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There is little doubting the spectacle that was Sunday’s A-League grand final.
A sell-out crowd; an absorbing, European-like atmosphere that was spoken about across the media for days; and a tight battle between the two top teams from the season that was.
But, as Central Coast took out the Championship title with a 2-0 upset over their more-fancied Western Sydney opponents, there was something about it all that just didn’t seem right.
Did the Mariners really deserve to claim the accolades when, throughout the regular season, they were proven as second to the Wanderers outfit?
Just a few weeks ago, Western Sydney were in party mode as they took out the end-of-season premiership title with a win away to Newcastle – pipping Central Coast by three points.
Their vociferous fans chanted “Champione, champione, ole ole ole” as the playing squad danced away in celebration on the Hunter Stadium pitch with a fake premiership trophy (The real one would not be presented to Western Sydney until prior to their semi-final clash with Brisbane on April 12).
News outlets reported the Wanderers’ success as a ‘fairytale.’
It was as though Western Sydney had won it all. They were the best team in the competition. Yes, there were finals to come, but they would be a mere formality.
Wrong. Despite conquering virtually all competition until the final, which included a record 10-match winning streak, the Wanderers would stumble at the final hurdle to gift the Mariners the title of champions.
One might be forgiven for assuming the Western Sydney fans would be devastated at the loss. Their team had come so far, yet not far enough. But the Wanderers faithful were anything but, that as they defiantly broke into their ‘Champione’ song late into the game – when losing had become a foregone conclusion.
It was a poignant moment that made one realise we had really been left with two ‘winners’ from one season of football.
After all, few could argue Western Sydney are undeserving of due praise, merely for losing on Sunday.
It begs a question that is often swept under the carpet. What’s more worthy: premiers or champions?
We need some clarity here. It goes against football tradition to have two victors. Do we see both Manchester United and Manchester City celebrating at the end of a season when one wins the title? Or Real Madrid and Barcelona? No.
One logical step would be to dismantle the A-League finals series altogether. This, as a friend pointed out to me the other day, would go against Australia’s own football tradition, which has utilised a finals system consistently since 1988 back in the National Soccer League days.
Another option is to do away with the importance placed on winning the home-and-away premiership. For example, call it the ‘Minor’ Premiership as they do in other Australian sports such as the AFL.
But this step would surely be unfair to those sides that travel large distances, battling it out for months on end to be the best side in the competition – as Western Sydney did so this season. Not to mention it goes against worldwide football tradition that usually honours such teams who finish in first place.
So, what do we do from here?
It is an unrealistic suggestion to scrap the A-League finals right now when it is a big crowd-puller and money-earner for the FFA.
Moreover, some have scoffed at the idea of deciding the winner during the regular season of a 10-team competition that has no promotion-relegation system in place.
One alternative move could be found through the planned introduction of the FFA Cup next year, with FFA CEO David Gallop touting the final of that competition to become a showcase event on Australia Day.
If that idea comes to fruition, why don’t we shift our salivation with finals football to that contest?
We could remove the A-League finals and, perhaps, extend the regular season to 36 rounds, ensuring that every side plays each other four times – twice home and twice away (like in the Scottish Premier League). This contrasts with the current and arguably unfair system where some teams are forced to play more matches away than at home.
Regardless of the ideal solution, it’s hard to question that something needs to be done to escape the current paradoxical situation where there are multiple A-League winners in a single season.
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