The Wanderers round 19 match against Melbourne Victory has been rescheduled due to atrocious FFA and Melbourne Victory planning.
The match, which was previously set down for AAMI Park on Saturday the 15th of February 2014, and was schedule to be a Wanderers Supporters Tour Of Duty match, has been changed to AAMI Park on Tuesday the 14th of January.
The fixture was changed because the FFA & Melbourne Victory released the schedule and draw without securing the use of AAMI Park for the original date, and were subsequently usurped by a concert.
A change to Ethiad Stadium on the original date is impossible due to preparations for concerts taking place there on the 18th & 19th of February. This change is going to cost Wanderers supporters as a collective thousands of dollars in wasted flights and accommodation.
This match on the 14th is being squeezed between a Sydney Derby at Parramatta on Saturday the 11th and playing in Adelaide on the 19th, giving the players only 2 days rest from the Derby before playing Melbourne Victory in Melbourne, flying back to Sydney, before leaving again for Adelaide to play another away match.
This is an absolutely shambolic piece of organisation from Melbourne Victory and the FFA. They have allowed a draw to be released with dates, knowing they do not actually have them secured. I find it incredible that a club playing at a stadium built specifically for Football that between the FFA and the Victory there is not a contract giving them priority over concerts, especially a concert at such late notice.
Damien de Bohun's attempt to spin their ridiculous scheduling is an insult to supporters. His claim that this will be a 'marquee fixture' is ludicrous, because it was already going to be a marquee fixture if the FFA and Victory had actually secured the use of their stadium. With the two best supporters groups in the league, and two top tier teams playing in arguably the best stadium in the country, this fixture could have been the best game of the year on and off the park and one of the best matches in all sport in Australia.
This change will only hurt the status of the fixture, trying to call a match played on a Tuesday in the 3rd week of January part of the 'holiday period' is wrong as most people will be back to work, and with the original match scheduled for a Saturday there was no need for the match to be in a so called 'holiday period' to begin with.
If Melbourne Victory cannot secure their stadium they should be punished by losing home ground advantage. This match should have been moved to Sydney and played on the original date at Parramatta Stadium.
UPDATES:
Sources in Melbourne (note, not official) believe that this issue was a result of the FFA ignoring advice by MVFC that the date may result in both stadiums being unavailable.
The RBB is working to determine changes to our Tour Of Duty, so please do not adjust or cancel your bookings yet.
There is a letter to the FFA that I have penned about this issue, involving numerous questions to all parties concerned. It is located here (registration may be required).
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