The FFA Cup final should be on a Saturday

The cup final should also be on FTA, live and not on the hated delay

@ Nemesis: Yes, you're right, I don't know what contractual limitations FFA has in place when I make my comment that the game could have been scheduled for a saturday - and there may well be some important issues that make the decision more difficult. So maybe I should change my wording to 'should' instead of 'could' because as you point out there maybe other factors in play that FFA doesn't make us aware of. In saying that, provided they don't go broke doing it, paying the break fee(s) if applicable or re-negotiating in good faith contractual terms to accomodate such a schedule shouldn't be so difficult given the amount of time in advance that they have to organise such changes. Plus, whilst I'm actually open to the public criticising my decisions at work (I work in public sector tendering in Norway which is covered by the local Freedom of Information Act), my situation is somewhat different to David Gallop's in that he runs an organisation that is directly asking for the patronage of the public for it's whole existence and therefore we, the fans, have thus a right to publically question or state an opinion on what we get back for paying to see the spectacle. However, all the above aside, my opinion of how FFA have handled this is as follows: It's the FFA that makes the draw for both the Cup & League competitions - thus they have the potential for most foresight in planning where & when games can be held. They have the power to implement a Saturday Final if they really want to do it through proper planning of the season calender and it's a lack of foresight more than anything which is the result of them not prioritising the FFA Cup enough - if they really want a BIG Cup Final then make it a BIG priority. The crazy thing in all this is: if they HAD scheduled this game on a saturday, I reckon their 'metrics' would have gone through the roof and they would have filled a stadium even larger than AAMI Park with the caveat that they don't overprice the game like they did last year! :-)

In the tradition of the great FA Cup, the FFA Cup final should kick off at 1 AM in the morning on the second Sunday in May.

Mike - I don't have to spell this out to you but in Australian football we have the potential for Perth to play Sydney in an FFA cup final. Distance 4000 kms. In England the same potential is for Newcastle to play Southampton, Distance 450kms Obvious is the problem of getting fans from both clubs to attend a final played between them,should that occur. Just as obvious is the fact that we can not use the English Cup Final as an example of how an FFA cup final should or could be scheduled in advance unless of course a ground could be procured in say ----Alice Springs, the "dead centre" of our country. Now that comment deserves to be treated with contempt, I know, but a couple of weeks ago the same debate was raging on this site and then it was suggested that a "central" site be named and Canberra and the Gold Coast were mentioned as possibilities.At the time GC appeared to have something going for it being a place where a potential Cup Final could be played in conjunction with a long weekend where perhaps fans could be lured to spend a shortened holiday among that towns many attractions. Transport was not deemed a problem as flight,train and road services are all good, not to mention accommodation. The FFA Cup is only 3 years old and there is little doubt if the positioning of the final is to become "fixed" then much thinking "outside of the box" is going to have to take place. Cheers jb.

Fair enough, Arto. My apologies for being so abrupt but I'd reached the end of my patience with people yesterday when I posted. You say: "I think they FFA could have scheduled this game for a saturday if they really prioritised (& wanted!)" Well, how do you know what options are available for scheduling the FFA Cup without knowing what contractual & operational limitations the FFA face? In your job you make decisions every day. It would be ridiculous for David Gallop to say "Arto's decision was wrong" unless he had all the information you had when you made you decision. If we started with a blank sheet of paper, and David Gallop said "I want the FFA Cup to be played on a Wednesday night never on a week-end" then I will firmly join the "I think David Gallop is clueless" faction.

Another day & agian Mister AFL takes time off from watching reruns of Essendon v West Coast or GWS v Port Adelaide for the upteem time to post on the football tab with another pointless comment.

Midfielder Both Northerner and I are Optus customers and we don't get the Premier League, so clearly, you don't get it for free if you have a $30 per month prepaid phone deal. On the other question about ratings, isn't BEIN on Fox? And if it's on FTA, then there are those ratings to examine. There might be a day in the future when online audiences are important enough that they are measured independently.

Another day, another Mike Tuckerman thread. I love it!

