It felt as if there was a continuous stream of initiatives being launched by the AFL, and all of them seemed to be designed with one eye on how to neuter attempts from rival competitions to grow their code.
Take the launch of the Foxtel Cup and subsequent development of the NAB cup – in my opinion this was the AFL striking the first blow as they attempt to fend off Football Federation Australia’s own prospective knockout competition. Of course all of this comes before College St even has a complete concept for the FFA Cup.
Meanwhile with the Gold Coast Suns plastered across all forms of the media, the only remarkable development for Gold Coast United is a statistical anomaly: the crowd figure from this week’s game against the Central Coast Mariners, 2037, is the exact amount who stumped up at Skilled Park for the same fixture earlier in the season.
So as the AFL is “kicking goals”, the A-League has seen one club change its colours without consulting fans, another alienate its largest supporter group and all the while North Queensland Fury continues to grind to a slow and painful death.
There’s a lesson for Football Federation Australia in how Melbourne Heart tried to develop their playing squad in the lead up to their debut season.
Essentially the Heart looked at the best two teams from last season, Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory, and tried to put together a group of players who could match them. In this they were successful but it wasn’t enough, the league had moved on and the Heart won’t play finals football this season.
In a competitive and evolving environment, like the A-League or Australia’s sporting market, you can’t just try to equal what was the best last year, you have to aim to surpass it or you risk getting left behind.
With their hesitant attempts at a cup competition and the complete bungling of expansion, FFA have done the latter.
If the AFL has one weakness it’s a lack of respect that, at times, almost verges on contempt for grassroots fans, particularly those who support the smaller Melbourne clubs.
From a revenue-slanted draw through to Grand Final ticketing geared towards filling the AFL’s coffers, Demetriou falls short in giving fans as fair a deal as possible.
While the AFL’s utter dominance in Victoria means they can get away with it, FFA can’t.
As former Socceroo and SBS pundit Craig Foster said on Shootout this week, “These fans are the ones keeping this game afloat… these passionate fans are the ones that are going to make this game successful so (FFA) better get in front of them and start talking directly with them.”
FFA, if you listen to the fans, football will thrive on its greatest asset and you’ll never have to worry about the AFL again.
You can follow Davidde Coran on Twitter @DaviddeCoran
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
deal was 7 and 10 first. Fox came in later. There may be a separate news deal, but its certainly not been announced publicly.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
actually it tells us a number of things - 2 probable A-league finalists at a ground centrally located practically in the CBD were up against 2 teams who finished in the bottom half of the ladder and melbourne who have no support here, playing at a stadium miles out at west lakes in a meaningless 3 way practice match that every AFL follower was skeptical about. Yes it was a good crowd for the A-league, but dont get too carried away with the concerned crap. And my motel was infested with victory supporters who were reasonably well behaved, if noisy. Ironically, they complained a lot about Adelaide supporters and as usual, security and police treatment. The A-league was always going to go better up against the NAB Cup matches than against the AFL finals. A credit to them for being successful in this case.
Mark Shark
Guest
Just found the crowd to be 18,000 at AAMI stadium for the AFL compared to nearly 23,000 at HAL game. Soccer isn't dying like Andrew Demetriou would like us all to believe. He is concerned and so he should be.
Aussie Rules
Guest
Surly Aussie Rule AFL is force to run because football is making it run. Or Aussie Rules AFL will have a dive staying stagnate!
Mark Shark
Guest
If the AFL are not worried about the A-League then why would they put the NAB Cup games last night in Adelaide. It was to reduce the crowd for the Adel Vs Victory game but it didn't work. Nearly 23,000 people at the soccer whilst the AFL crowd was so poor they never mentioned how large it was. Soccer in this country is growing and the AFL are trying its best to cut it down whenever possible.
NUFCMVFC
Guest
Good to hear the youth teams etc are doing well? How to take advantage of it? And this is where the issue lies, the FFA are not very proactive, in administrative terms they don't seem to have the capacity for much forward thinking, they are always having to react, and I think that is where the issue lies The 6 year old professional league may be selling players overseas, great, but there is not many people watching and increased apathy from those who were, do they have the capacity to proactively address this? They were proactive at the beginning, but dropped the ball on the WC bid and did not conoslidate
albatross
Guest
One thing thing that hasn't been mentioned is that Andrew Demetriou is independently wealthy. He is in the wonderful situation of being able to make decisions without the worry of having to look over his shoulder at the guys after his job - he could walk and not really notice the difference to his net wealth. That is to say that he is not extraordinarily good at what he does.
