Last year I wrote an article for this very site, saying that what the FFA Cup needed most was a giant-killing act, similar to what many football fans of my generation were brought up on watching the English FA Cup.
Well, our version has delivered in two consecutive nights, in amazing circumstances.
On Tuesday, Green Gully, from the Victorian NPL, a club who had a brief 80s flirtation with the National Soccer League, knocked out the A-League’s Central Coast Mariners. They did so via a stunning 40-metre strike from Liam Boland in the 92nd minute of the match.
It was a goal that deserved to be repeated and admired all round the world, except Danny Choi from Blacktown City had already made headlines with his utterly outrageous 70-metre effort in Match Day One. How much of this long-range madness can we bear?
It was a shock victory, no doubt, but lurking in the backs of the mind of the cynical fan was the belief that the Mariners were ripe for this. They are coming off the back of an awful A-League season, and there has been only a lip-service transformation of Tony Walmsley’s squad thus far.
And so the next night, up stepped Redlands United.
Some fans might justifiably ask “who?” if they are not familiar with the Queensland NPL. Redlands were formed way back in 1918, but only emerged as a force in Queensland’s top tier in 2010 after a merger with Redlands City.
Without doubt, the visit of the reigning A-League champions Adelaide United to Perry Park for the Round of 32 Cup clash was the biggest game in the club’s history. What they did with that opportunity will live on in the club folklore for years to come, as they defeated the best club in the country 2-1 in an absolute thriller.
Here was cup history writ large. Adelaide were comfortably heading towards a 1-0 victory when a shocking mix-up between goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic and defender Tarik Elrich allowed Redlands midfielder Michael Lee to walk the ball into an empty net deep into injury time. The goal sent the match, which till then had been largely formulaic of part-timers against full-time pros, into extra time, and it became a classic.
Redlands scored again in the 8th minute of extra time, Lee managing to harass the Adelaide defence into turning the ball over right on the by line. He passed to substitute Tyler Bradley-Combe, whose first involvement in the game was to set up Paul O’Brien for a shot that rifled into the bottom corner of the net.
From that point it was purist cup football, as Redlands desperately defended their goal, repelling wave after wave of Adelaide attacks. The A-League champions threw everything at their opponents, with defender Jordan Elsey almost camped out in the Redlands penalty area as the match entered its last five minutes.
It was edge-of-the-couch stuff for neutrals watching at home and dreamland for the Redlands fans at Perry Park. When the final whistle blew and Redlands had courageously hung on, it signalled not just a mighty upset, but a coming-of-age for the FFA Cup.
The concept of the FFA Cup has been almost universally welcomed as a way of uniting the vast football family and shining the spotlight on the part-time clubs whose trail-blazing history is a part of the very fabric of the game in Australia.
It is unique to football. No other sport in the country has a competition where grassroots clubs and semi-professional or amateur players get the chance to pit their skills against the game’s elite.
However, there was the concern that the gulf between the various State Leagues and the A-League would lead to score blow-outs and lopsided games that might stifle ongoing interest.
Instead, the football community has been reacquainted with famous old names such as Marconi, Sydney United, Melbourne Knights and Adelaide City (who let’s not forget were the first State League club to defeat an A-League opponent).
It has also been introduced to new names, such as Floreat Athena, Surfer’s Paradise Apollo and Lambton Jaffas. Thanks to Green Gully and Redlands United, we now have another ingredient – genuine cup upsets.
There will only be a maximum of five A-League clubs in the Round of 16, which will be reduced to four if Wollongong Wolves upset Sydney FC next week.
Included in the final 16 are Blacktown City, Bonnyrigg White Eagles, Green Gully, Bentleigh Greens and Redlands United so perhaps clubs should start re-naming themselves after colours.
Though with TV cameras travelling to all kinds of suburban and rural destinations to cover the cup, there’s already enough colour in sport’s newest and most unique competition.
