Blessing in disguise for A-League at critical juncture

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By Adrian Musolino, 10 Jan 2010 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert

Tagged:: A-League, Archie Thompson, Australia, Central Coast, Dario Vidosic, football, Jason Culina, kfc big bash, Matthew Kemp, Mile Jedinak, Pakistan, Socceroos, Twenty20, Wellington Phoenix, World Cup

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Simon Colosimo of Sydney during their round one A-League match between Sydney FC and the Melbourne Victory in Sydney. (AAP Image/Jason McCawley)

It seemed like an age between the A-League’s last round, which commenced on Boxing Day, and last night’s kick-off to Round 22 in Wellington. Thirteen days, to be exact, with only one game in between – the New Year’s Eve Central Coast versus Wellington fixture.

In that time, the A-League’s rival summer code (although, it can be argued it’s not much of a competition) has commanded the headlines with the Twenty20 KFC Big Bash pulling bumper crowds across the country and the thrilling Test matches against Pakistan.

The A-League’s hiatus in the fortnight over the New Year period is yet another reason why the league is failing to engage with the Australian public, but that’s a discussion for another day. The A-League can at least head into its concluding rounds and finals series with some good news…. sort of. In failing to definitively convince Pim Verbeek in Kuwait, the A-League Socceroos look, it seems, resigned to their place outside the squad, without the need to seek greener pastures in January.

Alex Brosque was cruelly denied his chance to even impress; Simon Colosimo’s defensive blunder that gifted Kuwait their opening goal probably condemned his chances right then; Matthew Kemp was too often exposed; and Archie Thompson, meanwhile, was isolated, too often allowing his shoulders to drop. He lacked the confidence and touch that marks him out in the A-League when in form for the Victory.

None of the above and the rest of the local based Socceroos put in a solid case to Pim Verbeek, and their less than convincing performances comes at a time when Socceroos candidates in the periphery of Europe are making a case for their tickets to South Africa. Think of Patrick Kisnorbo and Neil Kilkenny, both mightily impressive in shutting out Manchester United at Old Trafford for Leeds United in the FA Cup, while Mile Jedinak, Dario Vidosic and Luke Wilkshire put in a solid case in Kuwait.

With Craig Moore no longer shackled in the A-League, Jason Culina appears the only domestic Socceroo to have a realistic chance of heading to the World Cup, depending on his ability to extend his season beyond Gold Coast’s season.

The inability of his A-League colleagues to impress Pim is, however, a blessing in disguise for the competition. If they accept Kuwait as the wake-up call that they are unlikely to be World Cup bound, they may just bite the bullet and stay in the A-League.

When you consider how much damage could have been done to the A-League’s public image had a bunch of the league’s elite left, as a result of shortsighted scheduling in a World Cup year, the A-League may just be spared such a mass exodus.

Put simply, the damage in seeing Brosque, Kemp, Colosimo, Thompson and Galekovic – stars of this season – heading for the exit door this January, with finals on the horizon, would outweigh the positives of having such players fill out the Socceroos squad in South Africa.

There is a widely held belief that the Socceroos should always take priority and the A-League must play the submissive role to the national cause, and rightly so.

But occasionally what’s best for the A-League needs to be considered, particularly when it comes to scheduling clashes which put the league in a hiatus it cannot afford. And the indirect result of a lacklustre performance in Kuwait that could see some of the stars of this A-League season possibly hanging around for the finals is a positive, and unlikely, outcome of the Asian Cup qualifier.

Let’s hope the momentum lost by its New Year layoff can be regained as the finals approach, with Archie and his mates staying put.

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The Crowd Says (45) | Page 1 of Comments

Marshall said | January 10th 2010 @ 5:25am | Report comment

If they all stay the Ffa dodged a bullet

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Eamonn said | January 10th 2010 @ 9:47am | Report comment

What about 2011?

If we qualify for the AFC will the A-League be shut for three weeks in January. next year…..isn’t that when the AFC in Qatar is being run?

Or will all our o/s players walk out on their Euro clubs a la Africa at the moment. Football never dull anymore, on or off the field in Australia is it?

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- Marshall said | January 10th 2010 @ 11:57am | Report comment
  
  Will the A-League stop for the Asian Cup?
  
