Simon Colosimo of Sydney during their round one A-League match between Sydney FC and the Melbourne Victory in Sydney. (AAP Image/Jason McCawley)
It seemed like an age between the A-League’s last round, which commenced on Boxing Day, and last night’s kick-off to Round 22 in Wellington. Thirteen days, to be exact, with only one game in between – the New Year’s Eve Central Coast versus Wellington fixture.
In that time, the A-League’s rival summer code (although, it can be argued it’s not much of a competition) has commanded the headlines with the Twenty20 KFC Big Bash pulling bumper crowds across the country and the thrilling Test matches against Pakistan.
The A-League’s hiatus in the fortnight over the New Year period is yet another reason why the league is failing to engage with the Australian public, but that’s a discussion for another day. The A-League can at least head into its concluding rounds and finals series with some good news…. sort of. In failing to definitively convince Pim Verbeek in Kuwait, the A-League Socceroos look, it seems, resigned to their place outside the squad, without the need to seek greener pastures in January.
Alex Brosque was cruelly denied his chance to even impress; Simon Colosimo’s defensive blunder that gifted Kuwait their opening goal probably condemned his chances right then; Matthew Kemp was too often exposed; and Archie Thompson, meanwhile, was isolated, too often allowing his shoulders to drop. He lacked the confidence and touch that marks him out in the A-League when in form for the Victory.
None of the above and the rest of the local based Socceroos put in a solid case to Pim Verbeek, and their less than convincing performances comes at a time when Socceroos candidates in the periphery of Europe are making a case for their tickets to South Africa. Think of Patrick Kisnorbo and Neil Kilkenny, both mightily impressive in shutting out Manchester United at Old Trafford for Leeds United in the FA Cup, while Mile Jedinak, Dario Vidosic and Luke Wilkshire put in a solid case in Kuwait.
With Craig Moore no longer shackled in the A-League, Jason Culina appears the only domestic Socceroo to have a realistic chance of heading to the World Cup, depending on his ability to extend his season beyond Gold Coast’s season.
The inability of his A-League colleagues to impress Pim is, however, a blessing in disguise for the competition. If they accept Kuwait as the wake-up call that they are unlikely to be World Cup bound, they may just bite the bullet and stay in the A-League.
When you consider how much damage could have been done to the A-League’s public image had a bunch of the league’s elite left, as a result of shortsighted scheduling in a World Cup year, the A-League may just be spared such a mass exodus.
Put simply, the damage in seeing Brosque, Kemp, Colosimo, Thompson and Galekovic – stars of this season – heading for the exit door this January, with finals on the horizon, would outweigh the positives of having such players fill out the Socceroos squad in South Africa.
There is a widely held belief that the Socceroos should always take priority and the A-League must play the submissive role to the national cause, and rightly so.
But occasionally what’s best for the A-League needs to be considered, particularly when it comes to scheduling clashes which put the league in a hiatus it cannot afford. And the indirect result of a lacklustre performance in Kuwait that could see some of the stars of this A-League season possibly hanging around for the finals is a positive, and unlikely, outcome of the Asian Cup qualifier.
Let’s hope the momentum lost by its New Year layoff can be regained as the finals approach, with Archie and his mates staying put.
Androo
Guest
Adrian. personally I cannot believe the a-league screwed up on this one so badly. when the league/ffa was questioned over poor attendances at the start of the season Buckley said soothing words to the effect 'all's well, the league's prime time is the xmas/NY period, that's when to watch crowd figures' >fast forward> so we get to the xmas/NY period and find the league has left a sign on it's door 'closed for business come back in 2 weeks'. xtremely pissed off as i was i lost interest in the league with this extra unnecessary break in proceedings and i'm finding it impossible getting interested again this season. so when we're told by the ffa that starting the a-league in july next year to cash in on the wake of the world cup will be a gr8 idea, all i can think is "FBS" and especially so if australia bombs out. 'In that time, the A-League’s rival summer code (although, it can be argued it’s not much of a competition) has commanded the headlines with the Twenty20 KFC Big Bash pulling bumper crowds across the country.' statistics tell their own story: the Big Bash pulled in over 18,000 spectators per match. A-League is struggling to scrape 10,000 per match. so here's a bit of advice frank, ben, and archie. management of the a-league should be outsourced to the afl because at least the afl can properly manage a league.
Marshall
Guest
Imagine what Gold Coast are gonna get Wednesday night against the Jets! Could be ugly.
Realfootball
Guest
If it comes off the FFA will look like visionary geniuses. If it doesn't, well... My hunch is that it is going to work just fine.
Realfootball
Guest
How could I forget about the Gong? A major oversight. Re. Tasmania, the only thing I would point in is that in contrast to Townsville, which can access mining profits for sponsorship, Tas is a relatively cash poor economy. The debacle of the "mystery sheik" who was going to come in with millions to buy Tasmania a team underlined their paucity of options (not to mention their amatuerish approach). I just can't see it happening. Do you really think the AFL would not be there already if Tassie was a viable proposition?
James
Guest
Melbourne Heart or any second team in Melbourne is the big gamble.
danny
Guest
i disagree with you about tasmania. the state is fiercely proud and i reckon they'd get right behind an a-league side. plus, costs are less for an a-league side than for an afl team so i don't think just because the latter isn't financially viable, don't discount the former. if townsville can support an a-league team (and, despite low-ish crowds, they seem to be doing a pretty good job, particularly regarding community engagement) then i have no doubt that tasmania can. populations are comparable, although tas is slightly larger. tasmania is closer to a lot of the other cities in the a-league than townsville. i reckon it's doable. in addition to your list (canberra and auckland, both of which i think would be great for the league) i think woollongong could also support a team. reasonable sized population, strong footballing history and culture, good stadium. i'd certainly consider the nsw south coast a good option for future expansion.
