The World Cup always draws out the part-time football fans, but with Wollongong back on the A-League agenda, how does your city fare when it comes to boasting a genuine football culture?

Not only will the A-League All-Stars make Wollongong their base before taking on Juventus in August, but Sydney FC have also taken an A-League clash against Newcastle Jets to WIN Stadium next January.

The latter fixture is on the move because the turf at the Sydney Football Stadium is being re-laid that week – funny how that never happens during rugby league season – but the Sky Blues are no doubt wary of recent overtures to include a third Sydney team in the competition.

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One of those teams would supposedly represent the ‘southern regions’ of Sydney, although as anyone with a decent map will readily point out, the Illawarra is most certainly not part of Sydney.

In fact, it’s a region with a long and proud football history of its own and it arguably deserves an A-League team before anywhere else – with the exception, perhaps, of Canberra.

But as we’ve all seen in the past, there’s a difference between a bit of local enthusiasm and fans turning up week-in, week-out to get a regular A-League fix.

And of the eight cities which currently host A-League teams, it makes me wonder which boasts the most discernible football culture?

I was waiting in line in a café in one of Brisbane’s trendier inner-city suburbs shortly after the Roar collected their third A-League title, when I noticed Besart Berisha standing behind me.

I turned and congratulated him on his grand final scoring exploits and wished him well in Melbourne, to which he replied “that really means a lot!”



I didn’t have the heart to tell the new Melbourne Victory striker that I couldn’t care less if he bangs home a hat-trick against the Roar next season, but I was pleased to see so many locals pay Berisha his dues at any rate.

It was a different story a couple of weeks later when I saw Michael Theo purchasing what appeared to be industrial quantities of bottled water at – of all places – one of our local office supply stores.

Roar officials will be delighted to hear that their highly effective goalkeeper is staying well hydrated, although when it comes to brand recognition, perhaps Theo is not the first face worth trotting out considering that he went about his business completely unrecognised.

Seeing a couple of A-League stars out and about reminded me, though, that watching football in Brisbane is a pretty agreeable experience.

Not only do the Roar consistently play some of the best football in the A-League, but the club’s rusted-on fans are generally knowledgeable and provide a decent match day experience down Caxton Street, as well as in the stands.

That didn’t stop Berisha from claiming that he’d left Brisbane to “join the biggest club in Australia,” and why shouldn’t he?

Say what you will about Melbourne Victory, but it’s hard to argue that their impact on the A-League hasn’t been immense.

Yet, perhaps more than any other campaign, there’s now a reason for the rest of us to pay close attention to what’s going on in the red-and-white half of the city.



Melbourne City’s potential emergence as a force will be fascinating to watch, and it’ll be interesting to see if they draw any more fans onto the bandwagon along the way.

But what of the rest of the country? Will the upcoming FFA Cup help rekindle some old football flames?

How do fans in cities like Perth, Adelaide and Newcastle rate their respective football cultures? Will there be more supporters on the terraces in Wellington and Gosford this year?

It’s always nice to shoot the breeze about football, so where’s the best A-League city to do exactly that?