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Brisbane Roar player Luke Devere heads the ball over top of Gold Coast United player Joel Porter during the 1st round of the 2010 A-league competition at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast, Sunday, Aug. 08, 2010. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Is there a more exciting day on the Australian sports calendar than Boxing Day? Some would argue the NRL grand final takes the cake, while others may suggest the first Tuesday in November deserves top billing. But with as much sport crammed in as stuffing in a post-Christmas turkey, it’s hard to look past Boxing Day as the most enjoyable of the year.
A fervent roar will echo around the famous old Melbourne Cricket Ground come 10.30am on Sunday morning, as one of cricket’s fiercest rivalries resumes in the Boxing Day Test.
The opening ball on the first day is one of the great spectacles in world sport, and with nearly 100,000 fans set to pack into the ‘G, the atmosphere for Sunday’s Ashes showdown will be mind-blowing.
But while plenty will be transfixed by the cricket and others by a yacht race which meanders from Sydney to Hobart at a pace more bristling than leisurely, still others will enjoy a football fix as part of their recovery from the day after the night before.
I’m not talking about the traditional Boxing Day program in the English Premier League – which could be decimated by England’s freezing weather at any rate – but rather the two A-League fixtures set to take place on the day.
The earlier kick-off sees Graham Arnold’s high-flying Central Coast Mariners take on a stuttering Adelaide United, where a win for the Gosford side would move them to within a point of the Reds in the table.
The Mariners might not be playing the most attractive football at the moment, but they’ve got a hitherto injury-prone Patricio Perez to unleash, and his duel with Argentine compatriot Marcos Flores provides a fascinating sub-plot to what should be a stellar encounter.
Further north, league leaders Brisbane Roar do battle with local rivals Gold Coast United in a clash likely to attract a bumper Boxing Day crowd.
The Roar have been far and away the most enterprising side in the league this season, but Gold Coast’s ever-excitable coach Miron Bleiberg would dearly love to upset the apple-cart against his former club.
With Brisbane’s solitary defeat coming as far back as September 12, one could argue the Roar are due for a loss, but they’ll invariably fight tooth and nail against a team they reserve a genuine animosity towards.
For once, the A-League fixture list has been kind, and both of these games represent marquee matches at a time when the competition needs all the off-field help it can get.
The standard of football has never been higher, but what the A-League needs right now is some visible public support, and hopefully fans pile through the gates in numbers in Gosford and Brisbane, for two high-profile encounters which clearly deserve an audience.
There’s little argument Football Federation Australia and clubs themselves must do better when it comes to advertising, but hopefully there’s enough buzz around two potential Boxing Day classics to ensure decent turn-outs at both Bluetongue and Suncorp Stadium.
Two more fixtures to take place the following day, and with North Queensland Fury offering free entry to their clash with Wellington Phoenix, Dairy Farmer’s Stadium should be rocking to the tune of several thousand more fans than usual on December 27.
And with the top four teams all in action on Boxing Day, there’s no reason football fans shouldn’t turn out in droves to give the A-League a much-needed boost in what is a relentlessly crowded sporting calendar.
With plenty more fans set to watch the A-League action on TV – hopefully after Ricky Ponting’s men have put England to the sword and the Sydney to Hobart field are safely on their way – there’s no doubt Boxing Day is one of the great days on the Australian sporting calendar.
Here’s hoping a couple of A-League crackers provide plenty of entertainment, as the competition looks to sear itself into the psyche of the Australian sporting public.