Six months is a long time. Unfortunately this is how long A-League fans need to wait until they see their respective teams battle it out for points.
Sure, for a few fans the development of Western Sydney’s new A-League club will be entertaining to watch but the bottom-line is nothing constructive is being done to keep fans entertained.
Ask any business person and they will tell you that this isn’t good for the league.
The break means many fans turn to rival codes and many more forget about the league completely! A-League fans are at risk of becoming disengaged with the game over this period.
Being a young league, the FFA needs to make sure fans connect with clubs the same way fans have connected with AFL and NRL clubs but the half-year off-season gap threatens the A-League’s potential to do this.
The FFA must organise off-season fan engagement as soon as possible but what can they do to solve this problem? There are a number of strategies that could be implemented over the off-season.
Firstly the FFA must organise the state leagues.
It is important that people have access to quality football all year round, however this move will also assist player development.
The FFA’s recent ‘Australian Premier Leagues’ initiative could be a great thing for football in this country and done right, could improve the professionalism of Australian State League and clarify their role.
The inclusion of A-League Youth teams in state premier leagues may also be a step the FFA may want to consider.
Newcastle Jets currently host a team in the Northern NSW Premier League, providing their younger players valuable on-field experience at a decent level of football.
The inclusion of A-League Youth teams may also increase interest in state leagues and professionalism, helping to bridge the gap between semi-professional grassroots football and A-League clubs.
State Leagues can also provide a platform to test prospective expansion areas.
For example, Canberra could be represented as well as Gold Coast and Townsville, so that they are represented at a high level and so that football interest in the area can be monitored.
The FFA could also look at other strategies to bridge the off-season, such as some sort of ‘All-Stars’ match.
Any sort of all-stars system would bring together the very best of A-League Players and would be a great way to launch or end a season similar to the NRL or the USA’s NBA.
Something needs to be done to reduce the off-season and keep A-League fans engaged.
Improved handling of the off-season may be key to growing the League in the long term.
zacbrygel
Roar Guru
Another idea that just hit me was an All star weekend like in the Nba. You could have an all star match between the best of the state league teams, as well as a match between the best of the Youth League teams and another match between the best of the W- league as matches that fill the weekend and provide a launching pad for the main A-league all star match. You could even have long range shooting competitions, a players sprinting race and more as entertainment for the crowd. This All star weekend could be done the week before the Aleague kicks off as a way to gain media attention for the league and provide a real boost for soccer fans around the country.
zacbrygel
Roar Guru
I reckon we make sure that all the State League's play their season during the Aleague offseason. This way high profile Aleague players such as Harry Kewell and Bret Emerton could turn out in a few matches for State league sides in order to get match fit for the Aleague season, which would be a massive boost to State league crowd attendances.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Ian Whitchurch Since the FFA doesn't get 1 cent from gate revenue collected from HAL matches during the season (only finals matches are controlled by FFA), how will increased gate receipts directly improve the FFA's bottom line?
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Midfielder, The only way that FFA is going to have enough of a surplus to invest in the State leagues is for fans to turn up to games in numbers and pay their money at the gate.
Midfielder
Guest
If we are honest in AFL & RL seasons we struggle hugely for media space .... professional teams need crowds and aside from playing standards mainstream media is important in getting and maintaining new people tho the gate... I hope BB is as good as the FFA board think in his media dealings.. as the key to extending the season is in the next media deal...
Midfielder
Guest
Agree with most of what you are saying.... my concern for a while has been how are the State league teams going to keep paying the bills .... some teams have established clubs with porker machines for revenue.... other struggle bye ... my long term issue is [don't ask me how] FFA need to move some of its revenue to the state teams... I have often tho if the state league teams left the state leagues to run the associations and went under FFA control [even allowing for FFA's past management record] it would allow having the state league as feeder league to the A-League far better than it is now...
Dharma
Guest
Thanks for pointing out the writer of the Article (Ray Gattt), I won't bother reading it.
