Finally football fans can rejoice. A reason for celebration following a year which encompassed financial difficulties by numerous A-League clubs and an abundance of negative media press.
The FFV has formerly announced a cup competition will be played throughout Victoria in 2011- comprising of all the FFV affiliated clubs, from amateur to state leagues and in addition the two A-League clubs present in Victoria- Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart.
This will be the first cup competition since the illustrious Dockerty Cup which has been in recess since 2004 and was last won by reining Victorian Champions Green Gully Cavaliers.
The Mirabella Cup is the formal name of the competition. Mirabella, inaugural sponsors of Victory and investors of new franchise Melbourne Heart, will be funding the innovative cup competition.
The corporation has signed a 10 year naming-rights agreement which will see teams earn a reported $50,000 for making an appearance in the semi-finals. It’s a great initiative by Mirabella to fund such a competition and contribute to the continuing development of the game in Victoria.
“My father and I have been involved in football in Victoria for many years and we saw this as a great opportunity for us to give something back to the football community in Victoria. We are excited about the partnership and FFV, and see it as a long term investment in the sport,” Joe Mirabella said.
The competition is set to kick-off in late March with the final to take place prior to the commencement of the 2011/12 Hyundai A-League season.
The lower division teams will play-off in the earlier rounds, while the Victorian Premier League and State League One clubs will be introduced at the second phase of the tournament, followed by the heavyweights- Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart at the quarter-final stage.
For years football fans have been licking their lips at the prospect of old soccer and new football uniting to play in a formal cup competition.
Since the inception of the revolutionised A-League competition in 2005, many throughout the football fraternity believe the former powerhouses of yester-year have been left alienated and subsequently been shown a lack of respect by the mainstream media following their important contribution to the game.
However, the introduction of the Mirabella Cup will hopefully assist in minimising the inequality and perception between old soccer and new football.
The Mirabella Cup is set to be a success. It is a fantastic initiative for football to connect with the local communities and have a greater presence within the mainstream media. We mustn’t forget that football was established in this country by community based migrant clubs.
While the game has prospered to bigger and better developments we must remember and pay recognition to the history of our game.
Essentially the cup is a celebration of where the game began and re-lives the roots of football within Victoria.
The Dockerty Cup has an extensive and proud history dating back to 1909. With an immense amount of history it’s a shame that Dockerty couldn’t be incorporated in the formal naming of the reformed cup. Nevertheless, let’s not forget our past and embrace this new age of football.
History demonstrates that cup football is rather unique in contrast to the regular league fixtures.
It gives clubs of all levels an opportunity to test themselves against superior higher division teams, and as we’ve seen before in the FA Cup, fairytales do take place.
The thrill and excitement of knocking off a higher division team, scoring the winner in extra-time or the sudden tremor and tension of a penalty shoot-out is only feasible through cup football. It’s a distinctive element of football which holds an immense amount of history and flavour to the sport.
FFV CEO Mark Rendell is well aware of the tradition and popularity that occurs with cup football and believes that football fans are finally getting what they desire. “We’re well aware of the history and tradition of the Dockerty Cup and its popularity in Victorian football,” he said.
“We’re expecting it to be popular throughout all of our leagues, as every club has a terrific opportunity to face off against Victoria’s two Hyundai A-League clubs, Melbourne Heart and Melbourne Victory.”
When we gaze through professional football organisations around the world, it is evident that the domestic leagues are concurrently run with the cup competition. Without cup football the heart and soul of the game is not truly apparent.
The Mirabella Cup will assist football in many ways, off the pitch and more importantly on the playing field. It gives local Victorian clubs an imagery of what it’s like to juggle the demands of league and cup football simultaneously- a feeling which is encompassed all throughout Europe.
In further cup news, last Wednesday night at the Melbourne football fan forum, Football Federation Australia announced that the vastly demanded FFA Cup competition will commence in March 2012 with the final to be played on Australia Day, 2013.
FFA general manager Lyall Gorman said that the cup will be open to all clubs affiliated within their local state federation. Although the format of the cup is still under review, A-League clubs will most likely enter the tournament at the last 32 stage.
“(The cup) will be a major opportunity to turbo-charge the game at grass-roots levels and convert fans from being merely followers to supporters”, Gorman said.
The FFA Cup in conjunction with the Mirabella Cup will be a fantastic initiative for football at grass-roots level and will further enhance community engagement within the sport. Two cup competitions accompanied by the respective league fixtures will ignite a real football culture for the code.
It’s an exciting time for football in Victoria. The mere prospect of cup football will excite any football fan after the lengthy layoff. The inclusion of the A-League teams further enhances the credibility and status of the competition while assisting in the enhancement of community engagement among new football and old soccer.
A new era of football dawns upon us, be ready for a stimulating journey.
Robbie Di Fabio is a writer for Goal Weekly.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Real Madrid scored the only goal in their opening Euros win, but it was his aggressiveness off the ball the had the opposition and…
Jude Bellingham continued his remarkable season, scoring the only goal as tournament favourites England laboured to a 1-0 win in their Euro 2024 opener…
They lost 2-1 - but Albania gave the reigning champions the earliest possible scare!
Bruno Petkovic had seen his spot-kick saved - but was then assisted by Ivan Perisic for the rebound, but his team-mate was penalised for…
Defending champions Italy made a winning start to Euro 2024 as they rebounded from the shock of conceding the fastest goal in tournament history…
France are favourites to win the Euros. Since the World Cup final, Les Bleus has only lost two games which were both friendlies to Germany showing their strong form.
