One of the dirtiest words in the discourse of Australian football is the ‘Eurosnob’.
This is often defined as the fan who indicates a preference for overseas leagues, watches them on a regular basis, and denigrates the local A-League for not having the quality of these glamorous competition. Increasingly, this has been used as a put-down term that obscures some cold hard facts about football not only in Australia, but also globally. This is not even getting to the bottom of the development and the diverse sources of fans from which the game can draw in this country.
As Michael Cockerill informed readers, the alleged Eurosnobs do indeed come from diverse ethnic backgrounds – British, European and South American immigrants that make up the sport’s “traditional” fanbase, even Middle Eastern and Asian immigrants. Besides the typical accusations levelled at Eurosnobs, much debate on the topic centres on what needs to be done to attract those fans in particular to the A-League, with the notion that this is a bigger problem for the game than other codes. While Cockerill has seemingly promoted the narrative, Simon Hill and David Davutovic both have a refreshing counterpoint to Cockerill – namely that the FFA, clubs and fans themselves need to do more to widen the fanbase of the domestic league.
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The Eurosnob myth tends to obscure a much bigger picture. Firstly, that support for overseas clubs in Australia is deeply entrenched and long predates the A-League, and Australia is far from unique in this regard. These fans, especially but by no means exclusively from immigrant backgrounds, follow their clubs out of a sense of tradition and loyalty, the tribal game that football is. It is a tradition that is impossible to change and football, though a global game, is also very much ingrained wherever it is played. This means that each footballing nation has developed customs and traditions, a whole body of football folklore if you will, that is distinct from others and yet also capable of influencing others in various ways. It is the rich body of football tradition that fans have either been born and raised in, or have been drawn to for whatever reason – often one not easily explained – and greatly diminishes the case of the ‘anti-Eurosnob’ crowd. With Australia’s historical ties to the British Isles, and immigration from there, continental Europe, Latin America and elsewhere, the high level of interest in overseas leagues is inevitable.
In view of this, the idea that a fan whose primary loyalty is to an overseas club, to which they channel the greatest part of their energy and emotional commitment, is somehow a ‘Eurosnob’, who looks down on the A-League is more often than not a lie. And that would include a great part of fans, including many of those currently working on TV who love the game and who are open about their allegiances to overseas clubs first. This also includes many people who are involved in the game at some level or another. Nobody can deny that these are passionate and knowledgeable fans, who are keen to see the game grow and the A-League succeed.
In the days before the A-League, there were many people of varied backgrounds who supported NSL clubs, or even played for them. And there were also many followers of the game who, for whatever reason, never had an affinity with any NSL club. It was this that the FFA and A-League had hoped to address and continue to do so. Indeed the expansion of the A-League, with the inclusion of Melbourne City and above all else the Western Sydney Wanderers, was meant to rectify what many football fans considered a shortcoming of the league, and have done so magnificently. If a failure to develop an affinity with the NSL was understandable, than a failure to do so with the A-League might seem less so in comparison.
Critics of so-called Eurosnobs frequently delight in pointing out that many overseas leagues are not that good and that the standard of the A-League is underestimated. This is partially true, but obscures the fact that almost every national football league in the world finds itself in the same boat owing to the gravitation of talent to the biggest stage, which has not prevented many others from hosting high-quality teams, players and results in international competition. Followers of European football do not deny that some leagues do have serious problems and are realistic about where most stand in the greater scheme of things.
Neither has it prevented many such outlets from being desirable destinations for Australian players, certainly more so than the much-touted leagues of the Middle East and Asia. With the Socceroos’ win in the 2015 Asian Cup, Western Sydney Wanderers’ win in the 2014 Asian Champions’ League and Australian clubs’ continuing good results in the same tournament, few can argue that that Australia is one of the powerhouses of the AFC, but this is to be expected. Australia should not underestimate its own football abilities, nor should Asia as a zone be overestimated.
Australia is by no means unique in this regard, with the exception that the A-League was born in an era where the above changes had long since taken place. The J-League and MLS, for comparison, had been established in the previous decade – the former the establishment of a fully professional national league in Japan, the latter the reintroduction of top-level professional football in the United States. Cockerill cited Japan as some kind of counterexample to European leagues, but ignored the fact that their 100-year football plan is designed precisely so that Japan emulates the traditional football league model of Europe, with three professional divisions and professional clubs planted throughout the country. By contrast, the A-League began with one team per city, lacking a cross-town derby until 2010. This was one of the many criticisms that fans could have levelled at the developing competition.
A strong interest in overseas leagues should not hinder the development of the domestic game. Australia can be compared to other countries with similar ties forged through immigration – New Zealand, Canada and the USA being three such cases, where interest in the European game, not least the English game, is not inconsiderable. However, contrasting examples can be found in Ireland and Scandinavia, where support for British clubs is deeply entrenched. Part of it has been extensive TV coverage, often going back decades, and the comparative ease of access which is not applicable elsewhere. Yet at the same time, Scandinavian fans also have allegiances in their domestic leagues, whose clubs have often chalked up respectable performances in Europe.
It is understandable and indeed admirable that football supporters who wholeheartedly embraced the A-League are protective of it. But with it must come an awareness of the football environment the league exists in, both in Australia and globally. That many football supporters in Australia consider their primary loyalty to be that of an overseas club does not make them ‘Eurosnobs’, it makes them regular football supporters. Using the term is unnecessary and divisive, and counterproductive in terms of fostering the growth and development of the domestic game.
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