Supporter Meeting #2 Parramatta Retrospective

Great stuff mack, you're really spreading the word and putting in the hard yards, much appreciated by many around here i'm sure.

 

There was very little off-topic discussion this time around. I personally asked a question about the MSL ex-Chicago Fire CEO Peter Wilt. The Lawrie McKinna as manager rumour has been squashed, but I wouldn't be surprised if he turns up in some capacity given his knowledge with starting up the Central Coast.

 

Really glad when you brought this to attention, I noticed Lyall making notes regarding this when you were making your point

I finally made it after missing the 1st one. Fantastic turnout, I think they got the message re parra stadium, colours etc.

Wasn't sure what that bloke was on about Sam the Sydney united CEO not having lunch with the FFA meeting? He kept on blabbering on about it haha

Great stuff mack, you're really spreading the word and putting in the hard yards, much appreciated by many around here i'm sure.

thanks mack and everyone who showed up... we've got a lot of potential

There was very little off-topic discussion this time around. I personally asked a question about the MSL ex-Chicago Fire CEO Peter Wilt. The Lawrie McKinna as manager rumour has been squashed, but I wouldn't be surprised if he turns up in some capacity given his knowledge with starting up the Central Coast.

 

 

Really glad when you brought this to attention, I noticed Lyall making notes regarding this when you were making your point

On Wilt, he seems to have a very short stay at most clubs he is involved in. Could you share what interests you in him mack? Is it his fan involvement?

Top stuff on the attendance. Look forward to the world game posting the rerun

That is true. There is a lot of potential I hope we can realise it. The support from this forum makes me think we very much can.

That looked like a good full room ... great stuff lads!

there was one empty seat right infront of me but apart from that i think it was full or close to being full which was great to see, many more people turned out to Parramatta then the first one which was nice to see a increase in attendance

@ Goat,

What were your impressions of the night mate?

it was a great night RT, very much of the same from the meeting before but with less Bozza and more focused(not saying that those are related), more people too which was nice to see, the only problems i have with the forums(i understand why they are) but they are too short, there is so much to get through and so little time but it was great thank you for asking

Really good to meet a lot of other WSF.com members at the forum. Whatever our opinions you can tell WS team is gonna have plenty of passionate support behind it. Some interesting thoughts mentioned at Riverside that weren't at Mounties (especially Pride, which going off other online comments 2nite is catching on a bit. Don't like it myself but should be entertained as a thought).

Don't really like the forums being hijacked by personal issues at NSWPL clubs. We are meant to be talking about the future of a new A-League club & some ppl seem to be stuck in the past with grievances that divide, & will never fully unite WS A-League club... also have to make sure that everyone gets a say on make-up of club name, colours, etc, don't want to alienate potential supporters by ridiculing their suggestions.

On another note, great to chat to Chris & Gonzalo, who seem to lead a band of merry men each & I think it would be beneficial to try and arrange a full meeting of WSF members to further discuss issues surrounding the club's birth & possibly organise a presentation to FFA on behalf of WSF. Will talk more tomorrow.

Great work everyone for showing up, and for those who didn't showing their support on this forum!! Go "???? (new A-League club)"!!!

I finally made it after missing the 1st one. Fantastic turnout, I think they got the message re parra stadium, colours etc.

Wasn't sure what that bloke was on about Sam the Sydney united CEO not having lunch with the FFA meeting? He kept on blabbering on about it haha

what happened? expand....

was there more talk about NSWPL clubs within the area?

The head of Sydney United wasn't at the meeting of the 7 NSWPL clubs last week, and someone asked about that. Kyle whatsisface explained that this Sam fella couldn't be there due to personal reasons, but that they'd had lunch with him (that day, the same day as the forum I believe).

Anyway, someone later on asked what was going on behind the scenes and Lyle Gorman explained that they'd been transparent by posting photos from the meetings and everything. Then the Sydney United fan yelled out 'where are the photos from your meeting with Sydney United?' and he was met with jeers and groans.

Someone specifically asked why the Sydney UTD chairman wasn't present at the meeting with the other NSWPL CEOs. The answer was that there was nothing sinister in it and that he was busy for personal reasons and couldn't attend but they had lunch with him yesterday.

Then the guy in the crowd asked for proof or some ****!

FFS

/facepalm

 

Don't really like the forums being hijacked by personal issues at NSWPL clubs. We are meant to be talking about the future of a new A-League club & some ppl seem to be stuck in the past with grievances that divide, & will never fully unite WS A-League club... also have to make sure that everyone gets a say on make-up of club name, colours, etc, don't want to alienate potential supporters by ridiculing their suggestions.

