Have we lost the city?

[Jessesdad]

This is not a doom and gloom post but a question. I have noticed that posters here and on 442 in relation to AU topics have fallen drastically from the early years. Numbers at games are also pretty dire. Last game was a perfect football night but the crowd was dismal. Active support not good either.
I know it's Mad March but we've been top four all season.
I know there have been more PR disasters this year but we have a very good squad playing some decent football.
Have we all lost interest?
Has Val's vendetta against AU actually won and turned people off?
Or shall we just have to be happy with crowds of 8000? Many clubs would be.
What do you think? Is there a general malaise about AU or are we just recovering from three years of being stuffed around?

[General Ashnak]

There is a general malaise frankly. Too much stuffing around and honeyed words without substance. Also negative media has a much bigger impact than people are willing to acknowledge. Our improved crowds after the saturation in the media because of our successful ACL campaign stopped because we no longer had that level of coverage. Everything focused on the problems with the club and the constantly reinforced impression that we play dire kick and chase football.

I don't see it changing any time soon.

[EdDog]

Well considering the complete lack of community and fan involvement initiated by the club, it's bound to happen.

West Sydney are doing so well because their owners care and make genuine attempts to get the public on it's side.

Of course good football helps, but our owners are more than happy to sit idly by, content with the current mediocrity.

After a number of years, this gets tiring for even the most diehard of supporters.

Sometimes it's actually too hard to support Adelaide United.

[Old Gregg]

I dunno. Apathy and negativity is contagious though. Frankly, and it hurts me to say it, I feel more apathetic towards Adelaide United now than I have in nearly 10 years as a supporter. I couldn't give a shit about coverage in the paper but it seems that the passion is waning even among those that are at the matches. I know that these are exactly the sorts of times that fans need to come together and support the team but at the moment it just seems that we've had too many seasons like this, starting off with high hopes only to be crushed by players switching off, coaches melting down, owners pissing people off... Have we ever had a season where we've improved throughout the year, battled our way into a good position? (The '08 ACL run, I guess). Always seems to be the other way round for United.

[ChillyPhilly]

Well considering the complete lack of community and fan involvement initiated by the club, it's bound to happen.

West Sydney are doing so well because their owners care and make genuine attempts to get the public on it's side.

Of course good football helps, but our owners are more than happy to sit idly by, content with the current mediocrity.

After a number of years, this gets tiring for even the most diehard of supporters.

Sometimes it's actually too hard to support Adelaide United.

Bingo.

[sevengoals]

It's no different from being married to someone for a long time.

There may be times when you may not like your partner for some stupid reason but that does not change the fact that you deeply love them and would never consider harming or leaving them.
It's the same with our football club.
Sometimes we can not stand it and they way it treats us, disrespects us and flirts with oblivion but in truth we truly deeply love it, it's history and all it stands for because we have been a part of it, infatuated with it, turned on, driven crazy by it, since it's inception.

I can only speak for myself when I say Adelaide United is, apart from my family and friends, probably the only thing that keeps me interested in Adelaide, South Australia or Australia for that matter.

[General Ashnak]

The biggest issue for me is that when we try and re kindle the flame we get either the cold shoulder or a half hearted attempt at engagement. When passionate people do not have that passion facilitated it sputters and can go out.

[ChillyPhilly]

^ As we've seen with the recent Arkaba event, alas.

1.2 million people, yet only 7000 of them go to Hindmarsh. What are the broken bridges?

[Shane]

I have decided to refrain from putting any further time into engaging with this Club.

There is no passion or community engagement at this club from ownership or administration.

Whatever they had before has been lost.

This is from first hand experience and over the past few weeks the club have shown that they really are out of touch (REALLY out of touch) with community connect and fan engagement, regardless of the minimal effort they have shown via 'Facebook'.

Even the players, well, their word means nothing. They can't even attend a community-driven event - An event which was effectively the only community-driven event, half-heartedly backed by the club, for the whole year.

There needs to be someone that can come in, throw their weight around and really open the eyes of those that are running the Club. Until this happens, expect the bare minimum.

Bare minumum;

1. Pay your season membership, with the option of 'financial membership'.
2. Pay for costly merchandise, of which is stock standard basic crap.
3. Pay to attend a 'season opening night'.
3. Watch the team play.
4. If you're a financial member, attend a 'wine day event' with Club management later in the year.
5. If you're a financial member, sign up and be one of 200 people that gets to listen to Glenn Elliott ramble about how he's all talk and no action.

