Last Saturday night in the EPL, an extraordinary tribute to Fabrice Muamba took place at Reebok Stadium.  Bolton players wore Muamba’s number, the crowd spelt out his name and in a truly uplifting display of football unity, fans left flowers, messages of support and hundreds of shirts from dozens of different clubs on the path to the players’ entrance.

Although I am not a supporter of either Bolton or Blackburn, just watching these scenes on television made me proud to be a football fan, proud to be part of something that has the power to bring such life-affirming moments.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, the Mariners finally won the Premiers Plate and I felt proud to be their supporter.  Proud that they built on what they achieved last season, proud they were able to tough it out when even the ground beneath them looked dodgy, proud of the sheer slog and dedication required to finish top of the pile in such a close contest. 

But where was the opportunity for A-League pride in Wellington ? Where was the chance for the players and coaching staff to celebrate this fantastic achievement ? Shouldn’t these milestones of each A-League season be marked with a greater sense of ceremony, regardless of where they happen ? 

With no trophy to present, there was no sense of celebration, no ritual and most disappointing of all no photo opportunity.  The moment was lost and so was the chance for an A-League “Good News Story”, which we could surely do with after the last few months. Not even the ABC news seemed to be aware that Australia’s national football contest had reached such an exciting conclusion.  (Surely even the NSL Premiers were granted a few moments on air).

So after dancing around my lounge room and drinking champagne on Sunday night, it was an anti-climax to open the paper on Monday morning.

No giant back page “Mariners Triumphant” story, no Wilko holding the plate aloft.  Just a tiny item about “whinging Arnie” and some long-winded fantasy pieces about Sydney going “all the way” in the Finals. 

Now I was genuinely thrilled by watching Sydney v Jets – what an absolute cracking finish!  In fact Joel Chianese, Daniel Bowles, George Lambadaridis – these guys all lit up my weekend.  But hey, WE WON THE PREMIERSHIP !!  It’s a whole season’s work, people.  And whoever wins, this should be a moment we grab with both hands EVERY season and present to the wider Australian community as a sign of our collective pride and celebration of our league and all it’s achieved.

By denying the champion team a chance to share their excitement in the media we missed a golden opportunity for great publicity.  Joe Average might not understand why we’re so passionate about our game, but he does understand “The Big Sporting Moment”. 

And if we want to win the long battle for the hearts and minds of Aussie sports fans we need to use every chance to assert a sense of unity, identity and A-League pride that will cement our league as an established part of the Australian sporting landscape.  We need to reinforce our own rituals, our own traditions and create an appreciation for all that is genuinely entertaining in our league.

By the same token, the current ACL campaign has also been criminally ignored by the media and even some fans in a way that to me is genuinely baffling.  This is a contest where our home grown clubs and Aussie coaches are battling it out with the best in Asia. 

The prize pool on offer is huge and the TV audiences are mind-boggling. 

Why don’t we take more pride in our teams’ performances, let the rest of Australia know that the A-League boys are playing football now on the world stage (and doing nicely, thanks very much)?  A lot more hype is needed and getting the fans more involved in future is crucial. 

Haven’t we waited generations for such an opportunity?  Shouldn’t we be as proud of these teams as those in say, the Rugby World Cup? But sometimes it seems to be almost a crime to feel proud of the A-League, even for fans.  Apparently even expressing enthusiasm for your team’s highly successful coach now makes you some kind of sad sycophant*.

Let's face it, if we can’t share our pride with the rest of Australia, what hope is there for our future success ?  We need more football converts and who wants to spend their leisure time with a bunch of miserable cynics ?

Bitterness, criticism, acrimony, sniping: it’s fair to say we do these things really well in the A-League.  But like those supporters at Reebok Stadium, shouldn’t we take more opportunities to simply spread the love? 

*(For the record - YES! I’ve sat behind Arnie for two seasons – the light truly is blinding )