- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
This week, within a period of little more than 12 hours, the heads of two of Australia’s football codes each made slightly different, but nonetheless insightful, public appearances.
First off was Football Federation Australia’s under fire CEO Ben Buckley who voluntarily put himself in front of a firing squad at Tuesday night’s Football Fans Down Under Fan Forum in Sydney.
Then at 1pm yesterday afternoon, AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou fronted the National Press Club and gave an impassioned speech in which he not only highlighted his knowledge and understanding of AFL but the strength of his leadership.
Throughout an impressive hour-long performance the AFL supremo joked about why a player is “dragged” after kicking a goal and staunchly defended the game’s much-maligned rule changes.
Demetriou’s detailed speech got me wondering what would Buckley have said if he’d been asked at the fan forum “can a player be offside from a throw in”?
I mention this because there is a sense amongst the Australian football community that our game lacks leadership that we’re proud of and it’s a sentiment I’d agree with.
You do not have to be a football person to lead the game in this country but you do have to have a passion for what makes football special to so many Australians and Buckley has failed to convince he is one of these people.
Yet, while he might not be a “football person” per se, I believe Buckley could do a lot worse than looking into football’s backyard to find the answers to many of the issues FFA are trying to solve at the moment.
Australia’s state leagues and cup tournaments
These competitions, filled with numerous historic clubs, may have been replaced by the A-League as the heart of football, but here on the terraces each weekend, you can still find the soul of football. If FFA can understand why these fans still turnout to watch their clubs they will have the key to developing strong identities for A-League clubs.
246 minutes
That’s how long it took for Pim Verbeek to finally bring the rain in South Africa last year with Australia needing four goals in their final group stage game against Serbia to keep their World Cup dream alive.
Unfortunately, by the time Verbeek had replaced one of his two holding midfielders for the much more attacking Scott Chiperfield it was far too late and Australia were out. But those last 24 minutes allowed Australian fans to dream and the Socceroos players to leave with their heads held high.
There was a reason why after the game Socceroos supporters stayed for almost a quarter of an hour to give their players a standing ovation. Quite simply it is with this type of attacking courage and self-belief that Australia should play. Always.
A quarter
That’s the fraction of players in the latest Socceroos squad announced on Tuesday who have played in the A-League.
It’s not a bad effort for a competition that didn’t even exist six years ago, and highlights how important the competition is to the overall health of Australian football. So lets get this right as we won’t get another chance.
208
It’s the number of countries recognised by FIFA.
The Federal government has started to wake to the realisation that football is the only sport that can truly link Australia with the rest of the world. It’s why Senator Mark Arbib announced the recent review into the game’s administration and is also why the government will continue to fund football. 208.
FFA should never lose sight of this number.
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.