OzFootballSherrin
Roar Pro
"Just what challengers are there to running AFL in this country?" Do you really want an answer to this question? It perhaps warrants a discussion on the AFL tab.
Twatter
Guest
To banaba. Effectively what you're saying is football has no F.T.A., I just watched Adelaide vs Melbourne 2-1 the place was packed with no free to air programme driving it No Cheap Celebrities just people in Adelaide that wanted to watch football that understood the game an it didn't confuse them because it's apart of them they grew up with it. . You're clever you've pounced at a time where the A League made a wrong move with scheduling this year and you're calling football dead, very good. An intersting observation i've made the last years A League season ran along at the same time as the European season's E.P.L.,La Liga and so on, then those leagues shut down for the year ,three weeks later the football world cup started after the world cup was over three weeks later the A League started again then three weeks after that the major European Leagues re opened for another season sounding familiar then not even half way through both the A League and E.P.L season's the Asian Cup starts the ASIAN Cup finishes and back to the A League and major European Leagues are still rolling along are you starting to get my drift it's a machine that never stops and where about to climax into the A League finals and then we are about to start our World Cup Qualifiers AGAIN shortly WHAT ARE YOU DOING.
Evan Askew
Guest
To be honest I don't have a problem with flares as well. They are colourfull and exciting and I don't see how they can cause a fire that will burn down the stadium. But that is not for me,for you or any football fan to decide. They are banned under laws passed by a democratically elected legislature and when the cops see them they have the right and the duty to apprehend the offender. If they are not used then the cops and the Hatamoto security group do not have the right to act the way they do and we win a battle in our public relations war. It is a simple choice. Wave your flags, beat your drums and sing your heart out but don't light the flares.
Evan Askew
Guest
I'm from Brisbane and having supported Grange Thistle in the local comp, Brisbane Strikers in the NSL (also being dragged as a kid to Brisbane CIty games when I wasn't really aware of what was going on) and now the Roar in the A league. I can tell you that as an Australian football fan, it is a dangerous business to go around tattooing your clubs colours on your skin. Because their is no guarantee it will be around in 30 years time.
banaba
Guest
Sir Craig (Fussball/Titus), there are no passionate fans (otherwise they would be attending the games), once again you have a go at the AFL, worry about your own game which is sadly almost gone !!
Funktapuss
Guest
What's the big deal about flares. In all my life I have never heard of anyone being hurt by a flare. They add to the atmosphere! Maybe we need to create a new A-League team to take all those fans that want to party. The 'Melbourne Hooligans'. Heart and Victory would die a slow, painful death.
Koops
Guest
Hebrew version of David probably, maybe Davidde is a jewish Englishman !!.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
Fuss completely agree with you about Heliar;s show, absolute crap and cannot believe it was given the green light to hit the air. The footy shows do vary, the AFL/NRL thursday night and sunday morning shows have become absolute rubbish and they continue to deteriorate over time, probably best to watch the panel shows (1HD, Fox sports and Footy Classified) as opposed to ones that are advertised as "infotainment". If we split hairs I would say that the NRL shows are probably worse than the AFL, but it is literally a line ball call. Its up to BBuckley, Lowy and the others at FFA to ensure when the next round of TV wheeling and dealing is happening for the A-League that they also have some similar clause which ensures news coverage and maybe also try and get another panel show on 1HD with access to highlights from the previous week, that way at least they start to get some more FTA time while maintaining the shows on Fox that they have already.
Titus
Guest
No, it's pronounced David-id-eee.
BigAl
Guest
Actually, I'm quite impressed with the name Davidde ! - first time I've seen it. . . . Is it pronounced Daveed ? (seriously)
Titus
Guest
Should change his name to Davo, so as to try and intergrate with our culture.
punter
Guest
You are right, 'You don't know'.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
Exactly Fuss, the AFL has one game and one competition to run. The FFA has several teams and competitions, male female youth etc. This is the best the code has ever been and will the A-League will start the uphill climb again from next season.