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The A-League is in a great place at the moment. There is the free-to-air TV deal with SBS, all-time high attendances and the skill level on the pitch is at a point which seemed like a pipedream just nine years ago.
However the A-League is still a long way off being at the level it has the potential to be at.
The changes the league needs to make aren’t huge ones but ones they definitely need to make.
The first place the A-League needs to address is the amount of teams in the league. Ten is not enough.
Off the top of my head, there is no professional football league with ten or less sides.
In the next four years the A-League must produce another two teams, which could most likely be Canberra and Wollongong.
This would turn the 27 rounds into 33 rounds.
By 2020 they could expand to 14 teams, with a team in Auckland (if New Zealand move to Asia) and possibly Geelong, the season would be 39 games long, one game more then most top flight leagues.
The second point is a lot simpler: have a three-team finals series instead of six.
With a six-team finals series the majority of clubs move into finals, teams should have to really fight to earn a final spot.
The system I propose is a playoff spot, second versus third in a two leg play-off and the winner plays first at the largest possible ground in Australia.
In this set-up the Premiers are rewarded with automatic grand-final berth.
None of this sixth place getting rewarded. Make teams who have had a very good season get rewarded.
In the current season, as the table stands, that would be Western Sydney Wanderers versus Sydney FC in a two-legged playoff. Imagine the crowd for this two-part derby.
The winner would play Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium or ANZ Stadium.
Instead of teams like Central Coast and Newcastle, who have had relatively up-and-down seasons so far, getting into the finals, make them earn it.
Finals are a privilege not a right.
Finally, the A-League must dominate Asia. Since Australia’s introduction into Asia, only one team have had a Asian Champions League run, Adelaide United.
They got 10,000-plus fans at home games to watch midweek games at Hindmarsh Stadium, which shows the potential of succeeding in Asia.
It would also do well to promote the league across the world, and it would also give our younger players experience in a higher level of play, better preparing them for European football.
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