JoeBloggs80

Heskey: f**k me I'm jetlagged. What time is it?
Ono: What the hell is going on here? WHy do people keep asking me about rugby?
Del Piero: I'm getting paid more than both you blokes put together! These guys are suckers!

Can't wait

bobbyftm

Sounds like a good old fashioned "footy day" mate one of the like i've not had for over 5 years now since leaving blighty May well treat myself to tickets for next weekends game against you lot since Ange is back in town

ozzieeagle

My mate has specifically bought a Projector and 10 foot screen for the away games, which we will partake in his Back Yard... next 'burb along from me here. With plenty of other Victory fans and more bbq'ing and drinks. That Brisbane game will be it's inaugural showing.

Shaping up for a good season.



.

Jon77

Very excited about the newest and oldest club in Australia's first game this coming weekend The Parramatta area has a footballing history that no other club or set of fans in Australia can claim, we are the birth place of football in Australia, Parramatta is its spiritual home and it is long over due that a team by the name of Wanderers again takes to the field representing the West of Sydney. There is a real community feel about this club that many of the plastic clubs in Australia can only dream about. I am so glad we don't have a name like 'Glory', 'Victory' or 'Heart' attached to our name, we have tradition.


From an article in the SunHerald


THE Western Sydney Wanderers carry not only the hopes of a new generation of fans this Saturday, but the weight of more than a century's worth of footballing history.

The first football game in Australia by a registered club was played in Parramatta 132 years ago _ by a club called the Wanderers.

The game on August 14, 1880, was organised by the Wanderers against the King's School's rugby team and was played at Parramatta Common -- now where the Old Kings Oval is situated.

It is just metres from Parramatta Stadium, where the new Wanderers will write the opening paragraph of their A-League story on Saturday.

Leading Australian football historian Philip Mosely applauded the new club for acknowledging the deep roots of football in their area.

"All throughout history the game has spurned the opportunity to glorify its past, so it is a superb decision to choose Wanderers as their name," Mosely said.

"The game has history out west and this links it in the best possible way. It is fantastic that there is a flagship for the game in western Sydney."

John Walter Fletcher, referred to as the "father of Australian soccer", was instrumental in setting up the Wanderers.

Through his connection to The King's School's headmaster, Reverend George Macarthur, Fletcher organised the game, which Mosely wrote about in his thesis A Social History Of Soccer In New South Wales, 1880-1957.

"With a small but inquisitive crowd pressing the touchlines, twenty-two players trotted on to Parramatta Common on the afternoon of Saturday 14 August 1880," Mosely wrote.

"Eleven of them were stripped in the colours of the King's School: they were members of the school's first XV rugby side. The other players seem to have been dressed in blue stockings, knickerbockers that billowed beneath the knee, and white jerseys that sported a southern cross over the left breast.

"Their name was shortly to become `The Wanderers' and they formed the first soccer club in Australia."

Football was introduced by "Toffees", or public school-educated Britons, before the working-class locals and British and Scottish migrants made it their own in Australia.

And the game has now grown to include more than 100,000 registered players in the western Sydney area.

Mosely said while many believed football was introduced by migrants post-World War II, historical notes show it was extremely popular early last century with 50,000 people attending a match between Australia and a visiting Chinese team.

ozzieeagle

Nice one... hope that gets broadcast loud and clear. Because the response it will cause down here will be totally perochial. Thats exactly whats needed.

Lets just hope that old ethnic crap, which put me off of the NSL and 1000's like me that apparently are now onboard, really is dead an buried and doesn't make a reapperance. Which IMO is why Western Sydney is so late in coming to the party. I'm probably one Victory fan, that would be pleased if WSW ended up bigger than MV. Reason being all of this is the start of real Football finally being the dominant code in this Country. Lets see if you can replicate half of what the Northern Subs of Melbourne have brought to the Football world thus far, Because if you do... Football is home and hosed in this Country permanently.

Jon77

I just hope the people of Sydney stick with the Wanderers, Sydney traditionally only back winning teams. I remember when Northern Spirit were born playing out of North Sydney in the old NSL days. 18,000 packed in to the North Sydney Oval that first night. 3 months later they were playing in front of 1,000. I went one hot Friday night and there were only 300 of us!

I can't see that happening to the Wanderes support but I do think we will take a few hammerings in the opening rounds and will probably be bottom come Christmas, just hope the fans remain loyal then. For the sake of the A Leauge I hope we put in some competitive performances early on. CCM will win the opening game no doubt about that, if we get hammered 4, 5 or 6 (which is possible) then it will be a disaster. I am excited but also nervous.

ozzieeagle

I've got a lot of faith in Pops.