Nemesis
Guest
Why is the partial seeding of A-League teams an issue? Seeding teams in a tournament is not restricted to the FFA Cup. We see it in nearly every football tournament competition, from the World Cup Finals where teams are not randomly drawn from pots but are separated by FIFA rankings and also by confederation. The FA Cup which is the knock out competition that all football cups try to follow has seeding with the top division in England separated from the lower divisions and the non-league teams. In Germany, the top 2 divisions enter the German Cup late in the competition and when they do the Top 2 divisions are separated so that they must always be drawn against a lower division. And, it's not just football. Seeding occurs in tennis the major tennis tournaments to ensure the top seeds are kept in separate halves of the draw until the final. The FFA Cup is only 2 years old, I'm sure by the time we reach 50 years or 100 years we may find the structure of the tournament evolves. For now, I'm happy to enjoy the Cup as it is, even though it may not be the perfect structure.
j binnie
Guest
Justin - I wasn't "implying " anything,I was simply stating that at this point in time, no doubt due to financial considerations,the method of "drawing" teams out of a list of those sides who have qualified for the next round is not completely random.I was not "implying" that was a bad thing, just that it cuts down on the true spirit of an "all in cup draw" when some real crackers of games can be set up. Take the Redlands v Adelaide game. It was played on a reasonable surface at Brisbane's Perry Park but Redlands don't normally play at that venue so did not have "true" home ground advantage. Anyone who is remotely knowledgeable about such things know that, at present, the FFA Cup is not drawn in this manner and is set-up in such a way as to guarantee that "minnows" progress to the later stages of the Cup.With time that may disappear, but at present the draw is not "random". Cheers jb.
Hammerhead
Guest
I've always said that the draw shouldn't be set up as it currently is, that is, arranged so that at least one NPL team is guaranteed to reach the semi-finals. As we've seen from Redlands United and Green Gully the NPL clubs can stand on their own two legs without the draw assisting them. However I would arrange the draw so that every A-League club must play an away game against an NPL club in the first round. Can you imagine, say, South Melbourne hosting Melbourne Victory? Imagine the ticket sales and the revenue that would go to South Melbourne! The final should also be played at a fixed venue (Canberra?)
Justin Mahon
Guest
JB, mindful of what it was you were likely implying on that post, good to keep in mind that the ULTIMATE 'giant killing' option is to let a pure draw kill the viability of the entire Cup. Now THAT would be an own goal!!!!
Midfielder
Guest
Just a comment on the Redlands first goal.. Huge wraps to the striker ... the ball at his feet defender and keeper stranded on the ground... the temptation to belt it in and take out the back net must have been huge... he kept his head and walked it in...
j binnie
Guest
Griffo - Until the FFA cup draws are subject to completely random selection of clubs in "the draw" we can never expect to see the "giant killing" function reach its potential zenith.For financial reasons the administrators in Australian football have over the years ,and differentt forms of such competitions,always reverted to "fixing" the draw in order to keep the competition financially viable.I have personal experience of this and it is obvious to most people that the practice still goes on today with financial consideration outweighing the real "giant killing" potential of such a competition. Cheers jb
JR Salazar
Guest
There are already a number of players from the state leagues that will be signed by A-League teams a la Jai Ingham when their cup run ends.
Waz
Guest
I'm with you on that - if all clubs were playing out of an AAMI, new Pirtek stadium it would be ideal. Mariners could move to a smaller stadium to be honest but certainly Roar going to a 15k stadium as often muted is not right.
Waz
Guest
They could move, just soccer would have to pay for it.
apaway
Roar Guru
MelbCro I agree - much the same way Sydney FC and Sydney United matched up last season and drew a packed house to King Tom/Edensor Park.
Mark
Guest
For totally selfish reasons I'm crossing my fingers for Canberra Olympic vs Melbourne Victory. It's great when the Victory come to me for a change.
MelbCro
Guest
@ Apaway Knights v Victory would be a way bigger clash than any of the others ones you mentioned..