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James said | January 10th 2010 @ 12:04pm | Report comment

This is why the A-League will never truly take off in Australia – too many interruptions, stops etc which Australian fans aren’t used to and don’t have happen in their other codes. It’s hard to build a supporter base in a growing code when you suffer these unique problems like players leaving for national team sports and going weeks without games.

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- Marshall said | January 10th 2010 @ 12:26pm | Report comment
  
  I used to dismiss thinking like that but seeing how much attention and traction was lost for the league over New Year I have to agree. It can’t afford that sort of break.
  
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  - James said | January 10th 2010 @ 12:47pm | Report comment
    
    That’s the problem. Missing two weeks in what should be your time to really get peoples attention – school holidays and all that, and the league is in recess. Great for the Socceroos and all that but terrible for the A-League.
    
    Reply
    - Marshall said | January 10th 2010 @ 1:14pm | Report comment
      
      Especially with Twenty20 taking all the attention. And with the low marketing, it’s so much harder to get people back after such a break. Would be fascinating to see if crowds are consistently down in rounds after a break.
      
      Reply
      - James said | January 10th 2010 @ 3:00pm | Report comment
        
        Crowds are down this weekend, proving the point. Gold Coast only got 4,500 or there abouts last night.
        
        Reply
        
        bever fever said | January 10th 2010 @ 3:05pm | Report comment
        
        Isn’t that about their average crowd ?.
        
        James said | January 10th 2010 @ 3:09pm | Report comment
        
        They got over 10,000 last time out, although a lot of them were Brisbane fans.
        
        Marshall said | January 12th 2010 @ 9:03pm | Report comment
        
        Imagine what Gold Coast are gonna get Wednesday night against the Jets! Could be ugly.
- Sam el Perro said | January 10th 2010 @ 3:37pm | Report comment
  
  A disjointed season isn’t unique to football. Rugby Union probably has the most disjointed season of any code, with separate Club (in Sydney and Brisbane), Super 14 and International seasons running all over the shop (albeit sequentially). Those in Queensland and New South Wales would probably agree that this is one of the reasons that Rugby Union in Australia is suffering at the moment, hence the ongoing arguments for a national club competition (not unlike the A League, in fact!).
  
  Perhaps the HAL could simply continue when players have been selected for representative duties. It might not be a traditional approach, but it is employed in the NRL where the top players are skimmed off the competition for State of Origin and Test duties. There it adds an extra element of interest (or frustration) to see how teams will go when they are missing their best players. It is a leveler, if anything.
  
  While football is definitely in a unique situation with respect to its international dimension the FFA could turn this to its advantage (especially at this time of year) with some imagination.
  
  Reply
  - AndyRoo said | January 10th 2010 @ 7:58pm | Report comment
    
    I agree with sam and playing on through breaks. Their is going to be 33 rounds next year, I can live with a few of the teams doing it tough for a few rounds and testing their depth.
    
    Reply
Joe FC said | January 10th 2010 @ 1:26pm | Report comment

I think it is fair to say, with the benefit of hindsight, that it was a mistake to have a break in early January in order to accommodate the Kuwait match. We should not be too critical of FFA however, they made a decision based on what they thought was in everyone’s best interest. Hopefully next January (assumming we qualify) the HAL will continue during the Asian cup.

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- James said | January 10th 2010 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
  
  It cannot afford to break for the month of January. It just can’t.
  
  Reply
Sam el Perro said | January 10th 2010 @ 2:21pm | Report comment

The premise of this article is that the FFA is somehow lucky that HAL players are not considered good enough to compete on the world football stage. The logical conclusion to this line of thinking may give us an indicator to why HAL crowds a slowly (and recently more rapidly) declining: if the HAL elite is not good enough for the Socceroos, what does it say about (a) the rest of the players in the competition, and (b) the quality of the competition as a whole?

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- James said | January 10th 2010 @ 2:42pm | Report comment
  
  It’s a realistic conclusion of the league and something people need to accept. Doesn’t make it not entertaining.
  
  Reply
  - Sam el Perro said | January 10th 2010 @ 3:29pm | Report comment
    
    Not to those in the know, but the general public it fuels a misconception that the HAL is second rate and, accordingly, not worth watching. And in this media age, perception is everything.
    
    Reply
    - James said | January 10th 2010 @ 3:33pm | Report comment
      
      Agreed but the perception of all the potential Socceroos leaving in the transfer window would have been that the A-League is not good enough rather than the fact that the season ended too soon – adding to the negative view of the league to many.
      
