As the FFA Cup begins to heat up, football fans across Australia are warming to the prospect of witnessing regular competitive action once again.
Sure, having the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool in the country during an otherwise dormant period in winter was fantastic, but the lack of any real meaning to their results meant there was an element of the game missing.
That won’t be the case in any of the FFA Cup round of 32 ties this week and next.
Watching these knockout games could be seen as a case of taking a step down from seeing Cristiano Ronaldo et al, and from a technical point of view it certainly is. Indeed, this was highlighted when the two sister City clubs clashed on the Gold Coast. Manchester City went on to play Roma and Real Madrid, while Melbourne City got on with their preparations to face Edgeworth Eagles from Newcastle’s outer-west suburbs.
However, with more than just pride on the line in this fledgling cup competition, A-League fans can once again throw themselves into the routine of spending far too much time and money supporting their club – as any self-respecting football fan does.
A few A-League clubs will clash early on, with Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory doing battle on Tuesday August 11, the same evening Central Coast Mariners and Wellington Phoenix, as well as Western Sydney Wanderers and Brisbane Roar face off.
But for the other four A-League outfits, status is very much on the line against state league opposition.
City’s trip to Newcastle should be comfortable enough, despite Edgeworth currently topping the table in Northern NSW. Their Melbourne counterparts the Victory, meanwhile, will also journey into NSW, as they lock horns with Balmain Tigers.
Adelaide have the awkward trip up to Darwin in front of them, before they face Olympic SC. Sydney FC will also be spending plenty of time on the road, bound for Sorrento in Western Australia.
Blockbuster fixtures they may not be, but this bringing together of grassroots football with the professionalism of the A-League in a meaningful way is exactly the sort of thing to lift football’s collective temperature at the moment.
And, let’s face it, in an off-season devoid of a World Cup or Euro Championship – not to mention a dearth of big-name signings in the A-League – football needs to make some noise heading into the second half of the year.
While the stars on show in Melbourne last month certainly stole the headlines, the lure of a true contest will have the die-hard fans excited in August. That’s the sort of thing the game needs if it is to make any sort of impact leading in to NRL and AFL finals time.
This is the time when you see upsets occur, and where careers are born from one audacious strike. That’s not because of the size of the global audience, nor because sponsors are throwing cash at the event. It’s because these games, played from run-of-the-mill local parks to state-of-the-art stadia, actually mean something.
For football to continue to grow in this country, a vibrant sudden-death cup competition is essential. Every player, coach and official involved in this round of the FFA Cup knows it.
For professional and semi-professional clubs alike, there’s plenty on the line, and that may be the best way yet for the game to capitalise on the attention it has recently received.
It seemed a fantasy that so many of world football’s stars would gather in Australia over the past month. And after the glitz and celebrity that came with the International Champions Cup, it’s back to reality for Australian football.
The truth is, that reality could well be better than the dream.
Brendo
Guest
Gungahlin did really well. Very unlucky not to take it to extra time. For me though South Hobart were the surprise packet. Pushing Sydney United to penalties on Sydney's home turf was a fantastic effort. Huge improvement by them from last year. Edgeworth also did very well to push City as well. If not for too pieces of brilliance from Mooy we may well have see our first A-league knocked out of this year's cup. On another note though that is 4 from 4 now that NNSW teams have failed to make it past the Round of 32. Will be some pressure to drop their allocation to 1 team and give SA another slot (especially if Croydon Kings also progress tonight).
UncleRon
Guest
Must admit I'd never heard of Balmain Tigers football club until a few days ago and I live in Balmain. Watched the game at a local pub last night on Fox Sports and it was great to see a bunch of amateur players up against the A-League champions. OK they got flogged 6-0 but they seemed to really enjoy it and about 5000 turned up at Leichhardt Oval to cheer them on. The other games were streamed live for free and at the end we saw a penalty shootout between Sydney United and South Hobart. Well done FFA.
Aaron Killian
Guest
I think the FFA are wrong to suggest that promotion and relegation will only become effective from 2035, you never know what might happen after the most progressive decade of football in this country
70s Mo
Guest
Just got back from Leichhardt oval. Was a super night - fantastic entertainment and great schnitzel sandwich - Bal GK had us in stitches
cm
Guest
Better than Sydney fc got last year against adelaide.
Realfootball
Guest
Definitely 2, and the cannabis was being smoked by the "designer".
AZ_RBB
Guest
Pens at Edensor.
bryan
Guest
All the stadium tickets have been sold out for the Olympic vs Adelaide game tomorrow. Standing room only. unfortunately, not hot enough up here yet to make it an interesting game. Play it in November and Olympic may have a chance.
RBBAnonymous
Guest
Thats a fantastic crowd. Good stuff.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Official crowd in Leichardt: 4,849 Super stuff. Mid-week. Amateur club playing.
AZ_RBB
Guest
5-0 already. MVFC looking the goods early in the season.
Waz
Guest
My favourites so far are that it looks like: (1) side show bob (2) a canabis plant (3) a paint ball splat
At work
Roar Rookie
Really happy Fox set up the camera on the hill too, that way we have a great view instead of an empty hill. I can see this game finishing up 5 or 6 nil unfortunately
AZ_RBB
Guest
No live blog? That's alright. Very entertaining first half in Leichhardt. Technical superiority of MVFC on show but good on the Tigers for putting up a fight. Great crowd at the Oval considering how cold it is. Second half will be even tougher for the Balmain boys so I'll be very impressed if they keep it 3-0 or better.
At work
Roar Rookie
Yeah I fortunately got that wrong. Happy that I get to watch the game on Foxtel instead of their streaming site instead
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Crowd of 3000 estimated to be at Leichardt Stadium to watch a team of amateurs playing the ALeague Premiers & Champions. Crowd still streaming in with many queuing whilst Berisha has put MV 0-1 up after 10'. #MagicOfTheCup http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLjkwBkUEAA-wLD.jpg
Mister Football
Roar Guru
I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure that Gunghalin United was once known as Juventus. I spent a year studying at the ANU in the mid 80s, and if memory serves me well, they had a club house in the Jamison Centre (or one of the nearby shopping centres) which used to run a little Italian restaurant. My memory is getting pretty sketchy, but I"m pretty sure the ANU Italian Club met regularly at the clubhouse. More often than not, we had the joint to ourselves and had a pretty good time.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
8 competitive matches over 2 days during the ALeague off-season. FFA is slowly building a real football calendar. MVFC has named an attacking line-up that includes players who played Asian Champions League & multiple ALeague Grand Finals. Certainly no questions about whether MVFC is taking this match seriously.
Waz
Guest
I love this competition, if there's any (minor) criticism it's that it's over a little too soon. In England it starts in the second half of the season so even if you're having a poor league season there's always the cup to look forward to. However that's minor, it's a great Comp. if I could make one change it would be to bring the HAL in at the Round of 64 (one round earlier) and have them all play away to lower league sides. Those ghat survive can then go through the mandatory A League culling process, as it is in pre-season that should be possible.
MatthewSkellett
Guest
Talk about imagination and fantasy did any of you guys and gals get a load of this season's CCM strip? ;-)