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The Good Ship A-League seems to have steadied itself after the GFC storms lashed it, bent the mast a little and tore a couple of sails.
Crowds and interest are back on the increase and yet another attendance record was broken this week in Adelaide when the United v Roar game drew the biggest A-League crowd to a regular season match played at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Pay TV and international TV ratings are still growing at a very satisfactory rate and sponsors have not only remained faithful to football, but the clubs and the FFA have even managed to significantly increase their sponsorship revenue this season.
A number of other sponsors are looking to get on board for next year, when it seems highly likely now that the Socceroos will qualify for yet another FIFA World Cup.
So the investors are still as keen as ever to snap up the next two A-League licenses on offer for the 2010-2011 season (a World Cup year).
All the talk lately has been centred on a second Melbourne or second Sydney team and the growing impetus behind an A-League license for Wollongong, Canberra or even Tasmania.
With the great interest generated by Adelaide United this year in the Asian Champions League and the full houses and record crowds at Hindmarsh, would it be possible for Adelaide to establish a viable second A-League team to rival the Reds?
Adelaide, of course, had three teams in the old National Soccer League – West Adelaide, Adelaide City and Adelaide United. And they all did quite well.
The old NSL Adelaide derby between the Zebras and City was gnerally very well attended and the attendances were often somewhere between the ten to fifteen thousand mark – well above the NSL attendance average.
The Adelaide teams had good success in the NSL, too, with the Zebras winning the second ever NSL title back in 1978 and Adelaide City winning it three times.
Adelaide has produced some of the best teams, players and standard of football in the NSL, and now Adelaide United are arguably the most consistent team in the A-League in terms of finals appearances and position in the league table.
A second Adelaide team would also help Adelaide’s case with the State and Federal governments for building a bigger and better football friendly rectangular stadium that should have greater facilities than Hindmarsh.
The A-League Adelaide Derbies should rival or even better the old NSL battles and generate a lot of local interest.
Has Adelaide got the makings of another A-League team?
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