Never before in the proud and diverse sporting history of this land have two clubs representing Australia's two major cities clashed over a major trophy in any professional footballing code (is this a REALfact or is this a BLOGfact?? - KA), but dear readers, it was so worth the wait. For 120 minutes, Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory ripped each other apart in an epic drama of Shakespearean, nay Homerian proportions.
This was the game that confirmed that the A-League was something to be reckoned with. The game that turned casual fans into diehards. The game in which the A-League removed its protective cover and threw away the receipt. It's a keeper. This game was all of the proof and the evidence that some thought had been lacking that this was real. Our El Classico, our derby, our passion writ large on and off the pitch. Our greatest prize at stake.
Sydney and Melbourne played each other to a standstill. No quarter asked. No quarter given. A complete stalemate. After 120 minutes of nailbiting intensity there was the prospect of pain and glory in equal measure. Then, just like any classic tale from days of yore, the fates, those precarious and impetuous footballing gods, intervened - the pantomime bad guy missed his first penalty in five years and there was the difference between these two great sides.
But luck, to quote Seneca, is when preparation meets opportunity. For Sydney, 231 training sessions, 46 games, countless hours of planning, thought and toil over 11 months, met a deflected cross, a great bit of intuitive goal keeping and Kevin Muscat's clanging poster.
The toilet seat - a trophy that is so perfectly Australian - is back in Sydney to sit alongside the Premiers Plate and the W-League championship and the W-League Premiers Plate. It's been a very good season indeed.
At least three of the Grand Final winning team are moving on. It is fitting that Karol Kisel's, Simon Colosimo's and Clint Bolton's final touches of a ball in Sydney colours won us the penalty shoot out and the Championship. There will be time later for reviews of their contributions to our club but each one has been immense and the challenge of replacing their quality daunting. But it is not a bad way to go out at all. They deserve it and every success they achieve here after.
It was even more fitting that the trophy was presented to two players that have been the heart and soul of our club. Sydney FC could well have been named Stevie FC. He has been our quality, set our tone since day one, and displayed the class and style that the rest of the team rose to only when we were playing our best football.
But if Steve Corica has been our class and style, then Terry McFlynn has been our passion and grit. For five years, Terry has played every Sydney game with his heart on his sleeve and his passion written on his face. Even in our darkest days we never questioned his commitment to Sydney or that he had given his all on the pitch for our club. His leadership will set us in good stead for version 6 of Sydney FC and for many years beyond.
The real leader of this team has been Viteslav Lavicka - already a legend of this club. The changes he has wrought in a single year have been immense. He has set a tone that every club in the league envies. He is the anti-Kosmina, the anti-Merrick, preaching respect, hard work and discipline.
He has given Sydney back its team and its club - the one we signed up for five seasons ago, only better. Lavicka has done all of his talking through his players on the pitch. We won this Championship without our best players, because our team, from Clint Bolton through to Joe Gibbs was fit enough, well drilled enough and disciplined enough to execute a well thought out game plan. That has not been done in the A-League before - let alone doing all of that in the enemy's fortress, before 45,000 fans who were baying for a home town victory.
And finally kudos, congratulations and importantly thanks to the owners and management of Sydney FC. The potential of this club has only just begun to be realised, but winning everything in your first year of ownership and control is a pretty imposing start. It's been a great year to support our club. Next year, we will go to Asia with a rebuilt squad. With a coach that has now won the Czech and Australian leagues. With a CEO that has run the Dutch second division. With one owner that has bankrolled a leading Russian football club and another that is a hometown billionaire. There are challenges to be faced and improvements to be made, but we will face them with a record of great success and led by a team that would grace any big club in any league in the world.
The winner is Sydney.
