Within the space of 24 hours over a recent weekend, I watched two football matches. The first match from the comfort of my lounge room on the Saturday night, was the second leg of the men’s A League semi final between Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC played before a boisterous crowd of 25,082 at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle. The second match featured a ladies’ Under 18 Division 2 match between Seaforth and Harbord football clubs at Tania Park Balgowlah Heights and I was referee. This match was played before a handful of extremely well behaved parents, grandparents, friends and a few dogs, at the idyllic venue overlooking Sydney Harbour and The Heads.
The A League semi final, contested by full time professional men was a stop /start affair punctuated by ten yellow cards and innumerable fouls. The indiscretions generally were typical of the modern game – shirt pulling, deliberate late tackles and “professional fouls”, a misnomer as there is nothing professional about fouling an opponent, when legitimate forms of tackling are possible. Of course, Paramount Plus match commentator Daniel McBreen was quite accepting of these so called professional fouls because the game is all about winning isn’t it, whatever the cost? If you are a man playing football, fuelled by an excess of testosterone, of course you would want to exert your masculinity and come out on top.
The A League semi final went to extra time thanks to a late equaliser by Eli Adams in the 96th minute, ending 1-1 and necessitating penalty kicks. Those supporting Sydney FC would have been happy with Sydney winning the penalty shootout but the manner in which the game was played and the numerous needless stoppages, were extremely annoying for the neutrals like me. Referee, Shaun Evans, was not blameless as he let the niggle creep into the game where firm action early, could have curtailed the yellow card count and produced a more entertaining spectacle. Unfortunately, the manner in which the game was played is symptomatic of Association Football in the 21st century.
In comparison with the A League match, the ladies game at Tania Park was played by two teams clearly enjoying themselves with not an angry word spoken on either side. Smiles and laughter were common throughout, anger nowhere to be seen although on one occasion, a Harbord player attempting a clearance almost sliced the ball into her own net. “Fuck!” screamed the girl followed by laughter all round by both teams.
As the Seaforth and Harbord players were thoroughly enjoying their match, my thoughts were cast back to my younger days, playing in the park or in the street until darkness where winning was irrelevant as we racked up scores of 10-6 or the like and we never sought to beat the opponent by using foul play. We enjoyed our football, we laughed, it didn’t matter that we weren’t playing for competition points. Football was fun!
It saddens me that for many years now, the only time that a male footballer produces a smile, will be during an extravagant choreographed goal celebration, a brief interlude after his team has scored. Football was always tough in days gone by and tackles were just as hard as you will see today but the enjoyment has disappeared from the game, as the obscene financial rewards for players and clubs have escalated. Consequently, players and coaches / managers will use whatever means are deemed necessary to win matches – or not lose them.
Seaforth v Harbord wasn’t do or die. This wasn’t win at all costs, just a bunch of girls still learning the game but enjoying every minute of it. Half time arrived and Seaforth needed a goalkeeping volunteer for the second half and as is common, no hands were raised. Following “encouragement” from the coach, possibly a second packet of post game red frogs, the reluctant Lucy put on the goalkeeping gloves. Lucy ended up the hero, keeping a clean sheet in the second half and ensuring that Seaforth shared the spoils 1-1 at full time. The girls from both sides went home happy.
Football should be a free flowing encounter that none of the rival football variations can match but that is not the case in the modern game. The current 2026 World Cup has thankfully reigned in some of the unsavoury aspects of football but still, smiles are absent and even the world’s best players still resort to foul tactics, shirt pulling and attempts to deceive referees.
The popularity of the Australia’s ladies’ national football team The Matildas’, soared following the 2023 Women’s FIFA World Cup. Even when playing friendly international matches against lesser ranked countries, the Matildas have cultivated an incredible ground swell of support. By contrast, the men’s national team’s pre World Cup friendly with Curaçao drew 16,764 spectators compared to 18,441 for the Matildas’ recent friendly against Mexico. Unlike their male international counterparts, the Matildas do not consistently present stone faces and bland, angry expressions. Smiling faces in the women’s game are substantially more prevalent than in men’s football and there is also certainly more joie de vivre in the way that the Matildas play, than you will see watching the Socceroos.
Of course, spectators have always enjoyed a rugged physical encounter, whether it was the Romans feeding Christians and criminals to lions in the coliseum or tattooed men beating the Bejeezus out of each other on the White House lawn. I acknowledge that there is a gap in the skill level of the men’s and women’s game. Likewise the speed of men’s football exceeds that of female footballers but for this lifelong football spectator, I would now prefer to watch the young ladies enjoying their sport and learning their football craft at Balgowlah Heights rather than watch professional male footballers, in a packed stadium, unable to see past their next tug of an opponent’s shirt or “Professional foul”.
David Jack ©2026
David Jack 