pre-season night competition...what happened ?

well what happened to our pre-season night competition ? we had cigarette sponsorship which got outlawed so (not sure of order) we had 'the foundation cup' & 'living health cup' which were funded by a percentage of cigarette money, then it got changed to a night grand final between the top two teams at about the halfway mark of the home & away season which i recall was a very low scoring match between wwt & cd, i think wwt won it but the scoreline was something like 3 goals to 2 goals but it was one of the best games i've seen with no team giving the other any room at all in a great physical contest played in the right spirit, anyway i digress, who now gets this sponsorship money ? would another business be interested in sponsoring a pre-season competition now ? would tv including fox go for it ?


should this be at least looked at or is it just something from the past that'll never ever happen again ?

Good point ‘bayman’. There were some very good pre-season comps years ago. The 1977 Ardath Cup being the crowning jewel for mine. As mentioned on the ‘night grand final’ thread I’d prefer we played the SANFL season proper, predominately on Saturdays with the odd Friday night games at the start when the weather is still fine. But if a pre-season comp were revived, you beauty I say.
Can we all leave it to you to organise ‘bayman’?

My mates and I have often thought that Adelaide’s glorious summer nights are totally wasted, so I would go even further by suggesting some kind of small summer competition. Perhaps it could include Amateur, Country or even Metropolitan teams from interstate. I salivate at the thought of watching Norwood play West Perth at a suburban ground on a balmy night with a pie in one hand and a paley in the other.

Luv,
Sabre.

If the Foxtel Cup isn't working, what makes you think bringing this back will? Oh, the old, old argument that that particular competition is run by TV and not by footy purists.

Also remember many players in state leagues are part-time who I'm sure enjoy their time away from football.

Those competitions were held in times before predators such as Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power roamed the earth. There simply wouldn't be enough interest in a pre-season competition, nor a big enough sponsor to make it worth the clubs' while.

Judging from various forums, I'm a different kind of footy supporter. I love my cricket involvement and can wait until late March/early April for the footy to start, so I wouldn't be that interested in a pre-season competition anyway.

I used to love the Escort Cup games in the country as an excuse for a Woodville Cheer Squad road trip ... rember some great days at Minalton, Mt Pleasant and Loxton to name a few.

From my gleamings at club level across the whole league there is no interest in lifting trial game profiles beyond what they are now. ... Pity

Pretty sure that if a sponsor stepped in with 500k for the winner that interest from the clubs might ramp up?

Ben W wrote:Pretty sure that if a sponsor stepped in with 500k for the winner that interest from the clubs might ramp up?

The problem is, a sponsor would want value for investment.

PhilH wrote:I used to love the Escort Cup games in the country as an excuse for a Woodville Cheer Squad road trip ... rember some great days at Minalton, Mt Pleasant and Loxton to name a few.

From my gleamings at club level across the whole league there is no interest in lifting trial game profiles beyond what they are now. ... Pity

I know it may cost a little, but IMO SANFL should have 2 country rounds in regular season -OR- a pre-season comp in country zones.

Example:
A make-believe 2014 Pre-Season Comp (assuming I'm correct with country zone locations - BTW where can you find this out??)
Group 1 - Port, West, South @ Whyalla
Group 2 - North, Norwood, Sturt @ Crystal Brook
Group 3 - Eagles, Glenelg, Central @ Kadina
Finals: Best team out of all 3 groups (overall record, best %) straight to GF, top team of other 2 groups play-off in PF (winner plays in GF - to be played at neutral suburban ground)

Rotate country zones each year, so 2015 could be played in Keith, Renmark and Burra for example.

Forgot to add that you could determine the group by the previous seasons ladder placings, e.g. Group 1 - 1st, 4th, 7th/Group 2 - 2nd, 5th, 8th/Group 3 - 3rd, 6th, 9th or something to that effect.