Aside from State of Origin football, Good Friday is one of the AFL’s great annual debates.
According to media reports this week, the AFL is set to decide to break with tradition and approve the fixture.
Many will no doubt celebrate the move, believing a football-free Friday to be a sacrilegious imposition from the churches, along with the lack of trading and available entertainment. My own club, North Melbourne, has been requesting the fixture since at least the early 1990s.
The NRL have been hosting matches since 1993. The AFL’s three rival codes have each hosted matches in Melbourne in recent years.
Personally, I find there is something calming about having the city shut down for the entire day, and would prefer a game not be scheduled. Nevertheless, I am pragmatic, and many fans, including Christians, want Good Friday Football.
If it must happen, the AFL must therefore acknowledge that Good Friday is the most solemn day in the Christian calendar, and that the game needs to be in full support of the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Fan support for a Good Friday game providing full support to the Good Friday Appeal is almost a given. The AFL should therefore ensure the game is organised in a way to support the Appeal, and donate a percentage of gate takings.
At the same time, it also needs to avoid the hyperbole now associated with the ANZAC Day game, which now sadly attempts to overshadow the true reason for the day. Anything less than the smashing of an appeal donation record due to additional supporter donations would be an utter failure.
For Christians, the time of the game is the most critical. The most important hour of Good Friday is 3pm – the moment it is believed Christ died from crucifixion. This is the reason many liturgies begin at 3pm.
These are not regular services as would be held on a Sunday, and can sometimes run for several hours.
For that reason, the scheduled start time should be 5pm, which avoids clashing with church services, and even allows those attending services just enough time to arrive home to watch the game.
I can imagine footy fans attending church services in the city before heading to the game, in the same way many fans attend the ANZAC Day services before the afternoon match. A 5pm start would also mean the game would run straight into the Good Friday Appeal telecast during prime time – an ideal situation.
Finally, on a more light-hearted note, the stadium caterers need to support a tradition and provide a steady supply of fish and chips. The Four’N’Twenties can wait just one more day.
Just don’t get me started on having the cricket on Christmas Day…
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