10 men, We've only got 10 men - Brighton 1 v FCUM 1

Brighton graded this fixture a Category C match (highest risk of disorder) – a category usually reserved for its arch enemy Crystal Palace. In fact, the last time Brighton graded a match Category C was when Crystal Palace turned up at Withdean 5 years ago. Accordingly, FC United were only allocated 845 tickets - which is amusing because they could probably have sold 4 times that number while Brighton reduced the price of their fans’ tickets out of fear that no-one would turn up.



Category C, You’re havin’ a Laugh: “So, the mockery of the Category C grading had been turned on its head. Best away fans we've had at the Withdean? Probably. Certainly, they were the loudest since Stoke City came to town around six years or so ago. There will be better days for the Albion. Promotion would be rich reward for the Brighton fans whom have fought tooth and nail to keep their club afloat in more trying circumstances. A final thought to the Safety Advisory Committee: Football is nothing without fans.”

Read more here:- European Football Weekends

This extraordinary story has another chapter to run yet: “The Mongol hordes didn’t materialise, as things turned out. Indeed, anyone looking for trouble around Brighton railway station yesterday lunchtime will only have found a handful of bored and cold looking policemen and the pubs humming with travelling support from Manchester enjoying a pre-match drink and trying to postpone having to venture out into the bitter, lacerating cold...

The club brings with it an undeniable and insuppressible sense of event to the match, and even prior to kick-off all of the noise inside the ground comes from the away end, to our left. The myth that it is impossible to create an atmosphere at this ground is being demolished before our very eyes – they just have to work harder for it on account of the distance that they are from the pitch…

Away to our left, a party has already started that doesn’t seem likely to end any time soon. The decision to label this match as a Category C match, the first at Withdean for five years, was an extraordinarily wrong-headed one and the proof of this has come with the impeccable behaviour of the travelling FC United support. The most surprising thing about all of this is that anybody was surprised by this in the first place. Withdean has not – if ever – witnessed anything like this in years and they, as well as their team, thoroughly deserve their place in the draw for the Third Round of the competition…

Meanwhile, another victory has already been won by FC United of Manchester this weekend. If the battle for hearts and minds counts for anything, the noise and colour of the supporters has rolled into another town and out again without incident, and the possibility of the replay being televised may bring further, much-needed money into the club. On top of the decision that was made on Thursday to grant planning permission for their new ground, they have had a brilliant few days and the positive attention that their cup run is bringing them is thoroughly deserved. This alternative vision for the future of football continues to confound and amaze.”

Read more here:- Match of the Week: Brighton & Hove Albion 1 -1 FC United of Manchester

Football and its Discontents: The Restructuring of Australian Football and the Fate of the Ethnic Clubs

"This paper examines the cancellation of Australia’s National Soccer League (NSL) at the end of the 2003-2004 summer season and its replacement with the new A-League competition. The shift to the A-League resulted in the ethnic community clubs, which had formed the backbone of the NSL for 30 years, being relegated to the state premier leagues... [t]he A-League used high minimum annual budget figures to “price” the ethnic clubs out of the marketplace. However, the “other” Eastern European ethnic element has not been completely assimilated into “Modern Football”. Hardcore supporters of the ethnic clubs continue to express dissent towards “Modern Football” by online forum postings, homemade fence banners, and the like."

"During the mid- to late-1990s, under the leadership of the English-born Mr David Hill (1995 to 1998), a concerted effort was made to “de-ethnicize”, “mainstream”, and “professionalize” the NSL... [e]thnic clubs to be forcibly removed from the NSL in the Hill era included Melbourne-based Brunswick, Sydney-based Parramatta Eagles (clubs traditionally associated with the Italian and Maltese communities, respectively), and the popular Greek/ Greek Macedonian club Heidelberg United from Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs.”

"In 2004 the NSL was disbanded by the then ASA (now FFA). Just prior to this, multi-billionaire, Frank Lowy, once owner of the Sydney City Slickers aka Hakoah and now the CEO of the Westfield property group, had been hired to restructure and reinvigorate Australian football. In October 2003, the ASA had appointed a Taskforce to investigate a replacement national competition, chaired by Sydney businessman and former Sydney City Slickers chairman Andrew Kemeny. The Taskforce received 110 submissions and released its results on 8 December 2003. Ultimately Tony Labbozzetta, Ange Cimera, and like-minded traditional club stalwarts were defeated and a corporatized national league plan was promulgated that involved expelling the ethnic community clubs to the premier leagues of the various states; utilizing a North American style “one-city-one-team” model; and encouraging new private-equity franchise teams."

You can download a copy of this research paper here: Download - Football and its Discontents: The Restructuring of Australian Football and the Fate of the Ethnic Clubs

You can read this research paper online here: Read - Football and its Discontents: The Restructuring of Australian Football and the Fate of the Ethnic Clubs