So, you are saying that this Fijian supporter base will turn up to watch a team full of mainly Kiwis playing in the ASBP? From the example that Trueblue cited, the games at Bill McKinley Park comprised of a team of Fijian footballers - doing what for NZ football? I also don't put Central/ACFC in the same category - aren't those teams full of Kiwis who are eligible to play for NZ? I've read on here often enough how the majority of those teams are NZ raised etc. In my view, any decision on who to admit to an expanded league needs to be based on football and how it will improve the NZ game, not because I could get a vindaloo or Hungarian goulash at halftime at the tuck shop..
What I'm saying is a team from South Auckland that taps into the enthusiastic Fijian football supporters there will have a solid base to build on. I understand Bill McKinley Park is booked out most of the season by ethnic teams. They are now New Zealanders, albeit from football mad countries around the world, we must exploit that. The team could bring in a couple of good Fijian players to supplement Kiwi players, even target Krishna, to hold that interest.
ACFC has always had a core of Croatian/NZ players like Ivan Vicelich, Danko and Paul Urlovich and that hasn't stopped a host of exciting NZ talent rising through the ranks as well. Currently we have a bent for Spanish players because of the coach but the core Croatian identity has always been the bedrock of Central/ACFC. I'm a kiwi and I love their passion and dedication, that's why I've always enjoyed the atmosphere at Kiwitea Street.
A South Auckland team would need to likewise tap into its large Pacific Island population. Likewise a team from north shore would need to find a way to attract supporters from its large population of Asians, particularly Koreans, who love football.
If we look at the ASBP, the truth is most ordinary NZers are not turning out to watch local football. We have tremendous numbers of kids playing football, but somehow that doesn't translate into interest in the national league, where the average gate is in the 200-300 range. Even the Phoenix struggle beyond the YF diehards when they're not winning. Somehow we have to tap into the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who come from countries where football is king, not rugby.
If that means a couple more ethnic based teams in the ASBP then the more the merrier. ACFC is the proof it works.
PS - it would do wonders to improve the food served, if nothing else!
