Friday, July 31, 2009
Aussie Memories
The fall out from the Kop Comes to Asia continues but I've lost interest now. It's good that there is a debate going on about England fan waving Singaporeans mocking the efforts of their own lads but to put it into a wider context...
...about 20 years agon I went to see Australia play Hajduk Split at the Parramatta Stadium in Sydney. The Aussies won 1-0 with a 30 yard drive in the first couple of minutes, how do I remember all this shite?
The other thing I remember is that in a crowd of about 10,500 the number of Aussies could probably have been counted on a full set of limbs. Pre Balkan break up this was a Croatian party hosted by Croatians. Only the venue was Australian.
Croatian flags, Croatian dancers, Croatian men pissing made in Croatia piss.
I was with the very small number of Aussie fans in the stadium that night and boy it wasn't pleasant. It wasn't often I felt sorry for the buggers in the sporting world but I did that night as the home team was booed in their own country.
Now of course football is trendy down under and has its very own painted faces and inflatable 'roos. Which just goes to show how things can change.
Maybe in 20 years time Liverpool will come to the National Stadium, they'll still be discussing the Sports Hub, and the whole stadium will be full of inflated merlions and banners saying 'Welcome to our Fine country'.
...about 20 years agon I went to see Australia play Hajduk Split at the Parramatta Stadium in Sydney. The Aussies won 1-0 with a 30 yard drive in the first couple of minutes, how do I remember all this shite?
The other thing I remember is that in a crowd of about 10,500 the number of Aussies could probably have been counted on a full set of limbs. Pre Balkan break up this was a Croatian party hosted by Croatians. Only the venue was Australian.
Croatian flags, Croatian dancers, Croatian men pissing made in Croatia piss.
I was with the very small number of Aussie fans in the stadium that night and boy it wasn't pleasant. It wasn't often I felt sorry for the buggers in the sporting world but I did that night as the home team was booed in their own country.
Now of course football is trendy down under and has its very own painted faces and inflatable 'roos. Which just goes to show how things can change.
Maybe in 20 years time Liverpool will come to the National Stadium, they'll still be discussing the Sports Hub, and the whole stadium will be full of inflated merlions and banners saying 'Welcome to our Fine country'.
# posted by Me @ 6:32 PM 
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Ah, Australia. One of the few countries, along with the US and maybe Canada, where the home side can play in an away atmosphere without ever leaving the country.
It truly is an experience you have to endure in person.
It truly is an experience you have to endure in person.
the one time i went to a game there where the home fans outnumbered the visitors was against england
hell i even saw gothenburg in sydney and the place was full of swedish backpackers...including some very cute swedidh backpackers
hell i even saw gothenburg in sydney and the place was full of swedish backpackers...including some very cute swedidh backpackers
US v Poland at Soldier Field in Chicago, which just happens to have the world's largest concentration of Poles outside of Poland. At least the USSF is up front with its blatant money grabs.
US v Mexico at Mile High Stadium in Denver, which just happens to be right in the middle of Little Mexico.
US v Japan in San Francisco was about 60-40 American fans.
US v Mexico at Mile High Stadium in Denver, which just happens to be right in the middle of Little Mexico.
US v Japan in San Francisco was about 60-40 American fans.
TrooperBari, I think you'll find that the situation with Poles in Chicago is very similar to with Croatians here. If Croatia turned up to play Australia today, even with the renewed mainstream interest in football post-WC'06, you would still not hear the Aussie's over the Croat's, same as it were when the crowd at a 2006 Australia v Greece match in front of 80,000+ was more of an airing of ethnic tensions between Greeks and Macedonians than it was an Australian World Cup warm up. The only thing that surprises me about JakartaCasual's recollections is that a bunch of Serbians from Bonnyrigg didn't turn up to fight the Croat's.
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