soccer... but by the time they get older most convert to league or union... and now days AFL is creeping up as a big sport too.. no one even talks of the soccer.. at least thats the way ive observed things here in brissy.
lol that has yet to be seen, soccer is and will always be the most popular and most played sport :D
even in aus :)

[Lan0s]

answer this.

how come no one goes to watch soccer matches? like the NSL fixtures?..

im not saying that what lanos pointed out is incorrect.. all im wondering is if it is the case taht lots of ppl do play sccer.. how come they cant get 50, 60 thousand ppl crowds like afl and the State of origin does?
Its kind of like netball I guess, where there are lots of particiapants but not many watch the games. It is a great game to play, but not as fun to watch. Not to mention, watching NSL games is so fustrating . . .the commentators constantly say things like "quality pass" when they are far from "quality." The players in the NSL (no offence to anyone in particular) aren't of high quality, the teams aren't of high quality, and quite frankly, the whole damn system isn't high quality. The youth who play soccer deserve better than the poorly run competitions, the mediocre grounds and there needs to be major reform for the situation to get better. Football is the most popular sport in the world, and its quite sad that we, a 1st world country has such a 3rd world soccer system.

[Misguided]

Football is the most popular sport in the world, and its quite sad that we, a 1st world country has such a 3rd world soccer system.

It isnt sad at all? Countries arent distinguised by their soccer ability.

Soccer is mis-managed because of it overall standing in the media, its hard to get support, or sponsors for teams that hardly ever get tv coverage. You cant blame the Media either, To support a fully fledge soccer league with prime time, or even delayed telecasting is a risk that isnt worth taking. If channel seven, nine or ten did televise nsl games, the overall professionalism of soccer would lift. However as telcasting of games and professionilism lifts so do saleries. Unfortunatly soccer has no way of funding itself at that level even if the telecasting of game would bring more sponsers.

The reason the media dont give soccer a chance because their is no industry gap for them to capitolize on(risk is too high). Australia cant support AFL, NRL and Soccer at Professional levels, and the way AFL is going i doubt its goging to be toppled. Nor do i think NRl would be toppled either.

Soccer Australia just has to except its position and hope one of the other codes buggers up.

[DarK]

watching Tony Squires 110% tonight they started talking about it... The reason for the jump was purely becuase of a skyrocket in the number of females joining the sport at a young age

[Lan0s]

If channel seven, nine or ten did televise nsl games, the overall professionalism of soccer would lift.

Channel 7 broadcasted games for a few seasons, and it didn't make soccer in Australia more professional at all. That very season, a few clubs went bankrupt or merged (I believe this was Carlton United, maybe other/s.) The games didn't attract significantly larger crowds due to this coverage. The media, though it does affect soccer in Australia, didn't make that much of a difference. If the good players were encouraged to play on, rather than going for other options, then the quality of soccer would improve. If there were decent players/clubs in Australia, then the media would give them more coverage, not the other way around, where if the media giving them coverage then the better soccer will get. Soccer Australia doesn't need to wait for the other codes to bugger up, it merely needs to reform in order for the better players to stay on, and in doing so, would mean more popularity and acceptance as "The National Sport."

[Beef_Taco]

hmmm...so the if soccer is the "national sport" but noone cares enough to watch it then how is it really the national sport?

[wrabb|t]

Channel 7 broadcasted games for a few seasons, and it didn't make soccer in Australia more professional at all. That very season, a few clubs went bankrupt or merged (I believe this was Carlton United, maybe other/s.) The games didn't attract significantly larger crowds due to this coverage. The media, though it does affect soccer in Australia, didn't make that much of a difference. If the good players were encouraged to play on, rather than going for other options, then the quality of soccer would improve. If there were decent players/clubs in Australia, then the media would give them more coverage, not the other way around, where if the media giving them coverage then the better soccer will get. Soccer Australia doesn't need to wait for the other codes to bugger up, it merely needs to reform in order for the better players to stay on, and in doing so, would mean more popularity and acceptance as "The National Sport."
well stop whinging about it and suggest an answer....

i reckon that the NSL is just not attractive enough for many players. I mean, in England or even in South America and stuff, if someone had the choice between being a lawyer or being a pro soccer player, its pretty easy to choose money-wise. However, in Australia its different because of the lack of moneyin the NSL. I think that if a channel gave NSL a chance for a while they would gain more support/members and pump some money into the game, making it a more attractive option for potential players and generally improving the standard for spectators and players in Australia.

