6 replies to this topic

[PSP18]

Found this link on another forum - http://www.heraldsun...f-1225854279428

Though the Vic Inn is a pretty average place anyway (there are at least five better pubs in Willy), I won't be going there at all if Carlton take it over.

That doesn't really matter though. The bigger question is; what are your thoughts on most (all?) Victorian AFL clubs using pokies revenue as a major source of income?

There's a school of thought out there that pokies money is dirty money and clubs should abandon the machines. That relying on pokies players (mostly addicts) to provide funding to the club is actually a Bad way of interacting with the grass roots.

Then on the flipside, there is the point of view that abandoning the machines (a low risk investment) would sacrifice a competitive advantage.

"Fire away!"

[Lisbon]

I've got to admit that it all sounds like some gangland tale. Rival factions fighting over a piece of the gambling pie...

But better to have legalised gambling, out in the open, strictly regulated, with everyone knowing where the profits end up.

And while we're on the subject of gambling, pray that those nameless, faceless, "gambling syndicates", never develop an interest in the AFL, otherwise there's a strong chance that "strange" results will start popping up. No end of matches in Europe are rigged each year for the benefit of those "syndicates". The phrase "irregular betting patterns" is now depressingly well known to the European sports fan.

[Caveman]

Poker machines were first introduced (legally) into the state of Victoria in 1992. For years Victorians had been travelling across the Murray River border into New South Wales to play the Poker Machines.

Footscray Football Club was one of if not the very first place to have them in Victoria back in 1992. At first the club was making serious $$$ out of it, the number of kegs being ordered in the social club from the middle of 1992 went up enormously. Sadly though that cash cow was trimmed back.

The most stupidest thing the government did was to NOT follow what was the case in New South Wales and restrict Poker Machines to clubs ONLY. Victorians that found themselves in New South Wales were impressed by how cheap the meals were at the RSL and Rugby League clubs throughout NSW. This is because the pokie revenue filtered its way back to the members of these clubs. We as a club would have sowed and reaped the benefits for years- except the government allowed pubs/ shopping centres to have pokies. Without a doubt this has to be one of the worst decisions of all time- for us as well as others.

Firstly the financial trauma- we had competition on our doorstep- there are multitudes of places where you can play the pokies within a 20 km radius of the Footscray Football Ground, so instead of fans coming here to play them and give us a quid, they are giving their dough to some pub/shopping centre nearby.

Secondly from the moral point of view- pokies in pubs just benefit the hotel/shopping centre itself- there isn't a flow on to the community as there was in RSL Clubs and Football clubs like ours- or smaller suburban clubs in the Footscray District Football League (FDFL)#. Joe Shifty running his hotel puts in the poker machines and the money goes back to Joe Shifty not the community as a whole.


As for whether we need them or not- I guess with sadness we do. The argument that as others have them then we need them too, or we will miss the boat is sadly a correct one. If we don't get them at Edgewater, then people will go elsewhere- and they don't have far to go- the Anglers Hotel and the Waterloo Cup are nearby as well as the Powell Hotel and many others. However we are mainly taking from the poor who can't really afford to be doing their dough in there.

Personally I find Poker Machines boring and soul destroying- worse again that I never seem to win on them! I used to play them a bit at Footscray from 1992- 1996, sometimes midweek and I always had a go before games (and usually after) but havent bothered going there since the end of the 1996 season, due to there being no more matches there on game days of course. I don't bother with them at all now and only play them when I am up on the Murray River at one of the big clubs, where I am a social member. I wouldn't make a special effort to go the pokies for the day- in fact I would only play them at night- I hate being in dark places like pokie joints doing the day time. Same reason that I only got to the cinema at night time.

As for this Northern Blues bloke moving in what is supposedly our territory- well we are obviously going to have to find other income streams. Again this points out that we don't own 'the west' as much as people would like us to believe. One of the problems of this 'the west' is that what is it? Where does it start and where does it finish? When people go on about how 'the west' is expanding after a while this expansion will mean that it is no longer part of the the 'Western Suburbs of Melbourne' because it has extended to be closer to both

the 'Eastern Suburbs of Geelong" or the 'Southern Suburbs of Ballarat'

West and Western has no claims of ownership- it is not Gippsland or the Mallee -we are just 'west' which is so generic that it ultimately means nothing.

If you believe in conspiracies theories, then if our income sources are markedly taken away like this particular pokie venue, then maybe Kevin Sheedy will be the next coach of the Western Bulldogs?



# Footscray District Football League (FDFL) becomes the Western Region Football League. That is another shocker.

Why didn't or don't the Essendon District Football League become the North Western Regional Football League?

