With all due respect to the wonderful folks of Melbourne, but surely the Sydney derby possesses the requisite ingredients to become the most ferociously contested fixture in the A-League.
Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC will go head to head at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday night in a clash which bears all the hallmarks of the fierce intracity derbies we know and love around the world.
On the pitch, the Wanderers are undoubtedly keen to stay in touch with league leaders Brisbane, while Sydney FC are desperate for a win and the chance to divert attention from their abysmal away record.
Off it, many Sky Blues fans harbour a genuine resentment towards Wanderers supporters for either jumping ship or failing to support entirely a club which was established to represent the whole city.
Meanwhile, Wanderers fans – or at least the law-abiding majority of them – should feel aggrieved that a suspended sentence which threatens to dock competition points hangs over the team, thanks to the criminal actions of a bone-headed few.
There’s now little stopping a Sydney FC fan from donning a Wanderers jersey and wreaking havoc down Church Street in a bid to have Western Sydney stripped of competition points, and how Football Federation Australia plans to accommodate that sort of scenario is anyone’s guess.
At any rate, there’s a growing animosity between the two clubs and unlike in Melbourne, the supposed East-West divide between the two supporter bases adds an extra dimension to an already heated affair.
It reminds me of the time I attended the last ever Cologne derby in the Bundesliga’s second division, when cellar dwellers Fortuna thumped table-topping rivals 1.FC Köln 4-1, seemingly for no other reason than that they despised their bigger brother’s existence.
There was a crowd of 40,000 in attendance that afternoon, and I have no doubt that almost single every spectator was attracted by the lure of the kind of atmosphere only generated on derby day.
There’s something almost comical about intracity derbies, as though the inhabitants of certain cities have nothing better to do than play out their petty squabbles within the gladiatorial confines of a football pitch.
Some cities such as Barcelona boast two clubs so diametrically opposed, it’s a wonder the city can even function adequately, while others like Liverpool support two clubs with perhaps more in common than its respective fan-bases care to admit.
And while some of the world’s fiercest derbies aren’t strictly intracity affairs – the M1 derby between Brisbane Roar and Gold Coast United was as keenly contested as any – the A-League’s most recent such addition adds a spark in a city renowned for the fickleness of its fans.
Some of those supporters have a right to be fickle, mind you, and indeed my own attempts to buy a few tickets for Saturday night’s showdown ended in farce.
A litany of errors in Ticketek’s log-in system left me and hundreds of like-minded fans frustrated in our attempts to buy tickets to the game.
The problem was laughably compounded by the mass email I received shortly thereafter, apologising for the issue and ending with the line “(w)e hope to see you on terraces”.
Well, no – since that would require me to be in possession of a ticket!
It’s a small price to pay for the growing popularity of one of the A-League’s most anticipated encounters, though one would hope that FFA does not use the ticketing fiasco as an excuse to move the derby to ANZ Stadium in the future.
Part of football’s charm is supporting your team home and away, and much of that is lost when marquee fixtures are played on what are essentially neutral grounds.
Here’s hoping that the lucky fans inside Parramatta Stadium cherish the experience then, and generate a vociferous atmosphere at what is fast becoming one of Asia’s most anticipated derbies.
Cam from Wollongong
Guest
It's fast becoming one of the must watch events in the Aus sporting calendar.
SN2204
Guest
Apaway, I agree with you that the game is bigger than that sort of crap and it should be kept out of the HAL.My post was a response to the first line in the second paragraph of Leon's initial post.It should be kept out of the game but the persistent and ironic references to an old NSL club etc .. Combined with exNSL guys bringing their historical baggage into the HAL has led to the increase in some unsavoury incidences. I would be happy to discuss it via pm as a fellow SFC fan !! Cheers
Slane
Guest
Not saying I agree with this comment but it definitely made me laugh.
Lachlan
Guest
The Sydney derby has the biggest potential because it will always mean something off the field. The Melbourne Derby doesn't mean anything and won't, unless the identity of one of the teams changes (Heart specifically). Sydney has always been sharply divided on class, regional and cultural lines. The two teams reflect these divides well, so when the teams battle, so do those classes, regions and cultures. That's what will attract the casual football fan - Western versus Inner city. Suburban versus beachside/harbourside. Working class versus middle class. With the right marketing, and if Sydney FC stop playing like crap, it could be, as the author suggests, one of the biggest derbies in asia.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
Allan - Doesn't the fact the WSW get crowds when popular and winning and GWS don't get crowds when the are losing totally contradict the point you are trying to make?
apaway
Roar Guru
Leon As a Sydney FC fan but huge admirer of the Wanderers, if you get that sort of crap from SFC supporters, then I apologise as one. The game is better than that sort of rubbish.
apaway
Roar Guru
How about this for a compromise? Whichever team hosts two home games in the season (this season it is FC) moves one of those games to the Olympic Stadium. I know Sydney FC were considering moving the March 8th game.
apaway
Roar Guru
There is method to this non-madness. The atmosphere at Parramatta Stadium last night was fantastic. To those who missed out on a ticket; time to petition the State Government for a capacity upgrade to a ground that was built before the Sydney Football Stadium and now has at least one tenant who could put 30,000 in there every second summer weekend (and if the Eels awake from their slumber they are capable of similar support)
Mark
Guest
I ony half agree and would like to see one game at ANZ and the other two at Parra and Allianz. The ANZ game I would like to see co-promoted by both clubs splitting the proceeds equally.
