A-League 2013-2014 draw unveiled, with FTA considerations

I agree i was expecting so much more from the draw. The fact that Brisbane , Adelaide and the Heart are the probably the worst three venues to watch games from a TV perspective (in terms of empty seats, crowd atmosphere etc)i find it staggering they're getting more then half the home games between those three alone. The sight of seeing 5000 fans at aami park on a friday night will turn people off as opposed to watching 20 000 for the victory. I realise fox want the big games and fair enough but if the FFA are serious about making an impression on people to come and watch the aleague (considering the target audience is people less familiar with the aleague, the sight of 10 000 at suncorp most weeks in a 50k stadium and 5-7000 at heart/adelaide games worries me). Every team plays each other 3 times a year, Sydney have derbies against Newcastle, Mariners, Wandereres and the victory. The victory also have derbies against Adelaide and the heart and even the Wandereres (probably not a derby but the MVvsWSW game at aami park last year lit the fuse i think, game of the season) as well derbies between the Wanderers mariners and newcastle. Thats 30 derbies throughout the year and FTA has two, which are in the first two weeks of the season (SFCvsNewcastle, AdelvsMVC). I have fox so it doesn't bother me but what got me into the aleague was the derbies and atmosphere which you can't find anywhere else in Australia, the big games. I understand FOX payed the big bucks but i can't help but think the FFA have missed a golden opportunity to really sell the a league while its at its peak. Maybe playing it on SBS on a half an hour delay and having the friday night game live on Fox would of helped, that way fox don't worry about losing viewers as people with both will obviously watch it on fox and FTA still gets better games and a better product to the neutral tuning in at home who may have some slight interest. Sorry for the rant, i just think we've missed a golden opportunity thats all.

What matches are they going to be?

Me either - still seems to be missing one stand though?

I don't agree - I think this is more an experiment to see whether they can retain interest through the beginning of the winter codes, using the fact that next year is a world cup year as an excuse if it fails and they move it back again. If it's succesful, I'll be hoping they add another round. They're trying to trump up the number of games over the Christmas/New Year period, but on a quick glance it doesn't look as jam-packed during that part of the season as it did last season. Playing each other 3 times isn't ideal anyway. Finally, I wonder how much, if any consideration was given to the Asian Champions League? It's a brutal gig when you're travelling to east Asia - the Mariners were playing Saturday or Sunday, leaving on Monday, arriving on Tuesday, playing Wednesday, arriving back on Friday, then playing again on Saturday.

but lets not fall into th etrap of selling our souls for a buck

the NRL and AFL are watching with great interest board rooms around the country are talking about it the A-League has made a very bold statement and the NRL and AFL have nothing to come back with

yes its a bit of throwing down the gauntlet by extending the season by about 2 weeks. i like it.

Yes, I'm feeling hopeful - with any luck we get some of those 10,000 FootballWest invitees back.

Probably not dissimilar to the situation with Subiaco Oval and Glory - apparently the terms were very generous, just so the administrators could get some summer use. No doubt this is part of why the new stadium project is designed to take on T20 stuff, as well as having bump-in seating and the like.

Should help reduce the melanoma counts :)

I think that Mr Gallop is making a statement by having the season this long and late the schedule completely covers Cricket takes out the best half of Super Rugby , makes a very large dent into AFL and the NRL he's actually saying ....".we are challenging ALL of you NOW !!! WHAT are you going to do about it? "

Pretty much The deal between MVFC admin and Docklands is very good, it is a closely guarded secret but Docklands really wanted MVFC on board as we ensure usage in the Summer months when AFL is dormant Now there is BBL so the gap isn't so big but it still fills the gap during Spring There's an interesting difference of opinion shall we say, where the fans all love AAMI Park but the administrators love Docklands. Personally am willing to accept and tolerate some need for Docklands given it has pushed us over the 'profitability' line

You can't read the draw provided by TheRoar?

So what's with the big black marks on the PDF version of the draw preventing me from reading it?

Im really happy with that,the kick offs are waaay more fan friendly in the peak of summer.

Their deal with Etihad is quite nice from what I've gathered. And what's good is about 25k average at the venue. They'll come close to selling out the derby... The Sydney fc match will do well in my opinion but the others may struggle a bit. But a contract is a contract.

what's defined as good? anything above 25k ie the capacity of AAMI Park? i'm guessing there's a mutually beneficial contract between the MVFC and the stadium where a crowd of 20k (like they got 4 out of 6 times last season) is not a complete disaster.

Nathan of Perth, I can't wait to watch Glory play all season in their refurbished NIB stadium.

Five is normal. Against Heart, Wellington, Roar, Adelaide and Sydney too. So there is a chance for good turnouts. They may bring back five game memberships too?? Perhaps just for Etihad. Id make those five gamers, at least $110.

Round 15 - Perth glory vs Roar Friday, Perth glory vs Roar Saturday night.