Sydney win? Nah, A-League needs a Melbourne win

 
The Crowd Roar Pro

By NUFCMVFC, 17 Mar 2010 The Crowd is a Roar Pro

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Melbourne Victory's Kevin Muscat is tackled by John Aloisi of Sydney FC during their A-League major semi final leg1, played at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010. Melbourne beat Sydney 2-1. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)

I can see it now, when the microphones are turned off, perhaps many in the Sydney-based football media will be kicking every ball as it passes from the feet of the likes of Kisel, Bridge and Brosque hoping for a Sydney win.

And just as Mike Tuckerman’s article suggests, perhaps the FFA are as well – Frank Lowy may even bring out his Sydney FC cap again!

After all, Sydney is the biggest “market”, albeit a fickle one. And as Les decried recently on the World Game website, the Sydney media don’t do the A League or its beloved “bling FC” proper justice.

Sydney supposedly need to win for the good of the league, simply because Kevin Muscat has already held aloft the “toilet seat” a few times already.

Unfortunately, despite the fixture advantage of playing the second leg at home and the “whingeing” Melbourne having to contend with playing an ACL match two days later, and being without “controversial” signing Nick Mrdja, the Sydney football media and market were “robbed” of the chance of a home Grand Final.

Now we have to put up with the substandard and spongy Docklands pitch.

But whereas there is an argument that Sydney FC should win so that the more “cultured” and sophisticated continental style of Viteslav Lavicka is taken more seriously, one can argue that this has been achieved with a Premiership win.

There is also the equally legitimate argument that the continued Trophy success of Melbourne Victory is important for the A League so that the progressive and high quality off-field administrative and governance structure is taken seriously.

It is the same structure that sees Melbourne with the leading edge in recruitment, with a Grand Final victory vindication for taking the calculated risk of forking out a transfer fee on Hernandez, and recruiting players from central America and South East Asia – facilitating integration with the South East Asian sub region of the AFC.

Then there is the “brand” of the A League.

One can argue that synonomous with the “league” brand, there is a consistently successful and well run club that fans can immediately identify with when they think of the league.

While there where forces that wanted “Bling FC” to automatically have this stature, merely because “they are from Sydney”, Adelaide did well for themselves with their run to the Asian Champions League final; while Melbourne are in the process of staking their claim as Australia’s instantly recognisable powerhouse club.

I can’t help but feel that a Melbourne win would be good for the A League in the long run, as the A League struggles to credibly assert itself in the Asian and international football scene.

Melbourne’s crowds have dropped, but their membership base rose on season 4 levels and currently stand at about 20,000. Melbourne’s crowds have propped up the dive in attendances at other clubs and lifted the overall A League attendance to vague respectability.

With the “Melbourne market” becoming a two team city from next season, the A League needs as many Melburnians interested in the A League as possible to avoid the controversies and problems with this seasons expansion “franchises” Gold Coast and North Queensland.

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