In many respects this is the most important off-season in the history of the A-League.
A new club will settle in a vital expansion region and several owners and league officials are smoking a peace pipe instead of shooting from the hip.
The gun slingers have either been run out of town or have decided to work together.
In the past, important issues have been lost in a haze of chaos, but this winter looks like being different.
Real issues are starting to be discussed and one of them has to do with two words that have quickly become dirty.
“Discretionary spend” seems laughable when you consider the poor financial position of most clubs.
Marquee players, once the must have item, are now being shunned.
Many chief executives will spend the off-season finding ways to fit their current star players, who at the moment sit outside of the salary cap, within the boundaries set by head office.
There’s no doubt success can be achieved with financial muscle, but if flexing leads to financial instability then it’s hardly worth it.
When Dwight Yorke hit the harbour city plenty of football fans were quick to bat their eyelids at the former Manchester United star.
It was new, exciting and slightly inconceivable.
Northern Spirit, which played in front of paltry crowds at Pittwater Rugby park in the dying days of the NSL, grabbed one of the great strikers in the history of the game, convincing him to pull on a sky-blue jersey at the Sydney Football Stadium.
His presence was arguably exactly what the competition needed at the time.
It gave Sydney, and by extension the competition, space in the media and credibility to hang its hat on.
Measure his impact against the arrival of Robbie Fowler. By the time the Liverpool legend arrived at the North Queensland Fury the football public was more educated.
They realised Fowler may not have even been the best player at the Fury and later the Glory. Just how much bang those two clubs got for their buck is debatable.
At the same time an appreciation was developed for the skills of the local product. Fans needed dessert for dinner in season once, but over time those same supporters became content with meat and three veg.
That isn’t to say clubs shouldn’t chase foreign players. They just need to fall within the salary cap.
That attitude will carry over to the new Sydney club.
Don’t expect the West Sydney side to have a marquee man. Officials are all too aware big names come and go, but fans need to feel connected to the playing group.
Head office is also desperate to show financial stability can be achieved if their blue print is followed. In essence, they hope the newest member of the competition can be an example to its older siblings.
A marquee, for now, doesn’t fit with that line of thinking.
There’ll hopefully come a time when clubs can splash out on a big name again.
But for now it needs to be back to basics on the balance sheet.
Robert Fleming
Guest
I agree this close season is by far the most important of the A League to date. What the FFA do with Western Sydney and the attraction of a star or investment in youth will ultimately determine how long the FFA have to fund the club for. I have written an article on this on my blog, check it out on www.aimgk.com.au/blog
striker
Guest
Fuss milions love the game here just look at all the papers in Sydney front pages Man city incredible win this morning there were thousand and thousands watching the telecast last night not to mention the number of people play the the game in this country that says it all, these critics are scared because if we get it right here we will be a major player which they are all scared of.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Fussball I've extrapolated the oztam figures to work out where the average Fox Footy audience comes from: Melbourne 48% Perth 18% Brisbane 12.5% Adelaide 11% Sydney 10.5% That means that if 200k are watching a game, 21k come from Sydney and 25k come from Brisbane, and that Brisbane figure is actually higher than the Adelaide figure (on average).
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Lucan I'm not insisting anything from anybody. I'm just making the observation that, despite repeated allegations that Aussies don't like SOKAH, more people seem to have an interest in commenting on Football issues than any other Sport on The Roar. Seems to me the facts don't support the allegation?
Lucan
Not sure why you insist people be one or the other. I comment on all the "AFL" and "Other sports" tabs here (bar Union and Cycling) plenty, but still consider myself a football fan. Be glad football has enough going to draw interest and opinion from multi-sport supporters.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Scott, In a word - yes. The "weakness" (I use the term relatively, because the A-League is actually a strong league compared to well over half the world's national competitions) of the A-League is the result of both its lack of importance as a league and football's lack of importance on the Australian sporting landscape compared to the NRL and AFL and the sports they represent. La Liga, Serie A and the EPL are only so strong because they are supported by football loving nations. Its chicken and egg. Australia would only have a competition like the EPL if the sport was popular enough to warrant it - if the sport was that popular, then we'd already have a better competition.
Bondy
Are those figures for both FTA and cable Fussball in relation to AFL viewership in Sydney and Brisbane is it really 5% . Also has anybody checked my avatar .
The Bush
Roar Guru
Ease up Ian, if you're not interested, don't respond...
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
The Cattery I'm not sure what your figures are meant to tell me about the popularity of AFL in Syd? FoxFooty channel's "sparkling ratings" have come from existing customers, according to Paul Kent, the revenue generated by new subscriptions doesn't justify the cost of the FoxFooty Channel. I'd be surprised if it survives. Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrls-much-hyped-1-billion-broadcast-deal-unlikely-to-be-realised/story-e6frexnr-1226349290817 What I do know is 90% of AFL's FTATv audience is in Mel, Ade & Per with Sydney & Brisbane each having approximately 5% of the AFL viewer market. Brisbane's figures are particularly disastrous - down from 8% a few years ago. With current AFL ratings on Foxtel averaging 189k, it means around 10k people watch AFL on Foxtel in Sydney & 9k watch in Brisbane.