Mid Did I say fans should run the game? No! Did I say fans should have a vote on FFA decisions? No! Why do you insist on introducing ludicrous extremes to the argument? The FFA have made a decision on the scheduling of this cup final which is drawing criticism from some quarters. In defence you are saying journalists and bloggers don't have access to all the information - well there's a reason for that, the FFA chose not to release the information (does it need to be kept confidential?). Mike made a simple assertstion - that the needs of the fans were overlooked with the scheduling of this game in midweek. I agree with him. Many others do too.

No need to start getting personal - "I’m not used to dealing with people who are so thick." If you think I'm thick, then you're either very young or have lived a very sheltered life - there's literally millions (billions?) of people who are after a succint and easy to understand reason/explanation of things (just reflect on the big political issues to have arisen this year around the world!). You have contributed on this site and as such you are complicit in the understandings people have of what you write - they are your words that are interpreted (for better or worse) so you shouldn't get so upset if people don't understand them the way you do. You argue that the only way you can "judge the competency of the FFA (or anyone)..." and thereby form an opinion is "... to have access to the same information the person I’m judging". Yes, I'm clipping extracts from your post, but it's these words you use ie: the formulation of your argument that people are free to interpret as they wish - how balanced that interpretation is depends upon whether the receiver has an ulterior motive - and as such you shouldn't take exception to someone have a different intrepretation to yourself as you have the same right to do that already! So to my own biases, yes, I'm an SFC fan (3rd year member actually), but I live overseas so I won't be (& wouldn't have been) to go to the game anyway. I'm somewhat critical of the FFA in a number of areas, but on the whole, I think they've done a good job for soccer since they came to being. I'm not the most particular consumer of information concerning the A-League as I tend to stick to the same sites, although I do come across some non-mainstream pieces often enough. My point being, I think they FFA could have scheduled this game for a saturday if they really prioritised (& wanted!) it and it's pretty disingenious of them to on the one-hand talk about 'metrics' in terms of tv-revenue/ratings, potential fans, increased exposure to the league as a whole, etc. in the expansion debate, and on the other hand go and do some pretty dumb things like schedule arguably the 2nd biggest day (potentially!) in the football calender on a wednesday when the attendence is likely to be affected negatively because of family 6 work committments for both teams! And they hen have the gall to say it's being played at AAMI Park because we got the best deal from the MC in terms of overall economic return!

Hang with me on this guys as I don't want to appear overly political but do need to explain something and it involves politics ... I don't know why but about 15 months or so ago for the first time I got interested in US politics and in particular Bernie Sanders. Beyond this I have in many ways grown tired of media reporting in Australia across a range of issues and today see most media organisations as opinion pieces and cheer squads more than in-depth analysis... So today I look for shows on teh net. One in particular is a left wing show called ""The Young Turks""" anyhow I will get to my point and how it could effect Football in Australia. During the US election i tuned into the ""The Young Turks""" for the election result and comments... GUESS WHAT THEY OUT RATED ALL THE FREE TO AIR CHANNELS AND HAD OVER SIX MILLION PEOPLE WATCHING AND BROKE AN INTERNET SITE RECORD WITH I THINK ONE AND A HALF MILLION HOURS OF WATCHING A SINGLE SITE. Why is this so important because within a few years this site and many others both left and right have huge """Youtube TV audiences""" I have no doubt if we go with Optus then Youtube TV will kick in.. Have a look at the size this site has grown too in a few short years ... this will be common if Optus win... https://tytnetwork.com

Arto No one suggesting people can't have an opinion .... What annoys people like me is when people say what i consider absurd things .. eg it would be easy for FFA to do ????? whatever ... !!!!! will work why don't FFA do it... The assumption or the way its written makes FFA seem close to the worst managers in the history... who are totally out of touch with fans, players clubs etc... Often leading to a mob charge based on a beyond wild statement to begin with.... Your point pertaining to better communication I fully support, and in this area FFA seem to often play their cards to close to their chest... I have no issue with debate I have huge issue with people especially paid journalist who make wild claims which anyone could do .... then say things which they have no idea off and say they are fact... This does not mean you need all information before you, what it does mean IMO is when people make beyond crazy statements [like its really simple to do] often for their own ego IMO they should be challenged.

It is simple. The rest of the damn world can figure it out but as usual, the straya apologists lead on with "We're special, it can't work here, it's so unique here." All because types like your Rugby League mate Ian are too thick to comprehend moving fixtures.

