We've got Buckley's chance

We've got Buckley's chance

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/sport/football-soccer/weve-got-buckleys-chance/1618327.aspx

BY JOHN-PAUL MOLONEY AND SEBASTIAN HASSETT
SOCCER

9/09/2009 6:54:00 AM

Capital Football boss Heather Reid says angry Canberra soccer fans could boycott future A-League matches if the FFA goes ahead with an 11-team competition next year.
Reid said last night the A-League for Canberra bid team was entitled to wonder if it had been ''led up the garden path'' after FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said the federation might withhold the 12th licence for 2010-11.

In defending another delay in announcing a new expansion team, Buckley said Canberra had not satisfied the FFA's financial criteria and he criticised the crowd support for an A-League match at Canberra Stadium last Friday.

''We've always said and maintained that if the current bidding consortia can't meet the criteria that we set ... that we would go forward with 11 teams,'' Buckley said. ''Our preferred option is ultimately to have 12 teams, but as yet, whilst Canberra is very well advanced, they haven't met all the financial criteria that we've sought.''

Unimpressed with the 5139 crowd last Friday, Buckley said the Perth Glory and Central Coast Mariners match ''deserved more''.

''Having two clubs competing from regions other than Canberra [last Friday] is always going to be hard but I expected more. I think the game deserved more.''

*Canberra Times*

The article is not positive.

I am actually now starting to think that even though WEstern Sydney don't have the financial criteria, they will get in.

AS the article states- We've got Buckley's Chance

Read this in the Canberra Times- should come out on the website soon.

This is not positive and it looks as though we won't have a team. i think it will either be an 11 team league or Western Sydney.

Buckley even admitted that their preffered option is Western Sydney.

still think that if we get the money sometime soon we get in

^^^

I also really don't think so.

It is simple and is obvious now- The FFA don't want us! Even if we get all the money- we will not get in.

It's pretty clear that FFA's plan for this round of expansion was a second team in both Melbourne and Sydney. The Melbourne part of that plan worked out OK, but the Sydney part of the plan has failed dramatically due to incomplete/weak bids. The Canberra, Tassie and South Coast bids were merely sideshows as far as FFA were concerned. Despite a strong bid, FFA never had any intention of allowing Canberra to enter the league this round of expansion. It's only getting a small look-in this time around because of the failure of the West Sydney bids. Canberra has thrown a spanner in the works of FFA's Melbourne-Sydney focus for expansion but it won't be granted entry because Sydney is a greater priority.
After teams 11 and 12 enter the league there will be a pause of a few years before the next round of expansion. With a massive talent pool and population base, it is little wonder FFA are targetting West Sydney for this round of expasion. They would therefore put up with an 11 team competition for a season before West Sydney got its act together. If there had been a bid even remotely on track there would not have been any debate - they would have been granted entry and Canberra wouldn't even have been considered.
The failure of the Canberra bid to completely tick all of FFA's boxes just gives them an excuse to deny the capital entry into the competition. Missing the financial criterion is a big downfall, and I'm not sure that we've proven community support. I know that Friday night is no real reflection of that support, but it now gives FFA a convenient excuse not to grant us entry. If people had turned up in droves, like they should have, FFA would not have that excuse. Canberra's football fans should have been aware of this tactic - if they truly supported the Canberra bid they should have attended.

benoncehobbled wrote:It's pretty clear that FFA's plan for this round of expansion was a second team in both Melbourne and Sydney. The Melbourne part of that plan worked out OK, but the Sydney part of the plan has failed dramatically due to incomplete/weak bids. The Canberra, Tassie and South Coast bids were merely sideshows as far as FFA were concerned. Despite a strong bid, FFA never had any intention of allowing Canberra to enter the league this round of expansion. It's only getting a small look-in this time around because of the failure of the West Sydney bids. Canberra has thrown a spanner in the works of FFA's Melbourne-Sydney focus for expansion but it won't be granted entry because Sydney is a greater priority.
After teams 11 and 12 enter the league there will be a pause of a few years before the next round of expansion. With a massive talent pool and population base, it is little wonder FFA are targetting West Sydney for this round of expasion. They would therefore put up with an 11 team competition for a season before West Sydney got its act together. If there had been a bid even remotely on track there would not have been any debate - they would have been granted entry and Canberra wouldn't even have been considered.
The failure of the Canberra bid to completely tick all of FFA's boxes just gives them an excuse to deny the capital entry into the competition. Missing the financial criterion is a big downfall, and I'm not sure that we've proven community support. I know that Friday night is no real reflection of that support, but it now gives FFA a convenient excuse not to grant us entry. If people had turned up in droves, like they should have, FFA would not have that excuse. Canberra's football fans should have been aware of this tactic - if they truly supported the Canberra bid they should have attended.

good quote, yeah it's not sure we have good support within the community and without enough money its dead in the water.. maybe it is worth waiting for a real wealthy backer and if we miss out this time then going out and trying to find one.

