Well who would have thought?
When Clive Palmer announced he was throwing the gates open for our game against Central Coast Mariners on December 13th I was a little skeptical as to the reasons given why. I was also little skeptical as to how many tickets would be snapped up by an apparent apathetic Gold Coast Football public.
The club took this on board and stepped up their marketing to unprecedented levels in my view. It was all over the media. The story of FREE tickets was too big to let go. Then the supporters club got in on the act as well. President of the club, Nathan Mulhearn, started a viral marketing campaign using Twitter and Facebook. #GoGCUtarget20000 was born.
I don’t know the statistics of how effective it was but there was a certain amount of interest from A-League Twitterers around the country. The guys at The Football Sack got on to it and supported it really well.
As the game approached it was all eyes on ticket “sales” from Ticketek. Nathan was getting daily updates from the club and I was blown away by the level of support on the Gold Coast. By kickoff there had been over 23,000 tickets allocated. A fantastic effort by the Gold Coast to show Clive and Ben Buckley that support for an A-League team on the coast was not dead.
The Weather
The only thing we had no control over was the weather. We knew a wet day would turn people away in droves, especially people not really committed to the sport. I woke up yesterday and it was raining. I just felt disappointed for the Club and Supporters club who had put in a huge effort to publicise the game for a whole week and now it was looking very bleak.
I was hopeful of a break in the rain but deliberately kept away from the BOM and the forum so I would just not have to read or hear negative news. I headed off to RQ’s to join up with the rest of “The Beach” at our Beach Party put on by RQ’s. It just kept raining. But the pub was filling up with each passing hour and minute. I had a good feeling and was thinking could we really get 10,000 people on a day like this?
I posted some photos on Twitter and had a CCM fan reply to me that he thought the game should be called off due to the pitch. I refused to believe this and had a tongue in cheek reply about being soft. When I arrived at the stadium I couldn’t believe that I had to actually line up to get inside the stadium. All the gates had lines, I took a photo and posted it on Twitter, “What Rain”. It was awesome.
Inside I couldn’t believe the state of the pitch. It was atrocious and the rain just kept coming. But the crowd was building. How awesome was this. The Gold Coast was saying loud and clear, that they support a team here on the Coast. It had to be the only answer, 90% of these people had ZERO financial commitment to the game. They could have easily brushed it and watched from home or gone to a shopping centre etc to do something else. But they didn’t. They came out in the pouring rain to Skilled Park to cheer on a damn fine Football team.
30 mins to kickoff and the Beach began to fire up. We were not under cover and we were wet as. But the atmosphere was party time. We sang loud and proud and the Naming of the players was fantastic. They could have heard it in their dressing room.
The game kicked off and we were into it. The singing hardly abated. A highlight however was not supplied by the Beach but by the Crowd. As Kwasnik stepped up to take the penalty, the Crowd started booing and we followed. It is normally the home end to supply atmosphere and chants but not this time. He missed and the crowd erupted.
It is history now that the game was abandoned about 20 mins and I have no problem with that decision. Maybe it shouldn’t have started, but it did. And I believe that 20mins has started something special here on the Gold Coast. It is one small step back to some decent support.
By no means does one moment change everything, but it is a start. The club now needs to build on that support and make changes. There is obviously a price point problem for people in a struggling Gold Coast economy. But there is also a message there about generating publicity and getting the public involved.
Next home game is against Glory on Jan 3rd and you will receive a $5 discount on entry if you kept your ticket from yesterday. I would like to see more but it is a start.
It was an awesome afternoon with no result on the park but a great result in the stands. 10,146 and a new A-League record in atrocious conditions
Terry
Footnote.
I took a mate of mine to his first ever A-League game. He lives in Canberra and is a Roar supporter but he had a great time as well. We will go to the M1 derby together as well.
December 20 2010 | A-League and Gold Coast United | 4 Comments »
A group of Australian supporters will stage a pub World Cup on home soil following FIFA’s decision to award the 2022 tournament to Qatar.
Australia was knocked out in the first round of voting by FIFA executives in Zurich last Friday (AEST) to decide the World Cup hosts, despite having one of the strongest technical bids.
A group of Aussie fans, known as Aussies On Tour FC, have now launched Reclaim the Game – Pub World Cup in protest to FIFA’s decision.
Under the name International Pub Football Association (IPFA), the football fans from Sydney, Canberra, Gold Coast and Bathurst plan to stage a tournament each year until 2022.
The fans, who have travelled to the past two World Cups to follow the Socceroos, want the tournament to grow and eventually involve teams from overseas.
In the past the group has organised games against local teams in Germany during the 2006 World Cup and against an ex-pats team in Thailand during the 2007 Asian Cup.
