Electrifying, astonishing and absorbing. Three perfect words in which to describe season eight of the A-League.
From a derby stoppage time winner, to new boys, the Western Sydney Wanderers holding premiers Central Coast in their first A-League match, as well as knocking off champs Brisbane Roar twice, and Shinji Ono stamping his authority, the A-League’s newest team has been a success.
There is even talk of the Wanderers becoming the most supported club in three to five years. How big can they get?
The Alessandro Del Piero project has taken effect, with the game getting better ratings and gate takings as a result of the Italian superstar.
The other big star to come to the A-League, former England International, Emile Heskey, has set the A-League alight, rocketing to the top of the goal scorers chart (before being pipped by another veteran, 35-year-old Daniel McBreen).
And then, with the $160 million broadcast deal, things are looking pretty good for football in Australia.
There were also changes at the top, with former NRL CEO David Gallop taking over the top job from Ben Buckley. What effect this will have on the A-League, only time will tell.
Aside from the usual complaints of diving and overblown accusations of hooliganism, football in Australia is going from strength to strength.
Then there was the East Asia Cup, in which a new generation of Socceroos presented themselves to Australian fans.
Now for some statistics.
Out of the 70 A-League matches played so far, 21 have received an attendance higher than 12,000. Three had an attendance higher than 18,000 and nine had an attendance higher than 20,000. Therefore, 33 out of 70 games had achieved more than 12,000 fans to each match.
In comparison, the 2011-2012 season saw 26 out of the first 70 games attract attendances of 12,000 or more, 19 of which were 12,000, two had an attendance higher than 18,000 and five had an attendance of 20,000 or more.
Television viewing is also on the way up. 2011 had a total viewing of 7,533,326, whereas in late 2012, 9,571,504 viewers had already tuned in to the game, giving an increase of 27%.
905,807 fans had walked through the gates to watch an A-League match with an average of 12,940 and seven out of ten clubs are averaging more than 10,000.
What about the rest of the season? With 13 rounds left in 2013 there are still plenty of things to look forward to.
The A-League has never achieved 1.5million spectators during the regular season, with the current record being 1,417,084 at an average of 10,497.
If the current average settles around 12,500 for 2012-2013, we can expect to see to the A-League regular season reach 1.7 million.
We also will be privileged to see the third F3 derby in round 17, the Big Blue in round 18, Heskey versus Del Piero in round 19 as well as the Melbourne derby. There are more derby games and traditional rivals to come over the closing rounds.
Current positions count for nothing at the completion of round 14, it is now down to the last 13 fixtures for teams to strive for qualification into the Asian Champions League, before the top six fight it out for the traditional grand final fixture which garners the interest of most football supporters and let’s hope produces spectacles similar to that of the past two seasons.
Whatever the case, we are lined up for another 13 electrifying, astonishing and absorbing rounds of A-League action and who knows what will happen.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Hey Fuss! http://m.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/perth-glory-rules-out-signing-former-england-star-michael-owen/story-e6frfg8x-1226549099492 told you.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Fuss unless you know something I already have been informed about then you can continue to hope away. Owen will not sign. He would be looking at a similar thing as Beecham, 10 games stint. I hope my source is wrong but come back to me if i'm right :D
Westie Nomad
Roar Rookie
I understand that FFA have put a tentative 3yr window in regards to finding a owner for WSW. There has been talk of a fan based ownership model (ala Bundesliga) but only time will tell.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Kellett_1992 Many guaranteed H wouldn't come to the A-League. He came. Many guaranteed ADP wouldn't come to the A-League. He's here. Many guaranteed Heskey & Ono wouldn't come to the A-League. They're here. There's a reason the adage: "The only certainties in life are death & taxes", has survived the test of time. :-)
Cameron
Roar Guru
I guarantee Fuss Owen won't be coming to the A-league. same situation as Beckham.. Just wait for the announcement.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Jb I to find the most relevant, useful and reliable information from.www.ultimatealeague.com. I also don't know why it was labelled a sell out when 9817 is not full capacity. The full capacity is 11,179 - has been since November 14 2012. http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/perthglory/news-display/New-Southern-Stand-Finished/52895 I also have an application for it too. Most of the time I have found statistics to stay true.
