The significance of Good Friday will be lost if football was played according to St Francis of Assisi Parish Priest Fr Anthony Girolami.
Playing football on Good Friday “goes against the whole sentiment of the day”, regardless of whether it is played at night or not, according to Fr Anthony.
He further suggests that we should remove the “holiness” of Good Friday if football is to be played because people are not willing to respect its significance and alternatively return to a regular working day.
Furthermore Fr Anthony states that there is an underlying social issue to use footy as a “distraction” from day to day lives and make it the sole objective in people’s lives.
As said by Fr Anthony, Good Friday is a day the church is in mourning. “Who goes to the Football when someone in their family dies? Well it would be a pretty cold-hearted person.”
Northern Football League Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kevin Crompton believes there is a place for Good Friday Football and he wouldn’t want to take away the meaning from this religious day.
“Good Friday is a special day and there are a lot of people committed to their faith. We wouldn’t want to feel as if we interrupt that” Crompton said.
Crompton continues to suggest that Good Friday Night football can work, “If the timing was right, it would be something we would look at.” Having Easter fall during the season, Crompton couldn’t see why Good Friday wouldn’t work as there will be footy played on the long weekend.
Fr Anthony would be angry if the Northern Football League were to play footy on Good Friday believing they would be “taking what is a day of holiness and turning it into a holiday”.
“Football is like this all powerful bully who is very petulant and becomes quite [annoyed] when they don’t get what they want.”
Crompton stresses that there is a “huge” amount of effort on behalf of players, coaches and volunteers on match day and wouldn’t want to interfere with their regular practices on Good Friday.
Furthermore Crompton suggests that a Good Friday night game would be a good option as it would not directly interfere with morning church services. The league has “good lighting” at a number of its grounds “that’s up to standards,” which enables the event to be run at night according to Crompton.
Crompton proposes that the league would potentially trial a tribute match on Good Friday that would acknowledge the significance of the work at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Additionally having a guest appearance by Whittlesea Football Club’s number one ticket holder and Channel Seven personality Melissa Doyle to support the occasion would be considered.
Crompton suggested that the league would look to have celebrities down at the game to raise funds for the Royal Children’s hospital appeal. However, Fr Anthony suggests “that’s their sweetener”.
Fr Anthony says that if the football League really wanted to support the Royal Children’s hospital they would give a donation from their weekly gate receipts.
Whilst AFL teams push to play Good Friday football, the Goulburn Valley League held a match at a regional ground in Victoria, which drew 4500 people.
Former Melbourne forward Russell Robertson who played in the regional game told The Age that the games attendance sends a strong message to the AFL because, “they [the crowd] love it. People love footy on Good Friday”.
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou has refused to schedule AFL games on Good Friday.
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