Archive for the 'A-League' Category

Its Sad

Its Sad

I came away from last Sunday’s game feeling very flat and unimpressed. Was it because we lost? Was it because of the Crowd Cap? Was it because of the lack of numbers in the crowd?

I deliberately did not read the forum because I knew it would simply depress me. There would be our own members having a go at the club and in particular our owner, Clive Palmer. There would be the obligatory posts from Victory supporters telling us how crap we are as a supporter group, how crap our team is, and what a crap time they had because of the crowd cap. There would be posts from supporters of other clubs telling us what crap supporters we are and we didn’t deserve a team.

Why?

I have tried to work out why I didn’t want to read the forum and why I felt so sad after the game. I have tried to work out why I avoided meeting up with some Victory supporters I spoke to on Twitter, and another guy who I have known personally for the past 3 years from Socceroo travels.

It comes down to I am embarrassed by what has gone on. As a fan of the game I am just completely embarrassed by what the club has done and how it showcases us to the A-League public. I love this game and have done all my life. I know what it was like under the “Old Soccer” when it was the NSL. Hell I remember when it was the “Phillips Soccer League”.

So when “New Football” arrived I was so excited that I was supporting it no matter what. It is our last chance to show the Australian Public that we are a legitimate Football code that can stand alongside the other codes here in Australia.

So when Version 1 arrived I hoped on the train to Brisbane to support “New Football”. I bought a Social membership and a supporter’s shirt for the Roar. I managed to see 3 or 4 games a year until it was announced that the Gold Coast would have its own team in Season 5. How good is that I thought? My very own A-League team to support in the town I live in, and only 15min drive.

Clive Palmer

Working in the mining industry I knew exactly who Clive Palmer was, but could not find any link to Football. So what I thought, this guy has the money and is saying all the right stuff in the local media, I just have to support him and the club.

In the ensuing months I had many a debate in person and on forums with detractors, who didn’t think Clive was in it for the right reasons. That as soon as we were not winning he would be out of there like a shot. I argued that the game needed new money and benefactors who wanted to support the game. After all, Clive is a local Gold Coaster done good. He made his initial money as a property developer before ending up as a mining magnate.

I ended up as an Organiser of “The Beach” to promote active support at GCU matches. We copped an absolute bollocking from supporters of every other club in the league at some time, because of our small numbers and apparent lack of originality in our songs/chants.

Before a Socceroos game in Brisbane earlier this year I defended the right for the Gold Coast to have a team to some GGArmy faithful who said then that the A-League does not deserve the crap that Palmer is doing to the league. Again I defended our right and that of Clive to have the team; I got so angry I had to walk away in the end.

Season 2

When I arrived at Skilled Park for game 1 against or rivals from up the M1 and I saw how small the crowd was I sort of knew how the season was going to go. 40-50% of the crowd was from Brisbane and their away supporter’s bay had as many people as ours but more standing on their feet than ours.

Then during the week the bombshell was dropped, the Crowd Cap was to be invoked again. I was so angry I told my wife I was going to cut up my season pass and send it to Clive telling him to stick it where the sun don’t shine. It went through our supporters like Epsom salts. By that night there were many threads about the cap and Clive.

Supporters from other clubs had a field day, and supporters from within our own group split in to 2 camps. Those who were staying and those who were going. That divide is even greater after last Sunday’s game where only 3624 people turned up.

So Who Is To Blame?

In my opinion the club did not do enough to engage with the community in the first instance and secondly simply did not advertise the fact that there was a team on the Gold Coast. Even with all this publicity and what has gone on since day 1 there are people who simply don’t know that GCU exist. These people know more about an AFL team who has 3 contracted players than they do about us.

Does the Gold Coast Deserve a Team?

This is now the burning question inside of me. The calls for the FFA to take back the license or simply kick us out of the league all together are gaining momentum now. Not only from other supporters, but from respected journalists. Have a read of Les Murray’s latest TWG Blog.

