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Am I the only person who feels like something of a fool taking a knitted scarf to a game of A-League football?
I’ll be there on Saturday night cheering on the Sky Blues against the Wanderers, what I will not be doing is taking my scarf.
I picked it up a couple of years back and it’s pretty handy in July but completely superfluous when it comes to football in Australia.
Recent weather conditions have me thinking about the rather quirky use of knitted scarves and other behaviours and cultures in our game.
Sure we get the theatre and history of fans stretching their scarves out to their full width, holding them above their head and singing with passion and pride.
But let’s not forget why they have these items of knitwear in their hands in the first place. They purchased the scarves because football was traditionally a winter game.
Times have changed and there is more football than ever being played outside the winter months, yet the adoption of scarves would have seemed seasonally logical to fans around the time of their origin.
Somehow, in our desire to emulate the traditions of European football, which provided much of our knowledge of the game and informed our style and culture of supporter-ship, we failed to realise the opportunity that was presented to us.
The chance to develop our own traditions and customs in the A-League, unique to our country, climate and personalities still exists. Embracing it is the challenge.
It has long been a bugbear of mine to watch fans imitate chants, songs and mannerisms of our international counterparts. I guess as a nation of migrants, apart from our traditional owners, it is to be expected to some degree, yet our uniqueness as a nation gives us scope to create something quite special.
When the Liverpool Legends came to Australia last January, I was pleased to note that my ANZ Stadium membership allowed me a seat in the members. I took my neighbour, a staunch Liverpool man from way back, but certainly not a passionate A-League fan.
Listening to You’ll Never Walk Alone, was great. A forty thousand strong crowd belted it out and at least ninety per cent, were engaged in the performance.
Listening to sports talk-back on the following Monday and hearing Graeme Hughes (a man who I have written about in glowing terms previously) drool over the event and describe the rendition as one of Australia’s greatest sporting moments was sickening.
Being a Liverpool fan, he would say that. To a Manchester United, Chelsea or Tottenham fan it was just that song that Liverpudlians sing before every game. Nice tune, not even their song though. I’m not sure what Rodgers and Hammerstein would make of its use.
Both Hughes and my neighbour were more inspired by that simple little ‘ditty’ than anything they have seen on home soil in A-League matches. The day that we are moved in the same way by expressions of passion at A-League matches will be a red letter day for Australian football.
The often cited reason for both of their reactions is that the A-League is rubbish compared to EPL, La Liga or Serie A and expecting people to engage in the same way with ‘substandard’ football is unrealistic. After all, isn’t our league stagnating? The season sinking into mediocrity?
My counter here is simple. I watch a couple of matches from Germany, Spain, France and other European Leagues each week and the standard of play is, no doubt, superior in quality to the A-League.
We are all well aware of that fact. Yet watching two teams low on the ladder battle out a potentially vital game with relegation ramifications, can sometimes be more entertaining that a bland encounter between two top teams scared to lose.
Sure the standard of play will not be as high in the relegation battle as the table topping clash, yet is the lesser game deemed worthless because of this chasm, which at times, can be vast?
If we get to the point where it’s EPL or bust, football has reached a very sad place.
The reality is, that for both Hughes and my neighbour, it was another example of the annoying tendency for many Australians to be more closely connected with overseas leagues and a subsequent reluctance to embrace the home grown product.
Attempting to recreate atmosphere, style and culture merely makes us look inferior, as the comparisons are sometimes unflattering. We are far better served introducing some things into our brand that identify us more definitively and cut the apron strings to other leagues.
A first step in developing a local identity could be promoting a culture of hats at our grounds for afternoon matches. Considering the melanoma rates in this country, it seems logical. Let’s ditch the scarves and create a sea of colour with our headwear which will protect us from the predicted unbearable temperatures of the future.
After the hottest summer on record on the back of the previous hottest summer on record, which seems to be the meteorologist’s mantra in recent times, why don’t we make a statement to our fans, the world and our kids about the realities of sun safety and ditch traditional scarves in favour of caps and broad brimmed hats?
Sure, night matches are a different story altogether and on a chilly summer night in Melbourne or Wellington, I guess we can all pull out the scarves from the mothballs.
The decision to move to summer football has inevitably led to discussion around the extreme conditions which players are sometimes forced to endure. Never has this been more in focus than after the heat experienced on the eastern seaboard last week.
Images of players prostrate, covered in cold towels and utterly exhausted have become common.
Rather than implementing drink breaks in extreme conditions, they should be part of the A-League regulations and applied to every match.
Moreover, the FFA should show initiative and perspective and commit funds and research into developing cool suits appropriate to wear on game day. A lightweight and functional device that offers some relief from the conditions seems like a sensible and appropriate step considering our climate.
V8 Supercar drivers currently enjoy the technological advances within motor racing, which have led to suits that give the drivers relief from the stifling conditions in the cockpit.
The last thing a footballer needs is a cumbersome apparatus on their upper body and I’m sure cool suits have been used in training and recovery, however a concerted effort to improve the way players are looked after from an occupational health and safety perspective is something we should pursue as a football nation.
Much was made of the adoption of international standard seating for the technical areas at Australian football grounds. No doubt it makes many feel at ‘home’ seeing the familiar style, yet why emulate?
Many would cite the argument that the manager is protected from potential harm. No doubt this has been an issue around the world at times, however not something that is a real consideration in this country.
A uniquely Australian design to allow for increased air flow and sun protection should be on our agenda.
These ideas reflect something that Australian football has grappled with over the years. The conglomeration of styles that come together when our Socceroos go into camp, the way our game is marketed and promoted and our ability to attract new and younger fans to our local league are all issues around identity.
The question of who and what we are as a footballing nation is a vital one. What we can’t be is a collection of scarf wearing, A-League bashing fans who constantly compare our ‘substandard’ league to more wealthy and impressive ones around the world.
Hopefully, the Sydney derby will once again remind us of just how terrific football can become in this country.