lsmith1001

Lover of NZ and Aus football.
Writer for Friends of Football NZ.
Support the Nix, FC Midtjylland & Cardiff City.
All opinions are my own

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@Ryan_Aotearoa Hopefully we can capitalise this across the whole country - let's get more regular All Whites and Ferns home games in Wellington and Chch, and get talks going for an A-League club down there too!

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@wsw_garfield I think our councillors should be active on sokkah twitter

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@matthews_adam Disagree - having high level teams in this league is good, drives the standards. The proofs is there that the Pacific teams can beat the heavy hitters, so it's a tough challenge but a doable one. A great opportunity for these guys to play week in week out vs good NZ/Aus players.

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@_Limenation If you ever needed proof that xG was broken... Makalas goal would have counted for about 0.9 of that to be fair

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@wsw_garfield We have depth in some positions and not others.

Behind Wood our depth at striker isn't so good - and Kosta has still been handy for the AWs in the past year or so, plus the Nix season before.

Think his struggles at WSW might be more to do with them than him.

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@JOSH______NZ That ground looked about 99% empty sadly...

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@fossilfuelfade @WarbzFC @c0ughlansam They did host a Ferns game and barely got a few thousand through the gate

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@WarbzFC @c0ughlansam And the government!

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@MelEHart @ByPhillipRollo @Auckland_United They have also been using Auckland United players in the adverts - and you'd guess half the team selected will be from AU!

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@Yarny09 @Zachorrey @ByPhillipRollo Except the government and council are partially funding these games!

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@TheAustral61453 @JJGrayF1 @fc_auckland @NZNationalParty Partially funded by the NZ government and Auckland council.

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@Jimmytickle375 @OrclandFC Auckland didn't even hit 4k for the national team game that qualified us for the next World Cup!

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@YoungHeartHM I think this is good for us in a way - shows prospective visa players that they can come here, have a platform to perform and move on to a higher level.

Not everyone is going to be a Broich or Berisha who sticks around forever.

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@LachlanSherriff South Melbourne didn't enter this competition for the good of Australian football though - they entered it for their own ambition, progress & professionalism.

This should be applauded - instead of sitting and waiting for full NSD or A-League entry, they're improving themselves.

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@mikeburgess99 @OFCfootball This might be a short-sighted take. Playing a team of their strength and qualities is a chance for OFC teams to grow.

Plus while there's been a couple of drubbings, the Pacific teams have challenged them. Lost to Vanuatu and Hekari, draws with Bula and SK.

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@TMuhabet @joeylynchy All of those are wrong, UEFA actually enforce the rules on it, has been that way for about a decade.

Not going through the entire list but for example - cup runner ups Connahs Quay Nomads and OFI Crete in Wales and Greece didn't qualify, the extra spot pushed down the league.

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@StuartRandall @davemoore9 @BrentonRay47458 @pashos24 @joeylynchy @ESPNAusNZ The FA Cup changed the rules about a decade ago, the extra spot passes down the league not to the runner up

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@tas_zaf @joeylynchy Monaco-France, Ireland-Northern Ireland, Andorra-Spain, San Marino-Italy, Liechtenstein-Switzerland, Sudan-Rwanda (war tbf), Brunei-Malaysia (previously Singapore) are the others I think. Not exactly that uncommon.

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@tas_zaf @joeylynchy Normal in 95% of the football world?

In 25-26 alone: China, Iraq, Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi, Singapore, UAE, Taiwan and Turkmenistan all nominated from the league, not cup runner up.

Similar story in UEFA and CAF - league placing gets chosen not cup runner up.

[lsmith1001 @lsmith10011]

@tas_zaf @joeylynchy So we're just switching the topic now because you don't want to read.

NZ clubs participating is mutually beneficial end of story. Both stable unlike many Aus clubs in recent years. And it happens in way more countries than that.