...unless they touch my footy then i kill them all :)

[CornHolio]

the bottom line is that because lots of parents put their kids into the reletively "safe" sport of soccer it has the highest participation levels of all sports. Most of these would be young kids, and probably a few that have kept playing since they were a kid.
The news has twisted this to say its the most popular, but it isnt in a passionate sense. I reckon most of these kids playing soccer couldnt give a rat's ass about the NSL and the European comps. Aussies are more passionate about sports like league, union, cricket and afl. These are the ones people want to watch with makes them more popular in a different sense.

and for the record...cricket has got to be our national sport!

[Pip-Boy]

well again like i said earlier, seeing as though no-one has done a study into the reasons WHY soccer has the most participation, anything said on the matter is purely speculation. ofcourse those who are not soccer fans are going to find excuses as to why soccer is the most played sport in australia, but regardless, it still is.

[Misguided]

NSL will never be able to compete with the money that european and other professional clubs offer. Do we all agrre this to be true?

I do! So how is it possible that the NSL can keep their star players in australia when many of the european teams poach australian juniors (the talented ones) to play in their junior teams.

[DANSTAR]

hmmm...so the if soccer is the "national sport" but noone cares enough to watch it then how is it really the national sport?
Your mis-interpreting the main post. Pip said people participate in it more then any other sport. Not more people go to watch it, but people like us are more likely to join a soccer team then any other sport team.

[Beef_Taco]

people like you? why dont you just say yourself. Am i a person like you? If so, why is it i play AFL?

the topic states that soccer is the national sport, but thats not true, even if soccer is participated in more, its still not the national sport.

[DANSTAR]

people like you? why dont you just say yourself. Am i a person like you? If so, why is it i play AFL?

the topic states that soccer is the national sport, but thats not true, even if soccer is participated in more, its still not the national sport.
Well maybe where you come from AFL is the most played sport. But in states like NSW, VIC, S.A soccer is way more played. Especially at the junior level. Not to say there isn't many kids playing footy and other sports, soccer by far is the most played sport in the previous stated states.

[Pip-Boy]

people like you? why dont you just say yourself. Am i a person like you? If so, why is it i play AFL?

the topic states that soccer is the national sport, but thats not true, even if soccer is participated in more, its still not the national sport.


in the NATION THAT WE LIVE IN, being australia, more people play soccer than any other sport. period. fact. people like us, being people who live in australia, play soccer more than any other sport. if you dont, you are the minority :) fact.

i would consider this to be a good representive of what the national sport is, being the sport that the nation plays more than any other. but like i said earlier, there is no "national sport" in a technical sense, it all comes down to a personal stand point. the fact is, soccer is the most popular sport to play in this country that we live in.

[Rem0]

most played, yes
most spectated, nope, unless channel 7/9/whoever broadcast it at 5 in the morning, ive never seen australian soccer on TV
and if it isnt televised, then how can it possibly be the national sport

[wrabb|t]

soccer is our national sport as soon as ants or rats or mice or whatever most common yet disinteresting animal becomes our national animal/symbol.

[DANSTAR]

most played, yes
most spectated, nope, unless channel 7/9/whoever broadcast it at 5 in the morning, ive never seen australian soccer on TV
and if it isnt televised, then how can it possibly be the national sport
no1 said it is our national sport.

[Rem0]

the title of the thread did

[DANSTAR]

the title of the thread did
In retrospect of more people play it in aus then any other sport, it kind of is.

[Beef_Taco]

in the NATION THAT WE LIVE IN, being australia, more people play soccer than any other sport. period. fact. people like us, being people who live in australia, play soccer more than any other sport. if you dont, you are the minority :) fact.

i would consider this to be a good representive of what the national sport is, being the sport that the nation plays more than any other. but like i said earlier, there is no "national sport" in a technical sense, it all comes down to a personal stand point. the fact is, soccer is the most popular sport to play in this country that we live in.

well you also must be in this "minority" because you dont play the sport neither

[Beef_Taco]

no1 said it is our national sport.

its the title of the thread, there is no way soccer is our national sport, yes, ok it may be played more, but its not our "national sport". Our national sport is more something like cricket or rugby where we actually are competitive against other countrys. Or AFL and Rugby where both leagues are followed passionatly over here. Like soccer is in europe and south america.

