Crowds - The thread of Australian whining
polarised atmnosphere today though. first half was the worst ive seen in ten home games at least, second half was one of the loudest come the end.
lets go all out next game nz!
Pretty intolerant attitude there Akatarawa re recession. Steve-O is pretty hardcore (i.e football before drink), the average punter is more concerned about mortgages, school fees, food on the table etc etc none of which have remained static.
I thought the atmosphere was OK - not fizzing like the GCU and Jests, but still plenty of noise at times throughout both halves (admittedly first was quieter).
Crowds are still up relative to last year and most other A-League clubs this season so in that context the Nix are doing OK.
Maybe it is because you are Scottish- and thick- next week is a World Cup game to South Africa. Of course it will be a full house.- Scotland are only dreaming of being in the finals.
Some of my best friends are Scottish.
Some of my best friends are Scottish.
Some of my best friends are Scottish.
But would you want your daughter to marry one?
(note I like Scotland - it's a suburb of Newcastle).
I guess football is still an oddity in NZ even in the 3rd season here in Wgtn - which is pretty cosmopolitan as far as NZ cities go.
The passion and noise that Joe/Bruce-public associate with football matches and supporters is vastly different from the approach that the NZ public display in other team sports events (netball might come close). So maybe there's a misapprehension that we're all Millwall boot boys or something like that.
Certainly though the prejudice/misconception dissolves for many who do attend for the first time - hopefully they find the experience quite refreshing from our traditional dour, stoic shows of support for NZ team games.
Although not a huge number I would imagine that in Oz the away crowds must help boost numbers. Whereas here if we get 10 of them that's a travelling army.
So if there was another NZ team maybe the presence of rabid Dorklanders or Inbred One-eyed Cantabs might spur the local populace to front up.
Or not.
I would have thought that this game would have had a great crowd. Two massive wins coming into it, the All White buzz, good time and day and great weather. That crowd was pathetic really and like Steve O, I do not think the recession is a good excuse (I've still got off to see Arsenal, Plymouth Argyle, Rangers this season and I got made redundant due to the recession here, where the effects are a lot worse then NZ).
TV always makes things look bigger.
She was very cool and friendly to the kids - gave them big hugs (man I wish I was kid again sometimes!) and asked lots of questions (hopefully not "who is that middle-aged guy skulking in the background looking furtively at me?").
This effect, I'm sorry to report, is not nearly substantial enough for you to accomplish this goal.
Saturday night in Melbourne was a pearler (weather-wise), people were out and about everywhere. The game, the horse racing and the fact it was ashort working week meant people were out and about.
Weather is going to be warm in Melbourne all week.
7k isnt too bad. I think we have to remember that it is a pretty long season c/w what NZers and Australians are used to. 13 or 14 home games means that mid season is the grind and not easy to spark wider public interest - even when you do have a good home record. I think we should also take comfort from the fact that our crowds are pretty solid - whether we are winning or not. When we were in the middle of our run of draws and everybody was grumpy we were still getting about 7k each home game.
I would have thought that this game would have had a great crowd. Two massive wins coming into it, the All White buzz, good time and day and great weather. That crowd was pathetic really and like Steve O, I do not think the recession is a good excuse (I've still got off to see Arsenal, Plymouth Argyle, Rangers this season and I got made redundant due to the recession here, where the effects are a lot worse then NZ).
I don't begrudge people the fact they need to pay bills before going along to a sporting event.
But I would have still expected a crowd closer to 10,000 with the great weather we had over the weekend.
my wife and I were watching on tv and saying how awesome it was to see such a big crowd for once.... then the figure came up on the screen. it looked way more than 7000.
also, the figure for the Nix game was suspiciously close to the figure for the Newcastle game... conspiracy theorists unite!
7k isnt too bad. I think we have to remember that it is a pretty long season c/w what NZers and Australians are used to. 13 or 14 home games means that mid season is the grind and not easy to spark wider public interest - even when you do have a good home record. I think we should also take comfort from the fact that our crowds are pretty solid - whether we are winning or not. When we were in the middle of our run of draws and everybody was grumpy we were still getting about 7k each home game.