Grand Final? More like Grand Fight!

Before I criticise the dark side of the Grand final, I would like to congratulate the Newcastle Jets on a deserved victory. It was a pleasure to watch their unique stylish football, the only one of its kind in the league. The Australian public was amazing as well, especially all the fans who came down the F3 to watch the game, not to mention the atmosphere in the stadium. It seems football in our country is going from strength to strength, however, as we will see, it has its downside as well.

Unfortunately the Grand Final will be remembered for its controversies and not the brilliant strike by Mark Bridge. From the moment the first ball was kicked (almost literally) to that dramatic final whistle, there were shirts being pulled, there were death stares everywhere, pushing, pulling, and, as we all know, the referee wasn’t spared either. This is the A-League, not Rugby League. Actually, that wasn’t a fair comment, because even in the roughest of rugby games, there would only be one or two fights. In the A-League final there were at least three rough incidents between the players themselves and the referees. I have to say, Danny Vukovic deserved his 9 month ban for striking the referee.

This thuggish culture within Australian football just has to stop. Now that we are in the Asian Confederation, many already perceive us as a rough, physical nation and the referees are being influenced to hand out more fouls against us, and more yellow cards. If the biggest football game in Australia is so spiteful, what does that do to our reputation?

What about this ‘ganging up’ on referees? Sure, there was a clear hand ball in the box, and it was a penalty, but this is unacceptable, and this sort of behaviour is a dark cloud on the game. My question is this. How you EVER in the history of football seen a decision reversed? I mean why can’t the players ever get this into their head, the decision hasn’t, never has, and never will be reversed. So why all the commotion?

Referees make mistakes, but that’s just part of the game. Many (including the commentators) watching the Grand Final did not see that hand ball until they saw replays. We must accept these decisions and hope that next time the decisions go our way. There is no need to create a scene.

I remember on that fateful day when we were wrongfully knocked out of the World Cup by Italy, our boys were devastated. They did a lap of honour, didn’t talk to the referee again, and took the defeat graciously. Looking back at that now, I am so proud of them. This wasn’t a meaningless friendly, it was the biggest game ever in the history of Australian football, and they hardly complained, even though they were robbed. I hope that one day, every football team reacts in the same manner, for the good of the game.