Rookie A-League chief Damien de Bohun has a goal for football many would consider impossible – making it the most talked-about sport in Australia.
But De Bohun reckons unprecedented hype surrounding the A-League’s eighth season, starting on October 5, provides the perfect launching pad.
Italy great Alessandro Del Piero’s arrival, along with several other European stars, has sparked hopes of a renaissance in Australia’s domestic competition after some troubled times.
While Del Piero’s signing for Sydney FC – followed by Emile Heskey for Newcastle Jets – has opened new marketing doors and ensured increased attendances, De Bohun said it will also help toward making football “a sport for all Australians”.
While AFL, rugby league and cricket have traditionally hogged the attention of the wider sporting public, De Bohun believes attitudes towards football are changing, especially with the enormous participation rates at junior level.
Crowds and ratings must continue to build but he believes getting people talking is also a big key if the A-League is to cut across the boundaries of other codes.
“It needs to be the most discussed sport, the one people are talking about more than any other,” De Bohun told AAP.
“That’s what this really does, signings like Del Piero and Heskey.
“All of the people who didn’t have football on their radar necessarily are starting to engage in conversations and starting to think about football and what it means.
“The challenge now to make sure it’s not a one-off that this is something we build on.”
The 37-year-old Del Piero, a World Cup winner and voted Italy’s most loved sportsman in a recent poll, is the biggest name to grace the competition and his signing alone has generated worldwide headlines for the league.
There’s no question he’s the headline act of the new season, but the support cast are also strong.
Newcastle’s capture of former England international Heskey, Brisbane Roar’s re-signing of the bulk of their championship-winning squad – including German star Thomas Broich to a five-year deal – and the return of former Johnny Warren medallist Marcos Flores of Argentina, this time to Melbourne Victory, have also generated excitement.
Combined with the arrival of the new Western Sydney Wanderers franchise, pre-season interest is stronger than ever.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Reeling from a turbulent 2011-12 season which featured the dramatic demise of Gold Coast United and the near-collapse of the Jets, De Bohun admits the competition has been given a timely boost.
Similar hype surrounded the arrivals of Socceroos stars Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton last season, but the novelty appeared to wear off as the season went on.
De Bohun said the key to maintaining the hype this time would be the increasing standard of football.
“Something like this brings new people to the game, it brings people who are already in the game to a new level of excitment, and our job is to make sure the entertainment on the field and the experience off the field continues to build,” he said.
“We just have to keep focusing on making sure the fan experience is memorable and one to remember.
“In order to achieve our goals the A-League has to be the best league and the highest quality it possibly can.”
While Del Piero’s pulling power is clear, how he will contribute to Sydney’s campaign on the park remains to be seen.
New Sky Blues coach Ian Crook will need to use his 37-year-old star signing wisely as a new-look squad strives for the club’s third championship.
The Roar rightly remain favourites for a third successive title after keeping the core of their all-conquering team together, though new mentor Rado Vidosic has huge shoes to fill in his debut head coaching role.
Super coach Ange Postecoglou’s switch from Brisbane to Melbourne Victory is an intriguing one and he could be the man to unlock the promise within a squad that finished a disappointing eighth in 2011-12.
Last season’s runners up Perth and minor premiers Central Coast are sure to be strong again, along with the dependable Wellington Phoenix.
Newcastle and the John Aloisi-coached Melbourne Heart look fringe finals contenders, along with Adelaide, should they be able to carry their Asian Champions League form into the domestic competition.
The biggest question mark of the season hovers over the Wanderers, with inaugural coach Tony Popovic having only had five months to build a squad from scratch.
The former Socceroos defender has been bullish about the fact the team will at least be competitive and with some astute acquisitions they are unlikely to be easybeats.
The season begins with the Melbourne derby on October 5.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@tj Anyone, who was following football in Australia in the 1970s or before, will understand the cultural significance of this move by the Daily Telegraph. However, I wouldn't expect anyone younger than 30 years old to appreciate the significance of this announcement.
tj
Guest
@fussball : don't trumpet this like any sort of victory dude. daily terrorgraph have done this before (week after RL GF) with football liftout once a week but it came out on tue or wed after the football fans have searched the internet to find their news they crave from the past weekend. when (australian) summer finished: suprise it was deleted as if football world stops turning as soon as bogan ball returns to sydney :( be better if they actually had daily articles (2-3 pages) rather than sidelining it and putting liftouts/ worrying about name changes to appeal to us futbol fans.
Stevo
Guest
'bugger me' a troll emerges from a dark cave to give us the benefit of their wisdom and lambasts other people for having a 'chip on their shoulder' - hahahaha!!! Only a few more sleeps till the derby at Etihad. And people don't forget Heart's event at Fed Square tomorrow lunchtime, Wednesday!!! :) I'll be getting to it foooooooooooooor suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. It's called foooooooooootbaaaaaaalll
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ Johnno Since I'm a heterosexual male, I could never have lascivious thoughts for Rebecca Wilson as a fantasy paramour.