Many of you have made up your mind and want us kicked out ASAP. I think that decision should be left until the end of the season. I think every town has the right to want a team and has to then justify that commitment. I question whether the FFA jumped at the chance of having a benefactor like Clive at the helm and thought, we have a team that will never have money troubles.

Will GCU survive?

It took Rugby League 3 goes (I know they were kicked out after Super League) and Aussie Rules are having their second tilt at a team here. The gold coast is a Rugby League town, no question. Due to massive interstate immigration there is also a healthy support for Aussie Rules as well. Football has always been the poor cousin to these 2 codes and Rugby Union lurks there as well.

The only way our code can survive anywhere in Australia is with the grassroots support of the local Football communities. This is the area I believe that GCU did not concentrate on when they were first granted the license.

Clive Palmer is the key here. He controls the purse strings and gives the CEO direction he wants the club to move. It is not sustainable for him to lose money hand over fist, I understand that. But surely there could be a better targeted marketing campaign that encompasses advertising, community involvement, cheaper ticketing and FREE stuff for kids. Get the community on side first; get them coming in the gate and then reign it in. From where I sit, the reigns have never been loosened.

It is easy to go on from here into the financial woes of the A-League and FFA especially considering the Jets predicament this week. But all I will say is that “Sustainability” is the end game here. It must be if GCU and every other club are to survive. GCU have to find that balance here on the Gold Coast and fast or we won’t have it too much longer. It’s all catch up from here on in, 2 years after being granted the license.

I will be there

When we play CCM on September 19, I will be in the stands singing like I always have. I just hope a few more Gold Coasters come along as well.

Tezza

September 02 2010 | A-League and Gold Coast United | 2 Comments »

Why people dont come to Skilled Park

Here is the list of excuses/reasons I have heard why GCU don’t get a good crowd on the Gold Coast. These are from supporters, football club, general public and newspapers. I may have even used some myself.

  • It is a League Town
  • It took the NRL 3 goes to get it right, why would the A League work right the first time?
  • We are still in a recession here on the Gold Coast
  • Our unemployment rate is twice that of the national average. (sits about 6.5%, not exactly twice)
  • The Titans are still playing and are sitting 2nd on the ladder. Families are not going to spend up on 2 sports especially if they are at home on the same weekend. (This was the case for first game against Roar)
  • Tickets are too expensive
  • Nowhere to park (I don’t get this because it is the same whoever plays there)
  • Lack of community involvement
  • Lack of advertising
  • Clive Palmer is too arrogant and has put the Gold Coast offside with his boasts.
  • Gold Coast United are boring to watch
  • The A-League just isn’t good enough to pay money to watch. (ie no stars, not the EPL etc)
  • Too many other things to do on the Gold Coast

I am sure locals could come up with a heap more. In the end they are mostly excuses. What we need to find are the “reasons” people are not turning up to the games.

I believe the main reason is that either people don’t know or they just don’t care. Either way there is almost no connection between the Gold Coast public and the Football Club.

The 3 biggest things that must happen are:

  1. Market Research into “Why”
  2. More interaction with the local Football community.
  3. Stop being so negative

The interaction will happen with the clubs commitment to us supporters that they will meet with us face to face on a regular basis to discuss ways of increasing crowds.

And the club and supporters have to stop the negativity and get some positive vibes out there, just like Dennis Denuto in Kerrigan v The Crown.

There is no doubt the Cap will turn people away this weekend, and I know some of them.

But I love this game too much to just turn away and let it fall apart.

I am in it till the end, so come on Gold Coast help it end soon and turn out to Skilled Park, Pleeeeeeaaaasssseeee.

Cheers

Tezza

August 24 2010 | A-League and Gold Coast United | No Comments »

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 | A-League | 6 Comments »

Gold Coast United – Season One Review

Gold Coast United – Season One

How We Went

Played 27 matches for 13 wins 5 draws 9 losses 39 goals for 35 goals against for a total of 44 and finishing 3rd. Shane Smeltz also won the Golden Boot award with 19 goals for the season. With 8 teams in their 5th season and the 2 teams above us have won 3 of the 4 championships I would say that Gold Coast United can hold their heads up high. Certainly as a fan I am very happy with that.

