Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

Sign Up Now!

NPL 2025

Oh I dont have a particular preference for club over there, would just really like for any club joining to be a .... club first and investment second.

Difference between East coast clubs such as South Melbourne, Sydney United, Knights, Olympic compared to WA for example is that they have some sort of supporter base which doesn't solely include players parents etc. In WA, state clubs would be lucky to have 50+ real supporters these days. Floreat, Macedonia and Bayswater maybe 100+ but thats it. That's why a new club from scratch would be ideal.
 
Difference between East coast clubs such as South Melbourne, Sydney United, Knights, Olympic compared to WA for example is that they have some sort of supporter base which doesn't solely include players parents etc. In WA, state clubs would be lucky to have 50+ real supporters these days. Floreat, Macedonia and Bayswater maybe 100+ but thats it. That's why a new club from scratch would be ideal.
Fair call, I thought some of the older clubs may have had a more rusted on fanbase... if thats the case then so be it, would an amalgamation of clubs work??? Not trying to offend ANYONE but Olympic Kingsway partnering with Floreat for example? Or even something more "geographica" irrespective of ethnic origin? Just spitballing here....
 
Fair call, I thought some of the older clubs may have had a more rusted on fanbase... if thats the case then so be it, would an amalgamation of clubs work??? Not trying to offend ANYONE but Olympic Kingsway partnering with Floreat for example? Or even something more "geographica" irrespective of ethnic origin? Just spitballing here....


Per my old man, he thinks Glory (and being a success) entering the national stage 25 years ago may have been the nail in the coffin for the state comp. Similar to the AFL with west coast and freo. WAFL is a shadow of what it once was.

Say them two "partnered up" i rekon youd be exciling all the other people who don't like these two clubs. I certainly wouldn't be interested in supporting such a club. Similar to say Hellas and Knights merging, no outsider would support the club.

I do think a new club representing North of Perth/Joondalup area has humungous potential on the national stage. This was probably what the Northern Redbacks and ECU Joondalup merger was trying to achieve. Need a stadium out that way though.
 
Per my old man, he thinks Glory (and being a success) entering the national stage 25 years ago may have been the nail in the coffin for the state comp. Similar to the AFL with west coast and freo. WAFL is a shadow of what it once was.

Say them two "partnered up" i rekon youd be exciling all the other people who don't like these two clubs. I certainly wouldn't be interested in supporting such a club. Similar to say Hellas and Knights merging, no outsider would support the club.

I do think a new club representing North of Perth/Joondalup area has humungous potential on the national stage. This was probably what the Northern Redbacks and ECU Joondalup merger was trying to achieve. Need a stadium out that way though.
Cheers for the insight... and totally get your point of view... I see your old man's point about Glory too.. remember discussions at the time revolving around it being necessary for new club to represent all the smaller ones in Perth but talk of how Glory would be the "tide that lifts all boats" and that the aim was for Athena and Azzuri and others to use the exposure to build and become the next Perth national club ....

Is there any hope, do you think, of the lure of national football making any existing clubs improve their facilities and appeal to the community to gain an advantage over the others?

I feel like, if we are to ever get a true top to bottom pyramid in this country, the west needs to have at least a handful of clubs both interested and able to step up...
 
Cheers for the insight... and totally get your point of view... I see your old man's point about Glory too.. remember discussions at the time revolving around it being necessary for new club to represent all the smaller ones in Perth but talk of how Glory would be the "tide that lifts all boats" and that the aim was for Athena and Azzuri and others to use the exposure to build and become the next Perth national club ....

Is there any hope, do you think, of the lure of national football making any existing clubs improve their facilities and appeal to the community to gain an advantage over the others?

I feel like, if we are to ever get a true top to bottom pyramid in this country, the west needs to have at least a handful of clubs both interested and able to step up...
the northern corridor does seem the most likely if we were to ever get a NSD team , as the growth of clubs and participation rates in the northern corridor is immense
 
Cheers for the insight... and totally get your point of view... I see your old man's point about Glory too.. remember discussions at the time revolving around it being necessary for new club to represent all the smaller ones in Perth but talk of how Glory would be the "tide that lifts all boats" and that the aim was for Athena and Azzuri and others to use the exposure to build and become the next Perth national club ....

