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Buckley: 'Socceroos' to stay

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9 April 2009 | 11:27 - SBS: Matthew Hall

What's in a name ... Plenty, if it's the Socceroos, says FFA chief Ben Buckley (Getty)

Australia’s hardcore football fans can relax.


Football Federation Australia has no plans to abandon the name “Socceroos” any time soon, even if there is debate within the governing body about the nickname’s relevance in the shiny world of “new football”.

That’s the view of FFA boss Ben Buckley, who told The World Game “football” and “Socceroos” can happily co-exist.

“There is history in the name and it is a very recognisable and identifiable name,” Buckley said. “The Socceroos name is a brand that is immediately understood by a lot of people in Australia.

“It is something that is debated from time to time. Given that over the past few years we have made a very determined effort to have the game known as football, we have discussed whether the moniker should stay.

“But I think it is here for the foreseeable future. There is a lot of equity in the name but it is good to have that debate from time to time. I think we have bigger issues to deal with in football than this one.”

Buckley said that, in Australia, no sport had a right to own the name “football” and that, contrary to popular belief, administrators from different sports did get along.

“The name ‘football’ certainly makes for good colourful debate,” Buckley said. “A lot of codes call themselves football. American football, Gaelic football, rugby league gets called football. I don’t think that anyone has a proprietary right to the name.

“Clearly, football is the world game but in Australia everyone can coexist and cooperate. I think we all do get along. We all recognise it is a very competitive landscape but every one of the ‘football’ – in quotation marks – codes understands that we are all here to stay and can coexist. It is competitive but generally there is a spirit of cooperation when required.”

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