We had a heap of highs both on and off the field as well as some lows. But that is Football and I wouldn’t give up the emotional roller coaster of being a fan for anything.

Crowds

The biggest problem and most commented on issue all season has been Crowds. Why can’t we get a decent size crowd? To put it in context to the whole league, on average there has been a 20% drop in crowd numbers. SFC, Glory and the Nix are the only clubs to record an increase. 3 clubs had 30% or more drop in crowds. Per head of population, Gold Coast ranks 4th. Yes GCU had the lowest crowd average, but also have the 4th lowest catchment of people to reach. And yes, 4100 to a Semi Final is unacceptable.

These may seem like lame excuses to some but they are real issues that other areas do not have to deal with other than maybe the Fury.

  1. Gold Coast has no National Football history
  2. Gold Coast has no Football Culture.
  3. Very small ethnic football populations, who have been the backbone of Football in this country for decades.
  4. It is an area of the country where people come to chill out either for life or on holidays. It takes a lot to get a Gold Coaster moving, believe me.
  5. There is so much to do here for locals and tourists. It is one of the reasons I moved here 15 years ago from Sydney.

There is no doubt our crowds must pick up if we are to be a sustainable football club, and if I have to defend this in 3 years time then maybe I shouldn’t be. This issue has been constantly debated on the forum since the season started. I don’t know if we have found one particular answer, but we do have the population base and a good base of junior footballers to draw on. It is up to the club to tap into that somehow. Just look at what the NRL has done and what the AFL is doing.

Clive

Our illustrious owner. He certainly knows how to score a headline. When I first heard that Clive had bankrolled the team I was really excited. Not only did we have an A-League team on the Gold Coast, but it was backed by the richest man in Queensland. Surely we couldn’t fail. Clive said all the right things in the media about supporting the local football community, bringing a first class team to the Gold Coast etc. Then he goes and bags the Titans, and then he goes and says we will win the competition undefeated. Way to go Clive, a real winner with the majority of Gold Coasters.

Then throughout the season he continued to gain headlines by capping the crowds, bagging the FFA and eventually accusing them of a conspiracy against the Gold Coast. Why would they do that after they granted a license to him to build the game on the Gold Coast. Unfortunately he came across to the Gold Coast community as a whinger who has too much money. And this is not just my opinion, this is what my friends tell me and just about anyone outside football tells me when I start spruiking about getting along to Skilled Park to watch GCU.

I find it almost embarrassing that the FFA took over control of match days because the richest man in Qld had a dummy spit about losing money after he was so adamant about building the game on the Gold Coast and Northern NSW.

There is no doubt we need people like Clive in the game with his money. But we also need him to work with the FFA, clubs and fans to build the game. It is a hard sell not only on the Gold Coast but to Australia in general. He can’t run a Football club like a mining company, and he can’t micro manage people running a club in a game he knows very little about. Put some football people in management and one on the board, and let them do their job.

Club

It did appear to me from the outside that Clive had a huge influence on the day to day running of the club. Unfortunately this seemed to lead to people not being able to do their jobs. They have sacked their Marketing Manager probably for the lack of marketing. I believe it was his lack of resources. Andrew is a passionate football person who was very supportive of our supporters club and understood what we wanted to achieve in the home end. Thank you Andrew for your support this season.

They also did not renew Paul Okon’s contract after indicating from the beginning he would take over from Miron. I have no idea what sort of a coaching job Paul did but is suspect a clash of ideas with Miron was the ultimate decider. Thanks Paul.

During this off season I expect the Club from Clive and Miron down to be very active in the Gold Coast community. Our local football season has just started and we need our players to be active every weekend at some level with our youth. This is where we will gain crowds as these people already play the game. We need to build the product name in our own community before we look at the wider community.

Whoever the new marketing manager will be needs to be tough and innovative in getting people to the games. The club needs to give the person the resources to do this.

