- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
As we kick off the tenth A-League season tonight, we should take the time to reflect on how far this competition has come since its beginnings in 2005.
Just 12 years ago, football in this nation was terminally ill. Our national league was failing to attract sufficient support due to disorganisation and incompetence.
Football tragic and Westfield billionaire Frank Lowy stepped up to the plate and began a revolution.
Football fans got a new governing body, improved coaching and development methods, and a new national competition that united the tribes of football.
Despite losing clubs and roller coaster attendances, the competition enters its tenth edition full of optimism.
The ten clubs are becoming financially healthy, while attendances last year hovered around the 14,000 mark.
One game a week is on free-to-air television, while more and more media outlets are embracing the competition with enlarged coverage across radio, TV, online and print.
We’ve also been treated to the appearance of superstars like Shinji Ono, Alessandro Del Piero and Robbie Fowler, who despite being in their twilight years gave the competition a sense of attraction to the common sports fan.
Yet as we approach the A-League’s first significant anniversary, this season feels less like a celebration of the past and more the beginning of a new era.
For starters, Melbourne Heart has disappeared after its takeover by English football powerhouse Manchester City. Heart is now City and its Sunderland-like strip has been replaced with the blue of its parent club.
While those differences are superficial, the potential of Melbourne City is what fans of all clubs should get excited about. Partnering with such a talented club brings hope of attaining better training and development programs, along with a new pathway for aspiring Socceroos looking to make the leap into European football.
The recruitment of David Villa is also a template for more quality European footballers having a sabbatical in Australia.
At the same time, the A-League is starting to reach a point where the novelty of a marquee player from overseas isn’t as strong a selling point for the game.
The quality of marquees such as Del Piero and Ono have been balanced by the dud signings in Romario, William Gallas and Brian Deane.
People will still flock to watch quality like David Villa and Thomas Broich, but I am willing to bet spectators in similar number will go to matches to watch young Australian talent like Anwar Mabil, Dimi Petratos and Terry Antonis.
Marquees and their brand have got people to attend matches and converted them to the code, but fans have also become more mature and more interested in the quality of our own players.
With our talent burgeoning, the number of teams that will be competitive this year is frightening.
Judging by the squad lists, seven teams are serious contenders for the league championship, while all ten teams have a genuine chance of playing finals.
Brisbane and Western Sydney will once again start favourites for the title as their lists, despite some player movement, look strong.
Melbourne Victory and the Mariners both have a strong first XIs, while Adelaide United is destined to be the big improvers with some canny recruiting and a 3-4-3 system that will be hard to break down.
The dangerous floaters for the title are the league’s glamour clubs in Melbourne City and Sydney FC.
Can Graham Arnold drag ‘Bling FC’ up the ladder and give them relevance in the post-Del Piero Western Sydney era?
And for all the money bankrolling Melbourne City, can they rise to the expectation that surrounds the rebadged club and deliver success to their long-suffering fans?
Both have promising lists and if they can answer yes to the questions I have posed, it’s hard not to see them contend for the ‘toilet seat’.
Meanwhile, can Brisbane remain dominant? How will Berisha fair at Melbourne? Will Villa destroy defenders across the country? Can Western Sydney shake the bridesmaid tag?
The Socceroos have driven the popularity of the code for the first decade of football’s revolution, as the A-League matured and developed.
Judging by the interest in this season, our national competition may drive interest in the World Game in this country for the next decade.
Follow John on Twitter: @johnhunt1992
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.