The Western Sydney Wanderers have got their FFA Cup semi-final venue and ticket prices right, now all that’s left is for fans to show up.
A Sydney derby at Penrith Stadium on a Saturday night? Yes please!
Ticket prices ranging from $10 to $25 for adults, and between $40 and $50 for a family of four? It’s almost as if A-League clubs are starting to listen to their fans.
And before we get into the nuts and bolts of Western Sydney taking on city rivals Sydney FC in a do-or-die Saturday night slugfest, it’s worth applauding the Wanderers for taking some initiative.
When the club was first founded, basing it in Parramatta – the de facto capital of Sydney’s sprawling western suburbs – made sense.
And if the Wanderers had their way, they probably would have preferred at least a couple more years in their Parramatta Stadium home before it was knocked down and rebuilt – even if the new Western Sydney Stadium is set to be world class.
Because let’s face it, Western Sydney’s temporary relocation to Homebush hasn’t worked. Despite their best efforts, neither Spotless Stadium nor the cavernous ANZ Stadium feels like home.
The Wanderers played in front of plenty of empty seats at ANZ Stadium. (AAP Image/Brendan Esposito)
And the resultant drop in atmosphere has had an obvious knock-on effect, with the Wanderers playing in front of some tiny crowds last season.
Taking a game to the foot of the Blue Mountains is not only a reward for the Wanderers fans who travel far and wide from all over the west to get to Homebush, it’s also a chance to convert a few new fans to the round-ball game.
Last time the Matildas played in Penrith, in 2017, they drew a crowd of more than 15,000.
It’s a region crying out for some top-class football, and playing the semi-final on a Saturday just means that fans don’t have to fight Sydney’s nightmare peak hour traffic to get to the game.
This will be the first game played on a Saturday in the competition proper since Melbourne Victory beat Perth Glory in the 2015 FFA Cup final.
Interestingly enough, that Saturday night final drew the smallest TV audience on Fox Sports of any of the deciders since the competition kicked off.
So there’s a need to strike a balance between providing accessibility for fans and the commercial realities of what has hitherto been a midweek cup competition.
After all, without Fox Sports setting up commentary gantries at windswept state league grounds across Australia to beam midweek football directly into our lounge rooms, there probably wouldn’t even be an FFA Cup to begin with.
But it’s nice to see a bit of flexibility around scheduling, and it’s interesting to note that after a tidal wave of relentless negativity, Football Federation Australia and their constituent clubs are starting to listen to fans.
Is it too little too late? It seems like an obvious question to ask why the FFA didn’t simply behave this way in the first place.
But if they’re suddenly open to discussion, then maybe it’s time to consider whether the FFA Cup is being played at an optimal point of the season?
Philip Micallef wrote an interesting piece for The World Game a couple of weeks ago where he argued that the entire FFA Cup campaign should take place during the A-League’s off-season.
And he reckoned the final should be played on a weekend before the A-League kicked off.
Could it work? It’s not like the current scheduling gives the so-called federation clubs a huge advantage anyway.
Will Wanderers fans show up in Penrith? (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
APIA Leichhardt looked absolutely knackered in their 2-0 loss to Adelaide United on Wednesday night – not surprisingly, since they wrapped up their league campaign more than a fortnight ago.
That’s a problem Bentleigh Greens will need to overcome if they’re to knock off Adelaide in the other semi-final on a Friday night at Kingston Heath.
The good news is there’s a bit of interest in these FFA Cup semis. Long may it continue – and here’s hoping the sensible decision-making sticks around too.
Griffo
Roar Guru
No worries RF. More interested in the discussion and thoughts behind it than a research article with references. No doubt there can be improvement, which should be good thing.
Dan
Guest
What about the Asian champions league? That gets poor crowds
Nemesis
Guest
Coward Punch Sport off-season for the next 6 months, we'll have put up with extra daily pettiness from the same miserable people who try to fill their sad, lonely & failed existence by trying to disrupt others enjoyment. 6 months they have their own little sport, no one bothers them. But, they just are so filled with misery they have to try to disrupt sport conversation others enjoy. Waste of time coming to this forum.
AR
Guest
Fussball’s Intellectual rigour: “Everything is perfect!”
Nemesis
Guest
@Waz you keep asserting the FFA Cup is not self-sustaining. Yet, you fail to provide any data to support this assertion. Which Notes or Pages within the FFA Annual Financial Statements should I refer to for information about the Revenue & Expenses relating to the FFA Cup?
Nemesis
Guest
This whole conversation is about expectations. Some people are suggesting the FFA Cup is not working, which suggests they think the FFA Cup has failed to live up to the expectations they have set. There is not a single expectation that I've set that the FFA Cup is failing to achieve. And, based on the information you provided, you have no data to make the case the FFA is not working. For sure, you can have your gut-feeling that the FFA Cup is not working. Nothing wrong with that. Aleague season is about to start and, if your team Brisbane puts in another season of failure, we can expect the Qld football community to whine about everything for the next 9 months.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Matt - plenty of people make the trek to Homebush from Penrith, Richmond, Campbelltown and the mountains of course. The one point that almost everyone makes is the duslike of watching at Sootless on an oval field and in the vast cavernous ANZ - except for derby games. Therefore people are more excited being able to attend at a venue that appears to tick most supporter boxes although last time it was used against Wellington, the organization and entrance to the stadium was pretty poor.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Who cares Fad. Im like you....not actually into the National Mens Cross-country netball competition.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
At Work you have my respect. I have a brother that is a Euro-Snob. He just doesn't get the idea that if you support our football first our football will grow. You go to the UK and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out that the EPL is the result of 100 years of enduring unquestionable support. Our other problem is generational. We have elebenty billion kids playing football. They are going to grow in a mighty strong support base. But we have to wait for them to grow. We have the support of a reasonably good gen x base but we have a heck of a lot of baby boomers who still see the John Warren perspective. .....that's not Australian, only the backyard yard sports are Australian. We are in a generational transition. I hope I live to see the day when Eddie McGuire Phil Gould Paul Vauntin Alan Jones etc see their nightmare become reality. When football is the big boy on the block. And i hope that on Tuesday night Mr Lowy is on an aircraft to anywhere that is a minimum of 5000 km fm Australia.
