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Well, firstly, what a game!
The players, coaches, managements, clubs, administrators, commentators – a combination of free-to-air and pay-tv – should all be commended for putting on a grand final that will be remembered for the ages.
And, of course, the crowd. I have often rated Suncorp Stadium as the best stadium on the planet that I have been to.
More A-League grand final coverage:
– Full match report and video highlights
– Comment: Mike Tuckerman
– Roar revel in Suncorp success
– Brisbane puts on a great A-League final
– Mulvey: Roar now A-League benchmark
– The Roar‘s live blog
The Western Sydney fans and the Brisbane fans (‘The RBB’ and ‘The Den’ respectively) created a spectacle that you were drawn to and compelled to keep viewing.
It was a true grand final, in every essence of the way only the Australian sporting landscape can encapsulate it.
The first half was tense. The second half was exhilarating, with goals scored, last minute excitement, and any big game match that provides extra-time while avoiding penalties is a memorable and grand occasion.
The grand final was a perfect microcosm of all that football in this country has become. It has become bigger than we have previously known it to be. It has become a spectacle, as well as respected. It has become joyful, where football was once joyless.
So where does A-League 9.0 leave us?
For starters, the post-game analysis by the one and only Craig Foster was spot on – Thomas Broich is the most talented, complete and skilful foreign player to play on these shores.
No, he’s no Alessandro Del Piero, or Shinji Ono, or even a Dwight Yorke in terms of big-name recognition. But his talent was cemented by a singularly magnificent performance on the game’s greatest domestic stage.
However, what is clear is that the A-League has not just arrived. It has staked its claim. It has planted its flag in the sporting landscape and reminded anyone who will listen, and even those who won’t, that football is now a permanent part of Australia whether you like it or not.
Football in Australia deserves its place permanently in the psyche and social reckoning, to be celebrated, analysed, watched and embraced.
I have seen some truly great grand finals across the codes in my lifetime. The 1991 and 1997 ARL grand finals, the 1989 and 2009 AFL grand finals.
Well, the A-League has created its fair share: Archie’s five and the Roar’s three thrilling victories. No longer should the A-League consider itself the little red wagon of the four codes.
It is a code that very much is. Football has a place among its supporters – as proven by the fanatical fans of each club, whether it be the Cove, the Squadron, or the above mentioned grand final participants.
I tweeted during the game that a full-house in Brisbane with a high quality game would have the AFL and NRL distinctly displeased. I guarantee you, those AFL and NRL boffins will be scurrying to their boardrooms and putting together plans of attack to counteract the football movement more so.
So A-League 9.0 leaves its supporters with a strong and distinct sense of urgency, expectation, excitement and unbearable anticipation for the tenth edition.
Make no mistake, the tenth season has the makings of only being better.
There are no longer weak clubs (at least in terms of representation, maybe not performance).
There is also the culmination of the year long FFA Cup to look forward to, with the potential for A-League clubs to strive for a domestic treble: FFA Cup, Premiers Plate and the grand final trophy. You add a potential for a Quadruple with the Asian Champions League, and football is looking massive in this country.
It is looking veritably huge.
Football around the world, or at least in Europe, is debating the merits of parking the bus (Chelsea) versus attacking football (Real Madrid) versus possession (or Tiki-taka, Barcelona).
Would Brisbane’s possession style game be enough to break down the defensive colossus that is Western Sydney’s game plan? Mulvey against Poppa?
In the end Mulvey has triumphed, but nevertheless Poppa can be proud of the style his team played, and the performance they put on.
And Australian football is rightly discussing differing styles and bringing itself onto the global scene in the process.
No, now is the time for football to mark its territory as bullishly as it wants to. You mix a successful ninth A-League season, throw in a sold out, compelling grand final, you then add the impending World Cup, suddenly football is in the spotlight every day of the year.
And Foz is right: as I watched a sold out Suncorp Stadium rollicking with a vibrancy that would not have been out of place in Europe, I wondered why can’t the A-League dream of a sold out MCG in five years if a re-vitalised Melbourne Victory or a re-financed Melbourne Heart host the occasion?
If we can sell out the MCG to watch Australia draw with Iran in 1997, or to watch a friendly involving Liverpool in an exhibition match, why can’t football’s showpiece demand the same type of attendance?
Let’s not settle on 50,000 attending. Let’s aim for 100,000.
The A-League can now do what it has always threatened to do: create a league that showcases the best that Australia has to offer of a global sport that is hugely popular both within and beyond these shores.
If A-League 9.0 has taught every team, club, administrator and fan one thing, it is that we can be, and need to be, proud of the code that we support. We must be passionate about our team, we must be confident.
Well done A-League. Bring on season 2014/15!
Please feel free to follow me on Twitter @KdogRoars
More A-League grand final coverage:
– Full match report and video highlights
– Comment: Mike Tuckerman
– Roar revel in Suncorp success
– Brisbane puts on a great A-League final
– Mulvey: Roar now A-League benchmark
– The Roar‘s live blog
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