They also played in a five-a-side tournament in Durban before Australia’s opening game of the 2010 World Cup.
Reclaim the Game – Pub World Cup will be open to all football supporters and involve seven-a-side games over one weekend in a regional city.
The cost to players will be limited to ensure the tournament to open to all football fans, but a donation will also be made to charity yet to be decided.
“We all know Australia would put on a great World Cup, so we want to prove it,’’ co-ordinator Terry Hands said.
“Following the decision to give the World Cup to Qatar we want to put something on that will be a bit of fun for fans.
“In the future we’d like to get teams from each Confederation involved, but are happy to start off small.”
Players or teams interested in being part of the tournament can register their interest via the Facebook, Twitter or supporter website kickoff.com.au
After gauging interest from teams, a location for the first Reclaim the Game – Pub World Cup will be decided.
Facts about Reclaim the Game – Pub World Cup:
- Seven-a-side tournament to be played over one weekend.
- First tournament to be held late 2011 in a regional city.
- Each subsequent tournament to be hosted by a different city to be decided by the players.
- Aim to build the tournament up to eventually involve international teams.
To find out more information on Reclaim the Game – Pub World Cup:
December 09 2010 | World Cup | 1 Comment »
How do you say Qatar?
The fallout from Friday mornings World Cup Bid Announcement has been enormous not only here but around the World. And not only about Qatar winning but also Russia. England were on a hiding to nothing after the BBC aired their Panorama documentary on FIFA corruption.
As an Aussie who woke up especially to watch on Friday morning, I was absolutely gutted to hear “and the winner is, Qatar”. I just could not believe what I had heard. I was sure I would cry if we didn’t get it, but I didn’t. I was just numb for about 15 mins.
I would like to give a big shout out to Frank Lowy and the entire Bid team for a fantastic effort to try and bring the greatest show on earth to the best country on earth. But it was not to be.
Why?
The overall majority of the football world outside Qatar and the Middle East believe it was pure corruption. How could a country of 1.3 Million people and only 161km long x 80km wide host the biggest single sporting event in the universe? The Emir of Qatar will simply spend 10’s of Billions of dollars building relocatable stadiums and presumably hotels to ensure the structural success. These stadiums will be dismantled and given to developing football nations presumably in Africa and parts of Asia. This is a massive gesture and if done properly will benefit those nations one would hope. But what else did they promise to the ExCom? We will never know. It just seems the World Game is up for sale to the highest bidder and to hell with the game and fans.
What about the Fans?
Whilst the stadiums and hotels will be air conditioned, getting around in 50 degree heat between venues and days where you won’t be at the football will be almost unbearable for the majority of people. Their technical bid raised all sorts of flags whilst Australia’s was the best. Our commercial bid came in for a caning though.
It is a clear indication to me that the bid process is a farce. In the end the ExCom voted with the money and Bin Hammam has won a decisive battle in his personal war with Sepp Blatter. The worlds football fans are the big loser here. We are completely disillusioned with FIFA and their lack of transparency. The makeup of the ExCom and the voting process needs to be overhauled so as the representatives are held accountable to the grass roots of the game.
Likewise the bidding process needs to be overhauled. There is no way football associations should be required to spend 10’s of millions of dollars to woo the votes of the ExCom. The same should be said for Olympics and other International events. There is just too much room for corruption and collusion to run unabated.
The upcoming Asia Cup finals in January will give us an insight into the ability of Qatar to accommodate football fans on a large scale. The World Cup will be 10 times bigger.
Where to Now?
Well, we just have to concentrate on what we can control. That is the development of our own Leagues and national teams at all levels.
Next year at a senior level we have the Socceroos at the AFC Asian Cup Finals in January and in June the Matildas (reigning Womens Asian Cup Champions) will be at the Womens World Cup in Germany. As fans we have to get behind our game at all these levels and those teams need to perform exceptionally.
I have left all my anger and disappointment behind and will just move forward. I wont waste all that negative energy on a bunch of old wankers in Zurich. Move forward Australia and lets show the World what we have and show those old farts in Zurich how friggin good we are.
Not Sour Grapes
I suppose you could say I have sour grapes that Australia did not win. But this is not the case. If the bid went to either the USA, Japan or Korea I probably would have cried and congratulated the winner. Then looked forward to planning a world cup trip there. I do congratulate the football fans in Qatar, they are over the moon and no doubt looking forward to hosting.
This reaction is similar if not identical to every Aussie fan i have spoken to.
No doubt I will be there if Australia qualify.