Supporters

“The Beach” as we called ourselves in the home end grew steadily throughout the season. We have a long way to go with coordinating our chanting but it is getting there. We have a great core group of supporters who have been there week in week out despite the problems off field and with the crowds. The way we reacted to the Cap was a great bonding experience and was a real turn around. We want to create an atmosphere at the ground that everyone can enjoy and hopefully we did that.

Standing, singing and wearing beach hats are not everyone’s cup of tea, and the hats are not traditionally a football thing. They have come in for a lot of flak from our opposition fans but this has only steeled my like for them and I hope they continue to be popular. We sold 200 this season. I think what they have done is identify us to our own community and people want to wear them. Along with our name they are an iconic symbol of our region and one which I wear with pride not only at the game but as a volunteer once a month.

Me and the wife, Semi Final v Jets

Ah well that’s my first bit of writing since November and it felt good to vent. I have a heap of subjects in my head to blurt about so come back again. Also leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Cheers

Tezza

PS. I am going to the World Cup in 85 days time. woo hooo

March 08 2010 | A-League and Gold Coast United | 7 Comments »

How Good is That?

2 days is a long time in Football.

My last blog centered on the fans protest at the Crowd cap at last Saturday nights game as did media reports. Next thing the FFA is talking tough, then Jason Culina voices his displeasure, and then FINALLY last night the Club announced that the CAP IS SCRAPPED.

HOW GOOD IS THAT?????????????????

I think a lot of us thought we won Lotto or the Melbourne Cup when we read this news.

I am ecstatic at this news. I don’t know all the details yet but apparently a new ticket pricing structure will be announced tomorrow morning as well.

As supporters, we feel damn good about this and feel we had some sort of hand in making it happen.

Up until today, all official communication with the club has been 1 way. We ring them. Today, Clive Mensink, CEO, rang our club President and told him about a BBQ that the Players are putting on for US, the fans. It will be tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday Nov 4th, at Southport Tigers after training at about 5pm.

I will still wait and see how this all pans out, but it appears that Clive and Clive have listened not only to us but the FFA and given us our Beach back, as well as a new pricing structure.

It is now up to the Gold Coast Fans to get off your bums, buy a ticket and come and support a really good football team. Our team has a real chance of actually winning this competition. I am not saying we will, but we have a great chance. In any case we will have fun cheering our team on. SO come and Stand Between The Flags or just sit anywhere else, but PLEASE, COME AND SUPPORT GOLD COAST UNITED

Cheers

Tezza

November 03 2009 | A-League and Gold Coast United | 1 Comment »

Scrap The Cap

Scrap the Cap

Well its official, the “Cap the Crowd” strategy by Clive Palmer was a disaster in community relations as well as his relations to the wider Football Community. Just over 2600 people turned up last night with many Season ticket holders staying away in protest at having to move.

Our supporters group who stand in “The Beach” (Bay 30) were all moved to Bay 2 in the corner behind the goal line. We turned up with protest banners and when the players left the field after their warm up we held those banners up towards Clive’s private box. “Scrap the Cap”, “Fans not $$ “, “Greatest Team Never Seen”, “Football is for the fans, not greedy hands, Justice for the GCU”, “Want bigger Crowds Clive, Ask us How”. This continued until the players came back to the field for the kickoff. We then got down to the business of supporting the TEAM with our singing and chanting.

GCU Fans vent their anger

GCU Fans vent their anger

GCU Fans send Clive a Message.

GCU Fans send Clive a Message.

During the game, the crowd wanted to do more and it was decided that at the 70th minute that we would “Storm The Beach” and run over to Bay 30 where our normal seats are. About 20 people made it over the concrete barrier between the stands whilst the rest were stopped by security when they realised what was happening. The crowd around us got behind us and we were all cheering the guys on as they ran across. Security did catch up with them and escorted them out of the stand. About 10 were kicked out of the stadium for “Trespassing”. The rest made it back to the relocated beach and we continued to sing for our team. Unfortunately the Fury scored a second goal during this time and we were 2-0 down and that remained the score until the end.

