A team of Logan battlers wants the entire city to embrace their monumental mismatch, and what they say could be one of the greatest sporting upsets of all time.
The FFA Cup is a competition which pits teams from all grades in a knockout competition.
How far you get depends a lot on skill. It also has something to do with the luck of the draw.
Let’s set the scene:
Logan Metro FC was last year runner up in the state’s 4th tier competition.
Their opponents in the next round of the FFA Cup, Lions FC, were last year’s national Premier League champions.
Logan Metro FC plays at Compton Park, Woodridge, where they often fetch balls from the adjacent railway track.
Lions FC has elite training programs, a number of fields, and its own stadium.
Logan Metro FC runs a canteen from a shipping container on game days.
Lions FC has a clubhouse with multiple bars and restaurants, poker machines and opens from 10am until 4am daily.
The expectation is that Lions FC will win the match easily.
But Logan Metro FC president Samuel Escobar says there’s every chance the visitor will be thrown by the conditions when they play the smaller Compton Park pitch.
Perhaps they’ll also be thrown by the passing trains, the home crowd drums, a parochial home crowd, and a team which doesn’t seem to be in awe of the team they’re about to play.
“I’m a bit nervous, but I can’t wait,” goalkeeper Tinash Madau said.
Mr Escobar says his whole club is looking forward to hosting their powerhouse opponent in a clear David vs Goliath battle.
He said it was a chance for the local community, whether they were soccer fans or not, to show their spirit to support a team with diverse multicultural backgrounds.
Already, Logan Metro FC has beaten the more fancied Coomera 6-0 in Round 3 of the FFA Cup competition.
But this is a mammoth task.
“We’re expecting one off the biggest crowds Compton Park and the local community has ever seen and an atmosphere and match day experience to match the occasion,” Mr Escobar said.
At Compton Park, there are lights but no grandstands. There is a clubhouse, a toilet block where the change rooms are, and a small canteen.
There is also massive heart which embraces the history of its players, in some cases refugee backgrounds brought together by a love of “football”.
“The FFA Cup has a special place in our football club and has created some special and amazing memories in our short history,” Mr Escobar said.
Head coach Forbes Madau said players were ready to take on Lions FC.
“This FFA Cup match against the current national Premier League champions is a great opportunity and platform to showcase the local talent of our city which we are proud to have discovered and developed over the years,” he said.
“Our current focus is on our league games and gaining promotion to the Brisbane Premier League this season, but when the time is right we’ll switch our focus and prepare for this showcase Cup match.”
A time and date for the match has not yet been announced.
