Perth misses out again with the inaugural FFA Cup Final to be played in Adelaide, rather than the city in the west
Tony Sage has a point about the FFA Cup Final.
In fact, making the trip from east-to-west earlier this week is a reminder of just how well Perth Glory (and other Perth-based sport teams) do to deal with the travel. It’s not just the five-and-a-bit hours on the flight from east-to-west – slightly less going the other way – but the three-hour time difference that plays havoc with your body clock. (This is being written at 3.50am Perth time.)
They do it at least once a fortnight.
Interestingly, the FFA Cup Final was ‘water cooler’ talk in an office after the result was known yesterday evening – only those working shifts or not at all could actually watch it live. Putting aside that the FFA has been creative with the FFA Cup draw at every stage, there was no doubt in the minds of the three Perth Glory fans with whom I chatted that Perth would be overlooked as a venue for the FFA Cup Final.
When I suggested that perhaps their crowds were not quite as good as Adelaide’s this season, and that was a legitimate reason for such a decision – not to mention the time difference not suiting TV schedules - they said that the serial overlooking of Perth was part of the problem.
Their view was that, if given a chance for a big event, people would come. But because they are always overlooked, “we feel like something FFA has to have [in the A-League] because they can’t have a national competition without Perth, but they’re not serious about building the game here, or our team or helping out Tony Sage like they do other owners.”