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A-League must reschedule to suit ACL commitments

19th April, 2012
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Adelaide United's Jason Spagnuolo is pushed from the ball by Byungkuk Cho of Seongnam Ilhwa. AAP Image/ Rob Hutchison
Roar Guru
19th April, 2012
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1686 Reads

During the week we had a peculiar scenario emerge, as far as the performance of Australian clubs in the Asian Champions League goes.

Of the three Australian clubs competing, the one that finished lowest in the season just completed, just off the bottom in fact, was the only one to win and will be the only one to progress out of the group stage.

For whatever reason, Adelaide United is the best performed Australian club in the ACL ever and on Wednesday night it added another scalp to a now-expanding list of quality scalps.

The two grand finalists from the previous season, who also finished first and second in the season just completed, both bombed out during the week.

It represents a curious outcome to say the least.

In the case of the Central Coast Mariners, they had to endure a tough preliminary final on the weekend which went into extra time and then penalties, before succumbing meekly to Seongnam 5-0 on Wednesday night.

There is no doubting that after the disappointment of failing to make the grand final, as the premier no less, their mental state combined with their physical wellbeing was probably not at its peak.

Brisbane Roar had a free weekend but in their Tuesday night game they lost narrowly at home 2-1 to Ulsan. It’s not too difficult to imagine that they had their minds on other things, like a game this weekend that determines the A-League Champions.

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On top of that, the Roar now have to regroup to face the challenge of a much fresher Glory side who would have been sitting back and enjoying themselves as they watched their fellow rivals struggle against the Korean club.

When we look at the topsy-turvy results, and look at the manner in which the ACL group games are sandwiched in between the A-League finals with so much riding on those finals, one starts to suspect that the timing is not perfect for the Australian sides.

The obvious question becomes: why are we timing the season so that our finals take place during the group stage of the ACL?

It’s a very good question.

Our three main competitors in the region: the J-League, K-League and Chinese Super League, are all running their season inside the calendar year, from February/March to around November, each league having 16 or 18 clubs.

The rules of the ACL are such that you need to nominate your teams in the most recently completed season, so with these leagues, by the end of November, for the draw in early December, they are able to nominate their teams for the ACL which kicks off in March the following year.

It seems to me that there is merit in fitting in with the three stronger East Asian Leagues, which are our main rivals in the ACL as well.

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This means going to a calendar year season that might finish at the very end of November, and which could run from around April (about eight months).

Why don’t we?

There are generally two reasons that I have heard for not opting for a more logically constructed season:

1) Conflicting with the AFL and NRL – as time goes on, I don’t believe this will be the big deal that many make out, and in any event, the final two months of the season would be run with clear air.

2) Staying in step with the European calendar – I have never understood why this is deemed so important, seeing that we have been part of the AFC now for six years.

The advantages of having an April to November season include:

– The recent champions, premiers and other nominated teams head directly into the ACL the following year, and can focus completely on that competition when it starts in March.

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– The grand final would be at the end of November, no other major sporting competition on at the time, great weather, a guaranteed winner.

– A-League clubs will then have the opportunity to use the northern hemisphere January transfer window to loan out players to European clubs for the remainder of their season, which might represent a lucrative revenue stream.

– A summer cup competition becomes feasible and would be very popular and a sure ratings winner.

The advantages are so great to having an April to November season, I strongly recommend that we start working towards one immediately.

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