[DANSTAR]

its the title of the thread, there is no way soccer is our national sport, yes, ok it may be played more, but its not our "national sport". Our national sport is more something like cricket or rugby where we actually are competitive against other countrys. Or AFL and Rugby where both leagues are followed passionatly over here. Like soccer is in europe and south america.
Cricket and Rugy aren't that popular as much as football.

[Beef_Taco]

i didnt say they were as popular, but thats not what the title of the thread indicates is it?

[Fatso]

Didn't I see the soccaroos beat England last year, or was I dreaming, didn't they under 21's perform exceptionally well in an international championship (I think it was in Korea) a year or two ago, haven't we only missed out on qualifying for the world cup by a poofteenth two cups running (in my opinion due to an unfair qualifying procedure). Wouldn't that make us a competative team? We're not a giant in the sport, but we're not exactly minnows.

If you have a look at the figures quoted by those articles, the numbers of players are quite significantly larger than the other sports (500,000 in NSW to 350,000 playing cricket, which ranked 2nd). The premise of the title is based on numbers of players, not TV ratings or other indicators of popularity, the numbers of players out there putting feet on fields.

I think it is quite amusing how the AFL followers don't seem to want to let the issue die (OMG seef more popular than AFL)

[Beef_Taco]

because its not more popular, it may get played more because parents put there children in a more soft sport, but its not more popular

[DANSTAR]

because its not more popular, it may get played more because parents put there children in a more soft sport, but its not more popular
haha thats a load of rubbish. it isnt american movie where u see parents push their kids to play a sport that they did when they were young. in australia parents dont care about junk like that, they want their kids to play what they like.

[LeFtBehinD]

On that report it said that the reason soccer has become more popular is because parents dont want their kids playing contact sports.

Even still ive neva seen a Australian soccer game, and i think i know 1 mate that actually plays soccer. I find it hard to believe that AFL isnt the most played and popular, but thats just cause im from melb :P

[Beef_Taco]

gg dan, idiot. I know if my kid was playing a sport, i sure as hell would want he/she to get injured. As if the parents dont care.

[DANSTAR]

gg dan, idiot. I know if my kid was playing a sport, i sure as hell would want he/she to get injured. As if the parents dont care.
So if your son/daughter had no interest what so ever in soccer or what ever other less contact sport. And they really wanted to play football, you would deny them that chance?

Good parent you would be.

[DANSTAR]

Bones heal, emotions are remembered.

[LeFtBehinD]

lol Danstar, he said he wouldnt want them to get injured, that doesnt mean they could only join the chess club..

Obviously if ur son or daughter REALLY wanted to play a sport you would encourage them. Unless Beef isnt like that?

[CeLi]

lol Danstar, he said he wouldnt want them to get injured, that doesnt mean they could only join the chess club..

Obviously if ur son or daughter REALLY wanted to play a sport you would encourage them. Unless Beef isnt like that?

pop·u·lar ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ppy-lr)
adj.

3. Of, representing, or carried on by the people at large: the popular vote.



Obviously if it is played by more people than any other sport in this country, the dictionary says it is more popular!

[Fatso]

:iduck:

[Beef_Taco]

i would put my kid in footy, considering that what he would want to play due to the fact i would make sure he likes it from the day hes born :) but hell, if he wanted to play soccer when hes older, that will be his decision. As it was mine, and changed back to footy eventually. I sort of dont know how putting a kid in footy at 6 without him wanting to can leave emotional scars. Do kids that age really even know what they want?

[DANSTAR]

gg dan, idiot. I know if my kid was playing a sport, i sure as hell would want he/she to get injured. As if the parents dont care.
you said you wouldnt put them in a high risk of injury sport....

[Fatso]

I can't beleive you guys are still grizzling about soccer being more popular :D