I will stand by my club

[Max Power]

I have read a lot of negativity so far this season, most of it justified. At the moment we are a club on the verge of ruin, self destruction, whatever you wish to call it.

People are pointing fingers, making up theories or just sticking the knife into the back of a soft target because it makes them feel good. Others simply wish to take advantage of the publics negative view towards my team at the moment to canvas support for thier own hidden agendas.

I am not happy with what is going on at my club. Far from it.

However..

I have sat at Hindmarsh in the blazing sun, pelting rain and freezing cold. I have sat there in stunned silence as we were flogged 6-0 in the Grand Final and then felt that empty feeling again a few years later when we were again beating by those bastards.

I have never left a game early and never will.

I have always tried to bring 'new' people to games to try and get them hooked on the sport.

I go home with no voice left sometimes.

I have bought shirts, memberships, season tickets, scarves and all kinds of United gear.

Why?

I don't know. Maybe I am stupid.

Maybe it is the hard times like these that makes the good times so very sweet.

Moments such as the ACL quarter and semi finals.

Watching Serg score against Jeonbuk Motors in the final seconds and then jumping up and down in delerium, hugging strangers and feeling that magical Hindmarsh electric atmosphere.

Belting Melbourne 4-1 away with Serg's screamer of a free kick, then later in the year beating them again at Adelaide Oval.

Watching Marcos Flores goal against Newcastle.

However:

Even I have a limit of what I can tolerate. I will still love this club, buy memberships and stay loyal to my team, but I have never been so down about them as I am now.

I just don't see any pride. No passion. No hunger.

I hope that they prove me totally wrong this saturday night against the Victory.

All I ask is for them to display some passion and pride for the shirt.

I just live in hope that these bad times will eventually make the moment we finally win the Grand Final so much sweeter.

I just had to write this, it made me feel better.

Thanks for reading.

edit: I also decided to email this to the club

[BC]

Well said.

[Old Gregg]

Unfortunately it's feeling less and less like 'our club' by the day - but turning our backs will not achieve anything. The club needs to wrestle back its identity and this can't happen without supporters..

Occupy Hindmarsh

[double07]

Occupy Hindmarsh

I am the 1%!

[lufcmike]

Well put I tink we all agree with the sentiments.

But
We need to be realistic
If we win/draw or show improved form and spirit this week it must be maintained for the rest of the season, it cannot just be a one off or occassional thing against certain opposition, as this makes the current situation even worse, knowing that it can be done but for reasons within the playing group and management it is'nt happening.

[MartinAUFC]

I have read a lot of negativity so far this season, most of it justified. At the moment we are a club on the verge of ruin, self destruction, whatever you wish to call it.

People are pointing fingers, making up theories or just sticking the knife into the back of a soft target because it makes them feel good. Others simply wish to take advantage of the publics negative view towards my team at the moment to canvas support for thier own hidden agendas.

I am not happy with what is going on at my club. Far from it.

However..

I have sat at Hindmarsh in the blazing sun, pelting rain and freezing cold. I have sat there in stunned silence as we were flogged 6-0 in the Grand Final and then felt that empty feeling again a few years later when we were again beating by those bastards.

I have never left a game early and never will.

I have always tried to bring 'new' people to games to try and get them hooked on the sport.

I go home with no voice left sometimes.

I have bought shirts, memberships, season tickets, scarves and all kinds of United gear.

Why?

I don't know. Maybe I am stupid.

Maybe it is the hard times like these that makes the good times so very sweet.

Moments such as the ACL quarter and semi finals.

Watching Serg score against Jeonbuk Motors in the final seconds and then jumping up and down in delerium, hugging strangers and feeling that magical Hindmarsh electric atmosphere.

Belting Melbourne 4-1 away with Serg's screamer of a free kick, then later in the year beating them again at Adelaide Oval.

Watching Marcos Flores goal against Newcastle.

However:

Even I have a limit of what I can tolerate. I will still love this club, buy memberships and stay loyal to my team, but I have never been so down about them as I am now.

I just don't see any pride. No passion. No hunger.

I hope that they prove me totally wrong this saturday night against the Victory.

All I ask is for them to display some passion and pride for the shirt.

I just live in hope that these bad times will eventually make the moment we finally win the Grand Final so much sweeter.

I just had to write this, it made me feel better.

Thanks for reading.

edit: I also decided to email this to the club

Inspirational stuff - well done !

[Stuckey]

Well said i was trying to (unsuccessfully) explain this to my wife. Real fans don't leave early! Sure if you're wife is in labor and we're 3 nil up with 5 mins to go maybe. But never never never leave early just because we're losing. If you are a real fan of any club you stick it out and watch your team. C'mon you Reds do us proud!