Johnno
Guest
fuss i think you have a secret crush on rebecca wilson lol, you 2 have so much in common. Opposites attract Fuss.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ Armado Alas, you are wrong. I've been a resident of Victoria for the past 40+years. Don't care what other Aussies call my Game ... I call it FOOTBALL. PS: Based on last week's revelations, I reckon, "the egg shaped Sherrin" is about to be confined to the dustbins of history - literally & metaphorically. Enjoy your off-season ... for Football fans, alas, there was no off-season.
Futbanous
Guest
Early days yet & having seen various administrators claim that "Football will clean your dishes & leave them sparkling" over decades in Australia, I always remain wary. However this guy De Bohun seems to be making all the right noises. Compared to Archie Fraser chalk & cheese. He may or may not make the A-League the hottest topic around the water cooler,who knows,but at least he sounds ambitious enough to give it a go. Problem with Football in the past in Australia is that its had little self belief,thats were administrators like De Bohun come into play.
Brewski
Guest
The official name of Australian Rules is Australian Football, and has been for a very, very long time.
Titus
Guest
You are missing the point Armado, it's not an official decree that everyone must refer to the game as football or face punishment, it is a recognition that the game is called Football and certain publications will refer to the game by the correct name in official capacity. You can continue to call it soccer and your game football, it matters naught. Put simply, the official name of Australian Rules is not Football and Soccer is not the official name of Football.
Armado
Guest
I'm guessing you are somewhere in the northern states right? Here is some news for you, in four out of the six states of Australia "football" means using a red leather egg shaped Sherrin. That will never change. It would be akin to converting Afghanistan to Christianity. In NSW and QLD their own footballing code seems to have always been known as rugby league. So it was not an issue for them to just surrender that. Put it down as a Pyrrhic victory "Mein Freund".
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Armando Across the literate world, a product's name is THE single most important piece of information to identify, promote & sell a product. You really don't need an MBA to understand this. WE ARE FOOTBALL .. and, in the space of 7 years, it seems the mainstream media agrees.
Armado
Guest
How does changing a name of anything improve the viewership or interest? You need a good quality league with a couple of generations of fans then the rest follows. Soccer in Oz wasted 30 years with the old ethnic social club method, which was doomed from the beginning. Even Lowy admitted that much. People like yourself need to get the chip off your shoulder, understand where the game is in the pecking order and build generation after generation and it will come.
Titus
Guest
Looks like common sense is slowly prevailing Fuss, good to see.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
7 years ago, the AUS football took the bold step to rebrand itself as "football" in Australia. Some, mainstream media slowly accepted this terminology - FoxSports website calls it football, as does ABC, the SMH If there were any doubts that the sporting landscape in Australia has changed, this piece of news has left me speechless. The day after the NRL GF, it's been announced that ... "As of Monday, Sydney’s Daily and Sunday Telegraph will make the switch over to football." Yes, henceforth, these News Ltd publications will refer to Football as "Football". Rebecca Wilson ... how do ya like dem apples? WE ARE FOOTBALL! Read more: http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/mainstream-aussie-press-finally-adopting-the-term-football-as-soccer-seen-as-thing-of-the-past/story-e6frf423-1226486030704#ixzz2823kOBVT
Bee Bee
Guest
I once organised a social club to go to A-League games at my work. Then got in trouble for bagging the NZ team in one of my social club newsletters. Oh well, who would think NZ people would be sensitive about their football team.
TheCommissioner
Guest
Well said Stevo. At my workplace i am the person who flys the FOOTBALL flag and therefore am asked about all football questions.
Emric
Guest
its 437 million USD not sure what they translates into AUD over 5 years which is about 30 million USD a year. It was locked in at the 2010 exchange rate and insured against change rate fluctuations so the the ARU gets about 35 million a year with the exchange rate from the SANZAR deal
AL
Guest
There is an irony the Italians are wearing SFC shirts and the Australian Italians are wearing Juv shirts, in Australia.
Stevo
Guest
Damien de Bohun - mate, aim high but have a strategic plan to back it up and off we go. If the fans can do their bit I'm sure we'll get A-league talked about at work and around water coolers. I give it a go at my work, I wear my HeartFC match day strip to lunchtime football kick-abouts, etc. Hey, we can all join in. And if the FFA and clubs can combine resources to sign REAL marquee players we'll have no problems.
nearpost
Guest
Reports suggest FFA contributing to Del Piero and of course Ono's wages. Good thing? I think so. FFA can increase exposure and pre-season interest in the league by budgeting to bring in two or more high profile quality imports a la Ono, Del Peiro and Heskey (did they help fund that?). A la Kewell and Emerton the best way to get pre-seaon A-League hype is not thru (much) advertising but spending your money on one or two really key players. Unlike any other code in Australia football can reach across the World to bring in something else. Often seen as our weakness - players moving abroad, people watching euro football etc, FFA are now turning it into our strength. How to get traction in the four weeks of massive NRL and AFL finals coverage? Think we have the answer. Need to do it every year - TV budget must enable this? Then the football on the field and the clubs need to do the rest. De Bruhn sounds like a football and business man - they guy is looking like we might have a winner. Early days but v.interesting signs and of course if he has some extra tv money to spend - looks like this time we might have a guy who knows how to spend it. Interesting times for football in Australia just now - have we turned a corner?