The inaugural FFA Cup has come to a close, with Adelaide United taking home the newly minted silverware against an inform Perth Glory.
Reflecting on the FFA Cup, there are many reasons to be optimistic and positive as to the direction that the A-League and football in Australia is taking.
During the campaign we were given an insight into how clubs manage their squads and the amount of depth that A-League clubs in particular have. We also witnessed genuine fan excitement across the nation, as many local and semi-professional clubs were able to participate in a competitive environment.
The discussion has now turned, with growing support, in awarding the FFA Cup winner direct qualification into the Asian Champions League (ACL). The FFA wishes to pursue this by 2016, creating obvious incentives for all teams to seriously compete for and aim to win the FFA Cup.
The current system awards ACL qualification to the teams that win the A-League premiership and the championship, with a third possible position available via the qualifying play-off.
FFA board members feel that the FFA Cup winner should be granted direct qualification, as is the case with many other leagues worldwide where cup winners are awarded direct entry into confederation competitions.
However, unless the FFA is able to negotiate an additional position with the Asian Football Confederation, who has been so far reluctant to do so, it could mean that one of the two guaranteed spots allocated to the A-League may be given to the FFA Cup victor.
Alternatively it may result in a playoff between the FFA Cup winner and the next best ranked A-League team to decide the ACL play off qualifier entrant.
At least the FFA and the A-League are in a strong position to plead their case. Western Sydney showed the quality and excitement that A-League clubs possess by winning the ACL and participating admirably in the Club World Cup. Ante Covic and Tony Popovic also won individual awards for their performances in the ACL.
Australia will also host the upcoming Asia Cup. These factors have been very helpful in promoting football in Australia and enhancing the A-League’s profile.
As seen in previous ACL competitions, A-League clubs have shown that they are able to compete with the financially-strong clubs of Asia. From Adelaide United reaching the final in 2008 to the Melbourne Victory upsetting Guanzhou Evergrande, our clubs have shown in a relatively short time that they have what it takes to match it with Asia’s best.
The benefits of additional ACL positions are obvious. Not only will it enhance Australia’s footballing profile, but the FFA Cup competition will have gained significant credibility as many teams will view cup fixtures as an opportunity to qualify and self-promote their clubs and players.
Can you imagine Bentleigh Greens hosting Asian giants such as Gamba Osaka? The souvlaki stand will be in overdrive, just from the travelling fans alone. Well, stranger things have happened, Auckland City are one win away from playing against the likes of Real Madrid.
It will also hopefully lead to more quality players considering a move to the A-League due to the opportunities presented in being able to participate in major competitions, playing against quality opposition.
A new avenue of qualification into the Asian Champions League will create greater excitement among fans and strengthen all community and semi-professional clubs across the nation, forming an integral part in further improving the standard of Australian Football.
NaBUru38
Guest
"The FFA Cup winner should be granted direct qualification, as is the case with many other leagues worldwide where cup winners are awarded direct entry into confederation competitions." That's not true: cup winners play the secondary competitions (UEFA Europa League, Copa Sudamericana), not main competitions (UEFA Champions League, Copa Libertadores).
Mike
Roar Guru
I'd never insult the A-League, but just because an Aussie team won the ACL once does not mean we will start getting 4 automatic spots.
melbourneterrace
Guest
I'm off the same opinion, unless the competition could be expanded to 32 teams in each side of Asia.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The spots are already too heavily weighed in favour of a small number of countries. I'd prefer to see us with 2 spots, Japan, China & Korea down to 3 and Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore be given a place. Same out West, Saudi, Qatar & Iran down to 3, UAE down to 2 and India, Syria, Iraq & Kuwait be given a spot each.
Kasey
Guest
IIRC the AFC strictly said NO bloody way! to more than a 1/3rd of our League getting an ACL slot. Our League is a 9 team League(Wellington don't count) according to AFC. So we will not get even a 0.5 slot for the FFA Cup until we expand to 12+ teams.
TimberTim
Guest
David Davutovic said on Santo, Sam and Ed this week that if the FFA cup winner gets the Direct ACL spot in the future it will be at the expense of the Premiers Plate not the Grand Final Winner. The premiers plate would get the playoff spot. Hope this is wrong.
Phutbol
Guest
Sadly there is no way the FFA will have their finals series devalued by losing the ACL spot for the winner. Its too important to them from a ratings, revenue and mainstream appeal perspective, and at this point one would have to agree (well, I do anyway). Australians love a finals series. Its also right and proper that the winner of the league (premier) gets a full spot. If it can be negotiated, the 0.5 spot should go to the FFA cup winner instead of 3rd place in the A-league, or perhaps even a playoff with that 3rd place team for the spot. After all, an A-league team coming into the FFA cup at R32 only needs to play 5 games to lift the cup. To win the toilet seat they have to play 27 games + finals series. 0.5 spot is appropriate.
