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)
As much as the grand final clash between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC on Saturday excites me, part of me feels slightly disappointed that the A-League’s biggest match will be held on a ‘cow paddock’.
Make no mistake, the March 20 event is the A-League’s true event to the mainstream public.
Perhaps football purists prefer to concentrate on the regular season (and the Round 27 Premiership decider between Sydney and Melbourne was an event in itself), but to the unconverted the Grand Final is the one event likely to grab their attention.
Indeed, the grand final is also the A-League’s opportunity to showcase its product to a larger audience.
But unfortunately the patchwork quilt of a pitch at Etihad Stadium leaves that product at risk of being below par.
It really isn’t conducive to quality passing and entertaining football which is a great shame.
This point shouldn’t be under-estimated as the standard of a surface plays a big role on the football which is produced.
I’ve learnt from various visits to the UK, that English football groundsmen take great care of their pitches and shower the surface with a light amount of water before any game for the sake of providing a surface conducive to good football.
In Australia, unfortunately our A-League clubs have to accept second-best.
Melbourne Victory’s Archie Thompson said this week after his side’s AFC Champions League loss at Etihad to Seongnam Ilhwa (where the Koreans scored their two goals from set-pieces): “I didn’t think anyone could score in open play because there’s just nowhere where you could get a good bounce out there.”
Thompson added the surface was the ‘worst he’d ever seen it’ and continued: “It was a cow paddock. For a Grand Final you can’t have a pitch like that. I’d rather play out at Green Gully’s pitch.”
Even Victory’s typically reserved coach Ernie Merrick labelled it bumpy, whilst praising his side for not resorting to the dreaded long-balls in the conditions.
The woeful state of the pitch is a result of the ‘wear and tear’ from a number of recent AC/DC and George Michael concerts at the venue.
Those events are behind us now, but the Etihad Stadium ground staff don’t have much time to improve the pitch before the March 20 A-League grand final.
And it is very unlikely the surface will be much better for that date as ten days isn’t enough time for a pitch to rest or be re-layed, especially with a NAB Cup grand final played on at Docklands last night.
Unfortunately, that’s the situation which Football Federation Australia and the A-League face at the moment and there isn’t a lot they appear to be able to do about it.
Of course, life will be better for the Victory when they move to their new Rectangular Stadium on Swan Street, but you fancy they’ll continue to play finals football at the larger Etihad Stadium where they can fit more people into the stands.
But it is not only about those in the stands, but also those watching at home on their TV sets.
Indeed, you wonder how long the FFA will accept these ordinary surfaces because the A-League grand final is a product which needs to be as glamorous as possible if the game wants to win over new fans.
Jimmy Drama
Guest
I cant imagine that relaid grass will be a great surface. The turf will need many weeks before the rolls intertwine and become stable. Still nothing can be worse than the current Etihad.
Ghost
Guest
I don't think us coming down from Sydney can complain too much though. The pitch we put on for Wellington on Saturday was completely divoted and bumpy after the Waratah's match the night before. Not that this is stopping the excitement building up about going down there and watching the game...
Adam
Guest
The ground is a disgrace. The first final against Sydney the other week (after the AC/DC) looked like there was about 20 cricket pitches on the field. Im sure the turf will be sorted out prior to the game, but as far from viewing from the ground, it is still ordinary. Its not a soccer ground, we're too far back from the action.
Ben Somerford
Roar Guru
I was in touch with Bill Lane from Etihad Stadium this morning and, indeed, he re-assured me a significant turf replacement would commence on Monday. But I should acknowledge, with a game the following weekend, this is mainly good news in terms of the aesthetics of the pitch, rather than how it'll play. And he also quite happily mentioned they would be bringing in the retractable seating at the request of the FFA.
Stevo
Guest
No problems, new turf being put down as we speak. And where was the Sydney crown last night?? I've heard plenty of times from Les and Foz on SBS that Sydney is the craddle of football in Australia. Yeah, pull the other one.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
That is good news indeed. There is some exciting talent floating about in the NYL and it would be good for them to showcase their wares in front of a big crowd.
Timmuh
Guest
I thought they said "in time for round one" but wasn't paying much attentoin at the time. Not that a relaid surface is necessarily an better for a few weeks at Docklands. Its looks better, but the "seams" shift underfoot and can cause injury. The fact is, the surface remains woeful for any sport despite being an extraordinary improvement on the ground's early days.
MV Dave
Guest
Joe should be a terrific atmosphere...lets hope the game matches it... say 3-2 for MV :) Will be interesting to see how many Sydenee folk are there. BTW 2nd bit of good news is the NYL GF will be on before the main game...finally the FFA are getting some things right in regards to this day.
Joe FC
Guest
Dave I'll be there with youngest son & daughter. Good news about rectangular configuration. Looking forward to a great night & a Sydney win.
MV Dave
Guest
Check out the photos of the surface in the new stadium...ahh if only this could be the case for Saturday!! http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=766888&page=9
clayton
Guest
Dumb question time - how good was Hindmarsh - that is soccer only, isn`t it?
MV Dave
Guest
Just on the stadium itself the good news is that the seating is being brought into the rectangular configuration...brlliant...for the game. Will reduce capacity to around 48-50,000 but the atmosphere will be fantastic...finally some commonsense!
Realfootball
Guest
The Fox commentators said during the game last night that Etihad surface being relaid for the final. I just hope there is enough time for it to "take". This season the grounds have been very poor with the exception of Dairy Farmers and Wellington. I know there is a use issue but it can't account for all the problems. I can only think that some of the groundstaff aren't very competent.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
I also heard that Tifosi. Did make me wonder though how long it would take the grass to bind with the soil, could be a case of looking good for tv but not great for football.
MV Dave
Guest
Have my tickets for the big one and will be very disappointed if the surface is not perfect (or close to it). The game and therefore stadium, will be seen around the world during this match and lets hope it provides a surface befitting of the occassion. If the stadium continues to provide below par match conditions MV should be within their rights to move future games to their new stadium.
Tifosi
Guest
During the game last night, the commentators mentioned that the surface would be re-laid for the final.
hammer
Guest
Will it really be better when they move to the new stadium ? they'll be code sharing there with both rugby codes and last game was played on a substandard pitch courtesy of the previous nights S14 game