The images of an empty A-League stadium is enough to haunt those who remember the NSL
On a ‘perfect-one-day-beautiful-the-next’ May day in 1997, 40,446 people (98.5% of them Queenslanders) packed into a then capacity Lang Park to see Brisbane Strikers defeat Sydney United, 2-0, in the national soccer league grand final.
In his 1998 book on his playing career My World is Round, Frank Farina made this observation about that game, in which he was player-coach and one of the goalscorers:
“... it wasn’t a classic game of football. It was a great atmosphere with great hype. Take away the crowd, take away the atmosphere and play the same game, and no-one would say what a fantastic game of football it was.”
Together with good home crowds every game for Perth Glory from their establishment in 1996, many people thought football had arrived. It hadn’t.
But it did whet the appetite for many, and it did convince the PFA to raise funds for, and conduct, their ground breaking research into the optimal features of a national competition. It became the basis for the A-League, even though not followed in its entirety.
And now we’re seeing the impact of active – and other – supporters staying away from A-League games.
It was bad enough on Thursday evening when Central Coast Mariners played at home against Melbourne City. But it was just awful to see Sydney Football Stadium last night. If the ‘shame file’ was leaked by the SCG Trust – and it’s worth noting that some insiders think the finger has been unfairly pointed at the Trust – they ought to have got a message as, one hopes, did FFA, Hatamoto and others.
Tonight it’s Western Sydney Wanderers turn. Pirtek Stadium without the RBB will be a shadow of itself.
All power to fans for uniting. It’s a good thing. Let’s get the appeals process fixed. Let’s push for cultural change at FFA in terms of the prism through which they understand and appreciate football and football fans. As I wrote about here, and as Archie Fraser and Lyall Gorman, both former heads of the A-League have said this week, it needs it.
But once we’re through this weekend, it’s onwards and upwards.
Supporter groups should ensure that they are part of the FFA review from the beginning. The timeline, process and the recommendations that go to the Board in February should be agreed. That is one important way of FFA showing they are willing to be more inclusive and accountable to the game’s equal most important stakeholders – fans.
Otherwise, as Farina said: “Take away the crowd, take away the atmosphere and play the same game, and no-one would say what a fantastic game of football it was.”
