FFA awarded Grand Final club

As I take a moment to compose myself after not receiving an invite to the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League awards ceremony last weekend, reassuring myself that said invite was obviously lost in the mail, I begin to wonder whether there'll even be an awards ceremony by the end of next season.

It's Grand Final week and all anyone can talk about is which team is being liquidated, or who's the latest club to be adopted by the FFA.

Football Federation Australia have made the decision to go with the older, more street-wise kid over the newborn NQ Fury - a move uncharacteristic of adopting parents - perhaps knowing this older option, Brisbane Roar, is much easier to profit from. What would Fagin do with a newborn, after all?

It is supposed to be the A-League's finest hour yet news of the best ever presale of tickets for the Grand Final is constantly being overshadowed. For yours truly it is becoming unbearable.

The cash-strapped Brisbane Roar take on the Central Coast Mariners this Sunday. It'll be the third time they've met in as many weeks (an argument for another day), and will prove to be a celebration of the A-League's on-field growth. It could be the moment Graham Arnold finally wins his season long game of cat and mouse with Ange Postecoglou.

Or perhaps Ange will take his boys on to win the double, reinforcing their year as the dominant side and further justifying his accolade from the FFA as the Coach of the Year (I had to googled that as I wasn't at the ceremony. Did I mention that already?).

Either option won't stop the rot. If a Grand Final appearance in front of a potential capacity crowd isn't enough to keep owners interested it's hard to know what will. It's desperately time for the A-League administration and FFA to step up. Michal Roucek thought the time for consolidation was over, but after such a tumultuous end to the season, there must be a need to revert. Maybe Buckley's reign is coming to an end - with such a long off-season seemingly looming there is time for change, in whatever format that may be.

The months following the Grand Final date are crucial. On a club scale, considering their situation if Roar do not use the Final as part of a membership drive for next season, then there are serious problems. On an FFA scale, there are a multitude of issues that have been identified countless times by the media. Marketing, community and supporter engagement, the organisation of the FFA Cup, and most importantly financial stability are but a few.

Sort yo' self out Football Federation Australia. If only so that next year, when awards are indeed presented over dinner, drinks and dessert once more, The Football Sack can enjoy some of those niceties.

Matt writes this blog knowing full well he is perpetuating the negative reporting and aims to provide a Grand Final preview over the coming days in hopes of providing balance.