FFA Cup: Adelaide City president furious about December date with an A-League team

Adelaide City president Greg Griffin isn’t pleased about the timing of his NPL club’s FFA Cup clash against A-League opposition.

Angry Adelaide City president Greg Griffin says the fabric of the FFA Cup has been lost, with NPL clubs forced to play out-of-season against A-League teams.

City, which hasn’t played since winning last month’s NPL South Australia grand final, must wait until next month to play its Cup round-of-32 clash against the winner of the November 24 playoff between A-League clubs Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory.

While City will have the advantage of hosting the match, Griffin said it was unfair of Football Australia to expect his club’s semi-professional players to keep training in their off-season and play an in-season A-League team.

“We’re at a massive disadvantage,” said Griffin, a former chairman of three-time Cup winners Adelaide United.

“The idea of the FFA Cup was to give NPL teams in-season the chance to play A-League teams not in-season.

“The whole Cup has been comprised this season.”

FFA CUP NEWS | Perth Glory will face Melbourne Victory on Wednesday, 24 November in Adelaide.

The venue for the clash will be Marden Sports Complex, with a kick-off of 7:30pm local time.

The winner will then face Adelaide City in the Round of 32, again in Adelaide. pic.twitter.com/naFz3q4KlV

— Adelaide City FC (@AdelaideCityFC) November 1, 2021

Due to border restrictions between Western Australia and Victoria, the Glory vs Victory match will be played in Adelaide later this month, robbing Perth of deserved hosting rights after the Glory finished three places higher than wooden spooners Victory on last season’s A-League ladder.

“The Victory are being pandered to. They should have been forced to forfeit the match and then we (City) could have played the Glory this week,” Griffin said.

“Our players can’t take a month off and then come back to play the game.

“I wrote to FA and told them we’d be fielding our under 15 team for the game.

“Of course we won’t do that, but our players all have day jobs and families, and will have to make sacrifices.”

A Football Australia spokesman said: “Football Australia and all participating clubs have committed to the successful delivery of the FFA Cup, especially after another winter season impacted by Covid-19.

“To support NPL clubs, Football Australia recently provided clubs with the ability to register ‘new’ players to existing player rosters to ensure that full competitive squads were able to be fielded.

Football Australia looks forward to domestic football returning across November and December with some exciting FFA Cup ties”.

Originally published as FFA Cup: Adelaide City president furious about December date with an A-League team