This and it's only the second season of it.

-PB

I did like the playful nature of the programming with excitable commentary and the trumpets for each goal. I think it will grow in popularity as it was relatively entertaining.

RELEASE THE KRACKEN!

Did any of them have a spanish/mexican GOOOAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOZZZZOOOO?

If not then we need to ping Fox on Tweeter and make it happen.

-PB

He's around 20-21 A League bound for sure.

Trumpet Commentary also lacked a Ned Zelic "BOOM"

The sample one when Zappas introduced the idea before the game started was the:
"GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL" type

Love it :lol: I hope they have plenty lined up for next week (especially for wednesday I hope [-o< )

The sample one when Zappas introduced the idea before the game started was the:
"GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL GOL" type

Love it :lol: I hope they have plenty lined up for next week (especially for wednesday I hope [-o< )

Yeah, that was a sound byte of Tiziano Crudelli - would've been content if we got that every time :lol: :lol: :lol:

Any idea where the Kracken one came from?

Sounds like it could be this

[youtube]8durR_h42VA[/youtube]

You'll score so many that you'll break the trumpet.

Until Wednesday night Hume City’s most memorable moment was a toss up between two incidents, just a year apart. There is 2007 when the club – 33 years after being founded by Turkish immigrants – finally won promotion to the Victorian Premier League after finishing second in Division One. And then there’s 2008 when, at season’s end, it took a 93rd-minute header by former South Melbourne and Trabzonspor player Tansel Başer to stave off immediate relegation.

So, like buses, you wait forever for a highlight and then two come along at once.
After seven years it’s time for something new. And that something new is a doozy: a round of 32 FFA Cup appearance at their neat-as-a-pin home ground, ABD Stadium in Broadmeadows. That’s about 20km north-west of the Melbourne CBD although tonight it feels about 1km south of the Arctic Circle. It’s cold. Apparently about 8 degrees but factor in wind chill and I estimate a polar bear would be asking for a coat.

Not that the cold has dampened the mood here. The place is jumping; as if everyone associated with the club, or the local Turkish community, has come along and brought a friend. And a red, Hume City scarf. At City’s last home game there were 239 fans. Tonight there will be more than 800, most of whom have taken up position in the pristine grandstand, part of a $12 million 2008-09 redevelopment (including three grass pitches and an artificially-turfed fourth) of the Broadmeadows Valley Park site that has given Hume, its main tenant, currently sixth in the VNPL, one of the best equipped home grounds in the country.

Hume City fans not in the grandstand or along the fence beneath it are inside the grandstand from where, in the warmth, they can dine and overlook the game through floor to ceiling glass. And befitting the facilities there’s no big bloke in a van out the back carving doner kebabs whilst inadvertently spicing them with forearm sweat. No, there’s a slick kitchen here and staff-members in black who know what to do with it.

And it’s here while waiting for my lamb wrap – when in Rome (or Anatolia as the case may be) – I chat to four men in black who look like retired wrestlers, yet tonight all they’re man-handling are three davul drums, while another has in a case a devilish wind instrument called a zurna. I don’t realise it at the time but these four men will come to define the evening almost as much as the players they’re here to encourage.

Soon enough I’m out in the cold and the teams are being announced. First the visitors, Queensland NPL side Brisbane Strikers who, under player-coach Frank Farina, were the 1996-97 NSL champions and one of the flag-bearers of elite football in the sunny state. Then the less credentialed Hume City are announced and as each player’s name is read out their image appears on an electronic scoreboard across the other side of the ground. What’s more, accompanying the names of the local heroes – who include the Steven Gerrard-esque captain Nick Hegarty, formerly of Grimsby Town, and former Melbourne Victory player Theo Markelis – the drummers and the zurna player crack their knuckles with a few booming rounds that ripple my bodily fluids.

Then we’re underway and Hume City – once home to Socceroos Jason Davidson and Aziz Behich – come out of the blocks fast and within three minutes score the opener. It starts at the back with Shaun Timmins before Markelis turns neatly and puts the ball ahead of his left winger Ivan Pavlak. Pavlak’s cross is met on the right by Jai Ingham and laid off to Hegarty who opens his body up and side foots past the extended right glove of Fraser Chalmers in the Strikers’ goal. And doesn’t that get the crowd excited and the drummers drummy?

For the next 15 or so minutes Hume set the pace, and at the heart of their energy is the red-headed Hegarty who bristles with energy and is called “an animal” by a spectator but in a good way, an admiring way. Even in the rare moments Hegarty is at rest he exudes potential, like a dog on a strained leash. And then it’s Hegarty who whips in a free-kick from the right but Irishman Timmins gets no glance on his glancing header and it sails just wide.


