It was an afternoon Sydney United 58 FC would likely care to forget, but for Brisbane football fans it was the day the Queensland capital proved it too was truly a football town.

Long before Brisbane Roar’s famous back-to-back A-League title wins, more than 40,000 football fans piled in to Lang Park for the National Soccer League Grand Final between Brisbane Strikers and the then named Sydney United, most returning home happy after the home-town Strikers prevailed 2-0.

Many of the unexpectedly large walk-up crowd were still shuffling through the turnstiles when the game got under way and Chay Hews, now Strikers senior head coach, fired the first shot at goal inside the opening minute of the contest.

Despite the opening strike, the first half proved a cagey affair and tactically removed from the now widely embraced National Coaching Curriculum – Strikers goalkeeper Clint Bolton commanding his area by catching or punching away several speculative United crosses.

The opening goal was scored by fan favourite Frank Farina, the experienced striker and player/coach toe poking his shot past United ‘keeper Zeljko Kalac, who would later ply his trade with AC Milan in the Italian Serie A.

Farina also went on to greater glories, taking over the reins with the Socceroos and engineering remarkable victories over world football powerhouses France and Brazil at the 2001 Confederations Cup.

Alan Hunter turned in a hard-working shift in the Strikers defence to be deservedly acknowledged as man of the match, but it was Rod Brown who sealed the magical afternoon with the second and final goal – finishing confidently on a breakaway counter attack with 20 minutes to play.

Brown is the father of current Brisbane Roar senior player and Queensland Academy of Sport product Corey Brown, who was only three years old at the time of the famous win.

Also amongst the famous names on hand was former Socceroo Jason Culina, who at 16 years of age made his senior debut off the bench for United with a touch under 30 minutes remaining.

Another substitute that day for United was Mark Rudan, senior head coach of the current United 58 side, who was subbed on for the frantic final nine minutes of the match.

Meanwhile, the Strikers starting line-up also featured a rambunctious Kasey Wehrman, who went on forge to a successful career in Norway and in the A-League before returning to south-east Queensland to guide Ipswich-based NPL Queensland club Western Pride as technical director and senior head coach.

This Saturday, Olympic FC will seek to uphold Queensland pride against Sydney United 58 once again when they line-up against United in the National Premier Leagues Semi Final at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre.

While a few faces from the NSL remain – Olympic FC goalkeeper Mario Aparicio received his first professional contract with NSL powerhouse Parramatta Power, and senior coach Tim Brown plied his trade for six years with West Adelaide Hellas – the memories of 1997 are starting to fade for all but the most diehard football supporters.

It’s time for a new generation to take up the challenge, draw on the legends of the past, create their own magic and inspire those playing in all age divisions of the NPL to strive for national silverware.

There are many talented young players in the Olympic side – Jai Ingham, Jack Petrie, Costa Psaros, Matt Heath, Jake McLean and Nick Efstathis to name but a few – and they deserve the support of all Queensland football fans as the Sunshine State once again readies itself to show the Sydneysiders, and the rest of the country, what football in Queensland is all about.

Words: Michael Flynn (Football Queensland)

Image: Brisbane Strikers FC