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There’s an air of exclusivity about a spot in a finals series. A rare, sought after sense of self-accomplishment that reminds you why you’ve earned the right to be christened as one of the best.
You battle the unforgiving monster that is the football season, in the hope of cementing yourself among the much-revered elite – knowing full well that if the opportunity for you to be crowned as king presents itself, it’ll be an opportunity that you will have unashamedly deserved.
Though what we’re seeing in the A-League’s top six finals format, is this supposed air of exclusivity polluted to the brink of mockery.
No league should reward a greater number of teams with a finals spot, than those that it leaves out. It creates an imbalance that quite frankly cheapens the integrity of the game.
For the first four seasons of the A-League, there were four finals spots available. And life was good – you knew which teams warranted a top-four position because, well, they were in the top four.
Though when North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast United joined in 2009-10 to make it a league of ten, the finals series was promptly widened to accommodate a top six.
In the initial year of the top six system, the Newcastle Jets scored themselves a spot in the finals – on the back of losing 13 of their 27 games and smarting a goal difference of -12.
Fast forward to this season and Melbourne City, who currently sit outside of the top six on goal difference only, boast the unwanted honour of having the statistically worst defence of any side in A-League history.
It might be early days still, but Heart 2.0 have shipped an average of 2.38 goals a game – even the now dearly-departed New Zealand Knights of 2005-06 were able to flaunt a better record.
Yet City could find themselves in the top six with a win this weekend.
Keeping City out of the top six are the Central Coast Mariners – a team who haven’t notched a win in seven weeks, and a team who are unable a name a player who has scored more than a single league goal this season.
Tonight, we’ll see a rematch of last year’s grand finalists as the Wanderers play host to Brisbane at Pirtek Stadium.
Seven months can sure be a long time in football – of the 14 games played by the pair this season, only the Roar have been able to pick up a victory.
Yet outlandishly, should either team walk away with the three points tonight, they’ll be sitting pretty in a finals spot.
One might say that there’s still plenty of football to be played, but a quick check of the fixtures will tell you that we’re nearly a third of the way through the season. Besides, this is the type of problem that time isn’t able to iron out.
There are of course reasons as to why the top six format exists as it does.
It’s an inclusive system, one that provides season-long hope for even those on struggle street.
It’s also unpredictable, with a greater number of teams allowing for a greater number of different permutations and possible do-or-die match-ups.
And it prolongs the summer of football, providing more entertainment for fans, more publicity and exposure for the game and more corporate dollars for those in the boardroom.
But if the season were to hypothetically end today, and the Mariners went on to string three wins together to claim the title, would the wider footballing fraternity recognise them as deserving champions? Probably not.
In a country where grand final winners will always rule the roost over those who are first-past-the-post, it’s important that we at least limit the grand final accolade to those who are worthy.
Unfortunately, the reality is that this won’t change. Though with expansion not too far around the corner, hopefully this mediocrity-rewarding framework is given a serious review.
Because only the best should be able to call themselves the best.
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