After leaving AAMI Park recently I had a sinking feeling that I would not be able to attend another match live for a number of months. Sure like many of you I would watch the finals, lose countless hours sleep watching matches from Europe, and might even watch some of the Asian champions league.
This was not my biggest disappointment though, the attendance of less that 7,000 to farewell two Socceroo greats (Aloisi and Skoko) my extremely disappointing.
Sure Heart matches have not attracted massive crowds this year, but that night the result didn’t matter; I saw it more of a chance for neutrals to attend the match, so this got me thinking ‘how do we attract bigger crowds in the A-league?’
After all, the product continues to improve, but attendances seem to decline. I have made a few points that I would think would increase crowds throughout the league.
Regular match times for home games are needed. This would allow families to plan their weekend for the inclusion of attending A-league games on a regular basis.
Give teams 70% of the same schedule for all home games. This will be a difficult challenge, but I believe attendance rates would increase.
e.g.:
FRIDAY NIGHTS: Wellington/Adelaide /Heart
SATURDAY NIGHT (1st match): Central Coast/Newcastle/Sydney
SATURDAY NIGHT (2nd match): Perth/North Queensland
SUNDAY 3pm: Brisbane/Victory/Gold Coast
Midweek games seem to work from a television viewpoint, but match attendances have been disappointing. I would spread this across all clubs, giving 1-2 home midweek matches to all clubs. This could be overridden if one club was prepared to play more midweek matches upon request.
Keep the Sunday afternoon kick-off for the M1 (check) derby. This seems to work and creates a great atmosphere
The Melbourne Derby should be played on a Saturday night (as all three were this year). This maximises the publicity and coverage from all media outlets. No Melbourne club should play midweek prior to a derby match. This happened to the Heart twice this season, and detracted from the midweek match.
Final round matches should all kick-off at the same time (Sunday 3pm). This is common practice around the World, and should take place in Australia. This may have difficulties with the Foxtel, but would increase crowds, create tension around all grounds, and is only happens once per season. If this didn’t work we could always revert to the old system, but I believe this would be great for fans.
Victory/Adelaide matches attract the greatest travelling away fans throughout the season.
This should be rewarded by giving the match a Saturday night status; this would not only give more fans the ability to travel interstate, but would benefit both local economies.
The A-League is a unique competition that covers several time zones, and one can only imagine the difficulty of creating a fixture that pleases clubs/television/supporters.
I have made a few points that I believe would be a positive for the game, and continue the growth and reputation of the game. Feel free to add any ideas or disagree with my ideas.
After all I am just a fan, like so many out there wanting to see the A-League continue to succeed in an overcrowded Australian sporting calendar.
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