Waz
Guest
Consistent posting it seems here - we don't deserve that 4th spot until we earn it, we'll earn it when we expand to a 12 team club competition which is looking increasingly likely in the next 2-3 seasons. When that's done give the 4th qualification spot to the cup winners and the 3 automatic qualification slots to the top league positions. As for the Phoenix "problem" - I really think thats being addressed by the FFA at the moment as their license wasn't extended so hopefully there's a realization that the current situation cant continue, NZ football must be for NZ and Oceania and A League football for Australia and the AFC. The [not so simple] solution is to relocate Phoenix to Canberra and call them the Canberra Phoenix
Jack Peters
Guest
This comment overestimates the asian leagues and insults the A-League. WSW won the ACL by dominating most of the opposition but apparently the A-League is 40 years behind... Yeah, sure.
Midfielder
Guest
Just a point of issue ... my understanding is the Nux are not allowed to play in the ACL... so if ever they qualify the team second behind them will gain the spot... The Nux are in the FFA Cup ... I guess its a similar issue but it seems silly you could create a competition were second place wins over the first placed team.
Sydutd77
Guest
4 spots, even 3, is excessive when there is only 9 teams in your competition.
Brendo
Guest
I am with Melbourneterrace here. We do not deserve more than 3 spots. Until we grow our competition to at least 12 teams we should not be asking for more. Until such time, the FFA have a choice to make, keep the spot for the GF winner or reallocate it to the FFA Cup Winner. It might even be possible to convince the AFC that the three spot should go to the FFA Cup Winner which would probably be the best outcome
Mike
Roar Guru
I'd love to one day see 4 automatic spots, but that might not happen for long time, if ever. We've got some stiff competition from Japan, Korea and China, which, frankly, have better leagues than us (I know China has had its ups and downs, but it is rising quickly now). If they allocate an automatic spot to the FFA Cup winner, it'd definitely be the Grand Final winner spot. The Premiers spot should stay as is. After all, with the current system, a team who has had a mediocre season, finished 6th on the table, and then wins the next 3 games in a row is granted an ACL spot.
Kasey
Guest
We currently have 2 ACL slots. One for the League winners(premiers Plate) and because the AFC chooses to see our Finals Series as our Cup comp, the Championship winners get a spot too. I'd like to see FFA campaign AFC to shift our finals series slot away from the Dunny Seat to the actual cup, the FFA Cup. This would have the added bonus of increasing the value of the Premiers Plate which would be a win for football purists and go some way towards creating the environment where the Premiers Plate is seen as the more valuable achievement. We could still have Finals. And whilst the FFA controls and receives the revenue from the Finals Series, I think the Finals will be around for a while yet. I'm not too fussed about this, some of the best A-League games have been Finals and the whole Series gives a valuable 'in' for new fans and people conditioned to think that Finals are just what we do here in Australia. I think of it as our Olive Branch to the general Sports fan and if it helps a couple of newbies get on board with our game every year, then slowly we will increase the size of our pie, which is a win. What we have been doing for the past 10 years is obviously working as we are slowly growing and becoming a more accepted part of the sporting landscape, I would be loathe to make wholesale changes to the structure of the competition to appease fans that are already on board, the extreme football purist(aka the football zealot).
melbourneterrace
Guest
No it should not, some people seem to give the impression that we should always be given exemptions to AFC Regulation for whatever reason. Like the UK and it's reluctance to participate fully with the EU, it does us no favours politically with the rest of the bodies member associations when we resist these continent wide regulations. We don't deserve more acl spots until we have more teams in the top tier. The AFC rules are very clear (the problem is they are not always followed). You can't have more than a third of your domestic competition in the AFC Champions League and as far as the AFC are concerned we have 9 eligible teams. Whether Wellington stay in the A-League or not, we can only get 4 entrants into the AFC CL when we add another 3 teams to the A-League. What both the Author and the FFA haven't acknowledged is that the ACL could have given a spot to the FFA Cup immediately, even with three spots, by taking a spot away from the GF Winner and giving it to the cup winner. The rules are that only the main domestic Cup competition may be used for entry, something which the finals are currently registered as. The FFA have delayed it another year because they are scared of their playoff system being once again devalued by the AFC and thus the fans in relation to the traditional league and cup winner. If they entered the cup winner, the AFC would have stripped the grand final winners spot, given it to the cup and rightly enforced league position as the only other way of qualifying.