      Reply
Realfootball said | January 10th 2010 @ 8:52pm | Report comment

The FFA have made some serious misjudgments this year. The various breaks have certainly counted among them. Add in the array of unfriendly kickoff tlmes (5pm in summer in Perth? Seriously?), the puzzling failure to market the season on any serious level, and the calamitous early start to the season (with its atrociously mistimed end) and I think it is fair to say that Buckley and his team have significantly mismanaged this season. Let’s not forget, too, that the FFA approved GCU and Brisbane Roar’s disastrous ticket price increases, then left the clubs holding the baby.

The falloff in attendances is due in no small measure to the FFA. My suspicion is that their time and energy has been spent on the World Cup bid. They are only a small team with finite time and resources. Given this, it is a real loss that the A League has been so neglected in what I personally believe is Frank Lowy’s tilt at an unobtainable windmill. Mr Lowy has done wonderful things for the code, but the WC bid is a costly miscalculation.

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- ItsCalledFootball said | January 10th 2010 @ 9:53pm | Report comment
  
  If you like something you see all the positives and look to a brighter future.
  
  If you don’t like something you keep pointing out what’s wrong.
  The FFA is always making “serious misjudgements”, while the AFL can do no wrong.
  
  This time last year you were complaining that the A-League was played at the same time as qualifiers and all the A-League stars were missing.
  
  No pleasing you is there.
  
  Reply
  - Realfootball said | January 11th 2010 @ 6:21am | Report comment
    
    Re. the qualifiers, I was wrong then and this year has shown that. The other “negatives” are simply observations of demonstrable fact.
    
    Did the FFA promote the season? No.
    Did launching the season at the other code’s finals times work? No.
    Is the timing of the season end a problem in a WC year? Yes.
    Did GCU and the Roar’s ticket price hike damage the clubs? Yes.
    Did the FFA approve the raised ticket prices? Yes.
    Are the at times bizarre kickoff times affecting attendances? Well, attendances are down a full third, so something is, and this is the only presumption in this list, but at the same time a reasonable conclusion that the kickoff times are certainly a factor in some cases.
    
    Attendances are the only real measure of success for a code in a competitive market place, and in that respect this season has not been a success.
    
    If you “like something”, and I much more than “like” football, you express your concern if you see it being mishandled and its future jeopardised. I have supported the FFA strongly in the past, but this season I believe that there have been problems, serious problems, with their handling of the A League.
    
    As the the AFL, pardon me? Where did I mention the AFL? I nail my colours to the mast here: I am a life long real football supporter. I have no time for AFL as a code, personally – but I also recognise that the AFL runs a tight ship with marketing a speciality. I also recognise that they have the funds to do it properly.
    
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    - Simmo said | January 11th 2010 @ 9:16am | Report comment
      
      I agree wholeheartedly with Realfootball, in fact ” I am a life long real football supporter. I have no time for AFL as a code, personally – but I also recognise that the AFL runs a tight ship with marketing a speciality.” describes me perfectly too.
      
      It’scalledfootball: not all criticism is founded in opposition. Constructive criticism such as that offered in this thread and other recent articles is exactly what friends of the game should offer. If we keep mum then eventually we’ll have an “Emperor’s New Clothes” moment. We’ll be much better off making the necessary changes to scheduling next season.
      
      Reply
    - ItsCalledFootball said | January 11th 2010 @ 4:35pm | Report comment
      
      Apologies Realfootball,
      I’ve got you confused with another blogger.
      
      There seem to be so many bloggers with football in their name now its getting confusing.
      Maybe that comment was meant for “Mister Football” aka Pippinu, who is an AFL supporter who has gone feral on Australian Football and the FFA lately.
      
      Reply
  - AndyRoo said | January 11th 2010 @ 8:42am | Report comment
    
    The Scheduling and Ticket pricing (for Roar and GCU) have been horrible and it seems more by good luck than design they will avoid a mass exodus of players from the A league out on loan.
    
    In these instances it’s right to admire the AFL’s administration…. even if the product their selling doesn’t float your boat.
    I wouldn’t be surprised if with much less interest the GWS AFL team pulls a bigger crowd than Rovers. Their will be plenty of free tickets and other strategys but a crowds a crowd and if you get one it gets you press even if 2 men and a dog are the only ones watching on TV.
    So while the AFL will be succesful in selling ice to eskimos we have 13 day breaks and turning off fans with huge pricing increases.
    
