damianThe Football Wars- Part 1
July 17th 2006 01:06
With the recent focus on the effect of the World Cup on Australia’s football landscape this is as good a time as any to have a look at Australia’s favourite winter (and perhaps now summer) pastime.
Football has had a significant place in the life of Australia’s cultural landscape since the turn of the 20th century. However it is how football has been influential that is unique to Australia which could be the only nation in the world that can claim 4 major football codes living side by side in a somewhat crowded sporting ecosystem. How they’ve managed to survive side by side is something of a wonder but with the Socceroos having gone hell for leather in a little German soccer competition we like to call the World Cup there has been a lot of murmuring as to whether the balance will hold.
Will soccer successfully turn it’s recent popularity into Australia-wide domination or is there still a long way to go once the hype dies down? Are the other codes dinosaurs of a past age, staring down the species-killer, Globalisation meteorite hurtling towards them, or do the traditional codes have the foundations to hold their place in the Australian winter sun? And what of the winter codes and their struggle for the hearts and minds of a football hungry nation? Will they all survive or will there have to be casualties?
Surprisingly the answer is an extremely complex one. With the recent barn-storming performance of the Australian economy the nation has been awash in corporate dollars, some of which has been flowing towards the football codes. Each and every code can point to ways in which they are expanding and enlarging their influence from the increase in junior numbers to the establishment of new international and domestic competitions and all would like to think that they will get ahead.
But what of the future? Can Australia continue to support 4 different codes or is there simply not enough money to go around? And who is best able to capitalise in this new cutthroat world?
These are the question that I’d like to examine over the coming weeks, examining each of the codes and their place in the football ecosystem. In doing so I hope it will become obvious how extraordinary Australian football culture is.
And where else to start than with the ‘sleeping giant’ or ‘sick late comer’ of Australian football, the world game- soccer…
PS Over the course of this relaxed perusal of the nations football codes all forms of football are ‘football’ but all codes are also their other name. Therefore no code has sole rights to the word “football”, “footy”, “rugby” or any of their variations.
Football has had a significant place in the life of Australia’s cultural landscape since the turn of the 20th century. However it is how football has been influential that is unique to Australia which could be the only nation in the world that can claim 4 major football codes living side by side in a somewhat crowded sporting ecosystem. How they’ve managed to survive side by side is something of a wonder but with the Socceroos having gone hell for leather in a little German soccer competition we like to call the World Cup there has been a lot of murmuring as to whether the balance will hold.
Rugby League
Aussie Rules
But what of the future? Can Australia continue to support 4 different codes or is there simply not enough money to go around? And who is best able to capitalise in this new cutthroat world?
Soccer
These are the question that I’d like to examine over the coming weeks, examining each of the codes and their place in the football ecosystem. In doing so I hope it will become obvious how extraordinary Australian football culture is.
Rugby Union
And where else to start than with the ‘sleeping giant’ or ‘sick late comer’ of Australian football, the world game- soccer…
PS Over the course of this relaxed perusal of the nations football codes all forms of football are ‘football’ but all codes are also their other name. Therefore no code has sole rights to the word “football”, “footy”, “rugby” or any of their variations.
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