Bondy
Cattery. Walking is not a sport, its a non organised recreational pursuit, if I go to the beach it doesnt mean i'm a swimmer their non regiseterd pursuits and are treated that way by the bureau.
Bondy
Micka . Where do we start some of your points are relevant ,but you say football is not enjoyable to watch on telle for those who play it,why would Fox fork out all that money for the epl and for a finish like this morning priceless ! One could also put forward the case why do we watch sports in Australia that dont reflect participation rates at grass roots ! Sports should be played not watched . What dodgy deals do tv companies have with other sports to make sure football is not seen on F.T.A. Why is a sport played by most youth throughout the country doing with a domestic football league seen on cable tv where roughly 66% of the population cant see it . Why are some sports braodcast on FTA where the likely hood of actually playing the sport in certain regions of Australia are slim (how many kids play Rugby League in Perth ) !
pete4
Guest
Cattery - completely off topic but if my memory serves me correctly didn't Foxtel have a AFL channel before? I recall one a few years ago it might have even been called Fox Footy
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Fussball You should check out this page on the OZTAM ratings: http://www.oztam.com.au//documents/2012/OzTAM-20120422-A2MetTTVShrCons.pdf It provides the percentage share (5 city metro) of all FTA and Fox channels, and the numbers are quite revealing. The highest rating Fox station by a mile is Fox Footy, at 1.6%, actually higher than some FTA stations! But not only that, Sydney and Brisbane have figures of 0.5% and 1.3%. In the case of Sydney, this means that as many households are tuned into Fox Footy as are tuned into Fox Sports 1 and more are tuned into Fox Footy as are tuned into SBS2, Disney and Fox Classics. In the case of Brisbane, more are tuned into Fox Footy than Fox Sports 2 and in fact there are four times as many from Brisbane tuning into Fox Footy as there are tuning into Fox Sports 1. Very revealing numbers, and it gives us a bit of an idea as to why Fox set up Fox Footy.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
micka The answer is a long, complicated one, but ultimately the attachment to relatively newish franchises isn't there in large numbers - and why people form attachments to clubs is a fairly complex sociological phenomenon. It might ultimately grow, but it might be another 50 years or so before we can truly evaluate, noting that the old NSL survived for nearly 30 years, and interest was probably less at the end of its life than at the start. The nexus between participation and interest at the elite level of a sport is also complicated. I believe it's there, it's not for nothing that the AFL invests heavily in NSW and Queensland in increasing its participation numbers, but it's hard to know just how important it is. I note the biggest and most prosperous sporting competition in the world, the NFL, involves a game that has relatively low participation rates. Similalry, senior level Rugby League is not the sort of sport you take up for fun, a bit of remuneration helps dull the pain. Meanwhile, in Australia, the ABS consistently finds that "walking" is the most popular physical activity that Australians participate in, and I can see it's attraction, listen to sports pod casts or the radio, clear the mind, and walk your worries away.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"Could one argue that it is a fun sport to play but doesn’t have the same zing spectator wise?" .... And, I laughed and I laughed!! I guess you slept through the final round of drama from England this morning? More people watch HAL on Foxtel in Sydney than watch AFL; more people watch HAL on Foxtel in Melbourne, Adelaide & Perth than watch NRL. And, this is after just 7 years of competition. I don't expect a large portion of the Aussie community to ever appreciate football. Let's be honest, AFL fans who try to suggest a sporting event that ends 115-52 is exciting, are never going to have the patience or cerebral capacity to really appreciate football.
micka
Guest
Too busy going to the games Bondy...
micka
Guest
It may be unsophisticated but it's relevant all the same. Shouldn't ALL those people playing it be interested in watching it or attending it? What happens in Soccer that the people playing it don't graduate to watching on TV or paying to see it live. I know more people play soccer in junior leagues etc (by quite a bit) so why doesn't the game command the same ratings? Could one argue that it is a fun sport to play but doesn't have the same zing spectator wise? I realise how stupid that sounds when soccer rates through the roof in other countries but why doesn't that transfer here?
Ian
Guest
they'd prefer to ignore the million plus people that are involved with soccer every saturday morning
Ian
Guest
depends on your definition of popularity. whats your evidence of how well latinos have integrated into white society? can you provide your thesus on this matter. what's with all these bludgers and bush commenting on immigration and integration issues when they are way off the mark in content and relevance.
Ian
Guest
funny ICAR. can bludger please not provide his own dummies guide to asian immigration into australia on this forum. another poor point regarding canada and soccer