The FFA Cup may signal the start of a brand new season but we’re still stuck with the same old problem of some teams having to host home ties in neutral venues.
Wednesday night’s Round of 32 fixtures were as dramatic as we’ve ever seen in the six-year history of the competition.
Adelaide Olympic’s 4-3 comeback win over Perth visitors Floreat Athena on the synthetic pitch at the VALO Football Centre had to be seen to be believed, while Manly United twice took the lead and missed a second half spot-kick before ultimately downing Sydney rivals Mount Druitt Town Rangers on penalties.
Moreland Zebras also beat Bulleen Lions on penalties, while Gold Coast Premier League battlers Coomera Colts may have gone down 2-1 to Magpies Crusaders in Mackay but they probably enjoyed the occasion more than any other club.
Edgeworth FC were too strong for Darwin Olympic, even without former A-League regular Daniel McBreen, but it was Brisbane’s Olympic FC who had the honour of hosting the live Fox Sports game, against Bayswater City.
And despite some pre-match comments suggesting that Olympic were playing “at home”, that wasn’t quite the case.
The club founded by Greek migrants has been based in Yeronga on Brisbane’s south side since 1982, where their Goodwin Park home is one of the more atmospheric grounds in Queensland’s state league.
However, Wednesday night’s clash took place on the north side of the river, at Perry Park in Bowen Hills – home to NPL rivals Brisbane Strikers – because the lights at Goodwin Park don’t meet the required lux standards for broadcast.
It meant there was no repeat of the epic scenes at Olympic’s first ever FFA Cup game in 2014 when more than 2000 fans – including several Brisbane Roar first-team regulars – crammed into Goodwin Park to watch the Brisbane outfit down Melbourne Knights 3-1 in a fiery affair.
Having seen off the Knights to qualify for the Round of 16 that year, Olympic was then ‘rewarded’ with a home tie against the Central Coast Mariners at the derelict QSAC Stadium in Nathan.
It meant the reported crowd of 1374 fans that night rattled around in what is ostensibly a 48,500-capacity stadium.
Moving ties to the compact Perry Park makes a lot more sense, but it’s still a shame they have to be moved at all.
Last year, Lions FC reportedly offered to bring in their own lights to host Adelaide United at their storied Richlands home but still ended up playing their Round of 16 match at Perry Park anyway.
And in moving games to what are essentially neutral venues, we’re losing the essence of what’s supposed to make the FFA Cup great in the first place.
Less than a thousand fans turned out at Perry Park to watch Olympic FC hammer Bayswater 5-2, but there should be more in attendance when Brisbane Strikers host A-League outfit Wellington Phoenix at the same venue on August 7.
Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
The Strikers still conjure plenty of fond memories in the city, but in another case of strange scheduling, their clash kicks off at the same time as Brisbane Roar’s FFA Cup visit to Sydney FC. Lucky we’ve got the My Football app.
At the end of the day, these are first-world problems.
Olympic losing their home-ground advantage was probably a welcome trade-off given that Ben Cahn’s team got the chance to impress in front of the TV cameras.
The canny Cahn will one day coach in the A-League and if that’s where some of these lower-tier clubs want to end up – at least in the form of a second division – they’ll invariably need to invest in their grounds.
But it’s a shame some clubs still have to play FFA Cup games away from home.
There’s magic in the cup – just not as much as there should be.
oldpsyco
Guest
Fadida I'm not sure whether you misunderstand or just misrepresent. I never said FFA should gift money to clubs, nor did I suggest that FOX should! I did suggest FFA might LEND money to clubs to upgrade facilities. A LOAN, you know, the type you pay back. This would allow the same funds to be reused by another club and again and again, rather than the current Grant schemes in place, that are gone once they are allocated. It won't fix all the worlds problems, but it might lead to better grass roots facilities. Many grass root clubs have some fantastic innovative committees, with some quite progressive ideas, but have no way of raising the finance needed without the support of a larger body. Just like Mum & Dad being Loan Guarantor or the bank of Mum & Dad!