    Like realfootball I admire how well their game is run…. don’t enjoy the sport.
    
    Reply
MV Dave said | January 11th 2010 @ 8:37am | Report comment

The A League is going through a consolidation phase where clubs are finding out their true level of support (not including bandwagoners). Both the J League and MLS have gone through similar phases and come out of the other end much stronger. The fact that HALs attendances have slipped is disappointing but not entirely unexpected. Now the long road to consolidation of the brand continues. The FFA are learning as are the clubs, the broadcaster etc. There are many issues to address and hopefully solutions will be found sooner rather than later. For my two bobs worth see below;
1. Match scheduling-clubs should be allowed around 75% or more of the times they want home games scheduled…obviously Foxsports paying the money, will also have some say but…starting games at 3pm in the middle of Summer with the temp hovering 35-40C is rediculous eg Newcastle Jets. When games are broadcast live on Fox into the home city then many fans will sit at home in comfort and watch on the box.
2. Ticketing and pricing…major blunders it would appear by some clubs/FFA have resulted in some fans (who knows the exact number) staying away. Most grounds should have 2 ticket prices plus corporate deals. Most tickets should be $20 per game with a flat $10 for students/concession. People who are football club members in the Juniors/local leagues should also receive a further discount.
3. Game publicity – has been pretty much non existant outside of those that are stakeholders eg Fox sports (do a great job), The Age (Melb for MV) etc. The new program on One HD (starts next month) will help as that will focus on HAL, with news and highlights (they will do overseas stuff as well)…a great step in the right direction. Lift your game FFA/clubs
4. The use of Marquees…Robbie Fowler tick…Craig Moore cross. Doesnt mean Moore is not a top player but marquees are there to excite the fans and garner interest…think All night Dwight.
5. Timing of the season…October to April then finals April to May please.
6. International breaks…HAL to play on even if clubs are missing 1-2 top players. Continuity in the season is required unlike the recent New Years period where the HAL rested.
7. Suitable grounds…MV and MH to play at a real rectangular stadium will give fans the proper atmosphere for a football game…a taster was seen when ES configuered to rectangular for one game. For other clubs it may mean changing to a smaller ground eg BR from Suncorp (or at least deals in place that mean the clubs dont lose money).
8. Suitable playing surfaces…NJs surface a disgrace and greater pressure nees to be put on the grounds to provide a decent surface.
9. Greater community invlovement…no doubt clubs do have some involvement but greater effort needed, players doing clinics etc
10. Clubs/FFA to work with Fan groups and not against them…active fan groups are unique to our sport and need to be encouraged not shunned. MV and SFC active fan groups are terrific and should be celebrated for the color and noise they bring to the games.
11. The HAL will have 12 teams for 2011-2012 season . 2 more and that should be t for at least another 5-10 years. After that look to introucing a 2nd tier.
12. FA Cup style comp should be looked at in the next 5 -10 years to see if it is viable. It is way too soon at the moment.
13. Next TV deal (rumoured to be 3-4 times the current one in value) needs to have at least a highlights show on FTA (if not one game per week)
14. Socceroos to maintain a top 20 ranking.

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- Australian Football said | January 11th 2010 @ 9:44am | Report comment
  
  MV Dave,
  you have made some very accurate points in this comment—too bad you can’t choose good teams to follow… But in saying that, I agree with what you have written here, well done lad…
  