Striker
Guest
Asanchez that's why the game needs to be taken to ANZ 19000 to a derby game is just another game.
asanchez
Roar Guru
I reckon no derby should be played in the first 2 rounds at least.
asanchez
Roar Guru
Good article Mike. But we all know why the Sydney derby is now a bigger game than the Melbourne derby. Because both Sydney sides are big clubs, with Sydney FC winning 2 championships and WSW growing so quickly and getting great crowds and support in only 18 months. Melbourne is the sporting capital of Australia, and the derby down here is massive already but it would be much much bigger, if this rabble of a club that competes in it, the Heart, actually got their act together. If the Heart was getting 15k every week, there would be no argument, the Melbourne derby would be king by a mile. But unfortunately, that just isnt the case at this stage. There's still one big issue with the Sydney derby though IMO, and that is that the derbies at Parramatta will never be able to fit more than 19k. Victory and Sydney FC get those crowds nearly every week. Derbies not only should be the biggest games of the season in the media and so forth, but they should also attract the biggest crowds.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Nahh, those long-form comments are often better than many articles.
1860melbourne
Guest
Next season I want the FFA to try something different. The Round 1 Melbourne derby has been done to death. Id prefer they meet much later in the season. Next season start with the Sydney derby in round 1 to be played at ANZ. Start the season with a bang in Sydney.
SN2204
Guest
WSW fans talk about SFC's Lowy & Hakoah links.A lot of your non westie exNSL fans who support a WSW claim they can't support SFC due to the rivalry their NSL club had with Hakoah. That didn't stop them supporting WSW whose GM John Tsatsimas stated in the SMH that Frank Lowey opening up the cheque book at WSW contributed to their success. You have Paul Lederer (lederers have done a lot for football in this country)and Elliot Russanow on your board who have strong links to Hakoah.Paul Lederer's late uncle Andrew was football manager at Hakoah and his primo smallgoods company who he passed onto Paul is their main sponsor along with sponsoring WSW.By all reports they will own WSW soon. Meaning that SFC & WSW are step brothers except that they sold us to Traktovenko and then later started the club you support. So put down that stone and step outside the glasshouse !!
SN2204
Guest
No it's not Sydney Croatia and Sydney Croatia is not in div 2 state league.Look at your board members,your future owner and research his family football history and who else he sponsors before you make selective claims about other clubs.
Arto
Guest
Whilst not a derby in the technical sense, arguably the biggest fixture that has been in the league prior to WSW's entrance is the Big Blue (surprised no-one's mentioned it!). In a complex sort of way it has all the elements of a 'real' derby just that the geographical positioning is over 1300km! I'd argue that it would classify as a derby in all by technical name and is cetainly along with the WSW fixtures the games I get most up for (as a SFC fan). Whilst this probably says more about me & my stereotypes, MV is probably the only team I could consider as being as big as SFC (although WSW are currently in that category too!). Roar's success notwithstanding, they just don't seem to me as big a club - maybe in a similar way to the difference between Man Utd & Liverpool or Juventus vs Napoli....
Arto
Guest
@ oly: Totally agree regarding putting pressure for a further upgrade!
Arto
Guest
@ Christo the Daddyo: It's a drop-in pitch so that's not a problem really, as the same situation is dealt with on a regualr basis at the other major cricket venues that share the year with AFL. As for the rest of the grass, I can see that being more of an issue given so little soccer/football is played at the venue. I went to the SFC v PG game last season and have mixed feelings about the idea of moving a derby game there. In my mind, the only real incentive to move the game there would be to gather a 'super attendence' to the game. For that to happen, there are a fair few variables that would need to align and therefore I feel moving the game should be a decision made during the season (as opposed to when the fixture list is announced) when the likely turn-out is more easily estimable. I feel there are too many unknowns to commit to playing there with the risk of drawing a low-crowd and its consequences. Eg: How many will turn up if both teams are outside the Top 6? How many will turn up to SFC games after the ADP era? How many will turn up if it's crap weather? Sydney is notorious for being fickle (the commments regarding member no-shows being an example of this) and a number of the 'additional fans' who would be counted upon to attend are quite likely to have their decision swayed by negative answers to exactly those questions. And just to remind people here that the 1st ever derby was played @ Parramatta and 100's (if not 1000's) of tix were available in the week leading up to the game, so we need to remember that we haven't actually seen how WSW fans will react to a poor season (I'm talking about the non-active supporters of which a fair chunk of WSW's members can be classified as). I used to be one of those who lamented the lack of access to tix @ Parramatta, but that was part of my motivation for becoming a member (of SFC, as it's them I've followed since Day 1 & I'm originally from the Eastern Suburbs). Plus, at the end of the day, a membership doesn't actually cost that much if we put the amount into perspective: how much do you blow on a special night out on the town? how much do you give for a birthday present or christmas gift to someone close? how much do you spend on a holiday? how many days worth of coffee would you need to sacrifice to pay for a membership? And the membership then allows you to go to more games than just the home derby!!!
Allan
Guest
Those who think that WSW are only popular because they are successful on the field simply have no idea, or they are spending too long looking at the dismal failure that is the GWS Giants.