ex_exile

Bloody hell if you cant get SBS what do you get? I get 6 or 7 different versions of SBS on my digital tuner, its quite annoying actually..

papilon

Being a lifelong Chelsea fan i will most definitely be staying up to watch it. And as it's such a big one i will have to go to a bar to watch as it's just not the same watching alone at home.

Hoping the footballing gods keep smiling this week, after Man U being denied in the dying seconds it would cap off a great end to the season. The win would also have an added bonus of denying Spurs CL football next season

Good luck with the Hammers at the weekend Fraser

fish.01

In Brisbane if you don't need beer you can watch Euro 2012 live at Arrivederci Pizza in Park Road Milton: http://www.arrivedercipizza.com.au/

+ schedule for sbs games here: http://www.theroar.com.au/football/e...2-tv-schedule/

fraser

Thanks. Although I have to say the CL final is a win win for me as a hammer. Someone's going to get fooked up either way

rubbeldiekatz

Definitely not a Bayern Muenchen Fan but since they are a german team I will go for them so GO BAYERN !!!

rubbeldiekatz

Pretty much everything else...

ex_exile

Being an Arsenal fan anything to keep Tottenham out of the champions league so Meh, Chelsea...

ozzieeagle

The German league is gaining a hell of a lot of respect in the UK amongst real football fans.

It's the way football should be run.

On that basis I hope BM win.

Tifo, Standing, Pyro, the Largest gates and best atmosphere in the world. Not like the Library's and clinical place that the EPL has become... let alone removed from the people. Even the MLS is outding the EPL in terms of attendance and atmosphere now... when are the people going to wake up. The EPL is going to crash... like an accident in slow motion.


I dont suppose people realise that all German Clubs are 51pct owned by the fans.

Hebe

I was going to invite you round!!!!

rubbeldiekatz

Oh.....thanks anyway :-)

papilon

A recent EPL game between the 2 Manchester clubs attracted a worldwide tv audience of 800 million. Show me a bundesliga match that would attract even half of that.

The Bundesliga is no more competitive than the EPL, the same 4-5 clubs always win and Bayern have won 6 out of the last 10.

Football in Germany is highly subsidized by the taxpayer and most stadia have been built with taxpayers money, contrast that with the EPL where majority of stadia are built by the clubs with there own finance and hence the higher prices for tickets and in my opinion rightly so.

The new UEFA regulations will in my opinion stifle competition as it will be the old guards with huge fan base that will dominate.

You are joking when you hold the MSL up as something to copy, those clubs are franchises and when they get a better offer they up sticks and move to another city.

All may not be perfect with the EPL but it is still the most exciting league in the world to watch and the little guys Wigan, QPR, Fulham,Blackpool etc still beat the big guns on a fairly regular basis.

ozzieeagle

The Seattle sounders had the 4th biggest home and away crowd in the world last year @ 64,000 + They regularly have atmosphere at their games that surpasses anything in the UK. These world wide audiences that you talk about are actually removing the clubs from the fans. Those little clubs as you call them, which are well established clubs going back over 100 years all risk going into liquidation if they get relegated. Thats why the system is broken.

They are just working out in the UK now that maybe bringing back standing and vocal support could be a good idea, especially how church like the atmosphere seems compared to the rest of the worlds support. Although the Man Utd supporters I've been reading think it would end up full of plastics flags and square card tifo.. When you see people more interested in taking photos and videos of themselves being at the game rather than watching the game themselves then you begin to realise how broken this model is and how far removed it's getting from real supporters.

Do you seriously beleive that it's a good thing to have tourists turn up at Stamford Bridge just to take photos of themselves at a Premier league game, especially when it seems to be at the expense of traditional supporters that cant afford to go anymore ?

It costs 21 Euros to go to a Bundelsiege match. Thats why they have the highest attended league in the world and some of the best atmosphere.


The EPL is killing it's own grass roots, and will be just meaningless playthings of the worlds rich far removed from the everday supporter and getting just that bit further removed every season.

Then there are the English players left on the subs bench, gaining little game time to develop into tomorrow superstars at the expense of the foreign players chasing the corporate dollar that has infested so called English football.