 

personal issues? how so, in case you have forgotten NSWPL clubs will play big parts with this new franchise, so in my opinion the lower league clubs and grass roots level have every right to voice there opinion, considering this new club will effect them one way or another, besides when else will they get a chance to have a voice?

Was "Wanderers" the most popular name again?

Was there a strong NO to ANZ? Did people want Parramatta Stadium?

yes to all three, but i dont think wanderers was as popular than at last meeting, but still very anti anz and yes people still wanted parrmatta till we could get our own stadium in fairfield

Jesus ... we better not end up as Western Sydney Pride ...

Jesus ... we better not end up as Western Sydney Pride ...

That would depress me to no end

I was at the meeting last night. Really enjoyed it and I was glad that the things I agree with, like Parramatta, Red and Black kit were strongly agreed with.

Happy that there is a strong dislike for stupid Americanised names. Will try and attend Thursday if training is washed out.

I was in attendance last night.

My handful of cents:

I'm wondering if people are put off by this thirst for buzzwords about what the club's values should be... I think that the fact that there wasn't a long list of single words like what they wanted indicates that most people view that approach as a little bit silly. Gorman brought up the example of the Mariners and how they did the same thing; it seems to me that, well of course the club that was created reflected the buzzwords - but that wouldn't be because they took a survey at the beginnning, it would be because of ongoing engagement with the community. Can the words "flair" "prride" "fight" tell the FFA what kind of club to create? I just don't see it. It feels like they will take the buzzwords away and feed them into the marketing machine and out pops a squeaky clean new product that would have been eerily similar to any other thing - it's not really having a proper say in the process is it.

On the other hand, things that came through really strongly were that the team should reflect the diversity of western sydney and that it should be do so with pride. I really hope that that is the message that came accross. However, that is not something that gives us a team identity and that's the end of it; I think that kind of thing is more closely related to the engagement the club has with the community once it is up and running. Again, I really hope that this is taken on by the FFA. The club should be a community club that engages the diversity of western sydney through getting into schools, clinics, making the club open to the supporter groups as much as possible, providing facilities for the community etc etc. Larger than the football team itself.

I also found it interesting that they should be asking what type of football is played... surely every fan would love dearly for their side to play like Brisbane? I'm not sure I get the point of this... as Ray said, that sort of thing takes time - there is limited time at the moment. It's a good goal, but if it's going to be had, it should be more than just the idea of getting the a-leauge side to play pretty; it should be about getting the community to want that, getting the whole community to engage with that idea by reaching out to them. Hopefully a focus on homegrown talent will do this to some extent.

I was surprised that for the FFA who are touting this as the People's Club, they appeared (from Gorman's reaction at least) not to have thought about having supporter representation on the board in some way. I'm not able to attend the other forums and I don't twitter or facebook but I think this at the very least needs to be stressed. If this is "the people's club" then a few forums and some suggestions taken by social media aren't enough for people to feel that they own it and have a stake. The excitement of having been able to choose (perhaps!) our own colours and strip - are we going to get any say in a logo? Why can't there be some kind of competition or something rather than having the feedback sent to the marketing gurus to mull over during a boozy lunch? - that excitement will wear off once the season starts; there needs to be formal and ongoing supporter involvement in the running of this club. If they want a people's club that is. I really feel this needs to be stressed as much as possible.

On this last point, there was no discussion of CEO's, football managers, board structure... I couldn't work out whether this was something that the "people" WILL have any say in or whether it will be just like another A-League club. The idea of using football people was discussed, and the idea of ideally making sure these people are west sydney people... but I think this needs to be questioned more closely.

Lyall and Ray were obviously in disagreement with the fans about hosting the derby at ANZ. Like politicians who privatise, playing at ANZ might make some initial big bucks but they can't see the long term picture. A half empty ANZ where the sound disappears into the homebush wilderness will NOT bring back those extra 20,000 people to Parramatta, and that should be the aim. A packed house with noise and atmosphere is FAR more likely to bring people back to the game when it is NOT a derby. In building the club that is far more important surely - even in terms of revenue. Who else remembers the heady days of season one of the a-league and how fantastic the Victory looked on telly in a full house? It's no wonder they got themselves a longterm supporter base. ANZ is soulless; it might be a nice little earner on the night but you will get less and less there each time you do it and then you will be back at square one; even worse, those people who haven't been treated to something special because of the rubbishness of ANZ will be lLESS likely to go. House full creates a buzz, end of story.

