Coogee United ready for next Westfield FFA Cup encounter
For any title-winning club, the path to greatness starts off the field.
Many grassroots teams may not have the training facilities or the coffers of state league teams competing in the Westfield FFA Cup.
But they can more than match them in spirit and culture, and Coogee United FC believe they have that winning culture to get them through the fourth round of the tournament.
James Whiteford is not only the coach of the Coogee men’s premier league side; since last year, he has also taken on the role of club Chairman. After securing Coogee’s entry into the Eastern Suburbs Football Association first-grade competition in 2010, Whiteford says the club has gone from strength to strength.
“Essentially we started to build the club up from there. I started coaching the reserve grade side and then had a bit of success winning the grand final with them. Then I got the opportunity to coach first-grade and I jumped on that, and also took a lead role in the running of the club.
“We installed some really good behaviours at the club and attracted some really promising players and essentially took the club from a mid-to-lower table club to the best club in the Eastern Suburbs in the space of 5 years.”
Originally from the United Kingdom, Whiteford moved to Australia in 2006. His playing roster contains many other UK internationals, with a strong bond amongst the group creating a promising culture at the club.
“We have quite a good philosophy at Coogee United,” says Whiteford. “We look for good players on the park but we also look for great people off the park as well. It’s a real balance and the culture of the Coogee United club is very important to us. Because of the culture at the club, players don’t want to let their team-mates down, so for example drinking the night before the game would be really frowned upon by their mates.
“For us, the main reason for entering [the FFA Cup] is probably the fact that we’ve got a team that is very much made up of UK internationals. So we really see this as a similar competition to the FA Cup in the UK. It’s a chance to live the dream… it’s probably one of the motivations behind it, as well as to grow the club.
The group is united by their heritage, and always make an effort to hold social events pre-season to build on their club culture.
“Every year we have a pre-season trip and this year we went up to the Central Coast,” says Whiteford. We played a friendly game against Gosford FC and then had a social night out which is all part of the team bonding. So it’s a really great trip for all the players.”
Since 2010, Coogee United have played in the Waratah Cup and competed in the FFA Cup for the last three years. A 3-0 win over Glenhaven FC in Round 3 of the Cup a few weeks ago highlighted the class of the Coogee playing group. Whiteford credits the discipline of his players for the strong performance.
“I think when you go to an away ground and you’re up against a team you don’t know much about anything can happen. I was really impressed after a solid pre-season where the guys took everything that we learnt during that time and put it into that game. We probably could have scored a few more… but credit to Glenhaven, they put up a good fight and they’ve got a number of talented youngsters.”
Besides the experience of playing in multiple tournaments, Coogee also have their 2015 Champion of Champions victory to draw inspiration from. As the underdogs heading into the final, Coogee secured the trophy with a 2-1 win over Lilli Pilli.
“I think it just gave us confidence in what we were doing at the club after a really successful year in the Eastern Suburbs competition”, says Whiteford. “It was great to take that form into the Champion of Champions and represent the Eastern Suburb Football Association at a really high level. We obviously had a tough final against Lilli Pilli FC but our guys battled through and I think that work we do at the club behind the scenes really paid off.”
“The guy’s came through and put Coogee on the map which is amazing if you think about where we were 5 years ago. It gives us great confidence for the Westfield FFA Cup but we know there are so many good sides out there so you never know the luck of the draw.”
While Coogee certainly has a winning culture, Whiteford says the team isn’t getting ahead of themselves, with their Round 4 Westfield FFA Cup fixture scheduled for next Tuesday.
“There are a lot of tough games to come. In the next round, we’ve got Western Condors, they’re a State League side so that’s a big achievement for us in getting to face them. Anything from here on in is a bonus.”
After narrowly going down 3-2 after extra time in last year’s Westfield FFA Cup against PlayStation4 NPL 2 side Bankstown City, Whiteford says his team has the drive and motivation to again make a strong run into the tournament.
“The key thing for us is the way we built the team around the culture of the Coogee United Club. The players that we recruit are obviously good footballers but they’re also great people off the park. It’s built around the people of the club and that’s what makes us successful. We’re very keen to progress through this tournament and hopefully develop the club further over the next couple of years.”
-By Harry Easton
