Fan Focus: NEW KIDS ON THE RED & BLACK BLOCK

 The Western Sydney Wanderers capped off a memorable maiden season with a Minor Premiership (albeit a disappointing Grand Final loss). Even more memorable was the sight of the Wanderers fans filling nearly every seat to capacity at Parramatta Stadium. The Wanderers boasts some of the most die hard fans in the A-League, and this was surely one of the reasons why the team was so successful during there first year in the competition. The introduction of the Wanderers to the A-League last season was just the injection the competition needed, as the sight of the Red and Black Block was enough to strike fear in the hearts of any opposing teams. Hopefully these impressive crowd attendances are a sign of things to come for the A-League, as Australian Soccer crowds need to expand. In this Interview Inside the Box will chat to die hard Wanderers fan Steve Mortada on the key to the club's success and what's in store for the Wanderers in their second year of existence.

1. First of all congratulations on being part of the fasting growing team in Australian sport, how does that feel?.
Truly amazing!! Put it this way, I don’t think there has been an off season for myself and many fans as we still chant and talk about the wAnderful inaugural season we had.

2. Sitting in those fan forums ( several fan forums were held by the FFA to get fans say on how the club was to run) did you ever picture the club to be such a success on and off the field?
 I think for all who were involved in the forums they did dream and envisage that their club could do well in years to come, but certainly the rapid success in which the WSW rose to the top truly was stuff DREAMS are made of. The culture within our fans is strongly attributed to the RBB and the passion they bring, I would say this has put pressure on all A-League active support to step up.

3. The fan forum was a success should they become compulsory for all A - league club owners?
100%!! Imagine if the A-League was filled with teams that had this passion and support from its fans because they had been involved with the club from inception….oh what an atmosphere it would be.

4. What was last season's highlight for you?
So many to list but I would have to say the night we defeated CCM at Blue tongue to take the #1 spot. That night it poured down rain on us as we marched from the Settlers tavern to the stadium and brought our boys home. Magical.

5. You have the best travelling supporters in the league, considering australia's geographical landscape it must cost you a fortune?
Off season is a great way to save your pennies lol. Personally last season I did all the NSW away games but no interstate games, will be different this season though, I guess it’s the love you have for your club that you are willing to travel. 

6. You were previously in the Bay 67 supporters group but will switch to the Red &Black Block this year, explain the difference to our readers?
Quite simply if you have the desire to chant, sing and jump for 90minutes, the RBB is where you need to STAND. Round 1 as the rain fell, I looked over from bay67 to the RBB and watched the passion they expelled, I knew where I had to be the following season. It’s the active support that brings the atmosphere to our games and its as addictive as any drug, the more you give the more you feel rewarded. Win or lose you sing, win or lose you give for your colours.

7. How does one become a member of the Red & Black Block, is there an initiation process?
You fill in an application form with the WSWFC and pay your $195 to be part of the best active support in the southern hemisphere, initiation yes, every game is an initiation as you may get showered with beer lol

8. Do fans regularly meet up?
Our club has a very diverse fan base. Being the west you find we are everyday knock about people who love to have fun and keep it real. Many fans do meet up outside club games and during the off season the fans along with the RBB have been supporting the Wanderers powerchairFC with lots of active support too. The fans will also be gathering on 21^st July for a fan day to have lunch/drinks and sing together. One of the club members Dougie actually organised this as a way of therapy during the lull.

9. Come game day, talk us through the day of a Western Sydney Wanderers home game?
Hmmm Game day … the holiest of hollies. It starts with many fans gathering at the Woolpack where many come to hydrate and get into the festival spirit(for me though it starts with ironing my black undies for luck). Fans talk and discuss anything and everything Red and Black, When our Band La Banda arrives and the drums start beating and the chants start vocalising you know the party is about to begin. Everyone gets involved and we all start the game day ritual of the march down church St. The streets flood with Red and Black as the band fills the air with beating drums and trumpets. Onlookers are excitedly captivated and applaud the progression. Once the whistle blows time on its 90 mins of solid chanting and getting the entire stadium on their feet responding to our call. Who do we sing for….

10. Lets talk about the infamous flares, with Australian Sporting venues being tame with rules & regulations do you think having flares and confetti is good for the game or should we embrace the south American / European style of the ultra fan base?
I recall Ante Covic saying that the Flares are exciting and bring great atmosphere to the game and that in Europe its accepted. I think confetti and streamers are great I mean when a team lifts the finals trophy the entire stadium is showered with confetti so what’s the difference.

11. Is it safe for a family to sit with or near the RBB?
Why wouldn’t it be? 

12. Its season 2 for the Wanderers, do you fear the dreaded second season syndrome?
I believe that the team will march on much the same way they did last year. If for whatever reason they hit hurdles than as our words echo in our chant “Win or Lose we will always follow you"

13. Will their be more members this season?
As we speak, we currently have in excess of 9000 members, almost 2000 more than last year.