[mortons11]

here here

[flavze]

well said Maxie, i didn't enjoy being at the last game but i was there and will be at the next one as well despite expecting to see the same insipid shit.

[General Ashnak]

[blahblah]

Well said, good Sir. I can't bring myself to leave early even when I'm watching it via the internet in another country.

Fans need to stick by the team in bad times, not just good. Any muppet can do the latter.

[ZANZIBAR]

spot on, it's the bad times that make the sweet time so much sweeter. like beating mvfc after ten games straight losing to them. so so so sweet! i truly believe we are one win from turning the corner

[bensy]

...

[bensy]

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that Adelaide United are a team for whom all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the talent of Robbie Cornthwaite, next Wednesday night is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around newsagents and ticket outlets in numbers this city has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, male and female, black, white, Australian, Asian, sheila, wog, poofter, disabled and not disabled - South Australians who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of supporters: we are, and always will be, the Adelaide United Football Club.

It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of silverware.

It's been a long time coming, but next Wednesday, because of what we did last night, in that game, at that defining moment, change will come to Adelaide.

I want to thank our partners in this journey, a group of men who campaigned from their hearts and played for the men and women they represent on the streets of Elizabeth and rode with on that tram home to Glenelg, the heroes of the Adelaide United Football Club who got us so far, the players.

To our manager Aurelio Vidmar, his chief strategist Phil Stubbins, and the best backroom staff ever assembled in the history of Australian club football - you made this happen, and we are forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, we will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to us.

We were never the likeliest candidate for this final. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of the AFC - it began in the backyards of Para Hills and the football grounds of Henley and the clubrooms of Croydon.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to our club. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of Australian rules football; who left their homes and their families for matches that offered little reward and less enjoyment; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to support our club in our first Champions League campaign; from the hundreds of fans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than 4 years later, a club of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is our victory.

But let us not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we commiserate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our club's lifetime - a roofless, small stadium, a team of injuries and suspensions, the biggest bandwagon shift in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave South Australians waking up in the deserts of the Nullarbor and the hills of Mount Lofty who will not be there next Wednesday. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make their membership payments, or pay their child's registration fees, or save enough for a home shirt. There is new energy to harness and new fans to be created; new stadiums to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one match or even one season, but Adelaide - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a club will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every selection or tactic Viddie executes as manager, and we know that substitutions can't solve every problem. But I will always be supporting my club despite the challenges we face. I will listen to you, Aurelio, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you, the fans, to join in the work of supporting this club the only way it's been done in Adelaide for almost 5 years - beer by beer, chant by chant, giant foam hand by giant foam hand.

What began 8 months ago in the depths of autumn must not end on this spring night. It cannot happen without you. So let us summon a new spirit of tribalism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and yell louder and look after not only ourselves, but the club. Let us remember that if this loss has taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving defence while our midfield suffers - in this state, we rise or fall as one club; as one people.

And to all those watching last night from beyond our shores, from pubs in Queensland and living rooms in London to those who are huddled around computers in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of South Australian football is at hand. To those who would tear this sport down - we will defeat you. To those who seek success and trophies - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if Adelaide's beacon still burns as bright - next Wednesday we will prove once more that the true strength of our club comes not from our the speed of our wingers or the height of our defence, but from the enduring power of our ideals: intensity, integrity, devotion, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of football - that anything can happen. Our deficit can be reduced. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

And tonight, I think about all that we've seen throughout our years in football - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that United creed: Yes we can.

At a time when football's voice was silenced and its hopes dismissed, we lived to see it stand up and speak out and reach for the sky. Yes we can.

When there was despair in South Australia and depression as Adelaide City fell, we saw a state conquer fear itself with a new club, new direction and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the NSL fell and tyranny threatened football, we were there to witness a generation rise to greatness and sport was saved. Yes we can.

We were there for the flood against Bunyodkor, the darkness of Telstra Dome, the miracle in China, the spawning of salmon, and a manager from our city who told a people that "I could coach this side from a coffee shop." Yes we can.

A game was played at a cricket oval, a striker moved to Turkey, a fanbase was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, after last night, we yelled abuse and felt despair but continued rolling along, because after 5 years of existence, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, we know how quickly things can change. Yes we can.

Adelaide, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Frank Lowy, what trophies will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our club back on top and open doors of opportunity for our future; to restore pride and promote the cause of football; to reclaim the Asian Champions League and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the Adelaide United Football Club.

[sevengoals]

Well said, good Sir. I can't bring myself to leave early even when I'm watching it via the internet in another country.

Fans need to stick by the team in bad times, not just good. Any muppet can do the latter.

+1