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As far as major announcements go, FFA chief executive Ben Buckley did not give much away.
The biggest news revealed in this afternoon’s press conference at Valentine Park in Sydney was that the community will be consulted on how a Western Sydney club is run.
Mr Buckley and Prime Minister Julia Gillard spoke only briefly at the Valentine Park press conference – home of Football NSW.
The Prime Minister pledged some $8 million of Commonwealth funds to the region, $3 million of which will see the Valentine Park facility upgraded.
But the news most football fans were waiting for – specific details of the new Western Sydney club – were largely absent.
That’s because Buckley pledged to consult the community on how the club is run.
“From day one of its existence the new club will have a core focus on community engagement. The community will have a say in the culture, colours, name and logo of the new entity and we will explore a model that would allow for community ownership,” he said.
“We intend to build a model that will be driven by the passion of the football people in Sydney’s west,” he added – promising to work closely with Football NSW to deliver an integrated community experience.
The presumably means fans will have a vote on things like the team name and playing strip – although FFA should think carefully about how it implements such proceedings, lest the ‘Western Sydney Unicorns’ actually become a reality.
“I know that the prospect of having a fierce rival in Sydney and all the passion of a derby game will excite everyone associated with Sydney FC,” said Buckley – no doubt with thoughts of Melbourne’s intracity derby on his mind.
But there is still no word on where a Western Sydney club might play.
The 20,000-capacity Parramatta Stadium sits in the geographic heart of the city and could host most regular season fixtures, with the derby potentially played out of the expansive ANZ Stadium.
But whether fans in areas like Penrith, Liverpool and Campbelltown back a proposal to play out of Parramatta could be a major sticking point, particularly if it comes down to community consultation on such decisions.
That’s precisely the difficult task FFA now faces – uniting a sprawling region’s diverse football communities under one A-League umbrella.
Having said that, plenty of thought clearly went into today’s conference – including the announcement of a $1 million investment towards the women’s game.
Such an announcement was no doubt deemed necessary to fend off potential claims FFA is turning its back on other facets of the game in its rush to implement a Western Sydney team.
Still, there will be plenty of grumbles from those outside Western Sydney as to the fairness of today’s announcement, with the chorus to be lead – understandably – by fans of North Queensland Fury and the doomed Gold Coast United.
But as someone who grew up in Western Sydney with a love for the round-ball game, I’m intrigued as to how this attempt to bring A-League football to the game’s stated “heartland” plays out.