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A few quick fixes for the ailing A-League

28th December, 2017
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The A-League has struggled to attract crowds this season. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
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28th December, 2017
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Does anyone else get the feeling FIFA will do little to remove the FFA from power, and that we’re stuck with same issues for the foreseeable future?

The announcement earlier this month that FIFA would allow Football Federation Australia to establish a ‘Congress Review Working Group’ sounded a bit like a euphemism for ‘we have own issues to deal with and couldn’t be bothered taking too close a look at what’s going on in Australia’.

A week later there was that curious tidbit in the Australian Financial Review’s Rear Window column, suggesting Frank Lowy himself had “also been a recent visitor to Zürich, where he met with FIFA officials in a bid to lobby them over their pending takeover of the Australian league”.

Fairfax journalist Michael Lynch said on Twitter that FFA spokesman John Kent emailed him to deny the meeting ever took place and that the AFR had printed an apology, but there’s no such sign of an apology online.

At any rate, there’s a sneaking suspicion FIFA don’t have much intention of leaning too heavily on the FFA, and that for all the sabre-rattling from the A-League clubs, it will still be the Lowys and co. calling the shots well into next year.

The next battleground is next month’s AFC Under-23 Championship and whether A-League clubs should be compelled to release their best players for the tournament.

But there are still plenty of fires burning on the home front – not least the small crowds and low ratings plaguing Season 13 of the A-League.

And that’s unlikely to change any time soon, with the Big Bash League in full swing and the Australian Open soon to get started.

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What the A-League needs is a few quick fixes – and fast – if not to salvage this season, then at least to kick-start the discussion around what could be done better.

Starting with the following.

More realistic ticket prices
Spoiler alert: FFA have already, if somewhat belatedly, identified this as a problem. It’s why “kids go free” across the so-called Summer Football Festival.

But guess what? Plenty of A-League fans don’t have kids. In fact, many of them are in the key 18 to 34 ‘youth’ demographic the A-League is supposed to be targeting.

And many in that exact demographic have been policed out of active support by over-zealous security, and priced out of the game by over-the-top ticket prices.

A-League crowd

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

A single adult general admission ticket for tonight’s Melbourne Victory game costs $38 plus a minimum $4.75 handling fee. An adult general admission ticket for Melbourne Renegades’ BBL game across town costs twenty bucks plus a $6.25 handling fee.

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Go figure.

Better TV coverage
We can have few qualms about the Fox Sports coverage. For a network that cops its share of criticism, the amount of time and money they dedicate to the A-League is impressive.

About the only thing missing is a serious Football 360 show – although perhaps it wouldn’t be the same without the sadly missed Mike Cockerill anyway.

What we really need to talk about are the free-to-air broadcast rights. Has the coverage been a success over on Network Ten this season? It most certainly has not.

And maybe that’s because the rights were palmed off to the network when no commercial outlets bothered to bid for them.

But surely FFA needs to do something about Saturday night’s games being broadcast on One – in Standard Definition – for less cash and lower ratings than SBS was able to generate?

A few frank discussions should be had before next season.

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Actual marquee players
We should probably wish for peace between warring football factions given the season, but since everyone is bored of governance issues, let’s wish for something that might prove more entertaining instead.

Is a transfer system for A-League clubs too much to ask for? Loan moves? How about we just settle for some big-name players instead?

It’s a wonder Lou Sticca’s phone isn’t ringing off the hook, but the man who brought the likes of Dwight Yorke, Shinji Ono and Alessandro Del Piero to the A-League doesn’t seem to be in particularly high demand.

Sydney FCs' Richard Garcia celebrates with teammate Alessandro Del Piero

(AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Which is a shame, because the competition needs some star power. And not just one player, but a whole raft of them.

A marquee player for every A-League club? Who wouldn’t pay to see that?

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