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2009/10 will be a watershed year for the FFA and the A-League. For the first time, the Australian domestic league will experience expansion in the form of the North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast United.
The duo will be the first of a potential four new sides to be brought in within the next few seasons.
It’s unchartered and exciting territory for the A-League.
A glance at the ever-changing line-up of both sides makes for intriguing reading.
Both clubs share a state and an entry date to the league, but appear to have little else in common.
While United signed former Queensland Roar gaffer and outspoken Dandy Miron Bleiberg as its inaugural coach, North Queensland appointed the unproven, nuts-and-bolts Scotsman Ian Ferguson.
In fact, the only thing remotely flamboyant about the Fury is its moniker.
The club’s marquee (at least for now) is – somewhat underwhelmingly – fringe Socceroo Jade North. While no-one is debating North’s prowess as a premier A-League defender, it is doubtful that he is the sort of player that the FFA had in mind when it devised its marquee rule.
Nonetheless, it seems to sum up the club’s entire no-frills approach. Chairman Don Matheson has spoken publicly about his desire to promote talented youngsters as well as engaging the area’s indigenous population.
The Fury has turned to recruiting proven domestic performers even at the cost of age, such as Ufuk Talay and Robbie Middleby.
It couldn’t be more at odds with the approach of fellow newboys Gold Coast United FC.
The club appears intent on snatching the glamour crown off the head of current incumbent Sydney FC.
Cue high-profile signings (Shane Smeltz and potentially Jason Culina and Joel Porter) and a cash-happy owner who arrives at press conferences in a helicopter and believes his club can win the title in its debut season.
Time will tell on Clive Palmer’s grandstanding, and which of the clubs’ approaches proves to be the most effective.
But one thing is for sure: the inclusion of both sides is – as pointed out by The Age columnist Michael Lynch this week – the shot in the arm the A-League needs.
No-one can doubt the success of the A-League since its inaugural 2005/06 season, but the honeymoon is definitely over.
Crowds have plateaued for some teams and slipped for others, but it is inevitably something the FFA would have catered for.
Not that it has stopped the predictable naysayers emerging like hyenas nipping at a wounded lion.
But to paraphrase the popular Mark Twain quote, reports of Australian football’s death has been greatly exaggerated.
The two new sides, and any that follow, can only be a good thing for the league.
Added public interest, new personalities and rivalries should all be part of the positives to emerge come season 2009/10.
It should also send those hyenas packing.
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