14. With the new Parramatta stadium upgrade being announced last week as a fan of both the Parramatta Eels and Wanderers would you like too see more Red and Black around the stadium.
Most definitely!! We play 13 home games there as opposed to the 6 or 7 the Eels do, so of course lets paint the stadium in Red and Black permanently.


Written by Alex Stilianos. 

World Transfer Gossip

From the local parks of the Victorian Premier League to the major cauldrons of European football, here is the best football gossip from the team at insidetheboxFC.

- There is a huge clearout planned at Tottenham with AVB keen to offload Tom Huddlestone, Scott Parker, Emmanuel Adebayor and Assou-Ekotto. The quick sale is aimed to raise funds for David Villa & Paulinho. ( The Sun)

- Oscar Cardozo is tipped to be Carlos Tevez's replacement at Manchester City. After a public dust up with Benfica Coach Jorge Jesus City look set to launch a 14.5 million pound bid. ( The Sun )

- Arsenal are chasing Queens Park Rangers custodian Julio Cesar, with QPR looking to clear their wage bill the big Brazilian will be available for a bargain price of 1.5 million pounds. ( The World Game ) 

- AC Milan are keen on Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic. The Italian giants see the 31-year-old Serbia international as the ideal partner for their incumbent centre-back Philippe Mexes. 
( Daily Mirror )

- Victorian Premier League Powerhouse South Melbourne let go players during the week accusing them of treating the team as a 'social club'. Club powerbroker's want success this year and they have already proved that by signing former MLS and Eredivisie striker Nick Soolsma. ( Source )

East Asia Socceroos squad announced

The train on squad for the East Asia games has been announced with a one week training camp being held in Terrigal starting on Monday. The biggest surprises are Newcastle Jets Ruben Zadkovich and Wanderers new boy Tomi Juric. Finally Josh Rose has been rewarded for his consistency over the past two seasons, but still no Nikolai Topor-Stanley who despite being the dominant centre half in the league still cant get a look in. 

The full squad is:

Dario Vidosic

Eugene Galekovic

Ivan Franjic 

Jade North

Matt Smith

Josh Rose

Mitchell Duke

Trent Sainsbury 

Archie Thompson

Mark Milligan

Mitch Nichols

Nathan Coe

Craig Goodwin

Mark Birighitti

Ruben Zadkovich

Josh Risdon

Micheal Thwaite 

Scott Jamieson

Aaron Mooy

Tomi Juric 

THE SOCCEROOS SUCCESFUL WAR ON IRAQ.

It's been just over a week since The Socceroos secured a finals spot at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the victory still tastes as sweet as ever. A beautiful headed goal from Josh Kennedy was enough to give Australia the victory over Iraq in a match that ended 1 nil. It's only fitting that the man once nicknamed "Jesus" (Josh Kennedy) was the man to take us to Brazil, as the 30 year old Striker proved to be the saviour that night. It's also poetic given the statue which overlooks Rio De Janeiro is the statue of Jesus Christ. To say the Socceroos path to the World Cup was rocky would be putting it mildly. A 2-1 loss to Jordan in September last year followed by a couple of frustrating draws with Oman and Japan seemingly put the Socceroos 2014 World Cup hopes in doubt. That all changed on the night of June 18, 2013 in Sydney when Australia came up trumps with a 1 nil victory over Iraq in front of 80,000 fans. Although the future for Australian Soccer looks bright with another World Cup appearance in the bag, a lot of work still needs to be done between now and June 12, 2014.

Part of Australia's shaky qualifying campaign for Brazil 2014 was down to (at times) poor selections and an unspoken rift between the coach and players. Now that the job is done and the Socceroos are in to the World Cup, this will surely alleviate any previous tension some players may have had with Holger Osieck. Needless to say emotions ran high after Tim Cahill was subsituted late in the Iraq game with the scores tied at 0-0. However 20 minutes later when the final whistle sounded, the pair (Cahill and Osieck) could be seen embracing each other with hugs and smiles and any unpleasant feelings towards each other were seemingly forgotten. The job now for Osieck is to concentrate on which players he'll pick to be in the starting 11 throughout the whole tournament in 2014. There needs to be structure and stability when it comes to the Starting 11 players and there positions. Australia cannot afford to implement a heavy rotation policy between now and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, let alone during the tournament. With the 2014 World Cup still 12 months away there's still plenty of time to make preparations, but as for when the tournament starts for Australia? It starts now.

Written by Alex Stilianos.

Socceroos vs Jordan 3,2,1 Man of the Match awards

The Socceroos took a step closer to World Cup qualification with a convincing 4-0 win over Jordan at Ethihad stadium tonight. After that great performance against Japan last week the Roos kept the momentum with a brilliant collective effort across the park against the Jordanians. Our man of the match was an easy decision but the 2 and 1 points weren't nearly as easy. 

3. Robbie Kruse 

We could go on and on about the amazing turn around Robbie Kruse has made in his football career, but he really has established himself as one of Australia's best players. He was by far the man of the match tonight and if we are to make Brazil he will be an integral part of our plans in Rio and also into the future.