SVB
Guest
Waz Perhaps Sydney is different to Brisbane when it comes to preference in grounds. While the A-league teams need to have stadiums which can accommodate large crowds, a lot of the time the preference is the smaller more intimate grounds. Hence Pirtek Stadium being made to accommodate 30,000. They could have gone for a larger number of seats, but what is the point? Also CCM's ground is good enough for them, and same if Wollongong came into the competition. ANZ is seen as a sterile, cavernous stadium unless you are filling it up somewhere close to capacity (ie a derby match). While it might be easier to find parking or be able to buy food at these bigger grounds, I think the smaller grounds do an adequate job when it comes to servicing patrons. Especially due to the fact that most A-league crowds are between 10-20k. I don't feel any difference whether I go to Gosford or Allianz Stadiums. Look at the US as an example of how their crowds grew with smaller boutique stadiums.
Midfielder
Guest
Waz Interesting sometimes to look at crowds and what they bring and using a common net ticket price of say $ 20.00. Super Rugby was 472 but lets say 500K Football lets say 2 million Rugby League 3.3 million AFL 6.2 million Rugby 500, 000 @ $ 20.00 is 10 million plus national matchs revenue A-League 2, 000, 000 @ $ 20.00 is 40 million plus Socceroo match revenue League 3, 300, 000 @ $ 20.00 is 66 million , plus SOO and Test match revenue AFL 6.2 million @ $ 20.00 is 122 million The FFA Cup & ACL in time could greatly add to revenue from crowds. They are not included above.
Midfielder
Guest
Blacktown City formerly Blacktown Demons are my NSL side .. just love Gabba stadium ... OK its got a new name but without doubt IMO the best located stadium in Sydney ... many a match I watched there ...
Kaks
Roar Guru
Wouldnt know who to support if Blacktown came up against Western Sydney!
Realfootball
Guest
The cameras won't move. Waz. The cabling means they stay where they are.
Waz
Guest
Striker, there's a few things worrying with your point on sides moving HAL games to boutique stadiums. It sounds fine in principle but: - whilst tv viewing exierience is important, the game day comfort of fans is over-riding. If we focus on what it looks like on tv at the expense of fans in the ground the net result will be fans staying away and watching on tv. Roar could move to Ballymore but find me a fan who prefers it over Suncorp? - the code is trying to grow attendances which is best done by marketing what we have better and increasing attendance on game day not moving to smaller stadiums and accepting smaller crowds. - Roar (and other clubs) fans put in something like $6m in revenues in match day takings, add-in other distributions for stadium naming rights and F&B etc and that number closes in on $7.5m I suspect. That's their largest revenue source by a long way and not to be messed with lightly. Tv only provides a third of that amount. - smaller stadiums are not that much cheaper to rent. That's an urban myth. The MLS model is the way to go, Sydney and Roar could/should be able to fund this with government support yet both clubs seem wedded to their current cathedrals. The focus then must shift to helping them fill them better eg you can have more promotions such as free tickets and kids go free when you have space to burn P.S. A simple solution to tv viewing exierience is as simple as moving the cameras to the opposite side of the ground. Jets, Roar and Smurfs all suffer from the same problem - their heavily populated members areas are on the same side as the camera so you don't see them. Move cameras over the other side, simple!
MatthewSkellett
Guest
If the Wollongong Wolves get Ronaldinho to do a guest appearance things might get interesting - even NG won't be holding his nose at that one ;-)
Waz
Guest
Griffo, Let's not go making simple excuses though, yes HAL sides are only just back into preseason and often have holes in their squads. However these are professional players who only get a 6-7 week break and fitness levels don't fall off that far just because you spent time at the beach. In addition they have a fully fit NYL/NPL squad to chose from who are, in theory, in the same league as their opponents. This weeks defeated HAL sides are probably more guilty of complacency than anything else; both did enough to comfortably win their games before their respective last minute dramas they just seemed to lack that bit of urgency. One things for sure, HAL opponents won't be caught off guard as easily in the future and State league sides will continue to have to lift their performances which is perfect, that's part of what we need the cup to do. I spoke with one of the non-playing Redlands players on Wednesday night and he said the FFA Cup lifted the intensity of training right from their pre-sesson and was the same across all clubs he thought. Again, exactly what the cup can and needs to do.