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NPL 2025

Ahhh good old assimilationism rears its ugly head again ..... Mate your argument possibly holds water if this was 20-30 years ago but NOT in 2025 (at least not in my club). I can only speak toward what I see in the terraces week in week out down here. The most passionate South Melbourne Hellas fans don't seem to have ANY Greek ties whatsoever... The youngsters that chant, although many of them may have Greek ancestry, mostly dont speak the language and have tenuous, at best, ties to the "motherland". Shit the only bloke waving a Greek flag is a cockney lad ....lol

Like with many other responses on this very same topic, to each their own. If you feel, as an Italian- Australian, that your identity is tied in so heavily to where your parents where born thats on you NOT the local clubs that have a history and culture of their own. If you don't feel like you belong I would argue AGAIN (for the 100000th time) that that is your issue NOT the clubs which, from what I encounter every week, would welcome a warm body paying member with open arms, no matter what colour, gender or political persuasion. I have NEVER been asked where Im from at the gate of ANY "effnik" club, just a nod and a smile and an "enjoy the match" from the lovely volunteers behind the jump... Don't listen to what people like Simon Hill have to say, an Asian Australian would 100% be welcome at Lakeside stadium, in fact I see a few of them every week.....

As for chanting "Cro-atz-i-a" Or "Ma-ke-donia" if it means that much to you fine, I get it, don't attend, go to another NPL club, or one that doesn't have a identity you are repulsed by a certain group of people.... there are thousands of them around now... Saying a club is "too ethnic to succeed on a national stage" is a limitation imposed by outsiders not the club themselves, who are we to dictate to a club and its members who they choose to represent and identify as? - Thats the wonderful thing about multiculturalism, football clubs, social clubs, restaurants, cultural activities, music and dance festivals, they can all LEGALLY exits in Australia .... if you find them interesting cool, if not, again cool but you cant stop them from existing......

Sorry for the rant but sheesh we have to move on.... I dont know what its like in other states but in Victoria, "effnik clubs" rule supreme and whether people like it or not will be what makes up, at least our contribution, to the Australian Championship. There are many suburban clubs around that don't have as deep a tie to any one particular ethnicity but unfortunately they don't seem to have as strong a fan base or on field performance , at least down here.... The "effnik" clubs, at least in Melbourne, seem to be addressing the issue of their identity in one of two ways, BOTH of which I applaud and find valid, and BOTH which are perfectly legal and Australian in their execution.

1) type of club, is leaning heavily into their foundation story, their migrant community and their ethnicity and pride in where they came from and what they contribute to this country... A club like Preston has clearly tried to appeal to their ethnic community whilst also trying to appeal to their local area and it it works 100 times better than SOME franchise, if nothing else, because having such a big North Macedonian community in Melbourne means they can build off a fairly strong fanbase to begin with...

2) A club like South Melbourne (whilst also extremely proud of our Greek roots and also appealing to the Greek Australian community) is also promoting itself based on football history, success and past and present achievements, whilst working towards improving the future output of our football program... I read a dismissive post recently saying we think of ourselves as some sort of "European Football Royalty" damn farkin straight we do.... :P and we've got the trophy cabinet to prove it .... lol

Sorry again for the rant, I just hate hearing the same old excuse from fans of fooball. If we are EVER to grow the sport with any sort of unity on this country, then CLUBS must be at the forefront of it, they ARE the building blocks after all... If "effnicity" is such a boogeyman, get behind a local club, or form your own and climb that pyramid baby ... If enough people felt the same the ALP wouldn't have clubs like WU, Melbourne City, Newcastle, CCM and Macarthur rocking up with 3K crowds every week....

A lot of these ethnic clubs were part of the top tier for 30 years and league was dead.

What can they do differently now, that they didn't do 20 years ago. Or will the championship just be a rinse and repeat of the NSL?
 
Im honestly struggling to comprehend what is infact worse, 1. the media that built that original narrative and its proponents in order to destroy the game originally (take your pick as to their reasons), 2. those that still use it to justify their own existences (aka simon hill types, franchises etc - now to also attack the NST) or 3. those people that depsite all the evidence to the contrary still believe and quote it in 2025?
 
Is the NPL a rinse and repeat of the NSL? No.

If I really wanted to be a contrarian I would say that the A-League is almost a rinse and repeat of the NSL, shit crowds, crowd violence, the occasional appearances of a big name player from the big 5, no p/r, franchises going bust, league infrastructure barely hanging on...

There was 33k in Sydney last week.

There will be two lots of 20k crowds this week.

They don’t seem like shit crowds to me champ?
 
Im honestly struggling to comprehend what is infact worse, 1. the media that built that original narrative and its proponents in order to destroy the game originally (take your pick as to their reasons), 2. those that still use it to justify their own existences (aka simon hill types, franchises etc - now to also attack the NST) or 3. those people that depsite all the evidence to the contrary still believe and quote it in 2025?
Systemic racist attitudes towards multiculturalism is inbuilt into our society sadly.... a comment like "what about what happened 30 years ago?" shows a failure to move on and evolve as a society.... baby steps, just have to keep moving forward and hope the haters fall by the wayside....
 
A lot of these ethnic clubs were part of the top tier for 30 years and league was dead.

What can they do differently now, that they didn't do 20 years ago. Or will the championship just be a rinse and repeat of the NSL?
There were alot of non-ethnic clubs as part of the NSL , what did THEY do to save the league?

What is the APL doing now to market the game to a new exiting fan base? Or to bring in more geographical McFranchises and to stop some of the smaller ones from folding? Where is the 16th club promised to start next season?

I understand you have been lead to beleive the myth that the Aleague is some sort of superior organisational structure but it really isnt mate.... take away the "wog names" from the NSL and its really the same shit, rinse and repeat from 30 years ago .... you'll see.
 
There were alot of non-ethnic clubs as part of the NSL , what did THEY do to save the league?

What is the APL doing now to market the game to a new exiting fan base? Or to bring in more geographical McFranchises and to stop some of the smaller ones from folding? Where is the 16th club promised to start next season?

I understand you have been lead to beleive the myth that the Aleague is some sort of superior organisational structure but it really isnt mate.... take away the "wog names" from the NSL and its really the same shit, rinse and repeat from 30 years ago .... you'll see.
South Melbourne is a McFranchise playing at Lakeside. The moment they gave up their home, South Melbourne became a franchise begging to be allowed into the closed shop franchise.
 
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