My letter to the FFA

To whom it may concern,

I am writing here on behalf of the Capital Punishment supporters group, the most passionate Canberra football fans out there.

I have followed this whole process for well over a year now and have some questions.

After the decision made today, where does this leave Canberra? I know you could come out with the whole "oh it depends when they get their business plan and financial requirements settled" card, but hypothetically, if the bid team gathered the required start-up money tomorrow, when would be the earliest time for us to come into the league?

My next question is in regards to your inability to give Canberra a provisional licence.

It has been quite apparent that from the very start of this process, 2nd teams from Melbourne and Sydney were going to get these two licences, and I respect your reasoning behind this sentiment.

My question though is why, even now have you not given Canberra a provisional licence with a time-frame to be negotiated? Surely this could do no harm. Should the bid team acquire the start-up money in the allotted time period, we get a full licence, but should we fail to do so, you simply don't give us one. Surely a provisional licence could only enhance our chances of acquiring sponsors.

Another concern I had was the FFA's handling of the Central Coast vs Perth game held in Canberra.

The 5139 crowd that turned out may not look good on paper, but to openly criticise it, especially after the recent poor crowds in the A-league for teams which actually had a team to support, is a bit of a shame in my honest opinion.

This is particularly given the relatively low amounts of advertising for the game and the lack of local support for any of the teams.

Would you not agree that the basis of supporting a football team is tribalism? Furthermore supporting a team that you associate with? To be honest the 5139 shows just how many die hard fans Canberra has, most of the fans there were not supporting Central Coast, they weren't supporting Perth, nor were they just out for a good time... They were supporting a Canberra A-league bid.

You could've asked the Canberra public to turn up at an oval and watch an ACT premier league game if they wanted a team and still got healthy numbers.

The one time the Canberra public was given a chance to see a team they associated with, may i remind you we got 20032 fans, or have you forgotten? Once again I respect your will for a Western Sydney team but to put the Canberra public down for something that I really don't believe you could've asked more from, is once again, a bit of a shame.

What is the Wellington Phoenix situation by the way?

Another query I had was, will the FFA be contributing money towards the new Western Sydney team.

I sincerely hope this isn't the case given your excuse for not giving Canberra a licence because being slightly short of the required money.

Thank you for reading this and I would appreciate a reply.

Kind regards,

a concerned Canberra football fan.

That is bloody excellent. Well done for sending it in- and I encourage all to do so. I know myself will.

Well written mate, FFA can go !@#$ themselves. I have watched my last A-League game until Canberra are in the comp.

Expedite wrote:Well written mate, FFA can go !@#$ themselves. I have watched my last A-League game until Canberra are in the comp.

???

Why'd you do that? As RealCanberra23 said in the last topic, now is the time that Canberra needs to stand up and really stick it to the FFA. Make banners to show our disgruntlement not whether or not you appear at the game.

If you had been involved in teh Canberra Cannons farce and how that went down you might understand where I am coming from. It seems again that a Canberra team is getting shafted because of an agenda from a sports governing body. The result was pre-ordained it seems, i wont say what i really think on a public forum.......

My diatribe against the FFA.

drawing inspiration from that well argued letter, i feel it appropriate that my first post on my new laptop should be sternly directed against that disgrace of a governing body.

i'm sure all my arguments would have already been put forward and indeed in more eloquent terms but i need to vent... to you.

well it comes as no surprise to any of you that the decision was absolutely disgusting! how can they justify such an arduous and drawn out bidding process only to award the bid to an entry that sprung up overnight like a mushroom???
the constant unexplained delays in the decision making was unjustified and were exactly that delaying tactics. delay tactics until the FFA got the bid they wanted not what the game wanted and needed. one word to describe the whole process: a farce. (that's actually two)

it is at this point that i would like to declare here and now that i have lost faith in the FFA and that i seriously believe that Ben Buckley is not fir for the job. he is responsible for this farce that has damaged the once good FFA name. he is responsible for making football the number one code in this country yet we simultaneously witness dwindling and already appalling crowd figures. sure it is an intriguing finals season but the point is it is up to him to win that support or we will be forever considered the "other" code which makes me shudder.
the last reason he should go is because this was all a conspiracy from the very beginning. the result was pre-ordained and they strung us along like the idiots they take us for. it is well known that all the other codes want to get a foothold in western sydney, fine, but not at the expense of support in other (also grwoing) area such as Canberra.

don't you think it is time to root up and weed out the sydney influence in the FFA??? the current administration smacks of the old Soccer Australia...

now i am all for social agitation but on this occasion i do not endorse boycotting the next match in Canberra. why? because unlike the FFA in their conniving and stifling policies stand for the stagnation of the game, we canberrans stand for the advancement of football and that is why we must never be silent we will always cheer good football and revel in it's marvel and always deplore and disown bod administration.

that is why FFA... you don't represent me anymore.

P.S. FFA giving canberra many more socceroos game might win me over????

I have to agree. I have lost any respect I had for Ben Buckley following the latest debacle. The way he talks about Canberra really makes me cringe and the way he just does nohing for the piss-poor crowds does worry me.

