SA Footy

johntheclaret wrote:Ah....sweet memories

foxsports.com.au wrote:THIS weekend sees one of the most “charismatic” days of the football calendar. Of course, what once was a day has now become something approaching a week due to the demands of television scheduleing, but you get the picture. The third round of the FA Cup sees the “big boys” enter the competition, and their grandiose entrance offers the minnows the chance either to play on a big stage or to see the biggest names of the game playing on a mudheap in front of the biggest crowd the stadium has seen in history (often quite possibly just 8000 fans packed like sardines into the stands).

This year, we have few ties that truly make the punter salivate, which pretty much reflects the polarisation of power in English football, but we do have prospects of shocks with Huddersfield Town hosting Birmingham City, and Bristol Rovers travelling up the M5 to play Fulham at Craven Cottage. We also have Burnley hosting Arsenal and, best of all, Staffordshire-based Chasetown, the “smallest team” to reach the third round, from Southern League Division One Midlands, hosting Cardiff City from the Championship. Sussex-based Havant and Waterlooville, from the Conference South, meanwhile travel to play Swansea City. Not only do the minnows get a chance to play the heroes, they very occasionally win: the victory of non-league Hereford United over Newcastle United, in 1972, is still considered by many pundits to be the “greatest” result in FA Cup history.

These tales of folklore have been nagging at me for quite some time, and they’ve got me thinking that football in Australia simply must develop a national cup competition. OK, so the logistics might be something approaching a nightmare, but surely the guys who turn out each week for such as Darwin City Buffalos deserve a chance to play against, say, A-League champions Melbourne Victory at Telstra Dome.

Surely it is not beyond the bounds of possibility to arrange first-round knockout regional fixtures, with the winners progressing to play another team from that region. After a number of rounds, each region could provide a team to go into the next stage of the competition. Of course, teams from the various levels of the game in Australia would enter the competition at different stages before the A-League clubs enter the fray. At some point, we’re going to get some team from rural South Australia, say, travelling interstate for what will surely be the club’s biggest day in history.

Now the Buffalos may well be unlikely to get all the way through the competition to play the Victory (there again, who would have thought that Montceau-les-Mines would reach the French Cup semi-finals last season) but it is surely not beyond reality to imagine a New South Wales Premier League club knocking off the A-League champions in a one-off tie. And such results can only help to spread the gospel of the game through the country.

Minnows enjoying a good cup run in England always draw progressively bigger crowds, as more and more people from the team’s area wish to become involved. I still recall the story of former work colleagues who really did not care for football travelling from Woking to Birmingham to watch the Cards, “their” non-league club, defeated West Brom in the third round in 1990-1991 before then travelling to Merseyside for the fourth-round fixture against Everton at Goodison, where the team lost only 1-0 and hit the post in the final minutes; among the best days out my mates had experienced. A sense of community develops. And the club, importantly enjoys a financial boost.

Similar results can only be good for the game in Australia, can they not?

What do you think? Do you like the idea of an Australian Cup? If you do, how would you like to see it organised?



http://blogs.foxsports.com.au/football/ ... ralian_cup

SJABC wrote:Adelaide City v South Melbourne,

Wedgie wrote:

SJABC wrote:Adelaide City v South Melbourne,

That'd probably be the final, a CC Mariners with a full side might give them a run in a semi.

SJABC wrote:City never played South Melbourne in a GF

What a pity would've been a cracker

Dogwatcher wrote:Why are the FFA embattled Wedgie?

RoosterMarty wrote:It's great to see Chasetown in the 3rd Rd but they better not pull off an upset against the Bluebirds, how embarrassing that would be! We are in good form though so should get the win.

mighty_tiger_79 wrote:as long as Birmingham get through

i think STOKE can beat Newcastle = get on $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

johntheclaret wrote:

RoosterMarty wrote:It's great to see Chasetown in the 3rd Rd but they better not pull off an upset against the Bluebirds, how embarrassing that would be! We are in good form though so should get the win.

Shakey start RM.. Chasetown went 1 up (own goal), but Cardiff went through 3 - 1 in the end