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AUSTRALIA EMBRACES THE ROUND BALL, FINALLY 27-9-06
Peter Holmes
In the not too distant past, Association Football and Australia never really gelled in the same sentence as far as the media and powerful were concerned. This was for various cultural reasons and because of the sports own desire to implode during the numerous failings and false dawns at the administrative level.
It was considered a joke by many in the great Southern land, and I've documented some of this history and derision in a previous article (Wogball - A Game For All The Sheilas).
In truth, our game was always considered a very poor relation to the other more popular football codes of Aussie Rules, Rugby League and Rugby Union. Plenty of Aussies liked and played the round ball game but in their obvious passion for the sport, their hearts were always focused on the intensity surrounding the big leagues of Europe and in their previous old homelands.
Such is the way in a country that has immigration as one of its primary foundation stones and is thus made up of many cultural ingredients tossed in to the melting pot by the many people from the numerous nations who call themselves Aussies.
The one common denominator that can bring those different folk together is the battle of competitive sport and Australians excel at every type of sport. They revel in the confrontation of this healthy past-time especially in team sports.
They will try any form of sport no matter how obscure and will have a go at all the many disciplines that encompass so many different methods of taking on the World. For a country presently shoving the birth rate above twenty million souls, Australia certainly punches well above its numerical weight in population when compared to similar sized countries.
A sporting generalisation I know but, football is king here for one half of the sporting calendar and cricket takes over in the stifling beach friendly heat of an Oz summer.
In deference to the other codes of football, which are all massively popular here, the unique game of Aussie Rules is top of the pile in most terms, with a very robust and well supported national competition, the AFL, which is played in all states but paradoxically by no other nation on the planet. The Irish play something similar in conception, Gaelic football but, in truth, the Aussies are World champions by default because they have no other opponent.
Rugby League is called a national competition, but is mainly based on Australia's more populace eastern (Pacific) seaboard. The national claim is brought home by the fact that Melbourne Storm take on Brisbane Broncos in the NRL grand final in Sydney shortly, in a sport that is predominantly based in New South Wales and Queensland.
Without doubt, it is the most competitive, strongest and highest level of the sport at club representative grade on the planet. The Australian League team, the Kangaroos, has a quite awesome international record and they have been the best proponents of the code for so long that last year's defeat to New Zealand came as a huge shock, except to the cocky Kiwis of course.
Rugby Union is played competitively in a provincial championship called the Super 14's between the best teams of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Anyone who has watched this championship will tell you how good it is, and that is simply awesome. At the international level the sport is bestrode by the best team on the planet in the fearsome 'All Blacks' of New Zealand but Australia have won the World Cup twice and always give their best at the finals as fierce competitors.
As you can see, Association Football therefore has a hell of a lot of competition on the sporting landscape of this island continent. Then, when you factor in that Australia are in the top echelon of hockey, Davis Cup tennis, basketball, netball, swimming, test cricket and one-day cricket you begin to wonder if there is any room left for our game.
In trying to finally get a strong consistent foothold in the market, the old national ASL was disbanded and reformed as the A-League, an eight-team national competition with one team franchise from NZ, which nearly shot itself in the foot by having a fourteen month break before the inaugural season kicked-off.
Regardless, the competition created arguably a higher level of club football than previously seen on the Aussie and Kiwi mainlands. Then came the catalyst for renewed optimism and an indelible place notched into the psyche of all Vegemite munching Australians.
The Socceroos gloriously and dramatically qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany and then went on to give a brilliant account of themselves, becoming a favourite of most neutrals. This gave the game in Australia a massive boost akin to a tidal wave sweeping everything up in its path. It created huge heroes of the Socceroos and significantly, the whole of Australia united behind the team for the first time ever and the neon halo effect rubbed off positively on every single aspect of the game.
As the heroics of the Socceroos fade to memory the national team takes it's place on a different avenue of FIFA's Monopoly board as a member of the more demanding and competitive Asian Confederation bringing with it far stiffer opponents than the Solomon Islands and thus greater expectation after the heroics of Germany. The game is making every attempt to blossom under the umbrella of the Socceroos at a national level in competition with the multitude of other culprits.
Last season's inaugural Australian Hyundai 'A league' champion, Sydney FC, were coached by German Pierre Littbarski, who has since left for other climes to be replaced by ex Motherwell boss Terry Butcher who has likened the standard of football as being equal to the Scottish Premier league minus the Auld Firm and Hearts. I still haven't worked out if the wry Mr Butcher meant that to be a statement of good or bad.
Sunderland's recent acquisition of Sydney's mega-star Dwight Yorke has robbed the A-league of it's acknowledged marque player and champion disco-lizard. So the search is on by all clubs to replace snake hips of Trinidad with other draw cards and I found it amazing that names such as Stan Collymore, Benito Carbone and Romario have filled the pages of websites and broadsheets as possible marque men. All I can say is let's be bloody thankful that Sir Stanley Mathews has sadly passed away as even Lager Athletic's Pork Gascoigne has-been (literally!) touted as a draw card in the past.
The signs are generally good though that this time things will be different and financially the league is viable, a good sign of which was reflected in a record crowd for a home and away club game. The team at the top of the ladder at present, Melbourne Victory, recently drew a crowd of nearly 40,000 for a top of the table grudge against Sydney in competition with various AFL games in the Victorian capital that weekend. A very encouraging sign as previously this game would have been lucky to draw 12,000 or so.
As the Euro based Socceroos age and reach the twilight of their overseas careers, they tend to wander back into the A-league, witness ex Brummie star Stan Lazaridis who has returned to Perth to play for Glory, along with old Socceroos Tony Vidmar and Kevin Muscat.
Allied to media statements by good mates Lucas Neill and Tim Cahill that they hope to finish their playing careers in the competition. There's even a smattering of overseas players cropping up and a few of those ubiquitous Brazilians plying their trade notably for Melbourne. The buggers get everywhere.
In time maybe, some Aussies who would normally be tempted by the Euro lower leagues may opt to stay here and play as the league grows and wages increase. The pull of the top leagues is far too strong though and I can't see that ever changing.
Finally, football has something tangible and productive to build on in Australia as the country embraces the game on it's own merits and not as a threat to everything intrinsically Australian.
Enough said,
ErimusRed.
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