Sunday 6pm AEST.

Adelaide have never won an away final, or any final against Victory...

Fucking keen for this game. So glad it's against the Pissants too, just that extra bit of spice. Has been a pretty flat season in terms of games I've been to so far, so looking forward to a real ball tearer Sunday night! Will be right in the thick of the combined South North ends too

Has there been too many genuinely unexpected results in many finals series in the past? I'm not thinking of too many. For all the magic of the cup talk etc, 5th and 6th usually drop out pretty quick.
This Sunday must be the one for the Reds though i reckon. It'll be ding dong. Hopefully a few early yellows to victory players from the ref to set the tone and let em know that Muscats thuggery won't be tolerated and then their panic will set in. Vuck will have to resort to plan B. Actuallt playing football. Victory will be pretty worried about this game for sure. 

IIRC, the last team to make a Grand Final from outside the top 3 was Adelaide City in 93/94 from 5th, and they went on to win it away to Viduka's Melbourne Knights.

Don't expect much in terms of a crowd.

Yes I remember that well, i was close to jumping on the old overnight firefly for that one.

This. I got a desperate text from mvfc yesterday promoting $25 tickets, didn't look into it as i cannot go but $25 is a decent price. 17,000 i reckon. I don't even think we could get 30,000 if we were in a position to host a final. Personally the only way this season could turn out a positive for the league is if it ended up being a Melbourne derby final. 

Are finals tickets still FFA revenue?

I haven't heard anything to contradict that.

plenty of tickets still left at $25 and $35 adult. Excited for this one, in what's been a pretty dire season.

This should be a much more even match, actually think Adelaide might get the win aswell.

Adelaide to dick this 1-3.

NSL? Maybe whichever nerd was making up the charts ( or whatever they're called ) decided to make lists for each group? It'll give something for Speed to say anyway.

If Adelaide win then Absalonsen is going to the key player. Given Victory do not have a proper RB that might well be the case but Deng might do a good job.

Baba scored last week but he seems to be a player who needs to play a lot to get to full fitness and he has missed a lot of football. I also think Rhys Williams is a very good match up for Baba.

Apart from that Adelaide lack a true creative attacking midfielder so will not be a huge threat from there although Adlung can get forward dangerously but might be called on to be a bit more defensive for a lot of the game.

Our "semi pro" squad that year had 

Robert Zabica - Socceroos GK at the time
Sergio Melta - very underrated player with only 1 NT appearance
Tony Vidmar (enough said)
Milan Ivanovic - one of the all time greatest central defenders in the NT
Alex Tobin (enough said)
Damian Mori (enough said)
Carl Veart
Goran Lozanovski - another NT player, not the best but still underrated
Brad Hassell - probably the worst player in the lineup but a servicable NSL player at City and Glory

I'm missing two players but can't put a name to them.

Was Joe Mullen one of them?

Can't remember 100% but he would've definitely been in there if he wasn't injured. Just can't remember.

Ivanovic gave Viduka a bath that day, wouldn't let him near it. I don't think anyone looked like winning it with City players choking the life out of the Knights players, then Mori just smashes the leather off it and we win. I'm not sure even he knew where it was going when he hit it.

Found this list of players, http://www.worldfootball.net/teams/adelaide-city-fc/1994/2/

So maybe Shillabeer or Maxwell.

Starting lineup for the final:

Knights : Miller, D. Cervinski, De Amicis, Vanis, Horvat, Marth, Trajeceski, Biskic, A. Cervinski, Viduka, Buljubasic
Coach :Coach : Mirko Bazic

City  : Zabica, Melta, Vidmar, Ivanovic, Tobin, Talladira, Mori, Veart, Mullen, Lozanovski, Hassell
Coach : Zoran Matic

Source.

What really stands out is how young those lineups are compared to what we see now. The majority of those players from both sides were under the age of 25 playing in that grand final. Viduka was leading the line at 18 and top scorer and player of the year. Imagine an A-League Grand Final where both sides had an average age in the early twenties and one of them was an 18 year-old that was top scorer in the comp that season.....it is fantastic but unfortunately unfathomable now in the current A-League.

That is one heck of a team! Loved Sergio Melta, to me he really was an excitement machine.

Just found out there is a group of streets not very far from where I live that seem to be named after Adelaide City players from that kind of era, Tobin Crescent, Talladira Way, Mori Street, Melta Way, Zoran Court, Zabica Avenue, Mullen Close, Perin Avenue, Shillabeer Crescent, Veart Court, Hassell Court, Vidmar Crescent. There is also a Charlton Terrace and a Best Close.

You won't get players like him anymore. He was as loyal as they come. Played his entire career at Adelaide City. Could have stepped up but he just loved the club. In that season he was getting close to retirement as he was there since the 70s. He would have come close to having played every season of the NSL in its history though.

Just looked that up on google maps. Fuckin GOLD!

https://goo.gl/maps/mfrTM7FhupG2

You can be certain that came about from the Bob D'Otavi and Biancos link

It's not that "era", it's straight up the premiership team from 93/94. 

That's awesome. Have a look at some of the street names around the failed AFL stadium Waverly Park in Melbourne: https://goo.gl/maps/c3iQGyZ3Phz

Just had another look and I reckon I know the culprit. There's a Pickard Cct there. That'd be Gordon Pickard - property developer and long term benfactor of both City and the guy who started Adelaide United.

Also, not sure if it was that season or maybe a couple of years later (i was just a kid then). But you could spot the bandwagoners a mile off. Blow ins used to always bag out this player we had named Di Vella. Our players didn't have their names printed on the kit - it was a back of shirt sponsor called Di Vella that made pasta, printed where a player's name would be. So whenever some guy did it it'd wind up some guy in the crowd who would yell back "that's alex tobin ya backyarder!!!"

I'd ask why didn't they wonder why every player was named Di Vella, but we are talking about South Australians. (Getting the bants in early).

I would guess Bobby Charlton and George Best are his favourite players seeing a couple of the streets are named after them as well. 

Could also add that Carl Veart played for Sheffield United, Crystal Palace and Millwall. That's some CV...