December 05 2010 | World Cup | No Comments »
We kept Johnny Warrens Dream Alive……
I was at Stadium Australia on this day back in 2005. It was the culmination of 12 months of planning for me. I said to Veronica the Christmas before, “If Australia reaches the World Cup, we are all going to Germany”. She said “great”, and started planning a trip to Thailand with the money, because she didn’t believe Australia would make it.
I was living in the same place I do now, Gold Coast Qld, 800km from Stadium Australia. Once the date for the game was announced I booked flights to Sydney for myself. I rang a mate in Sydney and told him I was coming and he said he would organise the tickets.
I Got A Feeling
I went to work as normal that morning, except dressed in Green and Gold. At about 2pm I had a girl from the office drive me to GC airport for my 3pm flight to Sydney. I can’t remember being so excited prior to this moment. If the Black Eyed Peas had released their song back then I would have been singing “I Got A Feeling” all the way there.
Landed in Sydney and hoped on a train to Central and then had to find the train to Homebush. I couldn’t believe the size of the crowd heading to the train. The feeling just got better. The train was packed and we took off, express to Homebush. I rang my mate when I arrived and met him at the gate. By this time it was 7pm, 1 hr till kickoff. The stadium was jam packed. I headed to the food line for a burger then lined up for a beer. It took me 40 mins and I finally arrived at my seat 15 mins before kickoff.
I had watched the Johnny Warren tribute on a TV whilst in line for a beer, it was very emotional and all the people in the line were just getting more buzzed about the whole night. “We all had a feeling”.
My seat was in row 16 behind the goals at the North end 2 bays over from the GGA. The atmosphere was electric. I had never been in a crowd this big for any event. What a night to be part of this was going to turn out. My mate didn’t tell me we were part of a large crew of people from my old club Engadine Eagles, so there were heaps of old faces to catch up with, all be it briefly.
The excitement grew when the teams entered the pitch. They lined up for the National Anthems and I could not believe it when the Uruguay anthem started and the crowd jeered and whistled throughout, it was insane and I joined in after realizing it was in protest at the treatment our blokes copped from the unfriendly Uruguayans in Montevideo, 5 days earlier. Then we sung our lungs out for “Advance Australia Fair”, the sound was awesome, 80,000 people all behind our National Football team.
And So It Begins….
The game kicked off and we were into it. Joining in on chants and sons that were started by people around us. It really started to build. I was telling my mates that if we win, I am taking the family to Germany. They couldn’t believe it, I told them it was a no brainer. After 32 years, I wasn’t going to miss our chance at a World Cup.
Then about the 35 min mark (I think), Marco Bresciano banged in a goal right in front of us and the crowd went wild. Do we dare to dream? You bet we do, that’s all I had dreamt about for 12 months, getting to the World Cup.
The game ebbed and flowed. The next biggest cheer was when “Mr Divine Right Ricoba” was replaced. Oh how we laughed. Eventually we ended in extra time and the nerves really amped up. Then Full Time. We are going to Penalties. I definitely had a feeling now, but it was more like I wanted to vomit. This shit was made for TV surely. How could 32 years of waiting come down to this dramatic conclusion? It just did.
When Shwartz saved the first one, the feeling came back, we are surely going to do it tonight, surely. It all came crashing down when Dukes put his wide though. But the true hero of the night, Mark Shwartzer stepped up again and saved what is the best penalty save in the history of football in any country in any time.
“Here’s John Aloisi for a place in the World Cup, he scores, Australia has done it……..” I heard these words from Simon Hill the next night when I finally got to watch the highlights. I even made a ringtone out of it and had it on my work phone for 18 months.
The single best night I have ever had at the Football or any sporting event for that matter. Within minutes I was on the phone to home and yelling down the phone, “we’re going to Germany, we’re going to Germany” I couldn’t hear my wife of sons but knew the phone had been answered. Thailand was now dead and buried and we had a European Vacation to plan.
I have since been to Germany and South Africa World Cups, as well as the Asian Cup in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia and seen just about every Aussie home game since. I even started this blog because of that one night.
In 16 days time on December 2 in Zurich the announcement of the World Cup hosts for 2018 and 2022 will be announced. It will be the early hours of Dec 3 here and just like I did back when Juan Antonio announced “And the winner is…. Sidineey” I will be up watching this with even greater anticipation. Having the World Cup in Australia would be an awesome boost for the game in this country, and right now we do need a boost.
To pledge your support, go along to www.australiabid.com.au and sign up. Costs nothing and adds yet another number to support the bid.
Come On Aussies, we can do it. We just need a little faith.
“I got a feeling, whoo hoo”
November 16 2010 | Socceroos and World Cup | 3 Comments »
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 »
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:
- Market Research into “Why”
- More interaction with the local Football community.
