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Many scoffed and sniggered at South Melbourne FC’s desperate bids to enter the A-League in 2013. It seemed they would take any route possible to re-enter top tier football.
First there were links with cash-strapped Central Coast Mariners and then the valiant, but ultimately fruitless, attempt to acquire Melbourne Heart.
Even if South Melbourne had offered more than a measly $3.5 million, there were suggestions the FFA would be hesitant to reinstate a club with strong ethnic ties from the NSL days – part of their cleansing process from ‘wogball’ to A-League.
Of course, while much has been done to ensure A-League clubs have no specific ethnic links, the beautiful multicultural aspect of Australian football hasn’t been weeded out from what will one day become a second tier competition.
South Melbourne still have proud Greek roots – evident from their club colours, culture and players.
Melbourne Knights, who would have had to become Melbourne United if they gained a call up during the A-League’s inaugural season, still have a large cult following of Croatian immigrants and first gen Aussies with Croatian background. Their annual pre-season Friendship Cup with Sydney United 58 is one of the great celebrations of a country that has given so much to the Aussie game, not least some of the more recognised Socceroos of our time.
At this clash, there were no full scale riots or pitch invasions, just some good old fashioned kicking of the ball – at a high quality, too (see for yourself).
On Sunday, NSW National Premier Leagues Mens 1 side Sydney Olympic had one of their most memorable days since the 6-0 thrashing of South Melbourne in January, 2000.
Former Greece international and Liverpool defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos attracted a crowd of 7357 to Belmore Sports Ground, where fans in the blue and white of Olympic/Greece and the red of the Merseysiders provided a cracking atmosphere, despite the 3-1 defeat to Blacktown Spartans.
It was a nostalgic moment for many of the Olympic faithful – typically a group of Greek immigrants who can be seen at Belmore every other weekend of the year, cheering on a bunch of semi-professional footballers, nee, their semi-professional footballers, recalling past glories and pondering the prospect of Olympic one day getting a start on the national stage again.
You see, the most romantic thing about the much-less glamorous state leagues is that tradition has not been washed away. There are concerns over a return to the darker days of violence in the NSL, and that’s to be expected given some of the incidents that occurred. But without old sockah clubs, Australia would have very little direction.
Football in this country is more than A-League, Alessandro Del Piero and mainstream media. The vision is to have an established second tier competition and that transition will be made much easier thanks to the traditional clubs still ploughing away in the NPL.
APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana) Leichardt had an equally impressive turnout for their first clash at the refurbished Lambert Park on Saturday night, with 5782 people there to watch a 2-0 loss to Marconi.
South Melbourne had 3175 in attendance for the Victoria NPL opener, while Northern Fury report they regularly have 2000-3000 fans in the stands as they look to continue their revival.
The figures have all been promising in the opening few weeks of the NPL season and there is a challenge to sustain this on a regular basis. Thankfully, tradition is alive and well, with ethnic affiliated clubs able to rely on their loyal base and the odd new fan to keep the turnstiles ticking over.
While there may be a solid product to offer across the NPL, there needs to be something more to encourage A-League newbies to join the bandwagon. Kyrgiakos’ two-game stint is a great initiative and having high profile players in the lower leagues is essential to boosting crowds and revenue.
Imagine the injured Marcos Flores turning out for Manly United later in the season to clock up the minutes, Alessandro Del Piero filling the void between A-League and the All Stars match with an appearance for APIA, Cassio easing his way back from the sidelines via Adelaide City and so on.
There is plenty for the NPL to offer the A-League and a cash injection to help promote the game at this level wouldn’t go astray. After all, it is the historic clubs that will one day give the second tier competition a steady platform on which to build.
Ethnicity isn’t something to be afraid of anymore, many of these old fashioned football fans simply want to enjoy the football of their local club while clinging to a piece of culture from back home.
Worst case, send a police officer from Pirtek Stadium to monitor the situation. God knows we could afford to spare one or 20 from Wanderers games.
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