He has learned in the company of some pretty good people, who have had to deal with limited resources constantly.

Broad Shoulders

Was a great game to watch. Ange will no doubt take a lot of positives out of it. Attacking wise they were good I thought, however defensively they were crap. Traore and Foschini are going to have to pick their game up if they are going to be regular starters under Ange.

Question for you Ozzie, last night had me wondering who the Heart fans are. I understand that there was a 5 year embargo on a second Melb based A-League team when the league first started. Then, there were a series of local clubs looking to become the second team once that embargo was lifted. However, the Heart's origins do not come from a local club, they are the result of an entrepreneur with no club background and therefore no fans associated to them. They do not seem to represent any particular geographical part of Melb, nor do they any particular culture, so where have all their fans come from? I would have thought that if their fans were so football mad, why wouldn't they have just joined the Victory on start up?

The SFC and WSW situation is different as WSW clearly represent a different geographical region, however I do not see who the Heart represent.

Any thoughts?

ozzieeagle

Spot on with your observations re Heart and Victory. Heart are built on nothing, with perhaps the main unifying factor amongst their fans being they love the colour Red and White... with another subgroup that really hates Melbourne Victory, disenfranchised old school NSL fans etc.

Most MV fans really dislike Hearts reason for being, for all the reasons you state above,, That in itself has given Heart some kind of identity. Personally I wish them every success, because any given team is a shallow entity without rivals. (Like Charlton in SE London, had to get that one in ) 42K at Docklands last night was enough for me to be happy with Hearts existence.

Not a great night for MV fans, the one thing that I take comfort in is there is obviously a huge amoung of people willing to jump on board if the team is really successful. It all points to a great future for Football in this Country. Plenty to build on from last nights performance, still not exacly happy today. Probably much better on tv than it was from a fans perspective at the game. I might flick through the recording when I can stomach it



Great to meet Papillion last night breifly. Hope to see him at future games... and anyone else thats willing to give it ago.

Broad Shoulders

are you coming up our way next weekend?

Jon77

Back from a rather soggy Parramatta Stadium, shame about the first game weather, but it didn't dampen the excitement or experience.

Atmosphere was pretty good, the stadium being like a traditional English stadium really helps, everyone is close to the action. Would have liked to see a few more in there but wasn't a bad attendance.

CCM were clearly the better side no disputing that, but we looked well organised and worthy of the point

As for Victory and Heart, didn't think that Victory represented any particular area of Melbourne, thought they were both pretty generic clubs. Sydney has a real social battle line drawn. The sky blues represent the wealthy eastern suburbs and all the bling that goes with it, a plastic club with ra ra supporters. Wanderers represent the working class of the west. Makes for an interesting derby coming up, which is looking like a sell out.

Pleased to see Eastern Sydney FC well beaten in NZ

Broad Shoulders

I completely disagree. For me WSW were by far the better side. Far more threatening. The only reason I thought they didn't win the game was due to some poor finishing and Mark Bridge, who I thought was terrible.

I was very impressed by WSW

ozzieeagle

Save the longer trips till the end of the season. The MV fans are concentrating on the upcoming Adelaide game as per usual, everyones favourite away game and WSW. It'll be the first outing outside for my mates projector here in Melbourne I would say.

The WSW v CCM game was very watchable, entertaining, and full of incident, it held the viewers attention really well.

I was also slightly disappointed with the crowd, however it seems it rained for most of the day in Sydney and with the lack of cover at Parramatta and the fact the game is broadcast live, the apt term, "I'll take a raincheck" comes to mind. At least they broke 10K and the atmosphere should get the fence sitters are home taking notice.

fish.01

Now that I'm a Roar member was wondering where I was going to watch the away matches as don't have Foxtel.

Then I remembered this place a few minutes walk away from home (in Red Hill) and sure enough they have a giant Foxtel screen showing Roar matches



Let's go Broncos !!!


Did I read somewhere a free to air deal is being negotiated ? Would be great for football I reckon !!

Broad Shoulders

At the moment the Roar's official away game location is the Sheraton in East Brisbane (I KNOW!). By the looks of some photos I've seen a fair few fans have adopted it so you wouldn't be on your own. Otherwise the Pig & Whistle has become the unofficial venue for away games and they get quite a crowd there.

SBS have the rights from next season I believe to show one live game per week then a Match of the Day highlights type show at the end of the weekend