Nonno Gomes wrote:My diatribe against the FFA.

drawing inspiration from that well argued letter, i feel it appropriate that my first post on my new laptop should be sternly directed against that disgrace of a governing body.

i'm sure all my arguments would have already been put forward and indeed in more eloquent terms but i need to vent... to you.

well it comes as no surprise to any of you that the decision was absolutely disgusting! how can they justify such an arduous and drawn out bidding process only to award the bid to an entry that sprung up overnight like a mushroom???
the constant unexplained delays in the decision making was unjustified and were exactly that delaying tactics. delay tactics until the FFA got the bid they wanted not what the game wanted and needed. one word to describe the whole process: a farce. (that's actually two)

it is at this point that i would like to declare here and now that i have lost faith in the FFA and that i seriously believe that Ben Buckley is not fir for the job. he is responsible for this farce that has damaged the once good FFA name. he is responsible for making football the number one code in this country yet we simultaneously witness dwindling and already appalling crowd figures. sure it is an intriguing finals season but the point is it is up to him to win that support or we will be forever considered the "other" code which makes me shudder.
the last reason he should go is because this was all a conspiracy from the very beginning. the result was pre-ordained and they strung us along like the idiots they take us for. it is well known that all the other codes want to get a foothold in western sydney, fine, but not at the expense of support in other (also grwoing) area such as Canberra.

don't you think it is time to root up and weed out the sydney influence in the FFA??? the current administration smacks of the old Soccer Australia...

now i am all for social agitation but on this occasion i do not endorse boycotting the next match in Canberra. why? because unlike the FFA in their conniving and stifling policies stand for the stagnation of the game, we canberrans stand for the advancement of football and that is why we must never be silent we will always cheer good football and revel in it's marvel and always deplore and disown bod administration.

that is why FFA... you don't represent me anymore.

P.S. FFA giving canberra many more socceroos game might win me over????

100% with you on every point there.

I really feel sorry for the bid team who were being led on the whole time by the FFA yet still put in countless hard working hours.

Nonno Gomes wrote:My diatribe against the FFA.

drawing inspiration from that well argued letter, i feel it appropriate that my first post on my new laptop should be sternly directed against that disgrace of a governing body.

i'm sure all my arguments would have already been put forward and indeed in more eloquent terms but i need to vent... to you.

well it comes as no surprise to any of you that the decision was absolutely disgusting! how can they justify such an arduous and drawn out bidding process only to award the bid to an entry that sprung up overnight like a mushroom???
the constant unexplained delays in the decision making was unjustified and were exactly that delaying tactics. delay tactics until the FFA got the bid they wanted not what the game wanted and needed. one word to describe the whole process: a farce. (that's actually two)

it is at this point that i would like to declare here and now that i have lost faith in the FFA and that i seriously believe that Ben Buckley is not fir for the job. he is responsible for this farce that has damaged the once good FFA name. he is responsible for making football the number one code in this country yet we simultaneously witness dwindling and already appalling crowd figures. sure it is an intriguing finals season but the point is it is up to him to win that support or we will be forever considered the "other" code which makes me shudder.
the last reason he should go is because this was all a conspiracy from the very beginning. the result was pre-ordained and they strung us along like the idiots they take us for. it is well known that all the other codes want to get a foothold in western sydney, fine, but not at the expense of support in other (also grwoing) area such as Canberra.

don't you think it is time to root up and weed out the sydney influence in the FFA??? the current administration smacks of the old Soccer Australia...

now i am all for social agitation but on this occasion i do not endorse boycotting the next match in Canberra. why? because unlike the FFA in their conniving and stifling policies stand for the stagnation of the game, we canberrans stand for the advancement of football and that is why we must never be silent we will always cheer good football and revel in it's marvel and always deplore and disown bod administration.

that is why FFA... you don't represent me anymore.

P.S. FFA giving canberra many more socceroos game might win me over????

That is another brilliant post... you should just edit the article and send it to the FFA.

the other think that annoys me is that the FFA is doing jack all about the dwindling crowds. Is it really so hard just to bloody advertise and see where that gets them. We need the players to promote themselves like featuring in tv ads and featuring on shows like Celebrity Masterchef, stuff like that.

YEa, the FFA are steadily losing credibilty IMO. Firstly, with the handling of the expansion and the complete shrugging off of Canberra, Tasmania and the South Coast, and secondly, their handling of the pathetic crowds. Why aren't they forcing cheaper ticket prices? Why aren't the getting ads and promotions out there? Why aren't they offering special deals for games (eg. Buy 4 get 1 free)

^^
it's not the FFA's responsibility to handle ticket prices or promotion of games, that rests with the club.

and if a club lowered ticket prices they'd have to refund money to members which they don't want to do.

Schimch@capital hill wrote:^^
it's not the FFA's responsibility to handle ticket prices or promotion of games, that rests with the club.

and if a club lowered ticket prices they'd have to refund money to members which they don't want to do.

the ffa can step in and force the club into lowering ticket prices. they have even stated this themselves.

your second point about members... should be soemthing the club are ready for.

let's just agree that the ticket prices shouldn't have been set that high in the first place.

for our league to grow to it's full potential we need to floor the ticket prices get fans in then hook them into regular supporters

With such high tickets prices, and the derby this week, what do u reckon about the BR-GCU crowd this week?

My prediction for the BR v GCU game is between 8-12k at Suncorp. I read apparently GCU pay $140,000 per match for stadium hire that's why it $29 each for a cheap seat (most expensive in the league)

That being said I wouldn't be surprised if MV v SFC pulls a 30k crowd on Friday night.

Hopefully we will now see a slight increase for crowds at Suncorp. They have dropped the prices.

all the qld teams have pretty expensive prices... i would hope that the Canberra Utd A-L prices would be nice and cheap (cheaper than the raiders)

Yes the key with our club eventually will be to make it cheaper than the Brumbies/Raiders. Both of them charge around $30 mark per ticket.

I went to the CCM v PG match and general admission was $17. Throw in a family friendly promotion or 2 + summer time in Canberra and I think it's a start to a formula for success to getting fans in.