Embracing old soccer fans key to the west

Embracing old soccer fans key to the west

Michael Cockerill
September 12, 2009


BY THIS time next week, football fans in the western suburbs of Sydney should know whether they will have their own A-League team to support next season. Out of the wreckage of two failed bids, Football Federation Australia is frantically trying to resuscitate enough interest to get a 12th licence over the line. It's going to be a close call, but clearly FFA chairman Frank Lowy sees a second Sydney team as strategically vital to the long-term welfare of the competition.

Here's an idea. Why doesn't Lowy, who's sold his stake in Sydney FC down to 15 per cent, divest himself of all interest in the Sky Blues and fund the new team in the west? The Westfield empire, after all, did germinate in a delicatessen in Blacktown. But we digress.

Whatever the solution to a thorny dilemma - and the FFA must shoulder a share of the blame for what's been a flawed process - what's not in doubt is the potential for football west of Woodville Road. Tomorrow, at the foot of the Blue Mountains, that potential will be demonstrated yet again when Marconi Stallions and Sutherland Sharks meet in the grand final of the NSW Premier League.

Every time there's a significant game at CUA Stadium, the locals vote with their feet. Whether it's a NSWPL grand final, or a pre-season match involving Sydney FC, there's usually a crowd of 5000 or more inside Penrith's showpiece stadium. That might not sound like much, but it's a rock-solid foundation. Whether Penrith, or Parramatta, or Homebush Bay, becomes the venue for a new team - or possibly a combination of all three - there's a fair argument crowds for a west Sydney team would at least match those drawn by Sydney FC.

Fans in the ''heartland'' might be hungry for another taste of professional football, but to get them will require honesty and hard work. Jaundiced by their frustrations of the old NSL, they are perhaps the most demanding in the country and don't like being taken for granted. So more than any other team, a west Sydney side must embrace - truly embrace - what John O'Neill famously coined ''old soccer''. The same people the FFA has preferred to marginalise.

The stands will be full of ''old soccer'' at tomorrow's NSWPL grand final. Including those who have crossed the great divide. Newcastle Jets coach Branko Culina and Central Coast Mariners boss Lawrie McKinna will be there - ostensibly to scout for players, but also because both men are proud of their connections to the past. That past included a time when Marconi Stallions were a benchmark for every other club in the country. Since the old NSL was closed down in 2004, the Stallions - who chose not to bid for an A-League licence - have struggled to adapt. In fact, the four-time national league champions of Australia are still looking for their first state league championship. Credit coach Lee Sterrey, then, for bringing pride back to the ''Palace''.

Not only that, but Sterrey's astute recruiting netted him three imports - Iraqi international Ali Abbas and Ivory Coast duo Ousmane Toure and Vamara Diarra - who are surely destined for bigger things. Ditto the Sutherland trio of Panny Nikas, Jim Bakis and Nick Stavroulakis. The latter has been with Brisbane Roar this week, and Frank Farina wants him back for further scrutiny after the grand final. Further proof that second-tier football continues to provide a pipeline of talent for the A-League and a credit to the work of young Sharks coach Robbie Stanton.

What to do with second-tier football remains a huge conundrum, and while the FFA has set up a taskforce to look at the matter, there seems to be little urgency to find an outcome. Tired of waiting for the FFA to act, don't be surprised if some of the more ambitious second-tier clubs around the country start to take matters into their own hands.

Hurdling all these obstacles will be the task of a new western Sydney A-League team. Whether it's too late to get to the finishing line in time for next year remains to be seen. If that's the case, the FFA must surely give Canberra the green light. Nobody really wants an 11-team league.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/michael-cockerill/2009/09/11/1252519638222.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Interesting last comment: "If that's the case, the FFA must surely give Canberra the green light. Nobody really wants an 11-team league"

JUst adds more proof that canberra, south coast and tasmania aren't being considered even if they have "the best bid we have ever seen".

Every time there's a significant game at CUA Stadium, the locals vote with their feet. Whether it's a NSWPL grand final, or a pre-season match involving Sydney FC, there's usually a crowd of 5000 or more inside Penrith's showpiece stadium. That might not sound like much, but it's a rock-solid foundation.


Thankyou all the more reason to give it to Canberra