TheBeautifulGame
Roar Pro
@raghu and @MelbCro Regardless of how it happens there needs to be a bridge between the A-League and state leagues so that all talent is given a chance to make it professionally and to improve the standard of play in Australia.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Sorry to go off topic, but this was just too big a piece of HAL news to not post it. Ray Gatt will have an article in tomorrow's Australian that Public Enemy No.1 for every AUS football fan, wants to come and play in the HAL. He's not after a big paycheck, just wants his family to experience a new lifestyle. As someone, who was in Kaiserslautern that day, and sat there - frozen to my seat & stunned - after the final whistle, I never thought I'd say this but: "war is over - it's time to forgive & forget". Would love to have him at MVFC but, with the large Italian football community out in West Sydney I hope he opts for the New Club. It's already shaping up as a very very exciting off-season in the HAL. Source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/world-cup-heartbreaker-fabio-grosso-eyeing-a-league/story-e6frg7mf-1226365936348
TheBeautifulGame
Roar Pro
First of all i have to say that understand and agree with the logic behind your comment, this article aimed to highlight the issue of the six month off-season. I don't want to see a rushed, poorly though out initiative by the FFA to solve this issue nor do I expect the A-League to match the 100 year old competitions in fan engagement and passion. I just think this is a significant problem that will prevent A-League fans from making this connection with their clubs in the long term and should be resolved as soon a possible in the best manner possible.
Axelv
Guest
FFA Cup every week in August and October (for A-League clubs, earlier for the others) would be the perfect way to launch the season. Would also turn the 6 month off season into 4 months, along with 8 months of football!
MelbCro
Guest
what they need to do is look at the actual state federations. thats where the real problem is, but the FFA continues to ignore it
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
TheBeautifulGame I agree with everything you've said about needing a longer season. We need to be patient. We've just finished 7 years of HAL. We can't expect to mimic football leagues that are over 100 years old. I look at the development of football in AUS like building a skyscraper. The most time & effort goes into laying the foundations - which will never be seen. But, once those foundations are properly engineered & solid, the building shoots up very quickly. The HAL is still in the stage of laying the foundations. Alas, we didn't do proper geographical testing, so the foundations we laid in Gold Coast & Nth Qld didn't hold & we had to start again. Just as the construction workers start again when geological testing is not done properly & foundations collapse. I have no doubt professional club football will be played 9-10 per year by the end of this decade ... if things fall nicely, it may even happen for the season after we host the AFC Asian Cup.
nordster
Guest
Yes good points there, from a business standpoint the league is losing people's attention for too long each year. There's then the associated (and cumulative) costs of reestablishing those links each year. Though social media does remedy that a lot in slashing marketing costs. A media deal that allows for a longer season should be on the agenda as they negotiate the next deal. When people are in the habit of following an established or dominant sport it's not so hard with a long off season as u have a popular mentality and mass media to keep bringing them back each year. When u are an up and coming - or 'challenger' brand in marketing jargon - the effect is more of a blow in building an audience year on year. People drop away more easily. In football we have many leagues to follow around the world and internationals etc. But for our domestic league which is just getting out of the blocks ... well especially for people used to following leagues overseas ... the a-league can sometimes feel like half of a meal. Maybe two-thirds if your team is in Asia. :)
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Saw that, glad to see they're looking at the state leagues but do not like how they're apparently out to toss any player over 23 onto an iceberg, you're right to be iffy about that as it stands. Needs a lot more consultation.
MelbCro
Guest
"The FFA’s recent ‘Australian Premier Leagues’ initiative could be a great thing for football in this country and done right, could improve the professionalism of Australian State League and clarify their role." Doesn't sound like you have read the NCR. The FFA proposal is to turn the state leagues into glorified youth competitions. That is something that will see the quality of football regress rather than improve
raghu
Guest
The inclusion of youth teams in state league is already being considered. Plz read the national competition review report.
Football United
Guest
well myself and other victorian A-League fans were very happy about the idea of participating in a state cup during the off season. Great way to conclude pre season, opportunity to play away and visit the state league clubs and a way to engage the local fans. Of course this actually looked like working and BB killed it because he thought Victorian people and sponsors would be too stupid to realise the difference between a state league cup and the eventual FFA cup. of course the FFA cup still hasn't come about and we are still left with nothing.
Johnno
Guest
Have an FFA cup to make season longer, and play the state league in the A-league off season so the players can be aligned to state league clubs, and NZ clubs too. A-league clubs should go to europe and play teams reserve sides, like play Barca reserves at the nou Camp, or Real B at the bernabu, or play at old trafford, Ettihad , or san siro, or Allianz in Muncih, orate the stadio olympico in italy, .