Sparky’s Column

Unpredictability is the only predictable thing about football…

At the start of the UFL season, if I'd said a team that had signed a World Cup winner, had a Premier League manager at the helm and the best young striker in the UAE, would not manage a win over a small provincial team, you'd have given me strange look. But that's exactly what happened in the opening weeks of the season. Kalba has secured one point all season in the Etisalat Pro-League and only one other point in the Etisalat Cup, both of which have come from their matches against Al Ahli. It shows that the little team; the underdog, always has a chance. That's beauty of the game.

The Etisalat Cup is a hybrid of a cup and league competition. Teams are split into two groups, with the top two qualifiers from each group then moving into a knock-out semi final, which is then followed by the final. It's used by some clubs who have players on international duty as a chance to discover new talent. If you want to see what the next generation of football is going to look like, just make sure you're at the Etisalat Cup.

Last week, Al Jazira hosted a 'kick for cash' promotion on the pitch at half time. The idea is simple - kick the ball and receive cash for scuffing your shoes. Random fans are picked from the crowd to take a shot at goal from the halfway line. The ball may cross the line - it can only trickle across, bounce on both posts and in, or fly into the top corner. In short, it doesn't matter how the ball gets in the goal box, as long as it gets in. During this activity, the hushed silence that descended on the stadium as the ball rolled towards the net was broken twice by the shouts of two lucky winners who bagged 25,000 dirhams each. That's a lot of money for a kick or two, and an excellent reason to wear decent shoes to the match.

In some very positive news for the UFL, the crowds at league matches this season are around 70% higher than the average crowds last season. Given that the season launched during Ramadan due to the busy football calendar, the results indicate a positive start for the league, and hope from organisers that this trend continues.

The Etisalat Pro-League is back this weekend with round 6 of the competition. The pick of the matches is the 'little versus large' derby match. Al Ahli will face Dubai Club, who is still searching for a first point of the season for the Pro-League. They would absolutely love to get one over on their city counterparts, but it seems unlikely. That said, we did say the same about Kalba, who proved us all wrong.