Il Capitano Alessandro Del Piero (158 Viewers)

[Azzurri7]

As a season ticket holder I get a 10% discount on all Sydney FC merchandise, so if it would be cheaper for me to buy it locally and mail it to anyone, I'd be happy to do it at no extra expense.

For kits too? If so, I'd send you cash through Western Union tomorrow.

 

Buy on AliExpress.com

[Elvin]

You Italians,

You dont know how lucky you have it over there. Week in week out you guys get to see some of the best players in the World playing in the Serie A. We have been starved of football and for decent players for years. For the first time I can remember I actually want to go see a match.
I am trying to get tickets for the match so I can see Ale. I am only 10-15 minutes from the Stadium by car and its a perfect opportunity to go and see him play, in the first ever derby. It will be a sell out as the Stadium is quite small. It will only fit 20-25k but it should be a terrific atmosphere.

Just to give you some background the league itself is only about 8 years old and was basically formed because football was going no where in Australia. The old NSL league was built on the back of Italian, Greek, Croatian and other immigrants who came to Australia and started their own clubs. The long term future of the game was at the heart of why the A league came into existence. There was no way to grow the game in the country in the old format because only those people from those backgrounds were supporting those clubs. We needed to aim for a broader audience and to get everyone involved. I can fully understand this as my background is Croatian so I would naturally support the Croatian team in the NSL. But would I ask my Australian friends to come to the game when they have no connection to the club. I would think not and this is where the problems lies. Also there were many political problems with the club structures and ethnic tensions would rise up when say a Croatian team played a Serbian team or a Greek team played a Macedonian team and so on. This had to change and so the A league was formed.
Its short term pain but looking for the longer term gain.

The administrators also understood that we had too many teams in the competition. We just dont have the population base, the supporter base or the players to support more teams in the competition. Eventually I am hoping that this will change and that we can become the No1 sport in this country. You have no idea how many people wish that. More people play football than any other sport in Australia, so football in this country is a little sleeping giant that is slowly waking up. This is where Alessandro comes in. He has generated a lot of enthusiasm for the game. He is an absolute champion in every sense, so is the perfect role model. He has got people talking about football again and has got people wanting to go and see him play.

Was it a mistake for Ale to come to Sydney? I hope it was the best mistake he ever made, but while he is here. He will do so much good for the game here. The people love him and want nothing but the best for him. I personally think it was a mistake for Juve not to offer him a contract, but those are difficult questions to answer. There are many factors involved. But while he is in Sydney we will look after him and cherish every moment he is with us.

there are no italians on this forum dude, what kinda italian would be a regular on an english speaking forum ffs?

 

[Salvo]

What a player...I still cannot believe it.

He isn't even match fit just yet.

 

[gray]

For kits too? If so, I'd send you cash through Western Union tomorrow.

Yeah, for kits too.

If you're interested I'll try to figure out exactly how much it'll cost.

 

[ZoSo]

Yeah, for kits too.

If you're interested I'll try to figure out exactly how much it'll cost.

Do you take vcash?

 

[Del Piero Style]

Where will you get it from?



Great post, and you Australians are lucky son of b*tches.

You can buy it from Sydney's official website, but if gray can get if for you, it's better. The shipping is pretty expensinve too.

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First ever Sydney Derby this weekend. Sydney FC VS Western Sydney Wanderers at Parramatta Stadium (which is a western suburb of Sydney) Expected to sell out. Small venue at 21,000 capacity, but the place should be absolutely buzzing. A lot of the Wanderers fans (especially their active supporters) are guys of Italian, Serbian, South American etc descent, so you should get a good atmosphere from them. They are known as the RBB (Red and Black Bloc)

Should be a top game, not a lot of love lost between east and west Sydney, clear cultural divide between the two locations. Will be the best derby in Aus football fo sho.

