With four weeks until season nine of the A-League kicks off, I thought I’d propose some interesting football topics for us to discuss and debate.
I realise many of them have been brought up in the past, but the football world is always changing, especially in Australia – so it can’t hurt to revisit them!
1. Will Australia ever host the World Cup?
None of us can ever truly know (unless we have a mole working at FIFA), but anything is possible!
Obviously it won’t be happening within the next decade, and probably not even in 2026 as that would make twice in a row that the AFC would have hosted it.
But, Australia certainly has the majority of the necessary infrastructure in place – minus a bullet train, and maybe certain stadia need work.
South Africa hosted it, and their national team is not particularly highly ranked (as with Qatar).
So, being in the top 20 teams in the world is clearly not a prerequisite.
Of course there is plenty of talk of corruption when it comes to hosting the World Cup – but the biggest thing Australia has going for it is that we’re the only continent (or confederation, if you consider our old roots in the OFC) that hasn’t hosted it.
Surely there must come a day when FIFA will grant us the opportunity?
After all, once the Cup has come Down Under, then FIFA can truly say that they’ve conquered the world!
2. How many A-League teams could we see?
A-League expansion is something we always like to discuss and debate, and it seems to be a never ending topic.
Would we rather have a powerful league of 16 teams, or less teams in a promotion/relegation system?
As much as I dream of promotion/relegation, I must admit that I can’t see any safe way for it to happen. Not any time soon, at least.
I think the only way it will happen is if Australia becomes a more powerful football nation.
I have plenty of English friends who still lovingly support their teams in the second and third divisions of their system.
Something like that here is not impossible, but it would certainly take a much, much larger commitment from the people to back the sport.
I think two things that greatly hinder this happening are the sheer size and vastness of the country, and our tiny population.
Of course, anything is possible and only time will tell.
As for the A-League itself, I would personally love to see 20 teams, but would gladly settle for 16. The AFL had 16 teams for quite a while, and it seemed to work well.
Of course, a major advantage that football has is that the winner(s) can move on to a higher league in the ACL, and then go one further if they are truly great.
The fact that there is always a bigger fish is one of the things that makes football amazing.
Regarding expansion, it looks like there are quite a few contenders for the next round, and the NPL is definitely helping to play a part in its recognition.
Tasmania, Canberra, Wollongong, and Ipswich seem to be pushing for it, along with the possibility of Geelong and the Sunshine Coast too.
It will be an exciting time when this day arrives, but I’m happy to wait it out and watch the A-League grow naturally for now. There’s no use expanding outwards if the existing teams have problems, otherwise we’ll keep expanding and end up with 10 teams every time.
3. How much power can the A-League have in Australia?
This topic is always an interesting one, that unfortunately has no answer at this stage.
It would be naïve to suggest that the A-League could become bigger than the AFL, but we shouldn’t rule anything out.
The A-League certainly has potential in Australia to grow, mostly thanks to external factors such as globalisation and a growing migrant population.
A lot of people have mentioned globalisation, and it’s a very accurate term to bring up with football in Australia as a whole.
With some powerful European leagues, and the World Cup being the mammoth event that it is, it means that there is a plethora of talent on display in the world.
And, with the digital age, the desire to have information and interests that come from the rest of the world is happening all around us.
We’re no longer a homogeneous society that only focuses on what we have in Australia. We are connected to the world, and people want to be part of a game that the whole world plays, and that unifies us in such an incredible way.
I’ll never forget seeing gold jerseys in every direction as I walked through shopping centres back in June ’06.
Australia is a very multicultural society, and a lot of its people originate from countries where football is the national sport.
It’s only natural for them to want to continue to follow it here too.
We’ve all said so many times that football is a summer sport here, and all of the codes can coincide happily and peacefully.
We’re a sporting nation, and so many people embrace multiple or indeed all codes.
But there’s one more thing to keep in mind, and this is jumping forward a bit into the distant future: Something is only as popular as its current generation demands.
What I mean is, while AFL runs the show in Australia now, and surely will for some time to come, it’s not out of the question for a future generation to follow something else, such as football.
Of course, the opposite could happen, and future generations of Aussies might only demand more AFL or NRL, so it’s impossible to predict now.
But it is difficult for football here to fail, when it’s the world’s game.
Anyway, just some fun topics there until the A-League starts in less than a month…
Kasey
Guest
I'd like to see a supporter initiated 'Premier State Cup', obviously as with Cascadia it would be run using the HAL results/standings. My understanding is that the various supporter groups in the USA have less of an antagonistic relationship with each other and are more willing to work ‘with’ each other. My view on it is that ‘Sawker’ is seen as a bit counter-culture and alternative. MLS fans take great pride in not being beholden to the rich fat cats who fleece their Gridiron fans with exorbitant ticket prices and PSLs so the MLS fans have more of a ‘brotherhood’ and the self confidence evident in American culture has less need to emulate the English ‘casual scene’. Funnily enough, their co-operative attitude seems to lack the 'sticking it to the man' element that like pyrotechnic displays here in AUS and so their league sanctions the limited use of smoke bombs in post goal celebrations...maybe a lesson for those desperate to seemore pyro in the HAL?
AZ_RBB
Guest
THIS! Although the Cascadia Cup works within the MLS. That is, each match between those teams is for 3 points in the MLS and points in the Cascadia Cup. So not a completely separate title. But still an idea worth thinking about.
Kasey
Guest
I wonder if the fans of the NSW teams could/would/should introduce something like the 3 MLS teams in the Pacific North West of the US/Canada have with the Cascadia Cup. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_Cup With the gong and a special invitation for the Canberra team, there would be 6 teams(NJ/CCM/SFC/WSWCBR/WOL) involved. There’s only 3 trophies that HAL teams can play for from next year(If the FFA Cup arrives) so a 4th one couldn’t hurt. It would give bloggers and the newspapers something to write about.
Jack
Guest
Would lov to see Canberra and Auckland teams introduced in 2 years to make 6 games a weekend and add another derby. Would also love to see soccerroos get a coach is not terribly conservative like verbeek or holger. Any joker can play two DM and bomb it long. Anyway can always live in hope
Kasey
Guest
I love SA and am frequently sticking up for it but this is an absolute nonsense. SA has the smallest economic growth of any mainland state and I just don’t see where a viable 2nd team could establish itself even in the time frame they are talking about 2017? Port Adelaide still feels like the bastard half brother to the Crows here and footy gets a massive slice of free media in this town. They entered the VFL in 2005 and it’s now 2013 with them only now feeling a bit more secure on the back of a good season and the upcoming Oval move. Adelaide doesn’t have millionaires just lying around and if they are interested in football why exactly are they not already involved with AUFC? I just don’t see it happening. I reckon this is an elaborate wind up to prod the current administration into performing better. Although to be fair, they have really picked up their game regarding communicating with the fans of late. I agree with you though: by 2020 we should have a vibrant stable 14 team league and if you asked my opinion. I'd rather have that strong A-League by 2022 than hosting the World Cup. The World Cup is for 1 month and our previous bid didn't exactly have a lot of post-cup legac for our footbal, a strong league is for generations to come :)
Bondy
Guest
Thanks Fuss but what I also found interesting is SBS are going to give a tv show of both football and entertainment a go, just exactly what the HAL needs, a sense of warmth with football not just serious stuff all the time.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
News Ltd online media outlets reported yesterday: "SA business leaders closely associated to football are in embryonic talks with the aim of investigating whether winning an A-League licence after the current TV contract expires in 2017 is viable." Source: http://m.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/adelaide-united-might-have-competition-with-monopoly-under-attack/story-fnibbvew-1226720418747 ------ I expect (I was going to say "I'd be willing to bet", but that's probably not appropriate just at the minute!!) that, by 2020, we'll have 14 teams in the ALeague with a vibrant NPL & promotion/relegation. Fun times ahead in football.
cliffclavin
Guest
I agree that the growth in East Asia and especially China can definitely help us in a future bid. Lets not forget that a country 4-5 times smaller than China (USA) has the major impact on Olympics coverage and even the staging of olympic events for their prime time ... remember the issues about the swimming finals. a couple of games ago. But i think this card maybe came too soon at the last bid - plus corruption etc - but may be useful for a bid in 2030-34 ...
The TMF
Guest
While this is a sound theory, from the experience of traveling through England, France and Spain during the 2002 world cup, it matters little what time it is on. Once every 4 years for three guaranteed matches, people arrange to be able to watch it. The first two matches for England were early morning so everyone got to work late on those days. Not many bosses or manager would be not interested or stupid enough to enforce anything otherwise. It would for a lot of English be grounds for resignation. Think Australia and the Melbourne cup but once every four years. Traveling through France, pubs and bar were packed for any game in the morning. Even when France were knocked out without winning a game. The streets of Madrid were a ghost town during the Spain vs South Korea QF, yet we needn't have been watching the game to know if someone went close to scoring as every second building had its own spectator choir. The lack of normal buzz later that night when hitting the clubs let us know that we had missed an incredible upset. The only reason this argument is pursued is profit from advertising. TV rights bring in more for prime time advertising. Personally i find it a flawed argument. Prime time will always bring in more than early hours through breakfast to midday. The net gain of charging higher for advertising during this time than the gain from standard prime-time revenue which should still be the same during this period should have the networks rubbing their hands.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
damn, I thought it was next weekend and I've missed it - crowd could have been 1 person higher if I had a memory......
Mike
Roar Guru
You make a good point with your last paragraph there. The AFC would be happy with that! That's half the reason why we have hardly any ACL spots. It would be good if it could one day be financially stable and independent, and I think it's inevitable. It could be a small scale version of the EPL. When it comes to promotion/relegation, part of me wants it, because it would be exciting, but a bigger part of me wants that stable, high quality league instead. If the A-League never had promotion/relegation, I wouldn't be bothered by it. I would, however, be extremely bothered if a team went under.
East Coast Aces
Guest
The NPL is going to be great for Football. AFL, NRL and the ARU are all trying to work out their best structure for 2nd devision. It is also the perfect way to expand the A-league. It will take away the guess work and risk involved in expansion and when they are ready expansion will come. I personally think Ipswich/Brisbanes western corridor and North Qld should be next (not the Gold Coast). Wooloongong, Geelong and Canberra sound like perfect expansion locations and another NZ team. However what will probably happen is a Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane teams will regularly so better then any of those places in the NPL. Therefor, I don't think promotion relegation is the best thing for A League and NPL. I think that A League clubs (who will eventualy run their own comp exclusive of the FFA) will invite teams to join based on financial business reasoning.
Mike
Roar Guru
It would be uneven, but it seems to be working at the moment with the uneven roster. I think they can definitely find another 4 teams who would be sustainable. They've come this far, and they're very cautiously weighing up the future. Under Gallop, I don't see any more teams going under. 16 teams would be the best for keeping it even.
Kyle
Guest
The problem with 33 is that it means an uneven amount of home and away games, personally 14 playing each twice for 26 plus finals of a top 6 with 1v2 being played over 2 legs with 3-6 playing elimination finals over those two weeks gives you a total of 30 weeks plus a break for cup rounds can get you to 32-34 games problem is can you get 14 sustainable teams?
Mike
Roar Guru
I found this article, which backs up your thoughts on the 'Gong. http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1777507/south-coast-a-league-trial-declared-winner/?cs=298 6,500 attendance, which is not bad for a pre-season friendly with no local team. And the players really loved the ground too. If an A-League team can openly say that they think the South Coast deserves a team, that's a good step forward.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
They pulled a good crowd for an A-League warm up game between Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets.
Midfielder
Guest
On 442 they have over 846 comments and a special thread just on memberships... here is the link to page 43 ...BTW everyday the stats are updated .. The AU NJ & Roar numbers I think need updating as well... also remember PG memberships have only been on sale for about three weeks... http://au.fourfourtwo.com/forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=82745&p=43
Mike
Roar Guru
Great job on the stats Midfielder! I was wondering how they were going. Where did you find them out of curiosity? I'd been keen to check it out over the coming weeks.
Kasey
Guest
It is good news, the numbers are solid for our young league but I really think both Perth and my club can do a lot better than 4,394 and 4,069. Both have Cities of 1million+ all to ourselves, good sized boutique venues, I guess the last few seasons have taken their toll on the Reds & Glory faithful:( Perhaps should we have winning seasons ( or playing attractive football if we cant both win) we can both get closer to where we should be 7-10,000?
AZ_RBB
Guest
we have actual figures from PG!! this calls for a celebration. i'm taking the rest of the day off woo!