IT'S A massive week for football in Perth. The AFL is finally finished, the local Soccer Pools Cup (aka Football West Cup) final is being fought out between Floreat Athena and Inglewood United, and Perth Glory are getting a visit from the Holy Father himself.

Firstly; apologies on the tardiness of this blog. I've just migrated everything from an old laptop to my new one, and I'm only just up and running once more. Throw in a long weekend in Perth and the usual work commitments, and the writing desk has been gathering a fair amount of dust. Still, I'm back - no doubt much to your infinite relief. Now, on with the blog...

Robbie Fowler: Super-Sized Opium of the People?

Choices always were a problem for you...

What you need is someone strong to guide you.

Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow...

-Tool, "Opiate"

I have a sneaking suspicion that this weekend will show just how effective a proper ex-EPL marquee could be in Perth. Obviously we've had a total star in Brian Deane grace the field of ME Bank Stadium in the past, but I think the presence of the man some call God will bring out the couch potatoes, the football snobs, and the general public. We saw it at the EPL "feast of football" matches in the driving rain - and I think we'll see it again this Saturday.

With all that said, has anyone stopped to think why people come to see Fowler? Clearly, Robbie is a very talented individual and he has already scored some crackers this year. But to call him the best player in the league would be a stretch; frankly, I'd consider it to be outright lunacy. That said, football inspires such stupidity in us - read Nick Hornby's brilliant Fever Pitch for some good examples - and makes the insane look ordinary and very well justifiable.

To the outsider, Robbie Fowler is a chubby has-been who can't yet accept that his 40th birthday is rapidly approaching. To millions of others worldwide though, he is a legend. Nothing short of complete failure in the A-League will change that; and even then, there are those who will still find excuses for him. "You try playing alongside some of these chumps", "These idiots expect him to play football in this heat?", or "The coach is a moron" would no doubt get a severe workout.

I know people who are coming to the match simply to see Fowler. They show no interest in the A-League otherwise; most watch the EPL on their plasmas or don't watch the game at all. Then there are the 'bandwagoners' who will come to watch Glory simply because they're now once more near the summit of the league table. I despise that our game features such people in the crowd - and yet I know it must if it wants to survive. There simply isn't the culture established in this country - especially in Perth - to regularly get a large enough hardcore support base into a ground which produces a profit for the club involved.

Broken Hearts

It is for precisely the reason mentioned above that I think Melbourne Heart will be struggling from the get-go in the A-League. The idea that 10,000 people will just all of a sudden pop up out of nowhere in the Victorian capital to support something that is "Victory Red" seems ludicrous. Sure, there will be some curious onlookers who will come down and join whatever local marketing bandwagon pops up. There might even be a small group of disenfranchised Victory supporters; maybe the Anti-Merrick Workers Union?

But where is the core support coming from? That's not simply a rhetorical question either; based in Perth I miss a lot of the happenings on the east coast, so it could simply be that I'm out of some loop. But I fear that I already know the answer.

Chances are that if you have been a football supporter in Melbourne for the past five years, you would have fallen into one of two categories; you would have supported your one-team-one-city side in Victory, or you would have shunned the A-League's model for the Victorian Premier League, perhaps to follow a club you feel should have made the league, but didn't.

Assuming Heart starts up as a "second" Melbourne team, without a specific identity such as Vic Country, South Melbourne, Geelong, or the like - who will follow them? Why would a Victory fan switch allegiances? "They're closer to my house" hardly seems a viable option.

What about the supposed 'bitters', the fans of ex-NSL and now-VPL clubs? How is Melbourne Franchise B different to Melbourne Franchise A? These are serious questions, ones that don't seem to have really been answered by anyone other than those with anti-mono-ethnic club agendas and Heart staffers and marketers.

I'd be fine with "Vic Regional" or the like entering the competition. Maybe they could play out of a slightly less CBD-centric location, and attract some of those people who may not attend the city centre on a regular basis. I fear though that this won't be the case, and that Heart might fall flat- even more so than the spectacular flop that is Gold Coast United at the moment. Sure, they're top of the league and all- so were the Power, and where are they now? Their crowds are eerily similar, too...

I'm a Glory fan. I've not been alive long, and the club's been around for even less time. But I've seen clubs and franchises come and go; and Perth Glory still stands. I won't shed a tear if Heart fails - but I thought we were supposed to be fixing all these issues in the A-League, right? Right? Hardly.

Anyone who thinks that there aren't still NSL-era problems in the golden new age of football might want to look around at some of the recent threads on FourFourTwo; 20+ pages of comments on 'worrying crowds', articles on suspicious bid selection processes for new franchises, and god knows what else.

Don't get me wrong, I love the A-League. We needed it. But it isn't the holy grail- not by a long shot.

The Nosebleed Section

"We're gonna win the league; We're gonna win the league". The football chant sung with the greatest of irony at Perth Glory matches in the past few years. Is it perhaps then scary that nowadays this chant is being sung with increasing belief? Unbeaten at home and now with two (extremely lucky) away wins on the trot, Glory are sitting pretty in second place; their highest ever A-League position.

As I mentioned earlier, another few weeks of this and the bandwagoners will be back in force. Glory will again be talk of the town - especially with a struggling Western Warriors outfit on show at the WACA - and ME Bank Stadium will be packed on a regular basis. Mind you, it could just as easily all fall apart.

Either way, where's the criticism of Perth's crowds now, hmm? Who should be kicked out of the league again? Childish I know, but surely those in purple are now allowed to crow a bit at others' expense?

Home Truths

Another week of home truths then. This week:

1. Star or not, Robbie Fowler is just a man. He will die one day, just like you and I. How about those of you obsessed with the Liverpool legend come and watch some of the other footballers in this country once in a while?

2. Adriano Pellegrino, despite his poor start to the season, is still a great bloke. Taking an hour or so out for an online chat with readers of the West Australian, he gave diplomatic and well-considered answers, and revealed a love of fishing - quite clearly the reason he turned down Adelaide United last year to re-sign with Perth Glory...

3.  The considerable talents of Andrija Jukic are being wasted spending 89 minutes on the pine each game. If he's not to start, or at the very least play for half an hour, David Mitchell may as well not put him in the matchday squad at all.

 

Finally, an open question to those reading my blog. There's been recent discussion about Glory needing a better presence at big WA events like the Perth Royal Show, which has me thinking - what could the club be doing to better promote themselves (and the sport) to everyday West Australians?

I had the idea of a five-a-side beach football tournament, sponsored by the club, which could be held on one of our many fantastic beaches. What about yourselves; what would really capture the public's attention?