By Football fairytales in the city of soccer
It’s not just Leicester City Football Club living the sporting fairytale (but congratulations to them as Champions). A smaller miracle but also deserving of admiration occurred for local soccer team Adelaide United, the Reds. In November they were bottom of the A-League ‘ladder’. By April, coached by former Barcelona player Guillermo Amor, they were table topping Premiers. The A-League runs on a similar model to AFL (Aussie Rules) and American Football – the league position determines the end of season finals. In Adelaide United’s case that meant home games in the knock-out stages, and ultimately, hosting the Grand Final at the Adelaide Oval against the Western Sydney Wanderers- something that the local AFL teams: the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power, can never experience, even if they were good enough, as ‘footy’ finals are always in Melbourne.
It was a personal fairytale of sorts that I had the chance to attend my first ever sporting final as one of the 50,000 red-clad soccer fans turning Adelaide into the city of soccer. The jubilant red army prevailed on and off the pitch with Adelaide winning 3-1 to become A-League Champions at their third Grand Final appearance.
Additional photography https://www.instagram.com/kathryn_mcc
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Rectangular game on an oval field.
Dr D in Oz 
Well done to the teams. Leicester’s victory was well deserved, and it goes to show that with hard work one can get anywhere. Brilliant stuff 🙂
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