Sam
Guest
Closer to home,IMO,the FFA Cup has been successful in giving the lower tiers something to strive for,and the opportunity to knock off one of the 'big boys' of the A-League. Now,I recall an Aussie Rules club knockout cup competition that ran for only 4 years,from 2011 to 2014 (Foxtel Cup).Why was this competition discontinued?? Due to poor crowds and viewership. So from that perspective,the FFA Cup has done extremely well,and will only get better.
Waz
Roar Rookie
“Watching them compete fairly well with their A-league opponents has planted the seeds for discussion around a proper second tier“ I agree with that. But Mr Lowy says there’s no money for a second tier. So why not cancel the FFA Cup and divert the funds there? Or better still address the short falls in the FFA Cup so it becomes self sustaining?
Waz
Roar Rookie
Where’s the intellectual rigor in that lol. Sorry but no, if you want a discussion/debate I’m happy to oblige but I’m not playing Fuss-ball where you decide what’s right or wrong - just because things are where you “expect them to be” doesn’t make them right.
Matt
Guest
Far and wide from Western Sydney to Homebush? I live in Penrith and travel to Homebush all the time. It’s not exactly a trek. It’s actually really easy by public transport (drops you off at the door step) or an casual drive.
Andrew Belsey
Guest
A great move to play the game at Penrith. I was worried that they might of considered ANZ at one point, but that would have been a massive error as having a smaller ground and a bit of a scramble for tickets is not a bad thing.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
RF I have to strenuously disagree. The FFA Cup is putting in place a mindset that is seeing NPL pushing themselves to improve, to raise their standard. Initial crowds are not too bad considering that most games are evening games during the week, but the best thing is that the FFA Cup is proving the need for a second division. In closing, noting the FFA Cup is only a few years old, my question is , why not try to envisage what the Cup will be like in 10 or 20 years time we have only had the Cup a few years and look how many NPL teams are really challenging the top teir
Paul
Guest
Last report has the Pax at near 6000 on the first day. I stood on the pitch last night for a function and it is a carpet. Obviously, new turf was laid for upcoming Matildas game. All we need is the NRL posts to come down and the pitch to be mark. On game day, I expect the Penrith LAC and the Riot Squad to be lining Station St Penrith to look for flares being lit by the Cove.
Nemesis
Guest
No reason for 5. I'd be happy with 1. 1) it’s not paying its way, its diverting financial resources away from other areas of the game. Please provide evidence of this. I have the FFA's financial statements in front of me & there is no mention of the revenue, nor expenses for the FFA Cup. We do know the FFA Cup adds more media exposure for ALeague clubs & football during July, Aug, September. Media exposure that would not be available without the FFA Cup. 2) Attendance. Attendances are exactly as I'd have imagined. If people expected higher attendances it suggests they don't use common sense, nor observation, to reach their attendance expectations 3) Viewership. It’s failing to draw adequate tv viewership. TV viewing is exactly as I'd have imagined. If people expected higher TV viewing it suggests they don't use common sense, nor observation, to reach their TV viewing expectations 4) Sponsorship. It’s failing to generate commercial revenues I have the FFA's annual financial statements and there is no breakdown of sponsorship based on: ALeague, WLeague, NYL, MiniRoos, National Teams, FFA Cup. If you can provide the Sponsorship that the FFA Cup generates, please advise & then I can decide if it's failing, or succeeding. 5) Credibility. It’s rigged draw diminishes its credibility as a cup competition. The draw is not rigged. It's just set up with certain criteria that everyone knows in advances. Same as the UEFA Cup is not rigged, but it has special rules that prevents teams from the same nation meeting in the Group Stage. It has rules that ensures teams that are seeded the highest don't meet in the Group Stage. Every World Cup has rules that seeds teams. 6) NPL home games are moved to neutral grounds thereby eliminating a privilege of the cup. This is a Health & Safety issue that requires professional footballers to play competition matches at night with minimum light levels.
Fadida
Guest
The story with the FFA cup is always going to revolve around the NPL teams. There are only 10 A-league teams, and they can potentially win it by meeting only one other top tier team. No doubt a carrot, either financial or Asian place would see the big boys more invested. I take your points gentleman, is just I think at this stage the cup is doing more than we could have hoped for NPL sides. Watching them compete fairly well with their A-league opponents has planted the seeds for discussion around a proper second tier.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Why 5 areas, why not 3 or 7? Areas where the FFA Cup is not working: - it’s not paying its way, its diverting financial resources away from other areas of the game. - attendance. It’s failing to draw adequate attendances that are falling year on year. - viewership. It’s failing to draw adequate tv viewership. - sponsorship. It’s failing to generate commercial revenues - credibility. It’s rigged draw diminishes its credibility as a cup competition. - NPL home games are moved to neutral grounds thereby eliminating a privilege of the cup. I’d mention media “cut through” but that’s s football-wife thing bar WC comps. So there’s several areas that need attention. Or we can just deny them and wait for a crisis to develop ala the FFA right now?
Fadida
Guest
But fans of lower league clubs will, and like Derby County they will celebrate wildly when they knock off Goliath