I agree with you ciudadmarron about people talking about playing style. I had to bite my tounge and was trying not to laugh out loud when people say, we want them to play 2 touch football we want them to play like Spain etc.

Maybe I am one of the people who look at it from a more realistic point of view and I respect them for coming out and being passionate but I don't want stereotypes of nationalities coming into it.

I agree with you ciudadmarron about people talking about playing style. I had to bite my tounge and was trying not to laugh out loud when people say, we want them to play 2 touch football we want them to play like Spain etc.

 

Maybe I am one of the people who look at it from a more realistic point of view and I respect them for coming out and being passionate but I don't want stereotypes of nationalities coming into it.

I guess that's my point; if they are going to ask the question, who isn't going to say play nice football? I just wonder what purpose the question serves really. Perhaps they expected people to say "workmanlike" or something.

Speaking as a hammers fan as well it's very easy to promote the idea of an ethos of nice football, in practice it's a little different

.

Something I didn't get to bring up last night is that I would like to see an ex-socceroo (or a panel of them) who played amateur and professional football in WS to be involved in the club in some kind of ambassadorial/...advisory role.

They can represent the history of the region, the fact that WS has produced great national team talent, and defend/represent the values and culture of the club. Guys like Baresi in Milan, Daglish in Liverpool, Charlton in Manchester are all still involved in the club and when they have an identity crisis it is these guys who refocus the club on where it came from.

They also have seen the ups and downs of Football in Australia and will be able to provide a calming influence if owners or fans start losing faith because they have seen the worst and know that football in this region won't just fall over.See More

Hi There

My name is Nathan, and I will am the person that does the radio segment on 90.5fm.

This week I will be conducting an interview with the A league CEO Lyall Gorman. My segment starts around 9:30 and last for approx 20 minutes. I will also ask him about Clive Palmer and his support to Adelaide and the fact that tonight they will have his slogan on their shirt, and apparently they have done a deal with him for around 3 million (as per the daily telegraph).

It was good to see alot of people at the forum last night. There is a lot of good information coming out of these forums. One thing I noticed from both forums is people forget very easily what they say, which I understand completly when they talk about a topic that is so heated and they are passionate about. I listened to 1 gentleman that said we need to attract the kids to the game, but then when the stadium saga comes into play he wants parra stadium (which i think is the best stadium at the moment for normal club games) but doesnt want it changed to ANZ even for sydney derbies, so what I took away from his outlook we might get 50000 fr a derby but the game should be at parra stadium regardless, if this is the case how many of the 30000 that could not attend would be children that he wanted to add into culture and values and is a big thing for a club, and this could be made possible at ANZ. My point is at these forums there will be alot of things said that will differ and will contadict what was said earlier, take this into account when listening to peples comments. Most of us dont know what goes into running a club also and when making decisions you cant please everyone.

Welcome Nathan I hope my shittalking next to you didn't drown out what mack was talking about haha

Welcome Nathan I hope my shittalking next to you didn't drown out what mack was talking about haha

Hold onto that $hit-talking, we need good $hit-talkers when the Derbies come around.

Something I didn't get to bring up last night is that I would like to see an ex-socceroo (or a panel of them) who played amateur and professional football in WS to be involved in the club in some kind of ambassadorial/...advisory role.

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I've known and had dealings with Ray for over 30 years and suggest that he would become a superb patron for our club.

Hi Nathan... I get what you are saying and believe me I am one of the biggest advocates for attracting the next generation to games and also for all games to be played at Parramatta, although Im not the bloke your speaking of... Let me give you some reasoning.

Firstly we can expect or hope for 10-15 thousand people week in week out at Parramatta. This will create an awesome atmosphere as the ground will be 1/2 to 3/4 full, square and built mainly of concrete. Even if we do get the part time supporters to ANZ for a derby and add on the 8-10 from SFC you're looking at 30 possibly 40 thousand in the white elephant taking it to half capacity.

Now even if these extra 10 or 15 thousand extra people are as passionate as the regulars and sing until their lungs burst the design and shape of the white elephant means that at 1/2 full the atmosphere will be at best average.

So the chances of these extra 10-15 thousand returning to another game after feeling a bit deflated about the atmosphere at their first game is slim at best.

The flip side of this is an extra 7-12 thousand in Parramatta Stadium telling their friends about about how awesome the atmosphere is when it's packed may raise the average weekly crowd significantly. This will mean a sustained revenue boost rather than a once off.

Of course if we get 80 thousand at the white elephant and we recreate the Uruguay qualifier type atmosphere I may reassess.