burgermeister
Roar Rookie
French Cup / Emperor's Cup have a lot of midweek fixtures. Point is (and my original point) it's not uncommon. Leagues do it to accomodate existing fixtures without lengthening seasons. Personally as a spectator I love mid-week fixtures and attend a lot of FFA cup fixtures in Brisbane.
jbinnie
Guest
Mike -Fadida, as a fan, is entitled to his opinions as to how a cup competition should be run and / or improved. National cup competitions have been in vogue since at least 1963,the first game I attended in Brisbane was a national cup tie between Azzurri (Brisbane) and a Greek side from Melbourne, played at the Exhibition Ground. Some names from the past who played that day for Azzuri were "Chookie" Vogler,Spencer Kitching, Alan Pitcairn, Col Kitching and a veteran ,Cliff Sanders who, I was told ,were all Australian Internationals. So we have to admit that cup competitions per se have been with us for some time now, I participated in an Australia Cup match (based on the then European Cup format) in 1968 when Latrobe travelled to Sydney to meet the previous year's NSW champions Prague, coached that day by a man who went on to become FIFA's Director of Coaching.Josep Venglos. Moving on a few years we then were presented with a national trophy for NSL teams, originally called the Philips Cup,which both Brisbane teams,Brisbane City and Brisbane Lions had occasion to win,City in Brisbane and Lions in Canberra. It was during this time that the QSF, the ruling body in Queensland first attempted to organise a Queensland Cup for all interested clubs to participate. It was then that the need for "draw fixing" became apparent as the travel and accommodation costs threatened to send clubs and the Federation "stony broke". And so we came to the Westfield Cup, the latest attempt at a national competition, and still faced with other problems,the name of the trophy points to the fact that it was Frank Lowy who indirectly,finally backed the comp. Lyall Gorman,who was employed by the FFA at the time probably had better insight into the problems inherent with such a comp and it is probably he who worked out how the early rounds are structured to ensure the multitude of Australia wide entrants can still participate. However it is the later rounds that are under discussion here and one of the advantages foreseen in the structure was the "leveling effect" that an open draw had on the competition. With NPL teams just finishing their season and the HAL clubs still to start theirs, it was reckoned that fitness and team structure advantages could in fact be favourable advantages to the "lesser" clubs. I think it is this aspect of the competition that has today's fans calling out for "open draws" and there is little doubt that an open draw after the HAL teams are entered, would throw up some very interesting games even though they would probably not fit the Fox criteria for filming.Cheers jb.
oldpsyco
Guest
Its the way everyone does it, its the way we've always done it! Repetition of past mistakes is NOT good management!
Oldpsyco
Guest
Fadida, don't try and speak for me! What I am suggesting is that the Sport and Television will benefit more from a Sport run by Football people than by Television executives! By all means sell the rights to televise Football. But Football as it IS played, not as some television exec thinks it should be played. Lets face it Television execs don't have such a great track record, look at falling ratings, accross the spectrum not just sport! Football needs to retain control over it future, sell the game just not its soul, keep what makes football, football!
Nemesis
Guest
And the format of the German Cup? Round of 64 - Bundesliga 1 & 2 teams enter - Teams are seeded and split into two pots of 32: Pot A: 18 Bund 1 + Top 14 from Bund 2 Pot B: Remaining teams - Pot B: Teams play at home Round of 32 - Again, teams are seeded - But, depending on results from Ro64, pots might not be equal in number. Random draw after one pot is empty. Thereafter, no more seeding. Random Draw.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
The German Cup kicks off on August 9. Games played between Friday and Monday, with the vast majority kicking off at 3.30pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
I think stadium standards are going to be a bit of an issue for a national second division. Particularly if it's linked by promotion and relegation to the A-League.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
I think your attitude sums up everything that's wrong with Australian football, Fadida. Never mind Olympic FC's lost gate-takings at Perry Park, or the fact Cooma Tigers had to play more than a hundred kilometres from home in Canberra, or that Newcastle Jets fans are tired of seeing their team being drawn against A-League opposition every single season. Because you aren't personally inconvenienced by the FFA Cup draw, no one else should be either. And instead of acknowledging the simple fixes that could improve the game, you criticise anyone who raises the issue. Football needs some big-picture thinking. So be it if you only care about yourself and your club, but that doesn't mean the rest of us should ignore these obvious issues.
