In its brief history the FFA Cup has had its moments. Conceived as an olive branch from new football to old soccer the notion of pitting professionals against amateurs, new clubs against old, has gone some way to reconnecting the young league to its footballing history.
And then there’s the upsets. Last week’s twin shocks, delivered first by Victorian amateurs Green Gully and then Queensland’s Redlands United have resounded around the corridors of clubs across the country, and already played a role in an A-League coaching casualty.
At Fairy Meadow’s Fraternity Club in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Wollongong Wolves’ coach, Jacob Timpano, is full of praise for the achievements of his fellow semi-professionals. Nevertheless, you can’t help but detect a slight disappointment at having the focus pulled from his own club’s much-awaited fixture against Sydney FC.
“The two upsets have probably put the A-League clubs on notice, I don’t think they would have been surprised by the effort, but perhaps at the quality that the NPL clubs can dish up.”
But there’s one more remarkable twist. While sitting for coffee, Timpano’s phone runs hot. “Sorry, I have to take this,” he apologises, before grinning and adding, “it could be Ronaldinho.”
The remarkable development that the former Ballon d’Or and World Cup winner, the Barcelona and Brazilian legend, could be tempted into a one-game contract with the Wolves garnered international attention.
Not bad for a club that had been off the national stage since the collapse of the NSL. It’s a curious development as well for a player whose own star once threatened a meteoric rise, only to be cruelled by a succession of horrific injuries.
Handed the national team armband at Under-17 and Under-20 level by then coach Ange Postecoglou, Timpano was one of Australia’s best young defenders.
Team-mates from the 2003 Under-17 Fifa World Cup in Finland recall Timpano’s maturity, calmness and poise on the ball – especially amid trying circumstances.
With Soccer Australia in its death throes, the Joeys were flung up against sides like Argentina and Nigeria, without the right facilities, the appropriate preparations, or support.
“Ange was probably hard done by,” Timpano recalls. “The way he was looked at after all those years doing the [youth level] national teams. Even back then, I used to tell everyone, I thought he was a great coach.
“He was definitely a leader, as a captain in his teams I always knew what he was trying to get across, what he was working towards. He was tactically very good, he knew his players; he was psychologically very good.”
Posterity may have vindicated Postecoglou, but for the Wollongong teenager the experience of squaring off with players such as John Obi Mikel, Fernando Gago or Keylor Navas – players who would go on to win Champions League trophies or play in World Cup finals – was indescribable.
At just 16, Timpano was thrown into a full NSL campaign with the Wolves, marking Socceroo strikers such as Damien Mori, Ante Milicic or Bobby Depotovski.
As overseas clubs such as Leicester City, Empoli and Reading came circling a first major setback occurred – the collapse of the NSL, and a subsequent 18-month hiatus of top-flight Australian competition.
While his high school mates were exploring the pleasures of alcohol, house parties and clumsy flirting, Timpano decided to throw his lot in with football. Young Socceroos camps functioned as a carrot, but it remained a frustrating time for the promising defender.
“It was a tough period, not just for myself but for a lot of guys in my age group, but I just had to stay motivated on a personal level, go to the gym, train by myself, work out with some local clubs.
“[Being 17, 18] is a life stage that really makes or breaks a lot of players. But at that time I was dedicated to my football and chose that path. There were probably guys I played with who had the talent but perhaps chose the other path, but that’s everyone’s individual choices.”
With the emergence of the A-League, Timpano, then 19, was still greatly sought after and signed with Sydney FC. Forcing his way into the starting team in round four the Wollongong junior was thereafter ever-present, making 21 appearances on his way to a debut A-League title.
Almost injury-free as a junior, Timpano was then beset with a host of setbacks – groin injuries, a bulging disc, a broken foot, soft tissues injuries. “Eventually they just got the better of me, and that’s how it ended, really.”
Timpano remained on the books of Sydney FC for another two seasons, before signing for one last campaign with the ill-fated North Queensland Fury. At the age of just 25, and with only five more A-League appearances to show for it the central defender had had enough.
“When you’re injured, at the physio, not at training, it gets frustrating and you just think, what’s the point of killing yourself for something that’s probably not going to eventuate.”
“Maybe if I was in this era, where the sports science is a lot more advanced than it was 10 to 11 years ago, than things could have been different, but that’s hindsight for you.”
It’s a tale common in football – a promising player cut down in their prime. But like the boxer knocked to the canvas what is more instructive is what happens afterwards.
“Once you do step away from it you realise there’s a lot more to life than football, but that did take a bit of time to work out,” Timpano says.
Returning home to the Illawarra, to his twin anchors of friends and family, he began to refocus his energies. After getting involved in coaching kids in skill acquisition programs, Timpano started his formal licences two years ago, as well as founding a business, SoccerMan, with his brother Matt, which tours childcare centres and primary schools.
“Working with kids was something I was always going to go into,” says Timpano, “you see the enjoyment of the kids, you see the little improvements, and that’s a bit of a buzz. Different to playing, but you can’t play forever.”
For three seasons, Timpano even managed a comeback. And when their head coach walked out amid financial difficulties and off-field challenges, Wollongong Wolves didn’t hesitate to approach their former captain, to see if he’d take over the reins.
As a local boy, Timpano had no hesitations. “The Wolves are a recognisable brand across the country, because of the history in the national league and so many players have come through the club. Yes, we’re only in the NPL but it’s a club with a lot more to offer in the future.”
Surrounding himself with experienced former team-mates, the then 29-year-old threw himself into the remainder of the NPL campaign – going on to secure a finals spot, and subsequently qualification for the final 32 of the FFA Cup.
Drawing on his own experiences, the highs of captaining the national team, the lows of prolonged injury, Timpano sees passing on his accumulated wisdom as a critical part of bringing through a new generation in the Illawarra.
“One thing I do probably talk to the guys about is looking after their bodies,” says Timpano. “If they have a niggle, or they’re not feeling great, because I learned the hard way, that’s something I try and drum into players that if they want to be professional players they have to do just as much off the park as they do on it to look after themselves better.”
Having made his debut with the Wolves under Australian footballing legend Ron Corry, and then studying under Postecoglou, Timpano also has a pretty savvy handle on the psychological side of the game.
“Ability can only get a player so far, and the attitude and character of a player is definitely what coaches look at. I don’t like putting a player out there who I don’t think will go to war and battle for his team-mates and the club. And I think that gets lost sometimes now, especially with junior players where the emphasis is on technical qualities.”
While in person the qualities former team-mates spoke of are evident – a quiet confidence, a determination, and a natural leadership – these are masked by an at times self-deprecating or languid style.
There’s no doubting the importance of this FFA Cup clash for a once-proud team, flying the flag for a passionate footballing region. It’s a first and high-profile reemergence on the national stage, and an opportunity to show that the Illawarra has the interest and the support to one day host a future A-League team.
Timpano returns from another hushed phone call – not with a certain Brazilian this time – but how would he approach coaching Ronaldinho, were the shock transfer to come through?
“Well look, he’d get the number 10 shirt, which one of my players wouldn’t be too happy about,” says Timpano dryly. “But, if he was to come, I don’t think I’d have to give him too many instructions.”
It’s an unflappable answer from a young man bearing a weight of almost unreasonable expectations.
And should the unlikely happen, and Wollongong Wolves make it a hat-trick of upsets in Wednesday’s FFA Cup clash, don’t be surprised if this old head takes it all in his long, slow strides.
