The Death and Life of Australian Soccer by Gorman Joe;

Author:Gorman, Joe;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Queensland Press

The case against clubs such as Sydney United was as old as the national league itself, underpinned by commercial logic and furnished by the aggressive identity politics of the era. By 1997 the Australian soccer community had completely lost faith in its ethnic institutions. They were castigated as being ‘monocultural’ and blamed for everything, from the game’s poor image to the violence on the terraces – even for the collapse of Collingwood Warriors.

By contrast, the structure of the Brisbane Strikers was seen to encourage supporters and players from all different backgrounds to assimilate into a clear, unified Queensland identity. Glen Gwynne represented the tropical far north and Kasey Wehrman the remote north-west. Jeromy Harris came from Rockhampton, Clint Bolton from Bundaberg, Chay Hews from Toowoomba, Graham Ross from Townsville, Nick Meredith from the Sunshine Coast. And Alan Hunter, Wayne Knipe, and the Cranney brothers Troy and Sean were the Brisbane boys.

‘The extent to which the Strikers fitted into the Hill agenda was accidental,’ remembered Bonita Mersiades, ‘but there was a view around that for the game to grow it needed clubs that represented regions.’

At the beginning of the season, bookmakers had listed the Brisbane Strikers as 66–1 to win the title, and despite the team finishing second on the ladder, not a single Strikers player had been selected for the Socceroos. Yet everything, save for the form guide and the pundits, seemed to favour the Strikers. On the day before the game it rained, but on grand final day the sun came out. As the mascots parachuted into the stadium, Sydney United’s stumbled and fell, while the Brisbane Strikers mascot landed flush on his feet.

By kick-off, Suncorp Stadium had to be locked for fears of overcrowding. Chay Hews had the first shot on goal within the opening minute, and Glen Gwynne expertly tracked United’s danger man Kresimir Marusic, restricting his creative influence and cutting off supply to the forwards. Clint Bolton was a colossus in goals, rising high to comfortably catch the first Sydney United cross.

Just after half-time, Farina scored the opening goal with a left-foot stab that had just enough power and precision to trickle into the net. It was his 101st national league goal, and by far his most important. And when Rod Brown scored to make it 2–0, his tally rose to 131 NSL goals.

By the time the Brisbane Strikers’ assistant coach, Peter Tokesi, replaced Farina, there were just ten minutes left to play. Farina walked off to a standing ovation and a large banner that read, ‘Thanks Frank’. The official crowd figure was 40,446, a new national league record. On the other side of town, the Brisbane Broncos hosted the North Queensland Cowboys in rugby league’s Queensland derby. Less than 15,000 people turned up.

It was a stunning outcome, perhaps even more spellbinding than the Strikers’ victory itself, and as the players did their lap of honour Tokesi stood in the middle of the field and gazed up at a full stadium. For a man who had chosen to play soccer instead of rugby league at age 14, this felt like vindication.

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