The Beautiful Game

Did FFA Cup scheduling rule our any chance of a  Palm Beach win? This week Palm Beach, ended their fairy tale season fittingly in the grave yard of Gold Coast Football. A 5-0 demolition at the hands of a quality Central Coast outfit leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of a club that had an almost faultless season. Palm Beach dominated in Queensland posting a remarkable 17 wins from 26 games in the season proper, 7 points from their nearest rivals. The Sharks also added a State Level NPL Grand Final win, a National Level NPL Semi Final berth and of course a Semi-Final berth in the FFA Cup. It was a hugely successful year for the Sharks, topped off with strong crowds of over 2,000 to watch them in the FFA Cup that would surely set them up financially for season to come. However despite the accolades something doesn't sit well. A 5-0 loss to Central Coast. A team that despite playing great football did itself face a tight turnaround from the previous weekend's match, ...

Could state league football solve the A-League off-season problem? Six months is a long time. Unfortunately this is how long a-league fans need to wait until they see their respective teams battle it out for points. Sure for a few fans the development of Western Sydney’s new a-league club will be entertaining to watch but the bottom line is nothing constructive is being done to keep fans entertained. Ask any business person and they will tell you that this isn’t good for the league. The break means many fans turn to rival codes and many more forget about the league completely! A-league fans are at risk of becoming disengaged with the game over this period. Being a young league the FFA needs to make sure fans connect with clubs the same way fans have connected with AFL and NRL clubs but the half year off-season gap threatens the A-League’s potential to do this. The FFA must organise off-season fan engagement as soon as possible but what can the FFA do to solv...