After producing one of the most pulsating climaxes to a grand final in Australian sporting history earlier this year, surely the A-League is not headed for the scrapheap.

The A-League’s introduction in Australia was supposed to usher in a new era for Australian football, yet after six seasons people are still left contemplating the competition’s value.

August 26, 2005 marked an historic day in Australian football history, when the newly formed Hyundai A-League competition kicked off its inaugural season in Newcastle.

I, along with 13,000 other excited football fans turned out to watch the Newcastle Jets at Energy Australia Stadium for the first time, leaving ultimately disappointed as they succumbed 1-0 to Adelaide United.

But I left the stadium that night feeling as if football had finally arrived in Australia and grew excited about the opportunities that the A-League could bring to the sport in this country.

Football fans felt as if they finally had a national competition which was unified under a national body (Football Federation Australia) and would become an integral part of the Australian sporting landscape.

The introduction of the A-League coincided with Australia’s qualification for the 2006 World Cup, only the second time the Socceroos had qualified and the first time in more than 32 years.

Suffice to say the popularity of football in Australia had reached fever pitch at the time, and seemingly the A-League would embrace this new found adoration for the sport and ultimately reap the rewards.

So, for all the potential that the A-League promised in its infancy, how successful has it actually been in the six seasons that is has existed?

It is a difficult question to answer given the competition is still developing, however the general consensus within the football community is that the league has struggled to truly prosper.

Newcastle Herald sports reporter Josh Leeson felt the A-League had enjoyed mixed fortunes in the six seasons it has existed.

“If I was to give the A-League a rating out of 10 in how successful it has been, I would give it 5 out of 10,” he said.

“At times the league has enjoyed massive success, especially with the Jets in seasons two and three, Brisbane Roar this year and Melbourne Victory throughout the six seasons.

“Since 2008-09 I do believe the league has regressed as seen with the financial failure of the North Queensland Fury and the dwindling crowds’ league wide.”

Leeson believes the A-League has been able to push football into the mainstream of the Australian sporting market, something which the sport has struggled to achieve in the past.

He felt that Sydney FC’s inability to embrace the community in Australia’s biggest city is the A-League’s greatest failure to date.

In recent seasons the competition has been riddled with financial problems, highlighted by the collapse of expansion club the North Queensland Fury in 2011.

Brisbane Roar, Adelaide United, Perth Glory and Newcastle Jets have all suffered financial difficulties at some stage, with the former currently operating under caretaker ownership supported by Football Federation Australia.

Dwindling crowd figures and a decline in television ratings have also plagued the competition over the past two seasons.

Meanwhile, Football Federation Australia’s expansion plans for the A-League have been a disaster, evident with the demise of North Queensland and the abysmal support shown for the Gold Coast franchise.

“It has been obvious that the FFA expanded into the wrong areas. Neither North Qld or Gold Coast are traditional soccer regions and have suffered accordingly,” Leeson said.

Judging by these apparent shortcomings of the competition, it could be easy to discount the A-League as yet another failure within the Australian sporting industry.

However, it would be too hasty and slightly naïve to make this assertion given the competition has been able to achieve some success in the six years of its existence.

Prior to the A-League, the National Soccer League (NSL) was the national competition, running from 1977-2004.

The NSL was only a semi-professional competition and consequently most of Australia’s best players decided to move overseas in order to pursue their football careers.

The competition in its latter years struggled to build significant fan bases amongst its clubs and subsequently could not attract crowds to attend matches.

Further, the NSL did not have an effective administration under Soccer Australia and the Australian press was not supportive of the competition.

In 2004, the NSL officially ended due to the struggling financial situation of the league and the fledgling support of the competition.

The collapse of the NSL resulted in an inquiry into football in Australia and culminated in the rebranding of the sports national body to Football Federation Australia (FFA).

Perhaps more significantly however, the inquiry laid the framework for a new national competition to be established, later branded as the Hyundai A-League.

Effectively the introduction of the A-League in 2005 fermented an evolution in Australian football, establishing a truly professional competition supported by a unified national body (FFA).

The competition was subsequently signed to a deal with Fox Sports ensuring all games would be broadcast to the public, something which had previously eluded the NSL.

Christopher Hills, a writer for the website The Football Sack, believes the A-League has been successful in terms of establishing a professional football league in Australia.

“For players, playing football in this country is now a viable full time profession,” he said.

Former Newcastle Jets media manager Rob Brooks feels that the A-League is still a work in progress, however he regards the competition as a success.

“The A-League has established itself as a regular in the Australian sporting landscape in those six years, so it has been a relatively successful launch of the competition,” he said.

The introduction of the A-League has effectively transformed football into a professional sport in Australia, allowing players to forge careers here in Australia.

Brooks feels that the competition is vital for the development of football in Australia and without it the quality of players developed in this country would be diminished.

“The existence of the A-League provides a recognisable pathway for young Australian players to aspire to, and is thus critical in developing football on the whole in Australia,” he said.

