The National Soccer League began in 1977. It beat basketball to the concept of a national competition by a year and was five years ahead of rugby league and Australian Rules in expanding out of state boundaries.
The roller-coaster history of the NSL has been documented on this site quite often. However, it would have taken the most optimistic of player, offical or administrator who plied their trade with any one of the ten or more Sydney clubs that appeared in the NSL to have imagined a night like October 13th, 2012.
Almost 36,000 people flocked to Allianz Stadium to see Sydney FC take on the Newcastle Jets in Round 2 of the A-League. Most were drawn by the allure of one Alessandro Del Piero. Many were probably attending their first A-League match.
I went to the game with two friends who provided a microcosm of the make-up of the crowd on the night. Tim, a former State League team mate of mine who hadn’t till now been truly captivated by what the league had to offer.
And Wendy, a lady whose main connection to the game was listening patiently to my depressive episodes or helping me with whatever injury had befallen me during my career and generally being that rock anyone needs when football deals them a cruel blow (or who shares in the joy the game delivers). She was curious about the fuss created by ADP.
Suffice to say, after tonight, both of them want to know when the next game’s on.
If football was a script, this veered close to cliche. A fantastic game was enhanced by a brilliant atmosphere. Five goals, lots of attacking moments and talking points, and both Del Piero and Newcastle’s big signing Emile Heskey opened their A-League accounts.
Quite often, the anticipation of a big event is not matched by the game itself but perhaps the only thing missing tonight was a last minute Sydney equaliser to send the Cove into orbit.
That would have been unfair on the Jets who were the better team for most of the match and defended like their lives depended on it in the last ten minutes.
Tim made the observation that the Jets speedy left back Craig Goodwin could be an early contender as a resolution to the Socceroos left-sided woes. He scored the third, taking advantage of an unfortunately timed hamstring tear to FC defender Adam Griffiths, and could have had two more.
Wendy decided to cheer the Jets due to their superior sharpness and her view that Sydney had lead in their boots. She came around to the FC cause when ADP curled his exquisite free kick into the net in the 27th minute and was as captivated by Del Piero’s outrageous skills as the rest of the crowd. His class deserves its own post code.
The stadium was rocking in the last fifteen minutes when Blake Powell scored to bring the game back to 3-2. Brett Emerton pushed into midfield in the second half and constantly got in behind the Jets defence. The final pass went agonisingly astray or was dealt with by an increasingly stretched Newcastle back four. Ben Kennedy saved brilliantly from Ali Abbas, shots were cleared off the line, crosses cleared.
The full time whistle brought the curtain down on a magnificent spectacle. The blue section of the 36,000 crowd, the biggest to attend a regular season game in Sydney, may not have got the result they came to see but they certainly got full value for their ticket. Surely many of them will be back for more.
I know of at least two new fans who will be.
gumpy
Guest
"Read the latter part of the tenth paragraph when Hinds is referring to the shot that Del Piero hit over the bar from outside the area. He refers to a cheer by the crowd for a gaffe that would normally attract frustrated groans from the crowd. Yet he chooses to ignore or didn’t understand the little shimmy by Del Piero which just made Tiago look like a fool." It's only Richard Hinds anyway, that guy is little more than Australian sport journalism's answer to Andrew Bolt...
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Apaway, The old Amco Cup format is one of the options for what FFA should do for their national knockout. Personally, I'd just do regional qualifiers over the winter, then have the FFA Cup as part of the more extensive preseason warmup that the A-League clubs so clearly need. Timing the final for after the footy finals but before the actual start of the A-League would be perfect IMO.
apaway
Roar Guru
I loved the Amco Cup as a kid - Wednesday nights on Channel 10. But as pointed out, it was a knockout competition not a league format, and it gradually shrank in scope as the years progressed. Nevertheless, the first final in 1974 did provide a big upset, when Western Division, from country NSW beat Penrith in the final.
apaway
Roar Guru
Thanks Ben. On this day alone, it was a case where the quality of the game was more important than the result. I agree that Sydney needs to win games to sustain interest but I didn't hear one word of disgruntlement about the outcome of Saturday's game. First timers seemed to enjoy it, those attracted back were enthralled by Del Piero's class, and the Cove were magnificent, as were the travelling Jets fans.
Evan Askew
Guest
It really depends on how Sydney go. If they start winning then they will sustain that crowd average I reckon. It also depends on the average Australians understanding of the game too and in this respect It may not be possible to sustain that sort of crowd. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/superstars-score-and-the-aleague-wins-big-20121013-27k4x.html Read the latter part of the tenth paragraph when Hinds is referring to the shot that Del Piero hit over the bar from outside the area. He refers to a cheer by the crowd for a gaffe that would normally attract frustrated groans from the crowd. Yet he chooses to ignore or didn't understand the little shimmy by Del Piero which just made Tiago look like a fool. That is what you get with Del Piero and other great players like him, whatever the era. And it is these sort of little things the little shimmy, the visionary pass or the inspired off the ball run, that the uninitiated might not get or might not understand. We shall see.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Sounded like a cracker of a match. I am glad your friends enjoyed it and hopefully others felt the same.
Evan Askew
Guest
Plus football had the Australian cup from the mid 60's which had the best teams from the state leagues of NSW, Victoria, Qld and possibly South Australia (you would think so but I am not sure) competing for the title of best team in Australia. From my understanding it was usually divvied up between teams from Victoria and NSW. I believe some of the winners include, Apia, Hakoah (Sydney City) Sunshine George Cross and Melbourne Croatia.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
It will be great if Sydney FC can sustain those sorts of crowds :)
jamesb
Guest
I think alot of that crowd will return next time. I don't think the crowd will go from 35,000 to 15,000. It was an entertaining game, and seeing ADP play yesterday, I'm sure many people want to see more of him
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
Good article apaway; I think ADP may have paid back about half his salary in the one split-second of that free kick!
Punter
Guest
This was a cup competition, not a national home & away competition where everyone plays everyone else, so while I accept your cup competition, the NSL was still the first National premiership competition.
View from the hill
Guest
Not quite correct in opening paragraph. The rugby league had a national competition from 1974 with the Amco Cup that had teams from NSW, QLD, NT, WA & NZ. For example 1976 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Amco_Cup
mwm
Roar Pro
I think your middle paragraph says the most. Usually big games like that don't live up to the hype but this one certainly did. Well done for everyone. Even though the Jets won...Football was the victor yesterday.