"So basically you’re saying, that because we don’t have the same information as FFA, we can’t have a valid opinion on whether it should be held on a Sat over a day mid-week!" No. That's exactly what I'm NOT saying. If you can't understand what I've written I can't help you. I'm not used to dealing with people who are so thick.

This topic actually covers so many areas. 1) When do the HAL teams come in - I think round of 64 random draw - no pots. 2) How many HAL teams should we have - this the basis of the HAL Scheduling and season length. This the area we need to be looking at. Frank Lowy said 14 teams so I will base my hypothetical off that. 3) If the FFA Cup is on Saturday night - shouldn't the HAL Grand Final be on Saturday for the benefit of away fans as well. 4) FIFA Breaks Let's assume that next year we had 14 teams (unrealistic I know). This scenario helps address the FIFA breaks ( at least fro the HAL). It extends the season and raises the profile of the FFA Cup. It does however create scheduling problems for the lower levels as they come into the end of the season - but surely it is easier to reschedule a lower league game anyway. We would start the season with a WCQ on 8th June vs Saudi Arabia. From 17th July - 2nd July the Confederations Cup is on. Start playing FFA cup Round of 64 games from 12th August - 3rd September. 4 each Saturday and 4 each Sunday. Tuesday 5th September 2017 Australia vs Thailand - final WCQ Play FFA cup Round of 32 games from 9th September - 17th September. 4 each Saturday and 4 each Sunday. Play FFA cup Round of 32 games from 9th September - 17th September. 4 each Saturday and 4 each Sunday. Play FFA cup Round of 16 games from 23rd September - 24th September. 4 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. Play FFA cup Round of quarter finals 30rd September - 1st October. 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Saturday 7th October - a home Socceroo friendly Sunday 8th October - FFA cup Semis. The HAL starts the following weekend. After 4 rounds the international break is on - schedule another home Socceroo friendly for 11th November. (possibly NZ given Remembrance Day) FFA Cup final 12th November HAL resumes until March FIFA Break where another pre World Cup Socceroo friendly can be held. The HAL resumes with the last round completed 22nd April 2018. Depending on finals format the HAL Grand Final on either 12th or 19th May 2018. World Cup Finals start on the 14th June through to 15th July 2018. I think this is the sort of season we will end up having eventually - with some tweaks when we go to 16 teams. We need to start to look at where we are looking to end up so that we can put in some consistency in how we schedule things as we move towards that point.

So basically you're saying, that because we don't have the same information as FFA, we can't have a valid opinion on whether it should be held on a Sat over a day mid-week! Maybe we shouldn't discuss the issue at all then as we don't have enough information available to us?! NO-ONE ever has 100% information on decisions and we make opinions (& decisions for that matter) based upon the info we have availble to us (and sometimes not even that!). Whether we agree or disagree with the FFA's decision here, surely we can raise our opinion on it regardless of whther we have all the information they have or not! It's then the FFA's (or other's like yourself and Midfielder & Cameron Kellett who are fronting this 'we don't know all the facts' idea) to then make others aware of what was involved in the decision-making process. If they choose not to disclose everything, well that's ok (it's their perogative!), but then they need to put up with the criticism they receive from those who disagree - and maybe that's ok too as like Midfielder points out, it's all a balancing act and maybe they value withholding information over the criticism they receive from some fans...

Clashes too much with the Finals of other codes, unfortunately...

Without fans at the game, the product won't be so attractive to all those couch-sitters so it's a catch-22, I'm afraid and IMO, the FFA should work on getting bums on stadium seats over bums on couch-seats as the former will attarct the latter.

@ Midfielder: I agree with you that we should expect better of those who get paid to comment on such issues, but that is true of all professional services - just as you a critical of Mike Tuckerman here (and in his other articles?), so is Mike critical of FFA on this (& others, by his own admission) issue. At some point, if the impression becomes that person X (be it Mike Tuckerman or any other journalist) is just a whinger and always trying to find the negative in what is happening in the field, they will lose the reader's/consumer's interest and dare I say, credibility with them such that they fade away from the forum. Such is the way with all market forces. The test of whether Mike has reached such a point might vary between individuals, but on the whole I'd argue he hasn't reached that point given the amount of comments here (or is this amount somewhat low?)...