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The unveiling of the Hyundai A-League 2011/12 season draw has been revealed by Football Federation Australia. The highly anticipated wait to the re-energised season seven fixture had many within the football fraternity on the edge of their seats.
Next season has seen a number of changes presented to the landscape of the A-League competition.
Evidently, the FFA have installed a strategic plan for the promotion of the new season. The season will commence on October 8, a day after the Socceroos are in town. The FFA are seeking to take full advantage of the A-League opening by playing blockbuster fixtures in the opening three weeks.
The opening round will comprise of the heated rivalry between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC, Melbourne Heart will travel to Newcastle, whilst the eagerly awaited grand final re-match between reigning A-League champions Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners will take place at Suncorp Stadium.
Week two will see old foes Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory clash at Hindmarsh Stadium, while week three will encompass the traditional derbies when Brisbane Roar host Gold Coast United, Newcastle Jets welcome Central Coast Mariners and the highly anticipated encounter between Melbourne outfits – Victory and Heart.
A-League chief Lyall Gorman has professed his confidence in the re-branded A-League competition by saying he is “extraordinarily” confident that the league will be successful and has declared that the A-League will be at the heart of the Australian summer landscape, by “taking over summer in Australia”. Let’s hope Gorman’s immense optimism is turned into reality.
• Due to the competitive market in Australian sport, the A-League has been moved to an October start with the home and away season concluding towards the end of March, before the finals series comes to an end at April’s end. The decision was made in order to have clear air space and avoid the business ends of the AFL and NRL finals. The FFA feels as though it is better for football to commence its season when the other codes have wounded up in order to gain the best possible outcome for the fans.
“We’ve taken a lot of time to reflect on season six and taken the contributions from our major stakeholders, our fans, sponsors, media groups,” Gorman said.
“Football needs its own clean airspace and it belongs at the start of October.
“With the Socceroos playing on October 7, it’s a spot we want to claim with some very clear objectives: to make it highly popular, world class, to be sustainable, and be more accessible for fans, the 1.7 million people who touch our game at the weekend, year on year.”
• With the unfortunate demise of expansion club North Queensland Fury, the amount of fixtures on display has been reduced from 30 to 27 league games (before the finals series) spread over the course of 25 weeks. Each club will acquire 13 home games with less back to back games for teams and fans in a ploy to have a more consistent line of fixturing.
In some respects, it’s an unfortunate situation for Australian football as we need our youngsters to play as many games as possible to gain match fitness and improve technical standards. In regards to the competition, it is disappointing on the front that, in order to align ourselves with the superior football leagues around the world and also Asia, we need to play as many games as possible to entice players to play in Australia and for the credibility of the competition. Hopefully, in good time the amount of fixtures will be increased.
• The number of mid-week fixtures has been reduced substantially from 30 to 10 and will be played throughout the summer months in December-January. The FFA feels as though families and children will have a greater opportunity of attending these games during the summer holidays as opposed to having fixtures clustered during the year.
“There’s the very family friendly midweek games which we’ve collapsed into a very tight window around the school holiday period in all of our markets so families can make that more accessible.
“Historically it was hard on them – Wednesday midweek, September and February and so on – to get mums and dads and kids to come out.”
• For the first time in A-League history, a complete round will be scheduled on the one day, Wednesday 4th January. The FFA has classified it as a “football bananza” which will comprise of five games played back-to-back for an 11-hour marathon of football. The day will commence in Wellington at 1pm (EST) and conclude in Perth with the 10pm (EST) kick-off.
It is an innovative way of thinking by the FFA who have definitely thought outside the square on this occasion.
People have queried why this football marathon wasn’t played before on the Monday or Tuesday as Wednesday is the day many people will resume work after the festive season break. Nevertheless, let’s hope this experiment proves to be a successful venture.
• To broaden community engagement and grow the game in new areas around the country, the FFA have opted to transform five matches into regional areas involving every A-League club. The manoeuvre is deemed to strengthen the game into regional areas and build the momentum of the competition.
• There will be a more consistent line of programming with a regular 8:00pm (EST) timeslot on Friday night’s.
• An invigorated marketing plan will be installed into the new season which will take advantage of new digital channels and social media. The FFA will pledge in the region of $5 million- around the same margin as it did on TV and outdoor advertising in the inaugural A-League season in 2005/06. The marketing campaigns of recent seasons have received dire reviews by the football community and rather fruitless in their attempt to engage with the wider communities.
The novelty and intrigue of the A-League in its inception was an exciting prospect seven years ago, with anticipation let’s wish the FFA can replicate the same amount of exhilaration amongst fans and bring football back to the centrepiece of the Australian sporting market.
The Hyundai A-League comprises of all the correct ingredients to be a highly successful and creditable competition in Australia, Asia and additionally worldwide. The FFA must learn from their mistakes, listen to the fans and take advantage of their surrounding by effectively connecting with the wider communities.
Once all this has been done, then the A-League will take another step closer into realising its potential.
*Courtesy of Goal Weekly
*Follow Robbie on Twitter, http://twitter.com/#!/robertdifabio
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