Melbourne the Sports Capital of Australia?
November 11th 2006 23:14
Ever since the 1956 Olympics Victorians have been telling us how their state, and capital city (Melbourne) is the home of sport in Australia and possibly the world. As an outsider I get the feeling they're having themselves on.
Okay, Melbourne attracts huge crowds to the spring horse racing carnival, and week in week out people fill stadiums to watch Australian Rules Football. But seriously who outside of Australia knows what AFL is, personally I've lost count of how many times I've had to explain to foreigners what this version of football is all about. And as for the spring carnival I've heard stats on how many interstate guests are at the spring carnival and it's over thirty percent.
However, with famed Victorians such as Bill Lawry telling us on national television during every Boxing Day Test Match how 'Victorians truly are a sports loving population' or 'Oh it's the sports capital of the world', it's no wonder even some of us north of the border have been brain washed into believing the hype.
In all honesty though there is no evidence to support Bill's rantings though. From where I sit the Victorians seem to be living in ga-ga land. In 2006 the year that the Melbourne Storm rugby league team won the minor premiership, it's embarrassing to say that you could count on one hand the amount of times there were more than 13,000 at a game. Meanwhile the Melbourne Victory soccer team are experiencing success also but whilst they were able to muster a record breaking 39,730 to watch a regular season match (against big brother Sydney), since then crowds have dropped from 32,368 to most recently 28,118.
To settle this debate look north. In Brisbane people turn out in their droves to watch all sports from AFL, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer (despite their limited success) and Cricket. The same can be said for Sydney however, if I had to split the two you would have to say Sydney has more capacity to stage big time events like World Cup Qualifiers (soccer), World Cup Finals (rugby union), and the Olympics but that might come down to population.
Okay, Melbourne attracts huge crowds to the spring horse racing carnival, and week in week out people fill stadiums to watch Australian Rules Football. But seriously who outside of Australia knows what AFL is, personally I've lost count of how many times I've had to explain to foreigners what this version of football is all about. And as for the spring carnival I've heard stats on how many interstate guests are at the spring carnival and it's over thirty percent.
Victorian to the Core
However, with famed Victorians such as Bill Lawry telling us on national television during every Boxing Day Test Match how 'Victorians truly are a sports loving population' or 'Oh it's the sports capital of the world', it's no wonder even some of us north of the border have been brain washed into believing the hype.
In all honesty though there is no evidence to support Bill's rantings though. From where I sit the Victorians seem to be living in ga-ga land. In 2006 the year that the Melbourne Storm rugby league team won the minor premiership, it's embarrassing to say that you could count on one hand the amount of times there were more than 13,000 at a game. Meanwhile the Melbourne Victory soccer team are experiencing success also but whilst they were able to muster a record breaking 39,730 to watch a regular season match (against big brother Sydney), since then crowds have dropped from 32,368 to most recently 28,118.
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Comment by Illie-T-Redd
The Devil & I
Majikal Mysterium
We do stage a lot of annual sporting events (tennis, F1, golf etc.) but I think if they were to be held anywhere else like Brisbane or Sydney, they'd attract similar crowds and attention.
As far as the Victory's A-League attendance goes, I think 28,000 /- is a fairly impressive number. Naturally, the crowd will be larger whenever it's a match against an arch-rival such as Sydney.
Comment by Les
Rightback
Comment by Illie-T-Redd
The Devil & I
Majikal Mysterium
Plus, soccer in Australia is still young and growing. If a state's team isn't doing well in the league, the fans are plainly going to be uninterested. It's at a stage where the hardcore fanbase just isn't there yet.
Sadly, it's still at a jump-on-the-bandwagon stage.
Comment by Les
Rightback
Comment by Illie-T-Redd
The Devil & I
Majikal Mysterium
In about 2-3 years when the "older" players start coming back to Australia, the league will be really taking off then.
Comment by Les
Rightback
Comment by Illie-T-Redd
The Devil & I
Majikal Mysterium
Comment by Anonymous
Its not just our attendance but the ampunt of sport we attend and the facilities we have. Sydney on the other hand are a discrace in terms of team support a fact that is clear to all Australians