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Midweek games need to be scrapped from the A-League next season after some disastrous crowds in 2010-11. There have been 30 matches played on either Tuesday or Wednesday nights this season, with the latest attracting just 1,003 fans.
Obviously there were a lot of factors that led to the lowest crowd in the A-League history in the game between Brisbane Roar and North Queensland Fury.
Firstly, the game was played Skilled Stadium on the Gold Coast after the recent natural disaster in Townsville, so it was neither teams’ home game.
The Fury is out of finals contention, and likely for the chopping block, and the Roar have already secured the minor premiership, so it was a dead rubber.
But the figures from the rest of the midweek games do not paint a great picture.
In the 30 midweek games this season, there have only been three that have drawn a crowd higher than 10,000.
One of those games was the 16,429 at the Adelaide Oval in December, so it shows midweek games can work when scheduled during holiday periods.
The average for midweek games is 6,161 – well below the A-League’s average of 8,307. Take away the midweek figures and the overall average looks a little healthier at 8,825.
If the Fury is cut next season, and the A-League goes back to a ten-team competition, there is no need for midweek fixtures.
No other football code attempts regular midweek games, so why should the A-League, which has the lowest average crowd of all four codes, persist?
Midweek games make it easy for Fox Sports to fill a gap with a live event, but empty stadiums look terrible on television.
Football Federation Australia need to try and win back sporting fans and asking fans to turn up on Tuesday or Wednesday nights is just not the way.
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