The Perfect Storm

A salary cap scandal out west, an unexpected away win for Melbourne’s second team and finally the Bling of Sydney performing to expectation has created the perform storm for those at FFA HQ.

This weekend of football doesn’t only represent the penultimate weekend of football for our premier domestic competition but it presents the ultimate barometer for the A-League who are marking their 10th season. Two cut throat semi-finals in the two biggest football markets in Australia will provide David Gallop and his men a clear picture of the heights our game can reach.

Football will be going head to head against the AFL and NRL who control the lions share of interest in Victoria and New South Wales. As a competition the A-League sits comfortably behind both when competing for television money and mainstream support. Through the success of the Socceroos of recent times this gap has been narrowed but when speaking domestically the A-League struggles to compete in March, April and May when the codes are running concurrently.

Over the last six seasons we have dreamed about a Melbourne derby taking place during the finals series, now we it’s a reality. Victory will enter the match heavy favourites and deservedly so. The Premiers plate was just reward with Kevin Muscat and his squads outstanding season. Victory are once agin the benchmark club and lead the way in recruitment and player retention. City fans will agree the team is lucky to reach the second last weekend but that is the current finals system. Knockout football rewards teams playing well at the right time and John Van’t Schip’s men will want to take full advantage of their situation.

In the other semi final Sydney FC have finally rewarded their fans what they have been promising over the last few seasons. With the success of cross town rivals Western Sydney Wanderers both domestically and throughout Asia, Sydney FC even with superstar Alessandro Del Piero under performed as an entity. This season with the recruitment of Austrian Marc Janko the team deservedly earned the right to host a Semi final. They will take on one of the leagues most attractive football teams in Adelaide United who have already proved more than capable playing knockout football winning the inaugural FFA Cup.

With the hosting of both the Asian Cup and Cricket World Cup the domestic season crossover between the AFL, NRL and A-League has been far more noticeable than other years. Media coverage before the finals dried up the last few weeks of the A-League felt almost insignificant. This weekend of football has the potential to put football on the back pages across Sydney and Melbourne and has a dramatic impact on how the average Australian perceives football in Australia. Arguably this weekend will be our biggest and we must take advantage of this.

Fan behaviour will come under heavy scrutiny particularly during the Melbourne derby. As football fans we can become our worst enemies at times so we mustn’t give media organisations such as the Herald-Sun and 3AW any excuse to run half baked anti football stories. Fans shouldn’t act surprised when they see high numbers of security and Police at Etihad Friday night and items such as flares or similar could cause irrefutable damage to our game at a domestic level. This weekend our sport holds centre stage and we need to take advantage of this privilege.

Our game domestically is still in its infancy stage and as fans we have a responsibility to show the many non believers out there how great football can be in Australia. I might have a misguided view on football in Australia but I strongly believe ‘old football’ and ‘new football’ are both required to build our game on a domestic level. This weekend with the Melbourne derby and Sydney final will give a clear indication of how domestic football is received when at its peak.

After the resounding success of the Asian Cup and now with a Sydney and Melbourne semi final this is our time to shine, let’s hope those at the FFA take advantage of the perfect storm and football uses this opportunity to grow the potential it so richly deserves.

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