Boats against the current? - The past, present and future of football in Australia
In this speech prepared for the EASM conference in Aalborg earlier this year, Bonita Mersiades guides us through the development of football in Australia.
"When I told a friend who is an international journalist known to many of you that I had been invited to give this presentation on football in Australia, he advised me to immediately throw to vaudeville – in other words, tell you jokes.
“For heaven’s sake, Bonita, no one is interested in Australian football other than you. So say something funny and mention Peter Hargitay.”"
This is the the beginning of the speech, which Australian Bonita Mersiades, former head of corporate and public affairs with the Australian FA, had prepared for the EASM 2012 conference.
Unfortunately, Mersiades were unable to come but here is a chance to read the presentation she would have given.
The speech describes the history of Australian football in terms of economy, support, governance etc., and also gives a guess at where the sport is going after its unsuccesful bid for the FIFA World Cup 2018.
Read Bonita Mersiades' paper: Boats against the current? The past, present and future of football in Australia