There, still not all of the article but I got what I could from the Canberra Times website.

So it looks like the FFA really have used the CCM Perth game as an indicator for why we should get a team:

So they are dissapointed with 5000 from two foreign teams in Canberra, when Gold Coast get 6000 to a top of the ladder clash...

How is this justifiable when we have allready had multiple shows of support from the Canberra & surrounding region:
Aus v Kuwait 20,000
A-League Pre Season match a while ago 7000
Canberra supporters travelling to Sydney game
etc. etc.

This is Fu**ed!!!!!!!!!

Im going to send an email to the ffa if we dont get a team and they use that game on friday as an excuss.

For all the talk of emails to the FFA expressing our anger etc etc we could always start playing dirty and emailing A League sponsors such as Hyundai, Nat Australia Bank, Fox, Optus and Schweppes to advise that we will be boycotting their products while we are barred from entering the comp and that FFA are knowingly alienating the whole of Canberra from the sponsorship efforts. Neither would it hurt to announce to Lowy and Westfield that we'll all be headed to the Canberra Centre rather than Westfields Belconnen in future.

Swagman wrote:For all the talk of emails to the FFA expressing our anger etc etc we could always start playing dirty and emailing A League sponsors such as Hyundai, Nat Australia Bank, Fox, Optus and Schweppes to advise that we will be boycotting their products while we are barred from entering the comp and that FFA are knowingly alienating the whole of Canberra from the sponsorship efforts. Neither would it hurt to announce to Lowy and Westfield that we'll all be headed to the Canberra Centre rather than Westfields Belconnen in future.

erm, mate, 127 people boycotting these Multi million dollar companies is going to do much

Swagman wrote:For all the talk of emails to the FFA expressing our anger etc etc we could always start playing dirty and emailing A League sponsors such as Hyundai, Nat Australia Bank, Fox, Optus and Schweppes to advise that we will be boycotting their products while we are barred from entering the comp and that FFA are knowingly alienating the whole of Canberra from the sponsorship efforts. Neither would it hurt to announce to Lowy and Westfield that we'll all be headed to the Canberra Centre rather than Westfields Belconnen in future.

that's gold!

love the idea mate but as ^^ said won't make a difference.

Erm Stevie mate, why would you write to them telling them only 127 people would boycott the idea? Tell them "every football fan in Canberra", tell them "every person who signed that petition" tell them "everyone of the 20,000 who attended Canberra's FFA "test" for the Kuwait match" Then again it's easier to ridicule a post than to so something positive so I'll leave it there.

I like the idea but I just can't see many people getting into it. There are many other ideas to direct our anger to the FFA.

just flood the FFA with hate mail

mikey_porto wrote:There are many other ideas to direct our anger to the FFA.

You and the previous poster miss the point completely. It's not about demonstrating your anger, it's about applying financial pressure to the FFA. When sponsors get nervous about the return on their investment they have a habit of making themselves heard - witness the sponsors for NRL clubs Manly & Cronulla in recent months. This is especially true when sponsors are not exactly falling over themselves to support the A League in this economic climate. You can rant and rave all you like to "direct your anger" but FFA will take as much notice of you as I do of my 2 years old when he has a tantrum because he can't have his own way.

Swagman wrote:

mikey_porto wrote:There are many other ideas to direct our anger to the FFA.

You and the previous poster miss the point completely. It's not about demonstrating your anger, it's about applying financial pressure to the FFA. When sponsors get nervous about the return on their investment they have a habit of making themselves heard - witness the sponsors for NRL clubs Manly & Cronulla in recent months. This is especially true when sponsors are not exactly falling over themselves to support the A League in this economic climate. You can rant and rave all you like to "direct your anger" but FFA will take as much notice of you as I do of my 2 years old when he has a tantrum because he can't have his own way.

I REALLY like the thinking and yes putting pressure on the FFA, but would the Canberra public really want to get into it? There just isn't THAT much passion.