  ~~~~~~~
  AF
  
  Reply
- Joe FC said | January 11th 2010 @ 4:41pm | Report comment
  
  Some very interesting points there Dave particularly your last one. It opens up the debate on the national team vis-à-vis the national league vis-à-vis football in Australia. Can the HAL and/or Australian football move forward if the Socceroos do not? If (God forbid) the Socceroos failed to qualify for Qatar 2011 what ramifications might that have for next sesaons HAL? Certainly the success of the national team is an important component in the development of Australian football and our premier league, but there will also be factors unique to each element that will have limited effect on the others. I think that it is reasonable to expect and hope that as football matures in this country its constituent parts will become more resilent and less dependent for survival on each other.
  
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  - MV Dave said | January 11th 2010 @ 7:51pm | Report comment
    
    Agreed Joe particularly with your last sentence. At the moment l think there is a need for the Socceroos to stay in the top 20 and qualify for all available tournaments but as the decades pass HAL should not be reliant on the strength of the Socceroos…however it would be nice to think that HAL can provide a good number of Socceroos and that would be a testament to its improvement.
    
    Reply
AndyRoo said | January 11th 2010 @ 9:09am | Report comment

The A League is going through a consolidation phase where clubs are finding out their true level of support (not including bandwagoners). Both the J League and MLS have gone through similar phases and come out of the other end much stronger. The fact that HALs attendances have slipped is disappointing but not entirely unexpected

I know others agree with this and it might be true for some of the teams. Perhaps in a place like the Central Coast where 5 years of Lawrie Mckinna is wearing thin but the 2 biggest losers (Jets and Roar) and the biggest disappointment (GCU) all have obvious reasons. If not for the ticket price increases (approx 75%) I think Roar would have matched or grown on their last seasons average (it was their biggest fan day ever). Gold Coast coming in had created more interest, more than enough to make up for a slight slit in the fan base.

The opening game despite the price increase was only 1k off the Roars best opening day crowds (season 1 and 2 were 20k) and bigger than the last two seasons but I know a lot of people who went to that game but felt miffed about the price and weren’t going to the next game. Since then their has been a lot of drama off the field so though prices have been somewhat remedied. Though the corner $15 sold out very early on (for a crowd of only 12k) for the Fury game leaving a lot disappointed.

GCU then matched the Roar prices and added on them (better team so should charge more I guess was the thinking). Very hard to grow the game (like Fury have done) in a new market with strategies like that. I bet the new AFL teams won’t charge as much in GWS and Gold Coast….and then everyone will compliment them on their success even though their gate receipts may even be less.

Jets have their own dramas with Con and selling their entire team. They also finished dead last (though someone will always finish last).

I think those 3 teams massive under performance (crowd wise) is hurting the leagues reputation but all the other teams have been doing fine for mine with a slight dip that is probably like you say the novelty factor.

Oh and points 1 to 13, hard to say anything other than I agree

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MV Dave said | January 11th 2010 @ 10:12am | Report comment

You are spot on Andy in that apart from league wide issues such as marketing each club then has their own set of issues which have effected attendances such as your examples with BR, GCU and NJ.
Wellington are doing very well and hopefully now with a couple of home games to follow they can build on the 9,000 who are coming to games. Their future is another issue that needs to be sorted.

Just to remind that J League attendances went from 19,000 plus in their 2nd year to 10,000 by their 4th and 5th seasons and are currently about 19,500 per game.
MLS high from over 17,000 in their 2nd season (1996) to less than 14,000 by 2001. They are now over 16,000 per game and have added 6 teams with 3 more to come in the next 2 seasons.

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Simmo said | January 11th 2010 @ 11:53am | Report comment

those rebounds don’t just occur naturally. The governing body has to step in with a strategy to stop the slide and get the crowds back. We’re all anxious to see what the FFA will do about remedying this season’s failings.

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- Realfootball said | January 11th 2010 @ 12:47pm | Report comment
  
  One thing is certain – the FFA have to do something.
  
  Just some basic marketing and promotion would be a start. I, like many others, assumed that this year the money was being held back for after the AFL and NRL finals, but no. There was nothing. I would be very interested to see what the FFA advertising and promotions budget was this year. If visibility is any guide, close to zero.
  
  If you are trying to sell a product in a competitive marketplace, you have to promote and advertise. Until the FFA takes this seriously, the slide will continue.
  
  Reply
- Sam el Perro said | January 11th 2010 @ 10:46pm | Report comment
  
  Agreed. The sooner the J League meme dies (ie. they had a dip and recovered, so it is an immutable law of nature that we will do so) the sooner the FFA can do something about ensuring that the HAL gets stronger in the future. Believing, on the other hand, that things were okay in Japan so we’ll be right will leave us in deep trouble in 4-5 years time. Now is not the time for complacency.
  
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  - Realfootball said | January 12th 2010 @ 8:32am | Report comment
    
    Agree Sam. The J League is completely irrelevant. Japan has no AFL or NRL to compete with. The respective market places are like chalk and cheese.
    
    The hidden cost of our WC bid is this season’s A League.
    
    Reply