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The FFA Cup is proof that many of the things we’re told won’t work in Australian football often do and that it’s not as difficult to change course as we always seem to think.
How good is having a national cup competition?
Wednesday night’s games were typically action-packed, as National Premier Leagues Victoria outfit Avondale hammered former National Soccer League stalwarts Marconi 4-1 in Broadmeadows in the TV fixture.
It was an entertaining affair sprinkled with former A-League talents like Joey Katebian, Michael Beauchamp and Marko Jesic, and it was expertly covered by Fox Sports and their commentary team of Teo Pellizzeri and Andy Harper.
And, as usual, the around-the-grounds coverage from the five other games – especially the giddily enjoyable Goal Alert as the goals flew in at Richlands and in Deakin – was one of the best features of the broadcast.
It will be just as much fun when the A-League teams enter the fray next week – not least when defending champions Sydney FC travel to Illinden to take on local rivals Rockdale.
Wait a minute. Marconi? Richlands? Ilinden? Wasn’t there a time when we were told these sorts of names would never again be uttered at the top table of the Australian game?
And wasn’t it Football Federation Australia themselves who kept delaying the start of a national cup competition, citing worries over costs and concerns about the TV coverage?
Yet we just watched one Victorian state league team beat a New South Wales state league team on live television – or, for some Telstra customers, through the My Football app.
The point here is that things can change. And just because FFA are in charge doesn’t mean there’s not a groundswell of support for change to happen underneath the top tier.
It’s a point worth remembering now that the 31 July deadline is upon us for the Congress Review Working Group to provide its recommendations around the governance of Australian football to FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation.
And it’s worth mentioning in context of the raft of changes the FFA suddenly seems willing to implement.
Loans of under-23 players between A-League clubs? The potential creation of a much-needed transfer system? Even furtive talk of abolishing the salary cap?
Why is it that now – when FFA are potentially months away from being thrown out on their ear – they are willing to introduce measures most clubs have been demanding for years?
Why are fans suddenly being consulted, active supporters being encouraged, controlled incendiaries being discussed and ticket prices being slashed when for years those who paid their money to attend A-League fixtures were the most ignored stakeholders in the game?
Maybe because FFA is staring down the barrel of oblivion brought upon by the sheer volume of people involved in football who want change.
That said, it’s not like football is the only code in Australia with problems. This has been a dreadful week for both NRL chief Todd Greenberg and AFL supremo Gil McLachlan.
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Greenberg, of course, is the executive who thundered to the media there would be “accountability” around a series of shocking refereeing errors that marred Cronulla’s narrow win over Canberra last Friday night – only to throw a couple of minor officials under the bus.
McLachlan, meanwhile, was forced to backtrack after he suggested the AFL was looking at trialling rule changes over the remaining rounds of the season in games with no bearing on the top eight.
It’s not schadenfreude that compels me to point this out – the NRL and AFL are more than capable of embarrassing themselves without some two-bit football columnist doing it for them – but rather a simple acknowledgement of the fact that running a code is difficult.
So let’s enjoy the FFA Cup while it lights up our football landscape and continue demanding the sort of changes that will make our beautiful game even better for everyone who enjoys it.