2010: Make or break
Sunday 10 January 2010
Written by: Scott Weigand
This could be the year that defines the future of football in this country
2010, grab a calendar (preferably a Socceroos one) and hold onto it because in 8 or 12 years time it could be quite a souvenir. This year marks a milestone 12 months in football and the wider sporting landscape in Australia because the future growth of the code hinges on another good showing by the Socceroos in South Africa and a successful world cup bid.
The battle for the hearts and minds of kids and their parents is on, with the major football codes all battling to secure higher participation rates to ensure the future prosperity of their sport of choice. If the scenes of 2006 are to be replicated with parties on the streets and heroes made, with more household names created alongside the Harry Kewell's and Tim Cahill's of this world then the Socceroos need to equal or better their efforts of 2006. In doing so the Socceroos branding can rightfully belong as the nations most loved national sporting team.
So, thats the short term. What about the long term? Well as 2010 winds down the FIFA executive committee will meet to vote on the awarding of host nations for the 2018 and 2022 world cups. If Australia were to be awarded host nation status, it gives the grass roots a massive boost. It gives the young teenagers (many of whom switch from football to other codes around this age) a massive incentive to play on with the dream of one day (most likely 2022) playing in the worlds biggest sporting event for Australia on home soil, an honour few players are lucky enough to ever experience.
If A-League crowds are to improve, momentum from a successful 2010 is paramount.
That brings us to the domestic competition, the A-League. We have seen a decline in crowd attendances in the A-League this season for which there are a number of factors. It is now the end of the world cup cycle, the next world cup should once again boost interest in the A-League and also the novelty factor has well and truely worn off. The future direction the A-League takes is in many ways linked to the path that 2010 leads us down. A successful 2010 will see the A-League move on in leaps and bounds but a 12 months of failure has the potential to hit it hard.
What can we do as football fans to ride the wave in 2010? Simple really, attend as many games as you can, get behind our world cup bid and keep the interest alive.
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