I think it is time that all fans of the old NSL (and I was one of them) come back to Australian football, or more specifically the A-League. It is worthwhile returning if only for one reason – to see the Brisbane Roar play.
Like many old NSL fans, I was disillusioned with the game when my team (Sydney Olympic) was “relegated”. It wasn’t for the fact of lost ethnic identity but purely because my team was not invited to the big dance. Many of us started following our old NSL teams because it was passed down by our parents on the basis of cultural ties.
But those teams became “ours” not on the basis of their Greek-ness or Croatian-ness but because they played the game we loved, that our fathers loved, and where the players were our heroes. Growing up in Western Sydney I was not interested in NRL; the NSL players were my heroes.
The way I felt when introduced to my hero, Sydney Olympic striker Abbas Saad, was just the same as any young league fan would feel today about meeting Benji Marshall.
It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that the team I grew up watching wasn’t in the big league any more. I felt like Souths fans felt when their team was kicked out of the NRL – I continued to watch on TV but the inclination to get out to a game wasn’t there anymore.
It is now time to put the rose coloured glasses away, because there is one thing that even rose coloured glasses reminiscing of the past won’t change – that Brisbane are playing the best football I have ever seen in any incarnation of a national league in this country.
I believe that 90 to 95 per cent of all old NSL fans are in fact football fans first. It is highly probable that up to 70 per cent of these fans do not attend A-League matches. Why? Because with those rose coloured glasses on the A-League was probably worse in quality to the old NSL.
I am not talking about the decrepit NSL in 2004, more the era capped by Sydney Olympic’s win in 1990 till their next win in 2002 (sorry, I couldn’t resist mentioning these victories).
I believe that the brand of football that Brisbane have been playing is so good that every football fan from the old NSL would have to applaud it. The passing and movement have been the quickest that I have seen.
Luke Devere’s forays up-field remind me of the good old sweeper position that Ned Zelic made his own at Olympic and Sydney United. Matt McKay has been the revelation, though.
His midfield energy and attacking prowess has not been seen since Aurelio Vidmar in his Adelaide City days. The wide work of Thomas Broich can be compared to Kresimir Marusic and Ivan Franjic bombing down the flanks can be compared to Fausto De Amicis.
All of these players lie within the one team that is on the longest undefeated run in Australian soccer. Every football fan should see them and applaud their work this season.
Fourteen years ago Sydney United’s team of Branko Culina’s babes went to Suncorp Stadium after sweeping all before it during the season. They lost the grand final and as much as it pains me to say it as a Sydney Olympic fan, it was a shame because they played a brand of football in that year that would definitely be in my top five of league play in this country.
Just for the record, my top five would be as follows (I will leave Sydney Olympic out so I am not accused of bias):
1. Brisbane Roar, 2011.
2. Melbourne Knights, 1994-1996. Mark Viduka… what more can one say. YouTube the two legged semi-final against South Melboune in the rain – that will tell you enough.
3. Adelaide City, 1991-1994. I remember Zoran Matic used to announce his line-ups on the Wednesday before game. “Come and get us,” was his attitude.
4. Sydney United, 1997. I still remember a last minute equaliser for Olympic against them in the rain at Leichardt Oval. They were that good it felt like a victory.
5. South Melbourne, 1998-1999. Two on the trot with a group of youngters mixed with a few old heads created a mini-dynasty at the Lakeside.
This year Suncorp will again host a grand final.
I hope justice prevails and the best team wins it, with all of Australia’s sports fans watching, because they deserve everyone to see what they have achieved.
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