As reported in the press by Melb Knights and Carlton, LIVE television broadcasts of their matches are having a detrimental effect on their crowd attendances. So I took this knowledge with me today and planned to arrive at the game about 15 minutes before the kick-off as that would surely be enough time to park and get into the ground, as most people would be sitting at home watching the game on TV.
It took me until 5pm to just get through the traffic and at the front of the South Melb club carpark. "Sorry, car park full" was the sign on top of the "$4 car park entry fee." As the car park attendant waved for me to keep driving, I asked "how much do you want for a spot? $20?". And all of a sudden the car park attendant was calling out to his colleagues to find a spot as I was offering $20... I drove off.
However, I must say I was pleasantly surprised with South Melbourne's entry fees. Unlike other NSL clubs, they have not raised the ticket prices $2 for each entrant this season.
30 minutes later I had managed to park and start watching the game. 2-2 was the score, and Lozanovski was just about to hit the freekick of the year.
There really is nothing better than a packed Bob Jane stadium for summer soccer of this quality. With the beautiful settings that Albert Park provides in the background and upon entry/exit, this place is truly the heart of Melbourne soccer. And with a pitch to match, and supporters right up close to the action there's your reason for the 50+% difference of average attendances between the clubs that tackled each other today. So much for live TV being counter-productive. If soccer in Australia today wasn't the winner by having this live broadcast, it never will be.
4-3 at halftime, and all that could be heard were the mutterings "why the f* didn't I tape this?". A beer was a timely refreshment. Despite having an impressive Andrew Marth sent off, Carlton managed to equalise through (13 goal striker - last season) Andy Vlahos. This season Andy has another couple of goals, but is being played out at left wing back to make way for the ineffective soul mate of Ronaldo.