There's your seasonal community engagement.

[EdDog]

+1 to everything Shano said.

The recent fan event that was organised by the fans (well really, one hardworking and passionate fan) was met with a complete lack of support from the club.

The management of this club is completely beyond Glenn Elliot. He couldn't even manage to promote this event and get players to attend (as was promised).

Until he's gone, expect much of the same.

[Jessesdad]

I was worried that this was the sort of response I would get to the question. Much of it reflects how I feel. I doubt I'll ever walk away from the club. I want my youngest son to grow up as Adelaide United through and through. But. There are so many 'but's.

Sometimes fans want too much and want too much control but I see and hear people who have genuinely tried to do something for the club throwing up their hands in despair.

The club seems to have no real idea of genuine fan engagement or quality control. One (one!!!) decent, genuine, friendly, thoughtful fan liaison person with the clout to demand the club engage with the fans could make so much difference.

This will change (I have to believe) but one wonders what it will take.

[The Claw]

A leopard doesn't change it's spots..
I think Bianco set a very high standard while our new owners are out of touch, arrogant and control freaks.
I think while Griffin and Elliot have hands on roles, this will continue. I just feel the good guys have all been fired and we are left with a skeleton crew of yes men who have NFI about football or fan engagement.
I am 10,000 miles away, and yet I can see it and feel it from Kyiv. I love the club but I hate the owners and the direction they are heading. Nothing has really changed. I am returning to Adelaide this year, but unlike other years I will buy foxtel and attend the games I want instead of buying membership and season ticket. Not because I don't want to support the team, but because I hate Griffin and Elliot and don't want the arrogant fools to think I am supporting them or their ownership style (My brother and old man also did not renew this year based on the same reasons after being members from day 1)...
I am sure that there are many fans just like me. If things change, I am sure you will see a change in crowd numbers

[EdDog]

^^ well said. I can't name one good management decision Elliot has made in his tenure.

The list of bad decisions is never ending.

[Max Power]

Me and the Mrs have been financial members since its inception and season ticket holders for 5 years. We never miss games unless we work and even then we either take annual leave to go or try and work something out with our employers so we can still go to games. We sat with a group of friends that was around 7-12 strong each game in 2007-2011. That group is down to me the Mrs and 1 or 2 friends. The last two games no one went.

This year is the first year I have missed more than 1 game. I have not gone to Hindmarsh for the past 2 games (Clipsal 500 and another event on at the same time)and I won't bother with the CCM game either because the Malaysian GP is on at the same time as the game. I will just record it and watch it on Foxtel after. I don't have that excitement anymore. I just need a break I think. Normally United overruled any other event. Not anymore.

My passion for the club is gone. I have written emails to them both praising things they have done and suggesting things and asking simple questions. Not once have I got a reply. Nothing. I wasted my time.

Seeing the community on this forum (driven by Shane and others) rise up and try and engage with the owners after the protests saw the flame rekindled for a while. Sadly the owners seem not to care about the fans. People put a lot of effort in for the club, trying to raise money for active support, the Arkaba family day and other things and they were shat on. Again and again.

The usual crap of starting strong and then falling to pieces off the pitch really drives me crazy too. The AMATEUR mistakes that the club makes again and again is pretty embarrassing too.

Even if we make the GF and win it all that will do is paper over the cracks for a while.

There is a lot of cancer to be cut out of the club before it can go back to the good days.

Next year we will not be buying membership, we will just go to select games and watch the rest on Foxtel. That is unless a drastic change happens and the owners start to engage with the supporters again.

[shinAUFC]

This club was once our little secret patch of heaven, there was a strong football culture and it felt as if it meant something to sit in the rain ....or heat .

Now it just feels like a half hearted school sportsday. That we allforget about hours after the fact.


How many people here remember grand final days in melbourne? Prior the the match a sea of red all over the city could be seen . We belonged to a cluband most drove through the night from adelaide right after work.

There a certain feeling when 6am 9am etc you makes a pitstop in ballarat or horsham and see 10 reds shirts . You aknowledged esch other and there was an unsaid understanding about what this meant.

This not reality anymore imo. The burning passion of OUR club has disapeared to plastic sticky tape and bones FC.