Lessons we can learn from the International Champions Cup

The second match of the International Champions Cup was played in Melbourne last night and, fortunately for the organisers and the crowd of 43,000, we were treated to an attacking affair that importantly resulted in a few goals.

This leaves us with one more match left to be played in the series, with Manchester City taking on Real Madrid this Friday in an encounter that will see the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, David Silva and Raheem Sterling strut their stuff on what is unfortunately a pretty bumpy MCG surface.

It also gives us the opportunity to reflect on whether the event has been a success thus far and more importantly, whether it has in fact been as beneficial for the game as predicted.

According to organisers, the International Champions Cup will have brought more than $80 million into the local economy and attracted visitors and guests from around the world to watch these three football powerhouses do battle. There have been reports that over half of the tickets sold were purchased by people from outside of Melbourne.

While this is clearly a fantastic result for the event – just how good is it for the game in Australia? Bart Campbell, chairman of TLA Worldwide, the sports marketing consultancy that helped bring the event to Melbourne, has stated on numerous occasions in the lead up to the event that exposure to players of such high quality will have a lasting effect on local football.

However you could easily argue that asking the man behind the event how good it will be is similar to asking Eddie McGuire how he thinks Collingwood will go this season – you’re probably going to get an answer Collingwood supporters will enjoy, but it won’t necessarily be a realistic one.

We should be incredibly grateful that Bart and his team have managed to bring teams and players of such high quality to Australia and, while I’d be surprised if we’re able to attract repeat visits from clubs like Real Madrid, I see absolutely no reason we can’t continue to entice top-flight clubs from Europe each year.

It’s a privilege that few countries receive and pays testament to our amazing sporting culture and the fortunate society in which we live where things like safety and air quality are taken for granted.

However something has been missing. I excitedly went along to the Real Madrid versus AS Roma match on Saturday night only to discover that the most effective way to silence 80,000 people is by placing two outstanding football teams in front of a completely impartial crowd and having them not score any goals.

It left me feeling that while an event of this international standard might be great for the game in the short term, it is so isolated from what Australian football fans see during our domestic season that it creates difficulties, both for the event itself and in terms of any lasting benefits for the sport.

I’m of the opinion that an event such as this is should be held primarily to grow the sport in Australia, not just to line the pockets of the organisations that are involved in it. While I’m not for a second suggesting this was the sole intention of the people who brought this competition to Australia, in order to properly benefit the sport and truly engage local supporters it’s essential we involve our domestic A-League sides, so when the overseas clubs return home there has been a benchmark left behind for local players to aspire to.

Otherwise it’s like bringing out the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers from the NBA – which I believe is also in the process of being organised – and then saying, “Well, we hope you enjoyed that – now here’s the NBL”.

It’s kind of like showing kids an iPad before Christmas then giving them a chalkboard.

The requirement for local involvement in the competition has been further highlighted by recent matches around the country featuring A-League teams taking on international clubs.

The atmosphere at these encounters held at smaller stadiums in Brisbane, Adelaide and the Gold Coast far eclipsed that at the first two ICC matches at the MCG where the mood was almost one of confusion, with no-one really sure of who to support.

In early June the Brisbane Roar upset Spanish powerhouse Villarreal in what was a hugely encouraging result for the domestic competition. Liverpool recently played out two fantastic games in front of packed stadiums in Brisbane and Adelaide, with local fans relishing the opportunity to see their team take on a Premier League giant.

Before joining the ICC, Manchester City took on sister club Melbourne City in Melbourne’s soccer heartland on the Gold Coast and only managed to scrape home with a late goal. While the two Premier League clubs dominated play and possession in all of their matches, the gap between European and Australian clubs is nowhere near what it previously has been.

Our competition is improving, more people are following it and when an opportunity such as the ICC presents itself, the sport must capitalise on it.

So how do we do it? Obviously this is the challenging part. Every armchair football fan will have an opinion on the best way to do this, however getting the balance between fanciful and realistic is where the challenge always lies.

I’m sure Bart Campbell would be quick to point out that a club like Real Madrid would be extremely unlikely to want to come out to Australia and take on Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC.

It’s not out of the realms of possibility however you’d want 100,000 at each game to have a chance of paying that bill. But for the sake of offering an opinion rather than just criticism, how about the following format?

If organisers were able to incorporate Liverpool FC into the event, who were in the country anyway, and invited the top two A-League sides they could have created two pools of three teams that I think we would have been a fantastic advertisement both for the game and for the domestic competition without sacrificing the European clubs’ requirements such as length of stay and quality of opposition.

The winners of each pool would have been able to play off at either the MCG or ANZ Stadium (depending on whether players prefer an uneven surface without exposed bolts, or vice-versa).

We could have seen something along these lines:

Pool A (Sydney): Real Madrid, Liverpool, Sydney FC

Pool B (Melbourne): Manchester City, AS Roma, Melbourne Victory

I believe that would create a lot more local interest in the event than watching a few top European clubs take each other on in a friendly where the result is basically meaningless to them.

The Melbourne media has also been deathly quiet when it comes to reporting on the ICC tournament thus far. It seems they’re unable to grasp an angle relating to the concept that they consider relevant to the people of Melbourne, apart from Cristano Ronaldo getting a haircut of course.

In fact, it’ll be very interesting to see where the match on Friday, that if we’re to believe reports should have over 90,000 people in attendance, makes it into the headlines against the AFL blockbuster at the Docklands that should see Hawthorn defeating Carlton by about 800 points.

By adding local teams you’re sparking local interest and giving the general public who don’t necessarily follow the European leagues someone to support and get behind. An event such as this shouldn’t be just for fans of the game who want to see their idols in action, it should be for the whole sporting public who want to see how their local team stacks up against the best.

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on this – does the International Champions Cup in its current format provide any real benefit to football in Australia or do we need to incorporate our local A-League teams to get the most from it?