2. Tim Cahill 

Australia's proven performer , you can never question his effort when he pulls on the green and gold and when the day comes that he has to retire he will leave a massive hole. Scored another great header tonight and tore the Jordanian defence apart. 

1. Lucas Neil

A huge display from the skipper in the past two games, love him or hate him he is a great leader. Another solid performance at the back with big Sasa and was lucky enough to score his first Socceroos goal ever!. 

Introducing Terrace Australis

Its been a long time coming but we now have our first known active supporters group for the Socceroos called Terrace Australis. Our captain Lucas Neil has always been a big supporter of increasing the fan base of the national team but this World Cup qualifying campaign it seems something has finally been done about it. Terrace Australis have been in the football news this week after finally gaining recognition for a lot of hard work in setting up the fan group. When you think your a big supporter of the Socceroos you meet people like Stephen Southworth ( member of Terrace Australis ) and he makes you realise that you are just another average supporter. Its purely amazing the passion and pride some people take in supporting their favourite football team, one example is Terrace Australis have organised a 74th minute 'hop' which pays tribute to the first Socceroo's team that qualified for the 1974 World Cup. insidetheboxFC was so taken back by this movement that we had to find out more about Terrace Australis.

1. Can you tell our readers more about Terrace Australis, when were you formed and why were you formed ?.

Terrace Australis started with a few passionate Socceroos fans which came from various locations. We came together with the same objective of improving the Australian Home End. The reason for starting the new active support was to give the home end a kick start after the Oman game where the atmosphere was slightly embarrassing.

2 .Was this in the pipeline for some time now or was Lucas Neil's frequent call to arms this campaign you're inspiration?.

Lucas Neill has pleaded for all Socceroos fans to step up and make the home games a fortress, if the Australian captain notices it shouldn’t we do something about it ?

3. The atmosphere the Japanese fans created on Tuesday was just unreal, is this what we should be aiming for the Socceroos?.

The Japanese fans are amongst the best in Asia we will need a vast improvement to match them, though this should be seen as a challenge for us to get into the stands, learn the chants, bring the colour and stand and sing for 90 minutes.

 4. We've seen active support in the A - League really blossom over the last few years but Socceroo matches really seem to stay purely a spectator event why do you think that is?.

The difference between A-league and the Socceroos is that we see our respected clubs every week for 6 months, it’s easy to get swept away and contribute to that. The Socceroos play 6-7 games a year in Australia in different cities, with only the most dedicated fans making all the games. Hopefully with a renewed effort for active support people will see the National team games as something to get excited about in terms of active support.

 5. Active support really shows the passion that fans have for football, we can imagine you have made some sacrifices in getting this group set up, you have your own website that exercise isnt cheap in its self?.

Yes, many sacrifices have been made however we do this week in week out for our respective clubs. That's what passion is all about

6. Have you had any support from the FFA or from current or ex players?.

We do have the support of the FFA, we need to work closely with them to ensure things happen without incident, similar to active bays work with their clubs.

Lucas Neill has spoken to a few of us, he gave us a fire up similar to those you’d expect from the captain to the rest of the team.

7. Does stadium security in Australia make it difficult for active support ?. 

Ensuring we have clear lines of communications and both parties understand expectations of active support we can work together.

8. Ultimately if we secure world cup qualification to Brazilian will you be taking a tour party to Rio?.

Firstly we need to qualify and it’s important that all Socceroos fans if able to get to Melbourne and Sydney, they come create the fortress. From this point we should have created a good foundation of chants and choreo that will follow all active supporters to brazil.  

9. How do we find out more about you or how do we join the terrace Australis movement?.

Join the forum Terraceaustralis.com.au contribute to the conversation help shape a new beginning in active support for the national team

A - League Off Season Rumours

Usually with football off seasons, their is endless speculation and rumours of player movements. But so far this A - League off season things have been quiet. Mitch Nichols has followed Ange to the Victory whilst former Victory coach Ernie Merrick takes charge at Wellington Phoenix. We've searched far and wide and used all of our sources, this is what we are hearing....


Joel Griffiths seeking a return to China

After only arriving at the Sky Blues in December rumours are circulating that Joel Griffiths is already keen to return to China. The attraction of playing with his brother Adam and superstar Alessandro Del Piero was a big reason in Joel choosing to return to the A League. But after the release of his brother and the gloss wearing off the ADP effect, insidetheboxFC understands that Joel Griffiths wants to return to the mega bucks of the Chinese Super League.

Trent Sainsbury to Bolton

One of the reasons Trent Sainsbury's move to FC Basel hasn't officially been completed is due to a late surge by Championship side Bolton Wanderers. Wanderers boss Dougie Freedman is said to be a big fan of Sainsbury and has made a late bid for the 21 year old.

Daniel De Ridder to A - League

Former Dutch International Daniel De Ridder is the latest high profile player keen on the A - League. The former Ajax, Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic winger is keen to move down under with Melbourne Heart and Newcastle Jets both interested. The experience of De Ridder would be a great signing for such a youthful Heart side. De Ridder is also a part time Model so there is off field positives in signing Daniel as well.