Australian Football is Never Boring
I’d like to say that the tumultuous year of 2015 in Australian football was an outlier, but is wasn’t. Every year we somehow manage to replicate the emotional roller coaster of a football match in Australian football society. From the Socceroos euphoric victory in the Asian cup, to the scenes of frustrated supporters emptying the terraces, we seem unable to level out.
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Perhaps it’s an inevitable side effect of a sport where passion runs so deep we can’t find steady ground. Perhaps it’s the fight to protect football culture from an administration that looks to undermine real supporters in order to pander to non-football people. I’m not a football administrator, but I think it’s a lot more complicated than the potential reasons above.
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Football in Australia is relentlessly attacked in ‘mainstream’ media. These attacks bring out the best and the worst in us. We rightly become furious and at times the overwhelmed primal fight response causes us to do and say things that we normally wouldn’t. At the same time, an attack on our game can and has bound groups together for the good of the game. The biased and inaccurate reporting by one so called ‘journalist’, was the catalyst for heated rival fan groups to unify against an administration that was shown to be out of its depth. Should the minutes of the meeting between active groups and the FFA be leaked (it wouldn’t be the first time), it will likely go down in Australian football folklore. It’s hard to overstate how impressive it was to see active groups push the stubborn FFA to finally come to the table.
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In 2015, FFA were kept busy. In a single year where we had the CBA controversy, the Perth salary cap debacle, the ludicrous Wanderers scheduling post ACL and CWC, an alleged drop in tv ratings, the outing of Nathan Tinkler in Newcastle, pay disputes at multiple clubs, the non-booking of Etihad Stadium for the Grand Final, etc. etc. Yet in keeping with our modus operandi, we also had many great positives. These included: the historic Socceroos Asian Cup victory, the Matildas performance in the Women’s World Club, an impeccable hosting of the Asian Cup, an entertaining and deserved Champion Melbourne Victory, multiple match sell outs, and the successful FFA & Wanderers lobbying for a new Pirtek Stadium.
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Even as our calendar year in Australian football concludes, both negative and positive aspects of the game are at the forefront of many a discussion. The current challenges include: CCM’s strange adopted philosophy failing, the Phoenix currently being seen by the FFA as a ‘dead man walking’, the question of whether the seemingly inevitable 3rd Sydney team will cannabilise existing club membership, and the ever present debate over the game’s need for marquee players.
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As (almost) always, there’s also many positives. These include: Melbourne City finally becoming a force in the league, the W-League now being shown on Fox Sports, the Wanderers 2.0, Brisbane Roar now getting attention for their on-field exploits, regular cracking games in the A-League, and perhaps most significant – the FFA and non-football journalists finally sticking up for Australian football supporters.
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While it’s never boring in our game, I’m glad it isn’t. Personally, I can’t become emotionally invested in other sports where the ‘match day experience’ is so watered down. Football atmosphere offers a 90 minutes where one can passionately express their emotion in a healthy and safe manner. Where for 90 minutes, one can forget about the inescapable struggles that life presents. Where one can then spend the following week discussing the weekend matches.
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In a year where I lost my father, football was my outlet. I can’t imagine what a challenge it would have been without football, my emotional distraction. Sure, Australian football has its fair share of issues, but it always gives us something to talk about. As always, Australian football is never boring. Bring on 2016