Is there any hope, do you think, of the lure of national football making any existing clubs improve their facilities and appeal to the community to gain an advantage over the others?

I feel like, if we are to ever get a true top to bottom pyramid in this country, the west needs to have at least a handful of clubs both interested and able to step up...

I think the "inclusivity" of Glory is what made it so successful. I recall in the old family stand at Perth Oval you had your Brits, Croats, Greeks, Poles, Italians etc etc all united. All the the current WANPL clubs are too "ethnic" too succeed on the national stage. By that I mean, they would struggle to attract supporters with different backgrounds, which is why a new club with no links to any background is required. I think the current clubs are just happy as things are and don't have ambition to go on to the next level knowing there ability to grow is extremely limited due to there ethnic community ties.

Not familiar with the Victorian scene, but I think South Melbourne, Preston etc are limited in terms of what supporters they can attract due the the clubs ethnic roots. They can say the are inclusive clubs etc but in reality, I feel like only Greeks, Macedonians etc will support these clubs? If Im Italian, and want to support Preston, chants of Makedonija arn't too appealing if that makes sense. This is why supporting the A'league teams has appealed to a lot of my friends.
 
I think the "inclusivity" of Glory is what made it so successful. I recall in the old family stand at Perth Oval you had your Brits, Croats, Greeks, Poles, Italians etc etc all united. All the the current WANPL clubs are too "ethnic" too succeed on the national stage. By that I mean, they would struggle to attract supporters with different backgrounds, which is why a new club with no links to any background is required. I think the current clubs are just happy as things are and don't have ambition to go on to the next level knowing there ability to grow is extremely limited due to there ethnic community ties.

Not familiar with the Victorian scene, but I think South Melbourne, Preston etc are limited in terms of what supporters they can attract due the the clubs ethnic roots. They can say the are inclusive clubs etc but in reality, I feel like only Greeks, Macedonians etc will support these clubs? If Im Italian, and want to support Preston, chants of Makedonija arn't too appealing if that makes sense. This is why supporting the A'league teams has appealed to a lot of my friends.
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....
 
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....
Il never forget at the cup game last year when a kid of African appearance and a kid of Asian appearance were holding the Greek flag.
 
I think the "inclusivity" of Glory is what made it so successful. I recall in the old family stand at Perth Oval you had your Brits, Croats, Greeks, Poles, Italians etc etc all united. All the the current WANPL clubs are too "ethnic" too succeed on the national stage. By that I mean, they would struggle to attract supporters with different backgrounds, which is why a new club with no links to any background is required. I think the current clubs are just happy as things are and don't have ambition to go on to the next level knowing there ability to grow is extremely limited due to there ethnic community ties.

Not familiar with the Victorian scene, but I think South Melbourne, Preston etc are limited in terms of what supporters they can attract due the the clubs ethnic roots. They can say the are inclusive clubs etc but in reality, I feel like only Greeks, Macedonians etc will support these clubs? If Im Italian, and want to support Preston, chants of Makedonija arn't too appealing if that makes sense. This is why supporting the A'league teams has appealed to a lot of my friends.
Just to add to this whether you're of the ethnic background or not we don't care

As long as your south, preston or knights etc you're one of us.

The first thing we would do is try to involve you and share our culture and thats the beauty of the NPL you can travel europe/ the balkans whilst sitting in traffic in Australia.

I remember at a state league club near me there was a player of African descent and the old fellas couldn't say his name properly.

So they got together and gave him a name they could say and asked him if it's ok. It a hilarious and wholesome moment at the same time.

Yes we are proud of our backgrounds but we never forget the opportunity Australia has given us.

I still eat at greek,Italian, Thai, Indian restaurants etc with their cuisine and music playing. Its the beauty of being in Australia and basically getting to experience a part of the world in a small way.
 
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?
 
Back
Top