Mick Jeffrey
Roar Rookie
If they wanted a Free Draw then I suppose they'd have no issue entering at the first qualifying round rather than being seeded into the last 32. Every cup competition I know of has some sort of system where the draw will never truly be free. Of course the FFA wpuld also be scared off at the possibility of 2 NPL clubs playing in the final in front of a crowd only slightly more than the Mariners wpuld get, much like every other governing body who run things business like rather than for the good of sport.
Nemesis
Guest
"If I was in charge of the fixtures for the FFA Cup, I would arrange it so that in the Round of 32, all home games are hosted by NPL clubs, and all A-League teams must be the away team." And, this is exactly what happens right now. It's exactly what has happened since the FFA Cup started 5 years ago. Not just Ro32. Every round, until the Finale, the A-League team will play away when fixtured against an NPL team. I'm shocked if any football fan doesn't know this. Even in the Semi-Final of FFA Cup 2015, Hume City vs Melbourne Victory was to be played at Hume City's home ground, but they wanted more money and moved it to AAMI Park. That was not an FFA directive. Hume City was given a big cash incentive by AAMI Park to play the match.
Admiral Ackbar
Guest
If I was in charge of the fixtures for the FFA Cup, I would arrange it so that in the Round of 32, all home games are hosted by NPL clubs, and all A-League teams must be the away team. The logic behind this is that fans of the NPL will be more likely to come out their club if they are playing against A-League opposition (especially if they are from an area that does not currently have an A-League license, eg Wollongong) and so greater ticket sales will mean more revenue for that NPL club.
Paul Nicholls
Roar Guru
Not League Cup, but the FA Cup rounds are on weekends. Lighting wouldn't be such an issue for a mid-week round of NPL if they are not being televised to broadcast standard.
Kannga2
Roar Rookie
All this and fox are losing millions of dollars according to regular media reports
burgermeister
Roar Rookie
Really? What about the league cup?
Kannga2
Roar Rookie
Someone mentioned before to just let them play at their own ground regardless , and if Fox want to glorify the cup , they can chip in , but I think fox are on the way out and the ffa can’t pay So maybe the ffa Cup goes to YouTube rather then lose the home ground And the contrived draw sucks . For the 4 th time in 5 years the jets play an A league team , that’s pretty drab
Kannga2
Roar Rookie
$500 a game , I think it’s too much , but it’s to keep that club at the top, which means the juniors will usually be strong . Strong grassroots clubs have been the backbone of the most successful sports over the years . I would prefer npl was amateur , but it’s not , so if my or your local club doesn’t pay its players ( particularly their own juniors) then they will constantly lose them to the other clubs in the npl . Btw Theres some local rugby league clubs that gets a few players jobs worth 150 k a year , to play 15 games of footy a year .
Paul Nicholls
Roar Guru
Not in England.
burgermeister
Roar Rookie
Relatively for Olympic it is a home game compared to Bayswater and in this case still delivered a significant advantage. Goodwin park is great, it's closer to home for me and I normally enjoy the the food available (and I would like to see the food & bev sales going to the club) but ultimately I don't mind it going to Perry Park. It's a great ground and very easy to get to.
burgermeister
Roar Rookie
except the npl is still running on the weekends during the cup. Midweek is fairly standard for cup comps.