j binnie
Guest
Fuss & Kasey An interesting point to consider.????- As you both know Perth have been playing in a re-developing stadium that reportedly caps their crowd to around 9500. As you also know I collect gate attendance figures either from the game itself or the local newspapers but I got the official attendance for the Glory v Sydney weekend draw directly off TV,it being given as 9,817 which ties in with what we know about the "cap". Imagine my surprise on Sunday evening when searching for the official Heart attendance v Roar I noticed in the FFA site that they gave the official Perth attendance as 11,200.!!!!!!!!. Makes one start to wonder about the accuracy of data emanating from headquarters,firstly the 11% increase overstated in their overall attendance figures, and now a subtle 1380 (13%) overstating of a match crowd.Strange,is it not?????jb
Cameron
Roar Guru
Sorry about the late reply, was a very long day. I didn't mean to complicate things to much in my post above but if I did i'm sorry about that. I can completely see the relevance in all of your offerings. I'm assuming and correct me if i'm wrong, but you highlight the important issues and don't stray away from the truth. There is a lot to work on but going off any slight improvement requires finer detail to be able to develop a full summary.? I can see the slight improvements and the a league has a long way to go but at least there is always something to build off and I look forward to that next season. Hopefully the current average will stabilise if not only fall to 12,500 as the overall attendance mark and viewing numbers will still be broken. The bring on 13/14 and SBS FTA.
j binnie
Guest
kellet - just another snippet of info for you. Last season in 70 matches there was 31 sub-five-figure attendances ie under 10,000. This season in 70 matches there has been? ----------yes,31 sub- five- figure attendances. Strange how these figures track each other isn't it ? and even with 2 excellent crowds so far this weekend,a total of 29,330 to 2 matches, it has still not lifted the overall HAL average over the 13000 mark.jb
j binnie
Guest
Fuss - I wish you would use your enquiring mind and ask the FFA where they got the increase in average attendances as sitting on 23%. Last season after game 70 the "total" attendance was 808,401 giving an average of 11,549 per match. This season after last week's games (game 70) the total was sitting on 905,453 giving an average of 12.935. Now I know that it is a long time since I was in school but in my book those figures show an increase of 12%.,not the 23% you cite as being official "gospel". Use of this sort of mis-information football can well do without and someone should be taken to task for issuing such rubbish. Your mate jb
midfielder
Guest
Wonders aloud if you added 20 20 matches + odi + test matches would the a-league + Socceroos get bigger crowds
Bondy.
Guest
+1.
Kellett_1992
Guest
Just another positive for the A-League in a season already full of positives. Would have been great if the stadium was finished with this redevelopment. Could have attracted a higher crowd easily in my opinion.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Perth Glory has announced that tonight's match against Sydney FC at NIB Stadium is 'SOLD OUT'. Good work Perth ... and ADP!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Perth Glory are making strong moves to grab Michael Owen - he hasn't had much game time this year, but if he's good enough to play EPL, he's more than welcome in the ALeague. Would be a massive drawcard with Perth's large British fan base.
Bondy.
Guest
Transfer window Lampard to the mls galaxy being the likely suitor. We could've done with Frank.
midfielder
Guest
Posting from my phone and don't how to copy a link but on the FFA a- league site eg gives a summary of stats this season very impressive..... Have a look
Clinton
Guest
Perhaps its best to use a Median to compare seasons rather than an average with figures being added and taken away?
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ kellett_1992 I reckon your article has stirred the FFA into action to write an article themselves about the fantastic year in the A-League! Source: http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/More-Australians-than-ever-watching-Hyundai-ALeague/57337 More Australians than ever watching Hyundai A-League A snap shot of the key metrics reveals; - Average TV audiences at an all-time high of 82,886, a 26% lift on last season - Average attendances at 12,925, a 23% jump on last season - Club Memberships at an all-time high of 70,000, a 12% rise on last season - Digital audiences on the FFA network at an all-time high peak of 800,000 unique browsers per month, a 46% increase on last season - Social media community in FFA channels of 350,000, a 28% expansion on last season
Bondy.
Guest
Punter, We have to be a bit like the the governing body of afl what are they called ?, little spot fires must be put out "heart@Nux's gates" are a conern I would go for a marquee with the heart and also more of a connection to grassroots football in the region throughout winter is imperative "they get their kids playing the sport though run when asked to partake in the professioal elemnet to football in Australia we have to turn them" Fuss, why does the abc clash wih the a league with their w league coverage its very annoying . We can record but. Nice read Kellet keep up the good work mate, and the stats here on the thread have been a good contribution as well by all.