- 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 »
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 »
Well I leave for Sydney tonight and then off to Johannesburg tomorrow morning at 10am. Very excited. However I am not going to talk about football today. People often say to me “do you talk about anything else other than football? In other words do you care or have an opinion on anything other than football. In short, YES I do. So today I will give you a quick summary of what I consider important and my personal opinions on things other than football.
Shout Out
First I am going to give a shout out to some people and organisations that do things I admire and support.
Cate Bolt is in her own words “An ordinary mum trying to achieve extraordinary things”. Cate gave up a life of being financially comfortable, running a business to one of that dedicated to helping others. Cate made that decision as a mother of 9 children and before the GFC. Her husband Rick, lost his job last year and they ended up Homeless. Throughout all this Cate has continued her crusade to start an orphanage for homeless youth in Indonesia called Project 18 and also has Catescause here in Australia for our own homeless people. Have a read of her sites and decide if you can help out. I think she is more than ordinary.
Also I should add that she hates Football (all codes) and is not happy that the South African Government has spent zillions of Rand on the World Cup whilst Millions of their citizens remain in poverty. We have almost nothing in common, but I respect Cates opinion and admire her tenacity to achieve her goals.
Charities
My wife and I make conscious decisions every month do donate to charities. We have a sponsor child with World Vision, a young boy in Ghana. With the help of my family and friends I raised $745 for Mission Australia to help homelessness in Sydney. We give regularly to Red Cross, Care Flight, Mater Hospitals and a number of others. I find that giving to those less fortunate is very rewarding. I don’t have the guts to do what Cate did but we will continue to give.
And the football world also supports charities and causes. The Green and Gold Army, our Aussie supporters group have been raising money for the South African Red Cross to help their fight against AIDS.
My Opinions
Politics – I am a confirmed swing voter. I don’t believe either party deserves my total support, never have. I do vote every election based on policy and who I believe will do the best job as leader. I voted for KRUDD, and am of the opinion that sometimes you get a lemon. Shit happens. I can’t believe it has only taken him 2.5 years to reach the arrogance it took Howard 8 years to reach. I’ll be searching for Don Chip at the next election.
Super Profits Tax – Storm in a tea cup. The mining companies will end up accepting it but this was badly handled by the government, as is their mantra throughout their time so far.
War on Terror – Afghanistan I can just accept but going in to Iraq was an unmitigated disaster. The yanks should never have gone and we should never have followed. However as we are part of the problem we must be part of the solution.
Israel – Sick of the arrogance of Israel. Netanyahu is the next biggest threat to world peace since George Bush left office. Stop thinking the World owes you something and come to a solution that will give the Middle East stability and the world peace.
I could go on, but I have to pack for my trip to South Africa.
Cheers
Tezza
June 02 2010 | General | 4 Comments »
In a surprise to no one, I am really excited about going to South Africa next week. I have spent the past 4 months planning and booking flights, accommodation, safaris etc. It has been time consuming and an absolute blast.
Next Wednesday night, my lovely wife and I take off to Sydney before flying to Johannesburg the following morning. This time without the boys. 
They don’t seem to upset and are probably planning their party’s as I type. Veronica has put up instructions next to all the appliances as a reminder. They have had their induction and competency training on each one, lets hope they are still in one piece when we return.
There are many tours available but Veronica and I along with 6 others have planned our own African safari. All up we will be away for 28 days and will have spent about 40% less than those on a 19 day tour. We will be flying and driving around the country and taking in some of the best sites South Africa has to offer. From Table Mountain to Kruger National park, we intend on having a fantastic time.
4 years ago we drove around Germany in a Camper Van with our boys, and in the middle I took Veronica shopping in Austria and then Neuschwanstein Castle for her birthday. 
This time we are heading to Victoria Falls for 2 nights. Does that get me husband of the year or what?
We made some great friends in Germany and will be traveling with them to South Africa. One lady we are traveling with I didn’t meet until the Asian Cup in 2007. Her name is Heather and she is possibly the most loyal Socceroo supporter ever. Heather is over 70 years old and is traveling to her 5th World Cup. Her first was in 1974 to watch the first ever World Cup for the Socceroos. And she has been traveling to watch them ever since.
Over the 4 weeks we are away I will keep a diary and will have plenty of Blogging material for when I get back.
As I write this sentence my countdown timer is ticking over to 6 days, 0 hours, 0 Minutes until we take off for Sydney. BRING IT ON
Until then you can follow me daily on Twitter
Cheers
Tezza
May 27 2010 | General and World Cup | No Comments »
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.
- Gold Coast has no National Football history
- Gold Coast has no Football Culture.
- Very small ethnic football populations, who have been the backbone of Football in this country for decades.
- 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.
- 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 | 9 Comments »
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