Whatever you do don't mention the Footscray word- I did earlier but I may have got away with it. Thanks Basil Fawlty.

[SonOfScray]

I am an anti Pokies person. I find the way they are dispersed throughout the community and target particular demographics to be very damaging and hate the impact they have had on pub culture and live music in particular. In the past when this issue has been raised in other forums, to express an anti Pokies view receives a fairly viscous response. I am an idiot, part of the moral police, a bleeding heart and have no understanding of financial realities that this club faces. Which may well be the case, but I prefer to think that I just have high expectations.

Our brand is that of a "community club," what is a community club in our context? One that represents the Western suburbs of Melbourne, and acts ethically and responsibly within that framework. A community club promotes health, well being and community development within its region to help grow its membership base. Having pokies as a major source of revenue doesn't reflect that brand at all. The club does do some good work to promote this brand, but it is a bit like hedging your bets when pokies are involved.

The reality is that this Club claims to represent the Western Suburbs of Melbourne. Pokies people target our suburbs and increase the negative outcomes for people already at risk in our community. It isn't an accident that the West has a high concentration of Poker machines than any other region of Melbourne. Our club should stand against this, IMO. It presents plenty of financial obstacles but I see no issues with my club, from my town saying NO to money, which IMO is dirty money. It'd be a huge source of pride for me if the Cub chose to be a leader and look at more innovative ways of revenue raising rather than relying on Pokies. Hard yards, no doubt but there are rewards out there for people who get in first.

With regards to the link - I'd just refuse to go to that pub full stop. Steam Packet is my favourite Willy pub, followed closely by the Morning Star.

[Caveman]

I definitely see where your coming from with the 'dirty money' side of it. I am not a rusted on 'Pro pokies' sort of person and my world wouldn't be ruined if they disappeared overnight. One reason that I don't love them (I can tolerate them) is there are times when your with a group of people and some of them want to hurry up and finish the meal so they can go and play the pokies. It is so anti-social, one of my mates loves them, if I ring him up I can often hear the noise of them in the background. That is why I like going out for dinner to restaurants where you have to stay at the table for the duration and not have some of your pals take off, so they can get to play those money grabbers.

That leads to the point about them anti-social- which they are and this bloke I mentioned above wants to play them on trips away during the day time, as well as in the night time which annoys the hell out of me.

Sadly though it was like the Eastern Tigers playing a home game interstate last year. I know one bloke who was crook on it but other Eastern Tigers fans said look at the money side of what selling a game interstate brings to the club. I was 98% with this bloke and 2% against- though I wasn't against what he stood for but the fact that the 2% was support for obtaining the dough.

If that is the case then selling games should be a once off and thats it- not an annual event.

It would be good if we could make a quid from something different- as you say gambling takes money away from the poorer sections of the community who go there hoping to win so as to pay their electricity bill or the car registration. Most of the time they will lose though and the problem gets worse. I doubt there are many pokie venues in Toorak and Brighton as opposed to Melbourne's 'western region'

Maybe the club could look at going into deals with restaurants- like a split the bills thing. If you go to a restaurant that the club is afilliated with you get cheaper meals and we give them heaps of exposure like on the club website, or advertising boards around the ground perimeter at 417 Barkly Street. Same for petrol stations, grocery stores or hot bread kitchens etc. I believe they have a similar scheme in place, but if they could expand it further. If we had a designated home ground though to play matches on, this would be easier to achieve, but that is no longer an option.

One hair brained idea might be to set up an insurance company? CEDE NULLIS INSURANCE for arguments sake? This might work because some people may be less inclined to try and put in frivolous or shifty claims if they know their annual fee is going to the club, So should they NOT make a claim in that year- they know that their $1000 is staying with the club and not going to some rich bloke to become richer.

The other one is club merchandise- take it away from the AFL and make our own. The polo shirts that are predominantly blue, make some that are predominantly red and white. With three colours we should be able to sell more merchandise, than say the Northern Blues with their one and a half colours.

[DMcG]

Pokies are rubbish. In an ideal world Footscray would not be associated with them.

In an ideal world we would still be called Footscray, have won back to back 97 & 98, the new Star Wars films were awesome, my girlfriend has an identical twin who likes to get freaky, my career's going slightly stronger, Gore was the last President, Celtic win the Champions League, I have a bit more hair, and NASA discover that Twisties cure cancer.

In an ideal world.

[Caveman]

NASA discover that Twisties cure cancer.

Chocolate for me- I don't mind twisties but chocolate is the go.

My favourite was the WILLY WONKA BARS, but they have been taken off the market for some unfortunate reason.