Football Code War in WA

[admin]

It’s code war as soccer, Aussie Rules do battle
31st July 2006, 14:00 WST

Charles Riley Reserve in North Beach has become one of the many suburban battlefronts in the Australian soccer revolution sparked by the Socceroos’ World Cup dynamic performance.
Ethan Malone and Christian Wallace


Junior soccer and Aussie Rules clubs have been living together happily at the big reserve for many years, but a push supported by WA soccer’s governing body Football West for soccer clubs to add the term football to their names has upset the harmonious relationship.

Clubs have sought advice from the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection on how they can use a naming convention that has been the domain of the Australian game for almost 150 years.

Under a compromise deal, soccer clubs have agreed to only use the title FC but a DOCEP spokesman told The West Australian there was little to stop those same outfits from incorporating football into their names.

The national soccer authority went from being the Australian Soccer Association to the Football Federation of Australia with the local body, the WA Soccer Association, becoming Football West last year.

If Football West gets its way, Charles Riley Reserve could become home to two clubs called the North Beach Football Club — despite the clubs being for players of different sports.

Balingup Soccer Club has already changed its name to Blackwood United Football Club.

The WA Football Commission’s community clubs manager, Warren Nel, said his body was worried soccer’s push would only lead to confusion over the codes within the community.

Football West chief executive Michelle Phillips said WA soccer clubs would simply be adopting a naming convention that was used by the code all over the globe.

“What you’ll see is FC for football club, which is something synonymous with our sport, not just the other codes,â€￾ Ms Phillips said.

But North Beach Junior Football Club co-ordinator Rod McQuade disagreed.

He said that while his club was happy to share a home with its soccer counterparts, sharing a name was not on. “If you say football in WA, you mean Aussie Rules football — it’s the Aussie culture,â€￾ he said