The Australian Cup is changing from what many thought it’d be but it has revealed a truth of football the world over. This year was the first that many of the games were available to view on YouTube, giving us live insights into how many viewers the games get. The numbers 90k for the all A-League clash, about 20k for the other games. It doesn’t blow the lights out, it’s about double the ratings of the NPL Victoria games. What does this say about the audience of the Cup? Well, when coupled with the nature of online conversation the games have sparked it shows for me that the audience is football people. Yeah ok, not a crazy deduction right? Well let me take you on a journey here.

When the (then titled) FFA Cup launched in 2014 it received much fanfare and showed evidence of cutting through to the wider Australian public imagination. Games were broadcast on FoxSports with all the bells and whistles, over 3,000 on average attended games and Bentleigh Greens attracted national headlines for their (structured) run to the Semi-Finals. After (about?) ten editions of the tournament things have tapered off. Paramount does not broadcast the games on as high a platform as FoxSports one did, attendances have settled at just over 2,000 people per game and even South’s near date with destiny against Melbourne Victory flew under the radar in the Melbourne press (unsurprising).

The competition has become leaner and meaner. Gone are the initial fanciful aspirations of fans for this competition to inspire the masses, and in its place is the realisation that it provide the opportunity to members of the football community. Cup glory is a big deal, especially for teams on the outer, and I’m not talking about former NSL clubs. Clubs in regional areas go bananas for this competition, the recent South Hobard game against South attracted 3,500 people and represented, genuinely, the biggest football game in Tasmania for the year. Similarly the competition cuts through to regional media. Just last week we saw Andy Brennan splashed out on Tassie newspapers, discussion of the game on SEN Tasmania and travelling Hellas fans featuring on local Nine News. This happens each year, sometimes in Tassie, sometimes in Darwin, or Wollongong, or Canberra. The beauty of the competition is its ability to inspire hope anywhere, not everywhere. No other competition in Australia can do this. In doing so it spread the message of the game and provide valuable datapoints. One can’t help but think of South Hobarts place in an NSD after seeing that crowd, similarly, one can’t help but realise the challenges of football in the NT after the shock Nunawading result.

On Nunawading, no other club exemplifies the platform of the Cup more so then them. As well as being able to attract mainstream attention regionally, it offer a beacon of hope for smaller clubs in crowded markets. Cup football is club football. The regular fan doesn’t watch every game anywhere. Even the grandfather of the concept, the FA Cup, shows us the real cut through ability and financial value of such a tournament lies solely in the final game. It is football people and club people who watch the earlier rounds, and although it may be fewer people watching, the games have an outsized influence. Within a club, Cup football focuses and elevates internal efforts. Not every participant may be watching, but every participant dreams and works towards a cup run. It offers an antidote to a poor league season, as it has for Nunawading, and creates genuine life long memories that justify people’s love for the game. Nunawading players got to experience a day as professionals, flying across the country and being discussed beyond their usual bubble. But in the special case of Nunawading, the cup also validated their unique style which at times has been derided by the football community. Some competitions mean a little to the many, the Australia Cup on the other hand can mean everything for the few.

The Cup is necessary, and despite what many may think, incredibly financially sustainable. Owing to its large participant base of over 700 clubs, paying the entry fee of over $300 each the competition starts each season with at least $200,000 in the kitty. The outsourcing of matchday hosting to clubs themselves at the local level also means that the only major expense for the competition seems to be travel for the 31 national stage games. The significant grassroots funding and support for the competition makes it extremely difficult for the competition to lack financial justification, it would require the FA to actively not wanting the competition to continue for its finances to go red.

There are many things the FA does right (most things to be honest in regards to this competition) however like any competition there is room for improvement.

Firstly the elevation of the Final. The Final of a Cup competition is the most important aspect of the tournament. Australia is uniquely challenged in this regard owing to our size and demographic spread making it impossible to set a standard home ground for the final like Wembley to the FA Cup. The relative size of the tournament also makes it difficult to set any final venue before the finalists are known, owing the necessity of some sort of local club support. The FA however can create a sense of occasion through traditions around the game. Running events like the AFL’s Grand Final Breakfast can help make the event a days long celebration of football and elevate local clubs or federations, allowing them to rub shoulders with the FA. Charity games or Youth games can act as curtain raisers, and musical guests can provide event level entertainment before the game. Broadcasting is obviously key and the FA have done well to secure a slot on the main channel on 10, but the FA can elevate the final by promoting the broadcast to grassroots clubs who participated in the tournament. The Final should aim to be a sort of Melbourne Cup of Football, not quite the race that stops the nation, the game that stops the football community.

Secondly the involvement of A-League clubs. This isn’t actually having a shot at the clubs, this is emphasising the need to support them. I’ve advocated a while now for a more structured, and elevated pre-season that incorporates the Australia Cup. A companion A-League preseason charity tournament with set fixtures and a donation to a charity of club choosing I think would enhance the Australian Cup but pushing the A-League clubs to click into gear earlier in the year. However, regardless of the solution, the issues at hand is the Australian Cup still feels like too much of a pre-season tournament for the A-League. Although the competition marks the end of the football calendar for the FA, I think it should rather be considered as the start of the football season for marketing purposes, although I understand the confusing overlap this would propose.

Thirdly the creation of traditions. On one hand the Cup has flourished by showing more flexibility on the time and day of matches, however it has also benefited from a more defined place in the football calendar with most fans now recognising the final as the marking the end of the State League season and proceeding the A-League season. The creation of more traditions will solidify the competition’s place in people’s minds. What am I talking about? Small things like the same walk out songs played before the start of each game, maybe a competition theme song, a year round trophy tour during the preliminary rounds and a big one for me – the introduction of a fixed bracket. My idea would be for there to be just one draw before the Round of 32 and for the rest of the fixtures to be set. This would allow for a tipping competition where fans, workplaces, pubs and clubs can lock in their predicted bracket with prizes to the winning players and groups. This would also incentivise people to watch each game. Our very own March Madness!

Fourthly the creation of a women’s tournament. This was promised in the past and never materialised. There are challenges with player contract timing and season overlaps (or lack thereof) however the launch of a Australia Cup for Women’s teams will be great for the football community, allowing male and female  participants to share the same dream and bring together these sides of the community the same way the male tournament brings together professional clubs with those lower down the pyramid. Adjusted for the specific circumstances of the ecosystem, the Australia Cup for women doesn’t have to be as broad, with perhaps only 8 teams to participate in the national rounds following qualification rounds for community clubs and A-League clubs. The Cup could also take place in March-April ahead of the A-League Women’s finals and whilst there is overlap with between the A-League Women and State Leagues.

As a South fan, what does this all mean? (this is a South blog after all!) We need to recognise what the Cup is. A reason for hope at the start of each year, and meaningless the second we are kicked out – with the exception of the final and the ultimate winner who should be equal parts envied and despised. The Cup offers cut through for us either to share our club in regional areas and build connections, or keep us at the top of mind for members of the national football community. The Cup has already given us so many moments, the Sydney FC game in the wild weather, the semi finals in 1965 and 1966 I mean 2017 and 2024, smashing Gold Coast away 6-0, beating Wellington! It has brought the largest crowds to Lakeside outside of Grand Finals and seen our games broadcast nationally on TV. Long live the Cup! Let’s not lose a striker before the semi-finals though this time.