GCU fans Storm the Beach

GCU fans "Storm the Beach"

At the end of the game most of us stayed in our seats and chanted for Clive to come down. Clive did come down, Clive Mensink – CEO, arrived and a heated discussion with the fans started. A bit of calm was obtained and a few of us vented our frustrations at Clive. Of course he held the line that it is financially prudent to cap the Crowds and his reasons why. Another blog will deal with this.

About 30 of walked out of the ground and realized that our free bus back to the pubs had gone. Whilst working out where the cab rank was a BMW M3 pulled up next to us. Out stepped Jason Culina. He came over and shook our hands and apologised for the performance. We had a chat and the remaining kids there all had his autograph and pictures taken with him. What a top bloke. Told us to keep up the good work and to keep coming back and cheering for the team.

We also had a conversation with the FOX Sports commentary team who gave us heaps of Kudos for what we did. They thought the “Storm the Beach” stunt was great.

All in all it was a disappointing night not only for the result but for Football on the Coast. Protesting the way we did was not ideal but one that had to be done in my opinion. And obviously one that is shared by many GCU supporters. A small group of us went to the Youth league game today and relived the moments. It was fun in the stands and an awesome thing to be part of, even if I did chicken out of the run into the stands. It’s been done now, and the most important thing is for the Team to start winning again. We have top of the table Sydney FC next weekend at Skilled Park and you can bet that “The Beach” will be there in full voice to support the boys.

I would also like to thank all those supporters from other clubs who have been on our forum and been very positive in support of our cause.

The ball is in Clive Palmer’s court now, he must listen to the people and “Scrap The Cap”.

Cheers

Tezza

November 01 2009 | A-League and Gold Coast United | 6 Comments »

Gold Coast United to Limit crowds to 5000 – WTF

Will Clive Palmer limit crowds to 5000 at Skilled Park?

“We believe Clive’s financial resources will support the bid – there’s no question about that,” Buckley said.

“More importantly there’s a demonstrated commitment to engage with the Gold Coast community. That’s a very important part of the proposal as well” Courier Mail, June 3, 2008

“the club informed FFA they intend to cap Skilled Park crowds to under 5000 — starting with their next home game against North Queensland Fury on Saturday week.” GC Bulletin, Oct 23, 2009

What a bullshit reaction from a Football Club Owner. This is another in a long line of media statements from Clive Palmer and Mensink to somehow gain media coverage of what to me is the worst marketing campaign by anyone ever.

Why don’t you do what you said 15 months ago, and engage the community with our Football team. It has taken until 2 weeks ago for players to actually get out into the community to something other than some televised media scrum, and now you want to pull the pin.

The blame for poor crowd numbers rests squarely on your shoulders Mr. Palmer. You have done next to nothing to promote the team to the Gold Coast community. You could take a leaf out of Michael Searle’s book on how to successfully market a sporting team to the Gold Coast. Even the new GC17 AFL team has more publicity and they don’t even have a team to watch yet.

It appears to me that you say many things in the media and completely fail to follow them up with actions.

Your attitude to the people of the Gold Coast is utter contempt in my opinion. You waltzed up at the last minute to “Save” the Gold Coast Galaxy bid and expected the Gold Coast to just welcome the “messiah” with open arms and roll up in their thousands and hail King Clive. Well it didn’t happen, and now all I hear from the Club is how tough it is in the market and the government is killing us with the stadium deal, bla bla bla.

You fail to recognize that Football Supporters are very passionate about their team. You are playing with peoples emotions with ridiculous statements in the media and now capping crowds. A big fail Mr. Palmer.  Stop your whining and get the football team out into the community every week.

When the franchise was announced I had conversations with a number of friends from other teams regarding your involvement in Football. They were really skeptical and I told them that you would be great for the league. Their concern was that you are more interested in having your logo in front of your Asian buddies at the ACL and that you didn’t care about the A-League. I am beginning to believe them now. Please prove us wrong.