Brooks also noted that the A-League provides a terrific opportunity for players to establish themselves in Australia and if good enough, develop a career overseas in some of the higher quality competitions.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen the progression of state league players such as Mile Jedinak (who have) earned a run in the A-League, moved overseas and secured a spot in the Socceroos,” he said.

“These types of players, and there are many more, are living proof that the system can work and can ultimately benefit everyone with a stake in Australian football.”

The introduction of the A-League has also provided the public with the opportunity to watch professional football in Australia, whereas previously they could only watch overseas leagues on television.

Leeson recognises that the standard of the A-League has increased due to the growing professionalism of the sport in Australia.

“The A-League has certainly improved professional football for the players themselves in terms of training and training facilities,” he said.

Newcastle Jets squadron member Jonny Rowe believes the A-League is vital for the development of football in Australia.

“The A-League brings variety for young children in deciding which sport to play…they may see a game and be influenced to join their local soccer club,” he said.

“It also improves the quality of footballers in Australia, which effectively enhances Australia’s performances at World Cup’s and Olympics.”

Rowe feels that the standard of the A-League is improving every year and bigger name players are beginning to come and play here in Australia, which will ultimately increase interest in the sport.

Perhaps the most successful aspect of the A-League lies in the actual structure of the competition itself.

The A-League operates under a level playing field in which all clubs are subjected to a ‘salary cap’ which limits the amount of money spent on their players.

Christopher Hills feels that the salary cap is a necessary mechanism in the A-League as it prevents clubs from overspending and liquidating themselves.

“It needs to stay until the league has the financial capacity and stability to remove it. That is a long way off,” he said.

Rowe feels that the format of the league was the most enjoyable aspect, as it embraces the traditional competitive culture of Australian sport.

“I like the fact that the competition has a level playing field unlike the English Premier League, where only a handful of teams have a realistic chance of championship honours,” he said.

For all the positives which the A-League has provided for football in Australia, there have been a number of shortcomings which have plagued the competition in recent seasons.

In the past two years in particular, the competition has faced a decline in crowd numbers and television viewers.

A number of clubs are battling financial problems, the FFA’s expansion strategy has failed dismally and there has been a distinct lack of promotion and marketing for the competition.

The A-League has also struggled to attract quality players to the competition, with many players viewing it as merely a stepping stone to greener pastures overseas.

All of this does not paint a bright future for the A-League, so where to now for the FFA and the national competition?

Josh Leeson suggests that the A-League must look to consolidate what they have in place now and build greater fan engagement.

“The FFA desperately need to inject more funds, advertising and man power into the A-League as it has suffered while they concentrated on the failed world cup bid,” he said.

“The Australian sports market is among the most competitive in the world…I think private ownership seems the only logical saviour for A-League clubs, as they don’t have the membership bases to survive like some AFL and NRL clubs.”

Brooks agrees that the A-League must look to privatisation in order to inject much needed funds into the league.

“There have been murmurs of foreign investment in the league becoming a reality, and I don’t think this is something we should be scared of, as long it is under the right controls,” he said.

Brooks also conceded it was time to consolidate the league for a couple of years, however he feels growth is imperative for the league to continue to survive.

“The consolidation phase ought to be spent, in part, strengthening existing partnerships and looking for new compatriots to move forward with,” he said.

As we have seen with Nathan Tinkler’s takeover of the Newcastle Jets, private investment can be a logical move for the A-League.

To address dwindling television viewers, it has been suggested that the A-League needs to negotiate a deal to broadcast games on free to air television.

Leeson said that while Foxsports contributes so much to the A-League, free to air telecasts would help the league break into broader markets.

Rowe agreed, saying he thought the competition should have more games on free to air, even if its only one or two games a week.

The A-League desperately needs to improve the promotion of the game and engagement with the community.

Newcastle resident and rugby league fan Nick Davies feels that the A-League’s strategies are sub-standard for an Australian sport.

“There is little attempt made by the A-League to connect with the community,” he said.

“The demise of the North Queensland Fury is a shocking endorsement for the A-League…and introducing a second team in Melbourne, an AFL heartland, was a poor move, given the club lost $5 million in its first season.”

Leeson summed up the situation of the A-League, stating the competition will never be able to truly compete with the likes of the NRL and AFL.

“AFL and rugby league are entrenched in Australian culture and have a history of rivalries dating back over 100 years,” he said.

“When fans turn on to watch AFL and NRL, they are watching the elite domestic competitions in the world for those sports…the A-League is obviously not.”

Indeed many football fans refuse to watch the A-League because it is of ‘poor quality’ or ‘slow’ compared to other leagues from around the world.

However, despite these challenges, the A-League is likely to remain an integral part of the Australian sporting landscape for years to come.

As Brooks surmised, “I do see a long term future for the A-League – there are simply too many people fighting for the existence of the competition.”