Realfootball
Guest
The logic for expansion into Western Sydney is rock solid. The second Melbourne team is much more of a gamble. If both work, they will make a big difference to the A League. It is very unfortunate that they aren't both coming in the tail of the WC. The only real expansion possibilities after that would be, logically, Canberra and Auckland (AFC permitting). Tasmania is AFL through and through with a small geographically divided population and if the AFL don't have a team there, an A League team certainly won't be viable.
hazza
Guest
It was a mistake to expand by 2 new regional teams. Crowds in every regional centre are pathetic at best. Crowds in the cities are holding up well. The city teams are averaging around 12000 (despite Brisbanes calamities). Lets bring in the new teams from Sydney and Melbourne and get the derbies going. After that lets stop expansion for the next 5 years.
Realfootball
Guest
Absolutely. Its the inaction from the FFA that worries me. Why wasn't the slide in attendances (and a very significant slide) addressed with countermeasures (advertising, pr) months ago? Why is there still no response? Has the FFA given up on this season and is waiting to hit hard next season after the WC? There is a certain symmetry to that idea. Strategically it would make sense long term.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
I think most people agree with you Dave that a dip isn’t the end of the world but those examples the MLS and J league did something about it. The crowds didn’t just go up on their own. The points you mentioned before are the type of things that have to happen. We don’t want the FFA just to say it’s a natural trend and accept it, we want them to improve the comp so it does pick back up.
MV Dave
Guest
SP RF You guys are missing the point...that being that when something new starts there is a lot of hype and people, l would call bandwagoners, jump on board. When the hype and newness wears off the attendances (in this case) drop off. This has happened elsewhere (as per examples...noticed the MLS eg was ignored and they have a very similar scenario to us). It does not mean the end of the world etc rather that steps (see my post containing 14 points above) need to be taken and l believe, whilst the FFA havent done well this season, the FFA need to and will make improvements to HAL to see the numbers slowly increase again (as per the other examples given). It certainly wont happen if the FFA and clubs sit on their hands and do nothing. The MLS scenario in particular has many lessons which the FFA and clubs could take on board to help the local version of this great game grow again.
Realfootball
Guest
Agree Sam. The J League is completely irrelevant. Japan has no AFL or NRL to compete with. The respective market places are like chalk and cheese. The hidden cost of our WC bid is this season's A League.
Sam el Perro
Roar Pro
Agreed. The sooner the J League meme dies (ie. they had a dip and recovered, so it is an immutable law of nature that we will do so) the sooner the FFA can do something about ensuring that the HAL gets stronger in the future. Believing, on the other hand, that things were okay in Japan so we'll be right will leave us in deep trouble in 4-5 years time. Now is not the time for complacency.
MV Dave
Guest
Agreed Joe particularly with your last sentence. At the moment l think there is a need for the Socceroos to stay in the top 20 and qualify for all available tournaments but as the decades pass HAL should not be reliant on the strength of the Socceroos...however it would be nice to think that HAL can provide a good number of Socceroos and that would be a testament to its improvement.
Joe FC
Guest
Some very interesting points there Dave particularly your last one. It opens up the debate on the national team vis-à-vis the national league vis-à-vis football in Australia. Can the HAL and/or Australian football move forward if the Socceroos do not? If (God forbid) the Socceroos failed to qualify for Qatar 2011 what ramifications might that have for next sesaons HAL? Certainly the success of the national team is an important component in the development of Australian football and our premier league, but there will also be factors unique to each element that will have limited effect on the others. I think that it is reasonable to expect and hope that as football matures in this country its constituent parts will become more resilent and less dependent for survival on each other.
ItsCalledFootball
Guest
Apologies Realfootball, I've got you confused with another blogger. :) There seem to be so many bloggers with football in their name now its getting confusing. Maybe that comment was meant for "Mister Football" aka Pippinu, who is an AFL supporter who has gone feral on Australian Football and the FFA lately.
Realfootball
Guest
One thing is certain - the FFA have to do something. Just some basic marketing and promotion would be a start. I, like many others, assumed that this year the money was being held back for after the AFL and NRL finals, but no. There was nothing. I would be very interested to see what the FFA advertising and promotions budget was this year. If visibility is any guide, close to zero. If you are trying to sell a product in a competitive marketplace, you have to promote and advertise. Until the FFA takes this seriously, the slide will continue.
Simmo
Guest
those rebounds don't just occur naturally. The governing body has to step in with a strategy to stop the slide and get the crowds back. We're all anxious to see what the FFA will do about remedying this season's failings.
MV Dave
Guest
You are spot on Andy in that apart from league wide issues such as marketing each club then has their own set of issues which have effected attendances such as your examples with BR, GCU and NJ. Wellington are doing very well and hopefully now with a couple of home games to follow they can build on the 9,000 who are coming to games. Their future is another issue that needs to be sorted. Just to remind that J League attendances went from 19,000 plus in their 2nd year to 10,000 by their 4th and 5th seasons and are currently about 19,500 per game. MLS high from over 17,000 in their 2nd season (1996) to less than 14,000 by 2001. They are now over 16,000 per game and have added 6 teams with 3 more to come in the next 2 seasons.
Australian Football
Guest
MV Dave, you have made some very accurate points in this comment---too bad you can't choose good teams to follow... :D But in saying that, I agree with what you have written here, well done lad... ~~~~~~~ AF