I got home not long ago. Now I am sitting at my laptop, beer in hand. In 10 years of supporting CCM either here or living interstate, I have never walked out of a game early. Keep note of that and read on...
I woke up this morning having had a dream we got beaten 2-1 by the Jest in Newcastle and feeling pissed about it. Premonition? My sister and her b/f are here for the holidays, and I encouraged them to come to the game tonight. I figured we were a good chance to beat WSW, especially given recent form and WSW's shambolic 5-0 hammering last weekend. What better occasion to showcase the A-League than a warm summers' evening in Gosford with a big crowd and (hopefully) the 3 points?
So I got my sister and her bf (a British native) keen to join me tonight- I would have gone regardless- and we rocked up to the ground 20 minutes before kick-off. They bought their tickets and then I was lucky enough to be handed a freebie. To whoever that random guy in the baseball cap was? Thank you SO f**king much! In hindsight, you saved me feeling a lot worse than I could be at the moment...
We got in and sat in Bay 15, just next to the YA. Give them a first hand taste of the atmosphere that we generate at our picturesque ground. My sisters' b/f got us some beers. The sun set down behind the palm trees. Game on-
From early on, WSW hacked away at us in defence, yet CCM looked the better team and appeared to be in control of the game. I said to my sisters b/f "Even if WSW score first, I reckon we'll get 'em back." Plus the way they kept hacking at CCM players and shoving them off the ball- surely they'd end up with less than 11 on the field if they continued?
Their first goal didn't even concern me too much- defence was lopsided and they capitalised. It happens. Even early in the second half, I figured if CCM stuck to their game plan and WSW kept to their hack-job, we'd be fine...
...Then the complete and utter cluster**k unfolded...
Is it clouded judgement to think that the FFA pulled out all stops to keep the profitable WSW fans interested in the season after the demoralising hiding they copped last weekend? My parents later commented on "how young the ref seemed"- was it just inexperience or something else?
I don't know.
What I do know, is that my sister sat across from a bay of (rightfully) irate men, full of booze and using language that I've never heard her utter in her 24 years. I felt like shit, that I'd roped her into coming, in the hope she'd see great football and enjoy the best a Saturday night atmosphere in Gosford can offer- that she'd understand why I love going to the games whenever I can. Yet it had now degenerated to THIS. I should stress I'm not having a go at those intoxicated men- I was having a hard time restraining myself from letting fly with everything I wanted to. By now it was 15 minutes to go, 2 men and 2 goals down and our usually fantastic active support reduced to a chorus of boo's and all sorts of justifiably flowery language being hurled at a single clown in blue who'd just f**ked what could have been a great game. A Policewoman and security guard appeared at the top of Bay 16, trying to calm down some older men making a racket. I looked at the officer and said "You should arrest that referee out on the field for committing a robbery- we've all witnessed it and I'll happily sign the form and appear as the jury!"
Then I made the call: I turned to my sister and her b/f and asked if they wanted to go? It felt pointless staying any longer. People were already making their exodus of the stands. Had it just been me there, I probably would have stayed until the end. But it had grown beyond underwhelming- it felt more like a local league game gone to shit than what was (apparently) one of the 'Must watch' fixtures of the round in (supposedly) the top flight league in our country...
So the three of us got up and followed most of Bay 16 (plus a large number of the 7k crowd) in traipsing out of the stadium, all around me people muttering about the complete and utter robbery we'd just witnessed. That's what it was. Santalab is a piece of human garbage, and a reminder of why I take such great joy in seeing the westies get flogged or lose another GF. For a team and fanbase so full of wankers and grubs, watching them fail is great- and may they lose another 3 GF's. Like I said, I can't help but wonder if tonight was influenced by the FFA, realising they needed to give WSW's profitable fan base a reason to keep watching after last weekend's mauling and so pulling all the strings they needed. After all, when have they ever cared about CCM getting dicked if it's to the advantage of the large support, demographically important teams?
But the thing for me tonight is that I feel like crap for encouraging my sister and her b/f to come. Of all the games they came to, they had to watch that garbage. What kind of example does tonight set for the state of the game in our country, or for the people who won't support the HAL because of bad publicity or the belief that it's not worth watching? I tell you what- thank f**k the Socceroos qualified for the WC otherwise we'd have BIG problems with the game in our country right now. I should point out that my sister and her b/f both thanked me for inviting them, they said they had a good time and my sisters' b/f enjoyed the YA in full flight....but....this feeling still...
Best way I can put it is- imagine you were a big fan of a movie franchise and you talk up every new movie when it comes out. Then you invite your close family/ friends to the latest release in the franchise- and the movie turns out to be a complete dud. So bad you walk out before the final credits. I feel like an idiot for hyping up something that was such a complete and utter cluster**k of an inept, incompetent, amateur hour display tonight...
We talk about the drop in crowds, and the FFA wants to know why?
Why is a fixture like CCM v WSW drawing barely over 7k on a beautiful Saturday night?
Why are the Jest pulling low crowds even though they're having their best season in 10 years?
Why are SFC's crowds underwhelming despite their dominance and the size of their city?
The FFA should watch the Jest v Adelaide game and then this state-league, NSL-esque shambles. Watch it on repeat. Watch it until they need to keep their eyelids open with match sticks. Watch the 7k who bothered to turn up- including a bay full of die-hards- streaming out. Watch the post-match analysis. Watch the press conference from Okon.
Watch it all.
Maybe read this post even, and try to comprehend why I might feel like such a f**king idiot for selling a family member and her partner a complete f**king lemon on a Saturday night when they could've been doing anything else. We keep talking about growing the game in this country and getting more people interested- people like my sister and her b/f- and THIS is what we have to show for it?
THIS?
Star Wars round, Spanish round, blind referee round, FFA paper-bag round- who gives a f**K?
Like I said, before tonight I'd never left a game early- but that just happened. And I feel like a complete f**king muppet for convincing a family member and her partner to waste their time and their money on such an abysmal, amateurish, anticlimactic, steaming load of garbage like that. If they'd kept the receipt for their tickets, I'd have told them to mail it to the FFA and asked for a refund. Thank f**k I didn't have to pay to watch that shambles.
And if any of you have a last minute Christmas gift idea? I want that incompetent cretin of a referee brought here tonight- with a great big ribbon on his head- preferably with the FFA's $64 refund cheque stapled to it:
