Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers

Adelaide United

Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers 2016 A-League Grand Final

Paul Williams

Adelaide is a city and club that knows heartbreak well.

Be it the collapse of the State Bank in the early 1990's that left the state crippled, the loss of the Formula 1 Grand Prix to Victoria in the mid 1990's or the humiliating 6-0 loss to Melbourne Victory in the 2007 A-League Grand Final, the city and its long suffering football fans have seen it all.

That loss in 2007 was followed by a 5-0 loss in the AFC Champions League final in 2008 and another loss to Melbourne Victory in the 2009 A-League decider, a loss that saw then coach Aurelio Vidmar describe Adelaide as a "pissant town" - a tag that sticks to this day.

But this Sunday the Reds have the chance to banish their past demons and do what no Adelaide side has achieved since 1994 when Adelaide City won the old National Soccer League - win the national league.

The Reds road to the final has been nothing short of remarkable, one of the most incredible stories of the A-League's first eleven years. Stone motherless last and without a win after eight rounds, the Reds season looked shot and pressure was beginning to mount on new coach Guilermo Amor.

Their turnaround in the 20 weeks that followed had to be seen to be believed, tasting defeat just once more as they rose from the pits of despair to top of the pops after the regular season, claiming their second Premiership after also finishing top in the A-League's inaugural season in 2005/06.

And after a comprehensive 4-1 win over a disappointing Melbourne City in the semi final, the Reds stand just one win away from the most remarkable turnaround in Australian sporting history. Yes, Australian sporting history, for no team in any Australian league in any sport has gone without a win in the first eight rounds and gone on to win the title.

The fact no Adelaide United was selected in the PFA's Team of the Year might be viewed as a slight in some quarters, but if anything it highlights Adelaide's greatest strength - they are a team.

It's not that they don't have their stars. On his day Marcelo Carrusca is as good as any player in the league, as is Sergio Cirio, although the Spaniard has had a disappointing campaign this year. But Adelaide's strength is their evenness right across the park.

By contrast, Melbourne City, who have some of the best individual players in the league, had four players in the PFA Team of the Year.

A champion team will always beat a team of champions, and so it proved last Friday night at a heaving Coopers Stadium when Adelaide dispatched City 4-1.

The humble, no nonsense nature of the Reds this season can be attributed to their new mentor Amor. Replacing the ever popular Josep Gombau who suddenly and mysteriously left midway through 2015, the much quieter Amor set about fine-tuning the Reds for a tilt at the A-League title.

A much calmer presence on the sidelines, it took time for Amor's DNA to be seen in Adelaide this season, but when they got going they were impossible to stop.

While he didn't have the displays of passion on the sidelines that we saw from Gombau, don't for a second think that equates to a lack of desire. A true smiling assassin, Amor has a fierce desire bubbling underneath his calm public persona.

Their opponents on Sunday, the Western Sydney Wanderers, have also achieved quite the turnaround this season.

Only the Newcastle Jets finished lower on the table last season, as the ninth-placed Wanderers finished a whopping 35 points behind table-topping Melbourne Victory.

An overhaul of their playing stocks, and the introduction of assistant coach Andrés Carrasco, has seen the Wanderers go from cellar dwellers last year to again playing off in the grand final, their third appearance in just four seasons.

For a club who demands success a third defeat will cut to the core and severely dent their pride.

With neither side having won the A-League championship before we are set to crown a new champion, for whom it will be third time lucky.

In front of over 50,000 South Australians desperate for success after decades of heartbreak, is there one last chapter in this fairy-tale season for the Reds?

I think there just might be.

Copyright © Paul Williams and Soccerphile.com


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