New football unites with old soccer for new Cup

The FFA recently announced their proposal of an FA Cup style competition during the 2010-11 season, with the option of delaying the A-League season until after the rival codes have concluded.

For years, football fans around the country have been voicing their opinions on why Australia didn’t have an FA Cup style competition. The mere thought of an A-League team being kicked off their high horse by some local state team is what makes cup football so exciting for any fan. It represents something different as opposed to the usual domestic league game.

As Australians, we all love backing the underdog. It’s a part of our sporting culture.

Just have a look back at what the Socceroos did in 2006. New football uniting with old soccer, is this a good thing?

New football and old soccer as one, now isn’t that a thought that will hearten many football fans. Since the A-League inception five years ago, many football fans have been disappointed with the lack of respect and recognition they have received from their fellow football community.

After all, clubs like South Melbourne, Melbourne Knights and Sydney Olympic were the cornerstone for our game for so many years.

They produced a crop of our Socceroos stars like Mark Viduka, Paul Trimboli, Jason Culina, and Brett Emerton just to name a few. One of the major criticisms about the A-League, is the lack of community engagement between the now powerhouse clubs of Australia and the former giants from yesteryear.

Hopefully the introduction of a cup competition will help minimise these issues as we look to strengthen new football, whilst paying our respects to our former champions.

Another important factor that needs to be considered is what are the criteria for the proposed FFA Cup competition? The FFA have not yet established the framework for the cup competition, only merely stating that state league teams may need to qualify amongst themselves to be eligible for the opening stages of the cup proper.

Now, if we really want to have an Australian Cup competition, subsequently a true representation of all the Australian football clubs who are affiliated with the FFA (subsequent state federation) should be involved throughout the cup competition. It’s not a true Australian Cup if only a handful of the state teams are eligible to participate with the A-League heavy weights.

For instance, each state could be allowed to enter up to 10 clubs, in addition to the A-League teams to participate in the FFA Cup. Therefore, all clubs in a particular state should have the opportunity to play in the earlier qualifying rounds for the FFA Cup proper. This qualifying process could start in the winter months, maybe around April, in concurrence with their season.

Obviously teams will be seeded; accordingly Premier League, state league teams etc would come in the later rounds of qualifying.

If the FFA is that passionate about having an Australian Cup competition then it must be done correctly. A true representation of Australian football is a combination of all the clubs from the A-League, to state league level and down to the more amateur levels.

This is what makes a cup competition in football so distinctive; if the FFA doesn’t go down towards this path then the heart of Australian football will be ripped out of this plastic cup competition.

The proposal of a cup competition commencing next season has also raised debate as to whether the A-League season should commence at a later date. The proposal by the FFA is to shift the A-League season to October-May, after the rival codes have concluded. Is this a good thing? There are both pros and cons to this scenario.

Yes, if the A-League season was to start later there would be additional media coverage in the opening two months of the season, a valid argument that cannot really be condemned. Furthermore, when approaching a World Cup year we will not have the issues surrounding player’s fitness and game time leading up to the tournament.

As the season would conclude in May as opposed to March, issues like the Jason Culina and Craig Moore saga will be a thing of the past. With the A-League’s on-field growing reputation reaching new heights, the number of overseas Aussies coming back to play in our domestic competition os on the rise. Consequently, having the season finish at a later date is only a positive thing for the Socceroos, the A-League and the players themselves.

However, is the FFA just attempting to take the easy route by delaying the start of the season? It can be argued that that our governing body is just attempting to ride behind the shadows of the AFL/NRL instead of doing battle with their rivals. Perhaps a positive marketing campaign could help?

Advertising on mainstream media outlets in the vein of free to air would be a step in the right direction. Unless people know the product is out there, it’s quite irrelevant whether the other codes are at the peak stages of their season. A pro-active approach by the FFA is what football people would love to see.

Cup fever is among us people, hopefully the FFA embrace the idea of a truly national competition and pay their respects to their fellow football enthusiasts.

If the season is to commence at a later date, let us hope it is made for the correct reasons.