The Hahn Australia Cup has always been a celebration of Australian football, and for legendary Head Coach Ange Postecoglou, the upcoming final between South Melbourne and Melbourne Victory is what the game is all about.
He sat down to chat about his time as a player and coach at South Melbourne, his season with Melbourne Victory, and his hopes for the upcoming spectacle.
The institution of South Melbourne
South Melbourne Hellas, when we arrived from Greece was - yes, it was a football club, which obviously was the sport of choice of my Dad - but more importantly, it was a social hub. The trials and tribulations of the normal week for migrants just dissipated once you walked into these football clubs, because you felt totally at home, totally at ease. It was welcoming. There was a familiarity with the people. There was a familiarity with the kind of environment. It gave comfort to our parents, but it also sowed the seeds for where football has evolved to in terms of the basic roots of the game. If you talk about our golden generation of players, but even before and post that, a lot of the journey started at these clubs, little clubs. I say little - South was certainly a big club that just fed the minds and the dreams of young boys and girls.
It was just an extension of my childhood, and for many respects, for me, was my neighbourhood. When I ended up playing in the first team, I couldn't see myself playing anywhere else. I was really keen on furthering every ambition I had, and then I got the honour of captaining the club, and then I made new friendships. The bonds were there, and that was always what I spoke about when I speak about the club - it wasn't so much that it just fulfilled my professional ambitions, it sustained me on a personal level because all my meaningful relationships came from the football club. That was the hub for me always, and so I couldn't see myself playing anywhere else. I was fortunate enough that even when when my playing career prematurely because of injury, it just rolled into assistant coach and coach of the club.
South Melbourne's aura
Every year, they started the aim of winning the league. That was the stated ambition every year. There were no rebuilds or projects. It was just, every year we want to win. The biggest excitement was they'd make at least two or three or four big signings, irrespective of how they've done the year before. That was the club. They always aimed for the very best, and that was part of the what captured the imagination of all of us who were supporters, was that it was always exciting, always, and the ambition was always there. I guess not winning it as often as they wanted to just added to that build of excitement, to the point where they finally did win it, but the ambition was always there. That went hand in hand with the club. That it would try and sign the best players, sign the best manager, and be the best club in the country.
Coaching Melbourne Victory
At the time I'd obviously been coaching in Brisbane, but you follow the A League, and I missed the first few years. I was with the Australian youth teams, and then obviously got the Brisbane job. But yeah, right from the start, you could see that it was setting itself up to be the biggest club in the country, the fan base just continued to grow the atmosphere at the games. It seemed to create a real environment of players who were always exciting. There was Archie Thompson, and obviously Kevin Muscat was a big part of that early period. Ernie Merrick was the manager, and it looked like a club from the outside that was very well run. And certainly, when I went there, I met Anthony Di Pietro [Victory Chairman], who's an absolute gentleman, and still a friend today. You walk away thinking, okay, well, this club is is well run, and there was an excitement to playing in front of big crowds every week.
Cup sell-out
I'm viewing it from afar now, but it doesn't surprise me that's sold out. They're both fanatical fan bases. The beauty of cup competitions is where this kind of fixturing comes together organically without it being predetermined, and I can imagine just how excited people are. Melbourne Victory are firmly established as one of the biggest, if not the biggest club in in Australia. And South, I think, there's a real kind of appetite to grow the club, there's probably guys who grew up watching the teams that I managed, and cheering on guys like Trimmers [Paul Trimboli] and others, and [Mehmet] Durakovic and [Peter] Tsolakis. These guys who have now got kids and they're wanting to take their kids and relive their childhood days. I sense that there's a real enthusiasm again about showcasing what South was all about and is still about - how it represents its community, and more importantly, how it represents football.
It's a fantastic fixture. It's brilliant. I'll have to watch it from afar, but I've got no doubt it's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere. I think it'll be a joyous occasion, and I think it'll be competitive. The Cup has already proven that it's a lot more of a level playing field than maybe people originally thought when coming up with the concept.
Look, I represented both clubs, but I'd love it if South were the first non-A League club to win the Cup. They're definitely my club, and I'll definitely be cheering them on.
What it means for Australian football
It should be seen as both a celebration, but also a confirmation of what Australia was always about, and that is the ability to meld people from different parts of the world into a feeling of common goals and values around sport, and how it brings you together, and how it does cross all barriers. Football was and always should be an open church, and that's hopefully what people will come to realise - there might be South supporters there who are even older than me who have watched many generations of their team and love their football, and there may be others who have only come into the game late and have a passion for Melbourne Victory, but both are equally as important to what football is to our country.
I think it is sometimes underestimated, the impact that these - what some would term - small migrant clubs have had on Australian society, not just football. Coming together with what Melbourne Victory has created within its own orbit and world - hopefully, people just see it as a bit of a celebration and a confirmation that football has a great way of opening doors to joyous things, and hopefully this will be.
