I just want to have fun….
This year was going great. Gold Coast United finished 3rd in their first season in the A-League, Kevin Muscat missed a penalty in the Grand Final and my wife and I went to the World Cup in South Africa.
As a fan of the game I go to the Football to have fun. I do that by actively supporting my team whether that is Gold Coast United or the Socceroos. Either way I have a few beers at the pub with my mates, I go to the ground with my mates, I sing a few songs with my mates, I jump up and down with my mates, I go back to the pub after with my mates and we have some more beers.
This whole exercise is for me, a release from my day to day working life, which can be stressful. 3 and a half weeks in South Africa with my wife and fellow Aussies on Tour was a fantastic stress reliever, except when I got lost in Johannesburg, but that’s another story.
It is history now that we have a new first time world champion in Spain, and a well deserved win it was. I returned to Australia with 3 Vuvuzelas and told anyone who would listen about the fantastic time I had.
It was now time for the A-League to start and Gold Coast were opening up their campaign with an M1 derby against our arch rivals, Brisbane Roar. I stepped back into the supporters club and started planning what we would do that day and generally getting excited that I would be able to have regular stress relievers in the form of home town football.
We even started panning away trips and booked our flights and accommodation for an away game in Melbourne versus new kids on the block, Melbourne Heart.
Apart from a billboard a number of bus shelters and some radio advertising, I never really heard much about the game. There was no hype in the community about the impending M1 derby. There are many possible reasons for this which may be the subject of another blog.
In any case, game day came around. The Beach assembled at RQ’s and we started singing early. By all accounts is stayed like that until they left for the ground. (I had to go to the ground for a security talk and to set up our stuff in the home bay).
As kickoff approached it became apparent that the anticipated crowd was not coming and that Brisbane had brought about 40% of the crowd, not to mention a larger supporter group than we had. Try as we might we did not live up to our own expectations and neither did the team.
A good show against Wellington a week later in atrocious conditions has lifted my spirits and faith in the team.
It all came crashing down last Wednesday morning. I attended my normal training session down at Currumbin beach with a bunch of mates. One of them said to me “I see that Clive has capped the crowd again”. I told him to pull his head in and stop spreading shit like that. He had to convince me that there was a report in the paper stating this.
As soon as I got home I looked it up online and read that article. I was incensed. I went through the house yelling out that there is no way I am going to enter Skilled Park until this shit was all over. How could this shit be happening AGAIN. Surely this was a false story.
Not long after I arrived at my office I had a call from David Lewis, the journalist who broke the story. He wanted my comment on behalf of GCU supporters. I had to get him to convince me that this indeed was a true story and that it was actually going to happen. My quotes to him after this were not complimentary of the club or Clive Palmer, I still have not read the article in its entirety.
I had a call later that day from the club, who wanted a meeting with us to discuss the cap issue. Apparently it had been leaked before they wanted to announce it. We met with the CEO the following day to see if we the supporters would support the clubs decision here. I had calmed down a bit by this time and went into the meeting with a positive attitude to see if we had anywhere to go and bring about the end of the cap.
Unfortunately for us, the cap is staying until there is upward pressure on the 5000 ticket sales. This will be a hard slog to an already ambivalent Gold Coast who simply don’t know they have a team in the A-League.
We have agreed to work with the club to try and increase numbers. I know, the club should have had the football community engaged since day 1 but that has not been the case. We either do it now or we continue to add to the negative press which has surrounded GCU since Clive Palmer announced we would not only win the competition but do so undefeated.
The ball is now in their court to listen to us and implement real change to engage the local community, or I am afraid, A-League football will be lost to the coast.
I just simply want to go to the footy and have fun, is that to frigging much to ask? I just don’t need this shit, I can tell you that.
On a positive note, I have football trips to Melbourne to watch the Heart v GCU and also to Sydney to see the Socceroos take on Paraguay in October. I love traveling to a football game.
Cheers
Tezza
August 23 2010 08:19 pm | A-League
Richard on 23 Aug 2010 at 10:01 pm #
Saw another bus shelter today with the gcu sponsorship, they must have picked the places i drive to and from work, because i don’t drive much! they are all over the place!
Terry on 24 Aug 2010 at 6:06 am #
You know, I have not seen 1 shelter or billboard, I have just said that after people like you told me about them. But then again i drive the M1 to Yatala every day.
Thanks for reading Richard.
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Brendon on 24 Aug 2010 at 4:44 pm #
Love it mate
Very frustrating for you I’d think. They’re not getting the best chance to grow, grow the game and ensure success up here.
The ground deal is killing them. The cap will only make it worse – people want to be part of something bigger than themselves.
With low crowds, talk of the club folding at the end of last year, etc I reckon the crowds simply won’t come.
They’re pushing uphill and if they start losing then they’re screwed.
The sad thing is that when they fail (could have said “if”, but have no doubt now they’ll fail) they’ll say “Just no support here on the Gold Coast.”
There is buckets of support – just not for:
* stupidly high ticket prices
* an annoying owner
* disincentive to attend games (the cap)
Cheers
Brendon
Brendon on 24 Aug 2010 at 4:48 pm #
And forgot to add:
* bunch of incompetents who don’t know how to market.
Terry on 24 Aug 2010 at 7:41 pm #
Thanks Brendon, it is very frustrating. I am in a position I don’t really want to be in, but my love for the game prevents me from turning my back. I just have to play it out and hope that the outcome is better than your prediction.