The Victoria Connection

The AFL (Australian Football League) Grand Final will be played this afternoon in the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground). For the second year in a row, a Grand Final played in the State of Victoria is without a Victorian footie team (they called it football here and they call football 'soccer').

In the Grand Final this year, the Sydney Swans again will play West Coast Eagles, just like they did last year. Therefore for the second year in a row, the AFL fans from Victoria come to the MCG to see two teams who are not from Victoria.

Having no Victorian team in the AFL Grand Final obviously made the marketing department of the AFL adminsitration needed to think how to attract the Victorian to come to the stadion. Last year they tried to connect the Sydney Swans being a team rooted in Victoria therefore the Victorian must support the Swans.

The Swans indeed were originaly established in South Melbourne, as South Melbourne FC (not the soccer Football Club, mind you). Due to lack of interest from the local to their home game, the SMFC decided to move to Sydney and officially became Sydney Swans FC. Pretty much like Wimbledon AFC in England which became Milton Keynes Dons FC recently. Try to ask any Wimbledon AFC fans if they still want to relate themselves to MK Dons FC. There is no way they will.

So this year, the AFL marketing department came out with another bright idea. They publicised the suburbs of birth of many AFL players from the two teams on the newspaer a day before the Grand Final (yesterday). The message is 'Many of the players who will play in the Grand Final today are Victorian after all, so come to watch our fellow Victorian playing'.

I wonder what the marketing department of the AFL will do next year, if, again, Sydney Swans play West Coast Eagles or Port Adelaide in next year's Grand Final.