At this point it just feels like it’ll be Hume’s night and the zurna and drums, oh the drums, are setting the tone. When Hume are in possession they beat fast, and faster still the closer the ball gets to Brisbane’s goal. When Brisbane are in possession the drum’s slow like a funeral march, or like the foreboding footsteps of someone walking behind you in the dark. As such you could follow the game with your eyes closed. Did I mention the drums were loud? Loud enough to mask the sound of players calling to each other even when you’re leaning on the fence.

But then the game turns with the Strikers’ against-the-run-of-play, 23rd-minute equaliser that comes when Greg King curls in a free-kick and centre-back Greig Henslee rises within the mixer to head past Hume keeper Chris Oldfield. The remainder of the half will be willing – and there’s a period where some of the challenges come with afters, and yellow cards – but it stays 1-1 at the break.

I take the opportunity of oranges to chat to a trio of older men and the one in the middle, in a flat cap, turns out to have been a 22-year-old player when Hume City first began life in 1974 (though some chart the official start to 1979). His name is Erkan Kaprol and he’s been around the club since, either playing, coaching, or watching, and he’s witnessed Hume’s various ups and downs and name changes (the club used to called Holland Park, then North Coburg, then Coburg United) that have come with having to move.

“Tonight is a probably the most special moment for the club,” he says, and while he goes on to add that it’s a proud moment for the local Turkish community, he’s quick to add that times have changed, and that the current club reflects the area it now plays in, which has a broad demographic. “When the club started, football was one of the only ways the Turkish community could get together. And that was important then,” he says.

His friends then chips in to say that as the next generation grew up the club became less of a lifebuoy and as such became more outward looking. “Now there’s only one Turkish player in the team,” says Kaprol.


The second half begins and again Hume start well and they have the better of the half, although Brisbane’s nuggety forward Jheison Macuace proves a constant menace. Then Hume think they’ve gone ahead when Markelis thumps in after a goal-mouth scramble but celebrations are cut short when referee Jonathan Barreiro disallows the goal for a foul in the build-up. The crowd aren’t happy and the drums beat louder to reflect it.

And so it stays 1-1 until the 90th minute when the Strikers – gamely sticking to Hume despite what must be an intimidating atmosphere – appear to have won it, Scot Coulson rifling a shot from the left, under the body of Oldfield in goal. Brisbane go nuts, as you would, but within moments of the re-start, with seconds remaining in regular time, Hume equalise and send the match into extra-time. It’s influential midfielder Marcus Shroen rising high to slam home Pavlak’s left-side cross with a thunderous header. Cacophonous delirium in the stand. What a night this is turning out to be.

It gets more ridiculous – and memorable – still. In the 13th minute of extra-time Coulson scores again to put Brisbane 3-2 up, seizing on a mistake from centre-back Peter Franjic before cooly beating Oldfield. Surely now Brisbane can hold on for a famous win? But in time added on in the first half of extra-time Shroen does it again, heading home Jai Ingham’s corner like a tracer bullet: 3-3! He sets off on a manic high-knee run alongside the stadium fence and a legion of Hume City juniors stand up and sing, “No surrender today because nothing can stand in our way” to the tune of Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer. It’s doubtful they’ve heard of Joplin. It’s doubtful right now they give a damn.

So we enter the second half of extra-time and driven by the drums and the fans Hume push for a winner while just managing to stifle Brisbane’s efforts to strike on the counter. And just when it’s looking like were going to penalties Hume ensures this night in the club’s history is elevated into the number one position: Ingham finds substitute Liam Newman overlapping and Newman makes for the right byline. With the whistle due any second he centres with the outside of his left boot and the Strikers’ Henslee, sliding it to cut out the cross, deflects the ball into his own net.

There seems to be a moment’s hesitation before the crowd realises what has happened. But when they do ABD Stadium erupts for the fourth time tonight, and the drums thunder, thunder, thunder. Hume City are going to the round of 16. What was that about Hume City’s memorable moments being like buses?

(I thoroughly enjoyed watching Strikers concede at the death moments after their goalie made a ridiculous show of wasting time trying to hold out for penalties).

