Cold nights in Hume more authentic than a glittering ICC affair

Cold nights in Hume more authentic than a glittering ICC affair

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There were close to 35,000 people at the MCG on Tuesday night to see two of the world’s great sides take the field, the next day less than a 1000 were treated to two minnows scrapping at Broadmeadows – guess who went home happier?

In case you missed it, Tottenham and Juventus played their latest friendly in Australia as part of the International Champion’s Cup on Tuesday, a tournament which packed out the MCG last year, but this time around has barely hit a third of capacity.

There are several reasons for this, including the array of stars who have stayed out on holiday and the ridiculous ticket prices being charged to what amounts as two B-teams running around in a stadium where the fans are figuratively miles away from the action. Last year audiences had a full strength Real Madrid, Roma, and Manchester City squad to look at, and the public ate it up, even at inflated ticket prices going up to $230.

It was the first time that this sort of thing had been done in Australia, but people quickly realised that despite the talent on show, they had paid the price of an A-League season membership to watch a training run. In fact, the highlight of the match between Real Madrid and Roma last year was seeing how far paper airplanes launched from the upper tier could get.

So while the fact Juventus and Tottenham brought their B-sides out may be keeping some away – it could very well be that after the experience of last year, there was more than a hint of buyer’s remorse.

Tuesday’s clash was a stark contrast to Wednesday, when the FFA Cup Round of 32 kicked off around the country.

You going to watch the Victory vs Atletico game? Across town in the slightly less stately ABD Stadium Hume City and Marconi got things underway – and where the MCG had a quiet and polite din and odd drunken Spurs song, Hume City had 10-year-olds belting out their club song, lamb kebabs and a sense of community forged by dark winter nights watching their side go around.

The Anadoluspor shaded Marconi in a tense 1-1 draw, where success was measured by the contest rather than by the number of commercial activations from sponsors.

The fact that many observers would have reasonably enjoyed the FFA Cup fare rather than the ICC’s, despite the massive gulf in class between the two matches, says something about the role of authenticity in football, and how people can smell it out like a cheap stink.

The reason why the likes of Juventus and Tottenham have a pull in the first place is that Australian audiences have been told for years that this is the ‘real’ football, with the allusion that everything else must be second-rate or fake.
Imagine then that these sides come to the other side of the planet for the sole purpose of getting some miles into the legs and making a commercial return by posing alongside AFL footballers with mutual sponsors?

Could it be that the Australian fan has taken a whiff of the globalisation of football as an entertainment product and turned away?

Authenticity is a powerful thing. It makes hipsters drink out of mass-produced mason jars and can make a football fan spend upwards of $200 on a ticket if the proposition is right. This time around, the proposition was most definitely not right.

If the question is authenticity though, then why do only 1000 turn up to a game which had meaning. While the quality was lower (some of the finishing was woeful), there was perfectly good fare on the other side of town on Wednesday night – in an FFA Cup game which actually meant something. For $10, one got a red-hot contest and the atmosphere of an entire club banding together to support its senior side. In the summer we get the A-League, which when the mix is absolutely right, provides an atmosphere which is unrivalled in Australian sport.

The thing is, it is likely that those in attendance on Tuesday night would turn up their nose at an A-League or NPL match, despite being much more authentic experiences than two glamour clubs play in a friendly.

Fans of the local game will hope that this year’s ICC tournament may be a sign that people are starting to turn away from a commercialised circus, but know full well future tours will continue to pack out stadiums. The question is at what point does familiarity start to breed contempt for a manufactured ‘experience’, and is there an opportunity for the local game to capitalise on it?

If the whiff of authenticity can make punters pay up to $230 a ticket, then imagine what competitions which are actually authentic could do.

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