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From what has been a decline in popularity and some poor management decisions from clubs and the FFA, the A-League can now start looking to the future with optimism and prosperity in mind.
We have now seen what is virtually the failure and bust of the second A-League club in its short history, but was North Queensland Fury ever going to succeed? To me it seemed like a club destined to failure from the start, always in the shadow of its more glamorous but equally hopeless compatriot Gold Coast United.
They started with a terrible name, shocking jersey and club logo that looked like a ‘paint’ over of Brisbane Roar’s. Not to talk down the club that has nurtured talent, given football to the wonderful people of North Queensland and seen equal boosts of community support and embracement.
Now North Queensland are probably out of the competition, the decline I would argue didn’t have to happen is now over, in my opinion, so starting we are fresh next season. The FFA will get what they want; fewer games and probably a drop in professionalism with only ten clubs competing. But professionalism is being made up in other areas.
The exclusive deal with Reebok to manufacture all HAL clubs’ shirt will be over, so we will start to see a variety of football jerseys from the like of Adidas, Umbro and maybe Puma. Hopefully this will also be accompanied with the HAL logo moving to the sleeve of clubs shirts, another move towards professional football instead of commercial branding, which I have wrote about here.
Expansion is a must even though it has been rife with issues. Just look at Melbourne Heart for an example of its success.
Canberra and Sydney Rovers will be included at some point as both make a lot of sense in terms of geography and population. I could see Canberra with their current bid group getting accepted possibly in 2012/13 season as it is too late for them to prepare for season seven. It would also be a special token as the national capital celebrates its centenary in 2013. Rovers probably the season after as they would need to get a whole new bidding group together to start the process of raising funds and the like all over again. I just hope they keep the same name.
I think this would be the best formula having only one team entering the A-League at a time, like the Heart did and NQ Fury and GCU didn’t, as it gives that club a better focus and kick-start into a turbulent period.
Crowds have been another issue, something that many have their opinions on, but I do not find longer seasons an issue at all. Now the FFA will have a shorter season next year, if they could work with the security at stadiums to stop persecuting and intimidating fans at the gates, then maybe things will grow.
It would be ideal to have broadcast rights shared between Fox and possibly SBS or ONE HD. This is important for exposure and growing the domestic competition when there is an overwhelming amount of support for our national team from the general public.
So hopefully by season eight of the A-League we will have 12 teams competing, including a club from the nation’s capital giving us a truly national competition. There will finally be growing crowd numbers after a consolidation period, and a much bigger television market.
From what has been a shocking period of decline and management mistakes, I hope football has a bright future in Australia and one day we will see a team from Townsville back in the professional code.
B-League should be next on the agenda, but let’s focus on the near future with lots to happen, as this time is vital for the A-League and our reputation in Asia.
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