They use loudspeak music at UK games to drown out the crowd in the UK..... This is how the germans handle it.

Cant English people be trusted to do this ?

Just another home and away game in the Bundesliege..... Do you reckon they feel an identity with their clubs.... Thats my point.



Have some American Footage whilst I'm on a Roll.... Portland Timbers.... again just another Home and Away game.



The EPL atmosphere and sense of belonging is hanging on by a thin thread which is the away support.

By your argument of 800 million around the world they may as well play with no one in the grounds at all.

papilon

Pretty sure you would find it very difficult to buy a ticket for either of the Manchester clubs home games and the vast majority of those are real local fans. The fact that 800 million people from all around the globe tune in to watch tells me they are doing something right.

English football fans have never really gone in for that organised singing/dancing routine. I never said the EPL has the best atmosphere and i never thought it ever did in the past. Grown men calling themselves Ultras or Maniacs or whatever would be considered a bit gay at most English grounds.

The atmosphere at English grounds comes from the direct pace of the game. Every player no matter where they are from is still expected to go in 100% otherwise the fans will be after them. The other factor is the shear humour,wit,hate,bile,aggression and violence that the fans use against each other and towards opposing teams. Whilst violence is mainly thankfully limited at games these days a violent undercurrent still exists and adds to the atmosphere.
Whilst some games in the new stadia can sometimes feel a bit sterile given the right ingredients you will still get an amazing unique atmosphere at most EPL grounds.

Last EPL game i went too was Reading v Chelsea, the game Chec got his serious head injury. Whilst Reading didnt have a huge bank of guys jumping up and down and chanting the atmosphere turned toxic and absolutely electrifying and great fun even tho Chelsea lost.

Given that English football has over 90 professional teams way more than any other country maybe in the coming years things will change and we will have fewer professional leagues. Doesn't mean the team will disappear from those towns but just play semi pro.

For me the issue with rich people buying clubs and pouring huge amounts of money in is not such a problem. If we look at what has happened in the EPL it has actually given us better competition not less. Instead of just Man U Arsenal and Liverpool you now have Chelsea and Man City. And they don't cost the UK taxpayer 1 cent only add to the tax coffers in fact.

I think you know why we don't have standing sections in the EPL, it will be a contentious issue for a while yet but i would imagine the clubs would have no problem with it but as this will also involve the government it could take time.

I still contend that the EPL factoring in the cost of tickets is still incredibly well supported and the product on offer still the most exciting and watchable league in the world with the most original set of fans who given the right ingredients still create a wonderful atmosphere.

Pollyana

Only been to one EPL match, Chelsea v Wigan at Easter. My niece has discovered football (thank God, I'm not the lone wolf in the family any longer! ) but she is built like a whippet, not very streetwise, and only 16 - no way would she be allowed to travel from Bristol to London and go to a match on her own. So I swallowed my pride and took her to see them play - she loved it, every minute, soaked up the atmosphere, got in with the chanting and the singing, waving her scarf in my face - and listening to the guys around her they are all die-hard fans, some doing 200-300 miles each way for every home game. They weren't tourists, they were fans. We did all the photos, and the stadium tour etc, a birthday present for her but one she'll always remember. now all I have to do is save up for my next trip home when she can't wait to go again. And I took photos during the game as memories for her - she didn't take her own, she was too frantic with excitement. Doesn't mean I love football any less cos I spent a few seconds taking snaps, far from it, me being there and getting memories for her is part of what will keep her as a fan - its in her blood now, and those photos are all over her bedroom. Don't think anyone should knock those who seem to be "just" tourists, there's often more of a story behind it!
One of the reasons why it was so good though was the fact it was all seated. She's small, 4'11" ish, she simply couldn't cope with standing for the match cos she wouldn't see a thing. She's also slim, and would very easily get pushed over in a crush. I didn't feel the fact we were seated destroyed the atmosphere at all, in fact it improved it cos you could see the pitch and see the action, even when surrounded by guys over 6 feet tall and built like barn doors! And the fact its seated, less danger of a crush etc is one of the things that will probably sway her parents into letting her go up again next season, possibly even into the ground on her own.

fraser

Your niece comes from Bristol and supports Chelsea?