Postecoglou’s Win Shames FFA Failures

If you’re an Australian and a lover of the round ball game, you’d be dirty — no, spitting chips — over how Australia, ten years ago, let a national treasure and soccer super coach walk out the door.

Postecoglou, a footballing genius born and raised on Australia’s shores, was never given the respect, support, or vision he deserved from Football Federation Australia (FFA). Instead, he was pushed aside by politics, undermined by egos, and abandoned by a governing body too consumed with power plays and internal games to recognise greatness when it stood right in front of them.

Australia’s loss has become Europe’s gain. And last night, in the UEFA Europa League final, Postecoglou delivered the ultimate middle finger to the FFA’s decade of incompetence and denial.

Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester United 1–0 in Bilbao to win their first European trophy since 1984. That win didn’t just end Spurs’ 17-year trophy drought — it shattered the myth that Australia can’t produce elite football minds. Postecoglou is now the first Australian coach to ever win a major European trophy. He didn’t do it by playing it safe. He did it with his philosophy, his system, and his relentless belief in the game.

But while he hoisted silverware under the bright lights of San Mamés Stadium, the FFA was back home, neck-deep in its usual mess. Because the truth is this: the people who ran, and still run, Australian football are numbskulls. That’s not an insult — it’s a fact supported by years of mismanagement, waste, and political masturbation.

Clowns running a circus would be a generous analogy for the FFA’s top brass. This is an organisation that has presided over stagnation, player and coach exoduses, and missed opportunity after missed opportunity — all while collecting fat salaries and pretending to be visionaries.

When Postecoglou guided the Socceroos to their 2015 AFC Asian Cup victory, he should’ve been untouchable — the architect of a new footballing chapter in Australia. But instead of backing him, the FFA got nervous. Instead of empowering him, they boxed him in. Instead of giving him space to revolutionise Australian football, they made him fight petty internal battles.

So he left.

And now, a decade later, he’s conquered Europe.

Brennan Johnson scored the decisive goal in the 42nd minute, capitalising on a United defensive lapse. Tottenham’s defence, anchored by Micky van de Ven and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, held firm to the end. It was a team with grit and purpose — and a coach who knew exactly how to get the best out of them.

Despite Spurs finishing a woeful 17th in the Premier League, Postecoglou’s Europa League campaign was nothing short of masterful. It secures Tottenham a Champions League berth next season and fulfils Ange’s pre-season promise of delivering silverware in his second year. He delivered — something the FFA never let him fully do back home.

What happened last night wasn’t just a football victory. It was a reckoning. A moment that exposed just how badly Football Federation Australia misread, mistreated, and ultimately lost the best coaching brain this country has produced.

Postecoglou’s success should force introspection — but don’t hold your breath. The FFA, still caught up in its echo chamber of suits, committees, and strategic plans that lead nowhere, will likely spin this as “good for Australian football.”

But the truth is: it’s an indictment of them. A reminder of what we could have had — and what we still don’t.

Postecoglou’s triumph is his alone. Australia doesn’t get to bask in his glow. Not until the FFA stops serving itself and starts serving the game. Not until political masturbation is replaced by real reform. Not until the numbskulls step aside and let football people run football.

Until then, we’ll keep losing our best to those who recognise their worth.

And we’ll keep waking up to headlines that should’ve been ours.