You have managed to assemble a fantastic team who can win the league and your actions have done little to support them by getting crowds to the ground. Whatever happens for the Fury game I certainly hope that the Supporters send a clear message to you and the club as you do not deserve our support which now must be earned.

October 24 2009 | A-League and Gold Coast United | No Comments »

Gold Coast United on 60 Minutes

Gold Coast United on 60 Minutes

It has been a great few weeks for GCU fans here and abroad. Undefeated after 3 rounds and heading to Newcastle for our next encounter tomorrow at 3pm.

It has been very hectic for the Supporters Club committee getting things up and running, but it is all part of the fun.

Before our first home game a couple of weeks ago a 60 minutes crew joined our Supporters Club at the Dog and Parrot. They were there as part of a story on Clive Palmer, our football club owner. We were filmed singing our chants and then a few of us were interviewed by Charles Wooley. It was a fun afternoon.

That story will be on 60 Minutes this Sunday Night.

Cheers

Tezza

August 29 2009 | A-League and Gold Coast United | No Comments »

Gold Coast United – Undefeated

Undefeated after 2 Matches

With a 3-1 win in our first ever Derby in Brisbane and then a 5-0 win over fellow newcomers, NQ Fury, we are so far undefeated with 25 matches remaining. Can we go the distance??

A big ask in any competition. I don’t know what Professor Clive was smoking at the time but the realist in me says we will loose at some stage this season.

However, until that time comes

Were Gold Coast United

We’ll never be defeated

Were Gold Coast United

We’ll never be defeated

This is the first Club side I have supported passionately. It is like I have a new lease on life. New friends with the same passion. A new club with big ambition, and a club with a great team to follow.

I thought our first ever home game was a great hit out for the Home End Supporters. We sang our lungs our from start to finish. That was after we warmed up 4 hours earlier for our interview with 60 Minutes.

A fantastic day and night was had by all.

The Gold Coast needs to get out there and support our new team. 7500 people was a little underdone, but it was our first ever game.

Tezza

August 18 2009 | A-League and Gold Coast United | 2 Comments »

To Be A Fan

How good is it being a fan?

I have been a football fan for as long as I can remember. Mostly of the National team as it was hard for me to get excited about the NSL. I understand how a lot of people did, but living in the Sutherland Shire i just did not get into it.

Although I went to a sprinkling of Socceroo matches over my time I never felt like a FAN until I attended November 16, 2005 at Sydney’s Homebush Bay Olympic Stadium. I came of age so to speak, as a FAN. And I was in my early 40′s by then.

It was cemented in Germany at the World Cup. I met so many like minded Aussies I wondered what rock I had been hiding under for the past 40 years. I have written a number of posts here about those people and my times at various matches since.

I didn’t think I would get that feeling again, that first time feeling. I went to the Roars first home A-League match, but living 110km away and not knowing the history of them I just never got into them. I supported them just so I was supporting the A-League.

Well, last Saturday Night it happened again. My lovely wife and I attended the first ever A-League match for the Gold Coast United A-League team. Not only did I do that but I have been part of the first ever Gold Coast United Supporters Club and am on the committee.

Again, I have met some great people through this, but most importantly we as a group watched history unfold in front of our eyes (mine were a bit bleary). It was just as exciting as watching Australia make the World Cup for the first time in 32 years. They both have their own unique significance in my eyes, and something I will never forget,(thanks to veronica for filling in the gaps).

History shows that GCU won the game 3-1. But just as important the team showed they mean business. And just as important again, we the fans showed each other how much it meant to us. We sung loud and proud from the moment we walked down Caxton Street until after the final whistle. Michael Thwaite our central defender, had this to say today.

“It was brilliant to hear them out-chanting the Roar fans even though they were outnumbered and that’s a great sign for the potential atmosphere at Skilled Park. They really made themselves heard which is what you want from your fans.”

Strong Fans mean a Strong Club and Strong Clubs mean a Strong A-League. Get out there people and support your club wherever that may be.

UNITED WE STAND


Tezza

August 12 2009 | A-League and Gold Coast United | No Comments »

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