That's fucking great. I literally just sprayed my salad roll all over my desk at work

Balmain's FFA Cup believers pay their own way to Victory clash

Keen: The Balmain Tigers are talking about winning against Melbourne Victory, despite the size of the task. (Football NSW)
Balmain Tigers
Balmain Tigers
Balmain Tigers
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IMAGE 1/ VIDEO AUDIO
Balmain Tigers coach Joe Di Giulio will send his players out for a lunchtime feast of pasta and chicken before they take on A-League champion Melbourne Victory in the FFA Cup on Tuesday night, but the players are going to have to pick up the bill themselves.
By Greg Prichard
31 JUL 2015 - 12:23 PM UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
   
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The Tigers are a small but proud club who play in the NSW State League 1 competition, three divisions below the A-League. Di Giulio told The World Game none of the players get paid a cent and all are either working for a living or doing courses.

While the players are enjoying their meal before taking the field against some of the A-League's biggest stars like Besart Berisha, Archie Thompson, and Gui Finkler, Di Giulio and other club officials and volunteers will be helping to get things ready at Leichhardt Oval.

Di Giulio said that after paying for ground hire the club needs to draw a crowd of about 1500 to break even. The Tigers are hoping to get around 2000 people through the gate to make a bit of profit which can be poured back into the club.


"We were ecstatic when the draw came out," Di Giulio said. "We're really happy from the club's point of view because it increases our profile, sponsorships and everything else and it attracts better players to the juniors here.
"As far as the players are concerned, for them it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, playing against Melbourne Victory. Some of our players are in the final years of their careers, at this level at least, so it's their last opportunity to do something like this. They're all happy and very motivated.

"We've got a game against Dulwich Hill on Saturday, then into recovery days on Sunday and Monday, doing some pool work and that, and getting ready for Tuesday."

Di Giulio said the players' employers had agreed to give them a bit of time off ahead of the game - but there is no opportunity to go into camp or anything fancy like that.

"Most of the players work and some go to university," Di Giulio said. "All different work, office work, factory workers, coffee shop attendants and God knows what else.

"Some of them will work half a day on Tuesday and the others will take the whole day off, from what I hear. They'll work as normal on Monday.

"They've all spoken to their bosses and told them what's happening and they've been given at least half a day off.

"They're meeting at a restaurant on game day for lunch to eat pasta and chicken. That's all they're allowed to eat. It's a players only lunch. Myself and other club officials and volunteers will be at the stadium from 8am to do all the things we need to do to get it ready, so it's hands on for everybody.

"We're renting the ground and security. We have to put the scaffolding together for the TV. There is a canteen which is council run, so we don't get involved in that, but we have to get the dressing-rooms ready and stocked up with Gatorade and whatever else is necessary.

"Hopefully, we'll get 1500 to 2000. If we get 2000 or more we'll be very happy."


Di Giulio said that while the challenge his side face against a team full of professional stars is enormous, the players were talking as if they have a chance of winning and he is doing all he could to encourage that belief.
"We don't talk about causing a massive upset, we talk about winning," he said. "That's all we talk about. I want them to believe they can make a good impression. Win or lose, it doesn't matter if you do your best, but they're not scared of saying they believe they can win.

"They've got a very positive attitude, which is good. I support them in that belief. I don't want them thinking they're going to get flogged or anything like that, I want them to walk on the pitch believing they are equals with the opposition. It's 11 against 11, so anything can happen."

Asked what his team had to do above everything else to give itself a chance of pulling off the upset to end all upsets, Giulio said the Tigers couldn't afford one link in the chain to break.

"They've got to play as a team," he said. "Individuals won't win the game, but playing as individuals could lose the game. If everybody plays for each other we can make a good impression.

"They have to work their backsides off. It's not going to be an easy game, it's going to be faster than what they're used to, but motivation and a big heart can do miracles.

"We've got good defenders, we've got good midfielders, we've got good strikers, so hopefully everyone can put their bit in and we can get a good result."

Di Giulio said his players were talking with great enthusiasm about getting into one-on-one battles with some of the A-League's best known players.

"Yes, they're already talking about personalities and who they're going to mark and who they have to look after and watching videos and studying them and seeing how they play," he said. "We're doing whatever we can to maximise our chances.

"They all watched the first night of the FFA Cup on television. They're very into it.

"Upsets can happen in football. We're State League 1, so three divisions below the A-League, and we're the lowest ranked team in the 32 teams that went into this round, but we're there and the boys are going to give it their best.

"Come along and support us. People can look at our club website or Facebook page and it will tell them where they can buy tickets - or they can just buy them at the gate. There will be plenty of tickets available."

Sadly I'm going to miss the Tigers game, as my U16s that i coach train on Tuesday nights :(

Sadly I'm going to miss the Tigers game, as my U16s that i coach train on Tuesday nights :(

So many games this week. Cannot wait.

Have to say, with lack of pre-season games, I am a little bit nervous about Victory's game v Balmain.

I have a feeling we may be trialling players.