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No, I’m not over it yet either. The 2014 FIFA World Cup was a magnificent month for football fans. The Brazil edition was certainly one of the best ever.
Then it is an amazing microcosm of the world game that local fans have got something entirely new to feast on starting from next Tuesday, when the inaugural FFA Cup kicks off.
It’s been a long time in the making. As the A-League gets set to enter its 10th season, finally the bridge between the grassroots and the elite has been erected, as well as the symbolic coming together of what many have termed “old soccer” and “new football.”
Fans of a certain vintage were brought up on the English FA Cup, the final of which for a long time was the only live game broadcast in Australia from overseas. The ritual of staying up past midnight to watch the David versus Goliath battles at Wembley Stadium were hard-wired into my formative years.
Sunderland versus Leeds United, Southampton versus Manchester United, Coventry City versus Tottenham all provided classic memories of big clubs falling to less illustrious opposition.
Now we’ve got our own version to look forward to. It is almost unique in Australian sport for community and grassroots clubs to have the chance of testing themselves against the cream of the crop. To the best of my knowledge, no other team sport has a tournament of this nature.
The eyes of the football community will be turned towards Newcastle from Tuesday when Broadmeadow Magic, from the Northern NSW Football Federation clash with former NSL champions the Brisbane Strikers. Closely associated with the Magic is former Newcastle NSL player Robert Virgili, whose son James is a member of the current Jets squad.
On the same night, two other former NSL champions, Melbourne Knights and Sydney Olympic, get re-acquainted with the spotlight. Olympic travel to the northern beaches to face Manly United, the club that produced current Central Coast Mariners coach Phil Moss.
The Knights travel up to Brisbane for their clash with QPL side Olympic FC.
Over the course of the Round of 32, six more former NSL clubs will be aiming for a place in the last 16. Parramatta FC, Blacktown City, Sydney United 58 FC, Adelaide City, Hakoah Sydney City East and South Coast Wolves all made the Cup’s last 32 from their respective State competitions.
There are hundreds of stories to be told about these clubs. Sydney United was a veritable production line of Socceroos stars during the National Soccer League. One of the stands at their Edensor Park home was paid for by the proceeds of goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac’s transfer to Leicester City. Coach Mark Rudan played in the first ever A-League grand final.
South Coast, as Wollongong Wolves, won the most thrilling top-level grand final in Australian club football history – possibly even better than that Roar versus Mariners game. In 2000, the Wolves came from 3-0 down at half time to draw 3-3 with Perth Glory and then win a penalty shootout 7-6 to claim the club’s first NSL title.
Hakoah, as Sydney City, were the powerhouse of the NSL in the early 1980s. They were the last club to win three successive national titles. Now competing in the third tier of NSW State League football, they welcome Queensland’s Palm Beach FC to their home ground in Pagewood, with some familiar names in charge.
Mark Robertson is the head coach, his father Alex is his assistant, and Alex played in the three Sydney City successes in the 1980s.
But for the real flavour of the Cup – the real essence of the giants against the minnows – all eyes will drift west. Stirling Lions will host the reigning A-League champions the Brisbane Roar on August the 19th.
The next night, their Western Australian State League compatriots Bayswater City play Melbourne Victory. The west could not have asked for a wilder draw. Former Perth Glory defender Chris Coyne will be hoping to plot the downfall of Kevin Muscat’s Victory in the last match of the round of 32.
The standard might not approach that seen at the Maracana in football’s most recent “Cup” but the passion and raw commitment will be there. And the skill level might surprise as there is talent lurking at every tier, just waiting for the chance to showcase their wares in front of a wider audience.
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