Hope Ale scores again, but WSW win. I am a westie at heart

Few things:
1. You didn't give a fuck about the A-league before Ale moved there, so there's no way you can be against his team. Sorry.
2. Isn't the Wanderes a new team on its first season? How many fans they have?
3. What can you tell about the Parramatta? You like the stadium? How is the atmosphere there?

 

[ZoSo]

Few things:
1. You didn't give a fuck about the A-league before Ale moved there, so there's no way you can be against his team. Sorry.
2. Isn't the Wanderes a new team on its first season? How many fans they have?
3. What can you tell about the Parramatta? You like the stadium? How is the atmosphere there?

You don't understand. It's a location thing.

2. Wanderers*. New team. 8-9000

 

[Del Piero Style]

You don't understand. It's a location thing.

2. Wanderers*. New team. 8-9000

Ale>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Location

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The derby is now officialy SOLD OUT. That's great. It will be interesting to see Ono too, I didn't watch him since WC 2002, I think. He was pretty talented, considering the A-league level he's like Zidane. Ale could use a player like Ono is his team. Anyway, Aussies, Crook's gonna start with Culina and Emerton as midfielders, finally?

 

[Nenz]

You Italians,

You dont know how lucky you have it over there. Week in week out you guys get to see some of the best players in the World playing in the Serie A. We have been starved of football and for decent players for years. For the first time I can remember I actually want to go see a match.
I am trying to get tickets for the match so I can see Ale. I am only 10-15 minutes from the Stadium by car and its a perfect opportunity to go and see him play, in the first ever derby. It will be a sell out as the Stadium is quite small. It will only fit 20-25k but it should be a terrific atmosphere.

Just to give you some background the league itself is only about 8 years old and was basically formed because football was going no where in Australia. The old NSL league was built on the back of Italian, Greek, Croatian and other immigrants who came to Australia and started their own clubs. The long term future of the game was at the heart of why the A league came into existence. There was no way to grow the game in the country in the old format because only those people from those backgrounds were supporting those clubs. We needed to aim for a broader audience and to get everyone involved. I can fully understand this as my background is Croatian so I would naturally support the Croatian team in the NSL. But would I ask my Australian friends to come to the game when they have no connection to the club. I would think not and this is where the problems lies. Also there were many political problems with the club structures and ethnic tensions would rise up when say a Croatian team played a Serbian team or a Greek team played a Macedonian team and so on. This had to change and so the A league was formed.
Its short term pain but looking for the longer term gain.

The NSL was 100 times better than the A-league for atmosphere, attendance and quality of football. I don't buy the stereotype that clubs only drew ethnically affiliated crowds. I used to follow South Melbourne (and still kind of do) and I'm not even Greek and I know for a fact that the supporter base there is full of non-Greek fans. The NSL created Australian superstars, the A-league has created nothing. The NSL had fan bases and clubs with rich histories which could have been built on but instead we now have fake teams with fake fans playing shit football. Already one A-league club went bankrupt in the first 6 years. The only way the A-league will ever survive is by pumping millions upon millions into signings like Del Piero (and this will mean eradicating the salary cap) because all the young talent in Australia aren't staying in the country. Australian football has taken a big dive since 06' which coincides with the birth of the A-league and now it looks as though we won't even make the world cup, recycling old talent like Bresciano and Cahill.

 

[Del Piero Style]

So what happend to the NSL if it was so successful?

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Wow, from this video it feels like much more interesting, colorful league. Amazing atmosphere, teams with identity, even if the level isn't much higher. What happend to all this? Those teams are now the Victory and the Heart?

 

[Nenz]

So what happend to the NSL if it was so successful?

"Racial" violence. Hooliganism is less tolerated in Australia.

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So what happend to the NSL if it was so successful?

- - - Updated - - -

Wow, from this video it feels like much more interesting, colorful league. Amazing atmosphere, teams with identity. What happend to all this? Those teams are now the Victory and the Heart?

No the Victory and the Heart were made from nothing. They have an 8-5 year history. These teams were pretty much left for dead by Australian football and now reside in their state leagues. The NSL was a colourful league indeed. The quality and atmosphere was so so much better than the A-league which is a soulless league.

