Rematch ... Melbourne Victory come out on top in November in the last Big Blue battle. Source: AAP
Is the Hyundai A-League finally rid of its annual case of the mid-season blues?
With the middle part of the season now behind us, and an exciting race to the finish line ahead, it's reasonable to say this yearly obstacle has been consigned to history.
In previous years, the A-League followed a familiar pattern. An initial burst of enthusiasm and interest at the start of the campaign, and a spike in interest once finals football was on the horizon. In between, a lull, with crowds tapering off and the media's curiosity drawn towards competing sports.
Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.
Following a national narrative can be tricky when the local club is struggling.
But the addition of Western Sydney Wanderers (and not to mention three key marquee players) has helped sustain the competition throughout the summer months, with a regular diet of big matches and big stars, enough to keep the appetites of sports fans (and crucially, the media in the big cities) whetted week by week.
The Wanderers have been a masterstroke. Easy to say with hindsight of course, but it's difficult now to think of the competition without them, such is the impact their team - and their noisy supporters - have made.
That's not to say FFA gets away scot-free for killing off Gold Coast United and North Queensland Fury.
It remains my opinion (and many others), that pulling up sticks after only a couple of years in both areas was an unforgivable act of betrayal to football fans in both Townsville and the glitter strip. It's great to see the phoenix of the Fury starting to rise from the ashes and compete again in the Australian Premier League.
In truth, Wanderers was perhaps FFA's last chance to get an expansion club right - but credit to them, they've delivered in spades, and hopefully now the template is set for clubs who wish to join the league in the future. Ditto the marquee experiment. More of the same please next season.
Wanderers have given the competition three extra derbies to salivate over and, if you throw in the Adelaide-Victory rivalry, the F3 versions, the "Big Blue's" and the all-Melbourne clashes, there's never too long to wait before one of the real eye-catching games looms large on the horizon.
That is certainly the case this week.
Melbourne and Sydney was a rivalry just waiting to happen, even before the A-League kicked off. Right from the word go, the intensity was there - sparked by Victory's 5-0 thumping of the sky blues in just their second-ever meeting.
It's strange to think that match wasn't even shown live, with the TV deal in those days not stretching to coverage of every match of the opening season.
By contrast, the meeting this Saturday is arguably the showpiece occasion of the season so far - a game which will probably draw one of the biggest TV audiences this season.
Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.
A resurgent Sydney - replete with its "marquee" quartet of Emerton, Culina, Griffiths and, of course, Del Piero - travelling to meet a Victory team with title aspirations, and which has Thompson, Rojas and Flores to offer as a counterpoint to the Sky Blues "fab four."
Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.
A sell-out Australia Day crowd will gather at the splendid AAMI Park as representatives from the nations two biggest cities resume hostilities - and it's worth remembering that the rectangular stadium itself was built largely on the back of Victory's success, on and off the park.
Melbourne Victory versus Sydney FC is Australia's version of Liverpool v Manchester United.
People might scoff at that notion, but it must be pointed out that the aforementioned clubs have built their enmity over the course of a hundred years or more. In year eight of their rivalry, just 12,000 showed up to Old Trafford to watch the clash between the pair.
The A-League today is eight years old. The progress is staggering, and there is nothing manufactured about the mutual dislike between Melburnians and Sydneysiders. Imagine how big clashes between Victory and Sydney - along with the city and regional derbies - will be in a hundred years time?
It's a pity we won't be around to see it - but in the meantime, let's enjoy the build-up. The mid-season blues are no more - this week it's all about whether you're navy blue, or sky blue.
Catch the Big Blue derby live on Fox Sports 1HD from 5pm on Saturday.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
'The mid-season blues are no more'
Dengan url
http://ragaseni.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-mid-season-blues-are-no-more.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
'The mid-season blues are no more'
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
'The mid-season blues are no more'
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar