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A-League Premiership set for ultimate climax
Ben Somerford
Roar Guru
12th January, 2010
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Ben Somerford
Roar Guru
12th January, 2010
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1488 Reads
Gold Coast players react after Jason Culina scored in the 59th minute to put the Coast 2-0 up during the 1st round A-League football match between Brisbane Roar and Gold Coast United. AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Gold Coast players react after Jason Culina scored in the 59th minute to put the Coast 2-0 up during the 1st round A-League football match between Brisbane Roar and Gold Coast United at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

With a little over a month left in the Hyundai A-League regular season, the race for the Premiership rather than the battle to make the top six should take centre stage. After all, it appears set for an unbelievable finale in Sydney on February 14.

When the FFA announced this season’s competition would employ a top six finals system many cried foul, claiming it rewarded mediocrity.

Yet right now plenty of attention is being paid to the jostling for finals spots with every club still a chance of making the top six, including struggling, cellar-dwellers Adelaide United with boss Aurelio Vidmar claiming after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Gold Coast, his side ‘certainly can’ still make it.

That, in itself, speaks volumes for the flaws of the system when you consider none of the sides below Newcastle in fourth have shown enough this campaign to realistically suggest they can threaten for the Championship.

Sure a top six equates to more finals, more people through turnstiles and ultimately more money in the FFA’s coffers, but it takes away from the credibility of the league for many football lovers so used to the European system of first past the post.

Don’t get me wrong (and putting myself at risk of mass criticism here), I’m actually a fan of finals, where the best play the best under the pressure of centre stage to decide who actually is the ultimate champion. It’s got a gladiatorial romance to it which I like.

But with a top six, put simply, you fancy fifth and sixth are making up the numbers.

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On the contrary, the first past the post battle to claim Premiership honours (and a spot in the AFC Champions League) is heating up with Sydney FC extending their lead from second-placed Melbourne to four points after a 0-0 draw in Perth on Sunday after the Victory lost in Newcastle earlier in the day.

But the Victorians, along with third-placed Gold Coast United (who are only a point behind Melbourne) both have a game in hand.

It is a tightly poised contest which should earn more attention than the race to make the finals.

But what makes it all more intriguing, especially for a ‘finals enthusiast’ like me, is the stand-alone last round fixture on Sunday February 14.

Sydney FC host Melbourne Victory at the SFS in what shapes as the Premiership race’s ‘own Grand Final’. This game could be huge.

For all the criticism aimed at those responsible for this season’s A-League fixtures, it seems they have got one thing right, albeit accidentally.

In the run in, Sydney have an uneasy finish to their campaign facing Gold Coast (home), Newcastle (away), Brisbane (away), Perth (home) and finally Melbourne.

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Melbourne will enjoy plenty of home comforts with fixtures against Perth (home), Adelaide (home), Wellington (home), Gold Coast (away), North Queensland (home) and, of course, Sydney to finish off with.

Gold Coast could crash the party as their run isn’t too bad, with Newcastle (home), Sydney (away), Central Coast (away), Melbourne (home), Wellington (home) and North Queensland (away).

But the fancy all season has been for a Sydney-Melbourne one-two with many labelling this season a two-horse race earlier in the campaign.

And if it does eventuate that the February 14 clash between the competition’s two biggest rivals will decide the Premiership, the A-League may have the hottest ticket in town on its hands.

Some may argue, bigger than the official Grand Final.

In the meantime, there’s sure to be a few twists and turns in the run into Round 27’s grand finale. So I’d suggest, it’s worth paying attention over the next month … and maybe getting your tickets early.

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