Go You Big Red!!

Aussie comedian Adam Hills (of Spicks and Specks fame) was doing a show in Melbourne back in 1999 when he asked an audience member to yell out his name and for the audience to then yell it back. Instead the man yelled out, "Go you big red fire engine!" The audience began to chant this quirky phrase and since then it has become synonymous with Hills himself.

In fact the use of the phrase is considered a form of therapy. In times of trouble one should head to a secluded spot and scream in full voice, "Go you big red fire engine!" It's a tad cheaper than weekly counselling sessions.

The power of the colour red struck me on Saturday night when I was watching the Adelaide United boys emerge from the tunnel for the match against the Gold Coast. I had been expecting to see them in black. The all red strip was particularly striking, evoking in me a real sense a pride. We all know that red cars go faster.

It then got me thinking - what sense of pride do the players themselves feel when they put on the red shirt? Do they have much sense of its history? Do they feel a weight of obligation to honour it? Do they acknowledge the responsibility of what it represents?

Although the A-League is only five years old, the Reds can already draw from achievements and history that some of the other A-League clubs can't. Adelaide and Perth are the only two clubs who can claim to have had a pre-A-League beginning - as escapees from the old NSL days. Indeed the way that Adelaide United was born, out of the ashes of the once mighty Adelaide City, is a remarkable story in itself of what can be achieved in a short space of time when people unite behind a common cause.

Two A-League grand final appearances, a couple of pre-season competition wins and a rollicking run through to the Asian Champions League final all serve to add to the tradition of achievement that clubs strive to build. Even devastating losses (and there have been a few!) can add to a club's foundations in a positive way, if handled correctly.

It may sound cheesy but I hope that when the boys take to the park each week they fully realise they are playing for South Australia. There is an obligation that comes with that - we are a state that has a rich footballing past. Of the current squad of 22 players, 9 of them are born and bred South Australians - I'd like to see that ratio increase to a minimum of 50%.

Building tradition and meaning into a football shirt takes time but the more it can be fast-tracked the better. Personally I'd love to be running around Hindmarsh in the striking red shirt but I'm neither young enough nor good enough. I hope that those that are feel honoured to wear it.

Go you big red fire engine!!