 

[Del Piero Style]

I believe the smartest thing to do will be allowing the old NSL clubs that still exist to join the A-league.

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Btw, I've heard something about new 'FFA CUP', in which teams from regional leagues will play against A-league teams. That means that in such competition, those former NSL club can play against A-league clubs, right?

 

[Salvo]

They should have brought back Brunswick Juventus.

 

[Del Piero Style]

I hope they'd run this FFA CUP after the season ends. I don't want to wait 6 months before I watch Ale again, ffs.

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The guy with the suit on 1.31...the scariest thing I've ever seen.

 

[Jukes]

There was a good atmosphere at NSL games, but for how much longer. The old supporter bases were getting older, attempts to win new supporters weren't working. Negotiating any sort of tv deals would have been laughed at. There was no way any money or any growth could happen the way it was going. You could see it. I was there too.

You may not buy the stereotype that the clubs drew ethnically affiliated crowds, but they did. Italians supported Marconi club, Greeks supported Olympic in Sydney and South Melbourne in Melbourne and Croatians supported Sydney Croatia (United) and Melbourne Croatia (Knights). Thats just the way it was. If you asked me for percentages I would say at the minimum those crowds were 75% ethnically supported, but I think it was more like 85%. If your saying otherwise your wrong.

The NSL had some good players produced but I wouldnt exactly call them superstars. Ask the members on the board for some of those players and they wouldnt know who you are talking about. Maybe they might know a few names. Names like Graham Arnold, Ned Zelic, Paul Okon, Frank Farina and Eddie Krncevic.

You mentioned the millions pumped in for signings like Del Piero. The fact of the matter is he doesn't fall under any Salary cap as he is a Marquee player and so is exempt. He is more than paying back what we paid for his signature. He has generated a lot of interest in the game, he has helped sell tickets to games, he is generating a lot of merchandise sales. Hell he is even getting the Italians and others overseas watching the games )
He is the best thing that could happened to our league and if you cant see it your Blind Freddy.

The young talent are always looking overseas to better their football and chasing the dollars. Nothing new there. This is an ongoing problem that isn't going to go away until we start generating more income for these players so that they can stay in the country a little bit longer. If your a good player anywhere in the world the big clubs of Europe will eventually find you.

Yes we are in danger of not qualifying for the world cup, but the reason for that has nothing to do with the A league. In the last world cup almost every single player was playing overseas in Europe. The fact that we are using old players is the fault of the FFA and the coaches. Straight after the world cup there should have been a clean out and a new generation of players brought in. Unfortunately that hasn't happened and we are paying the price for that failure. This has created a bit of a vacuum and will probably affect the next campaign as well. We shouldn't be afraid of blooding new players when they are in the age group 18-22 but sadly this is what is happening.

This is a reply to Nenna's post above. Not sure why it wont let me quote".

 

[Tommy]

They should have brought back Brunswick Juventus.

and Adelaide Juventus? Interesting.
http://juventiknows.com/juventus-down-under-a-look-back-at-the-old-ladys-tours-in-australia/

 

[Powis]

I hope they'd run this FFA CUP after the season ends. I don't want to wait 6 months before I watch Ale again, ffs.

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The guy with the suit on 1.31...the scariest thing I've ever seen.

It's like the reaper

 

[Cheesio]

 

[Azzurri7]

You can buy it from Sydney's official website, but if gray can get if for you, it's better. The shipping is pretty expensinve too.

I trust Graham.

How much would be the shipping in your opinion?

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Ale>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Location

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The derby is now officialy SOLD OUT. That's great. It will be interesting to see Ono too, I didn't watch him since WC 2002, I think. He was pretty talented, considering the A-league level he's like Zidane. Ale could use a player like Ono is his team. Anyway, Aussies, Crook's gonna start with Culina and Emerton as midfielders, finally?

Wonderful. Del Piero has to score in this one. A brace if possible too.

 

[Suns]

Abdelpiero