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
j binnie
Guest
RBB -Subject to our recent discussion here are some figures for your perusal ---- Season13/14 - Opening 3 games -Crowds 20,103, 17,134, 45,202 giving a total of 82,439. Season 14/15 - Opening 3 games - Crowds 30,083, 10443, 25,525 giving a total of, 66,051. Now if I were a pessimist,as you suggest,I would be crowing over that 19% lowering of last year's figures and laughing at all you optimistic forecasters.But I'm not laughing for my first reaction is to check if there is a reasoned explanation for the drop,and I can find more than a few,so the drop does not worry me at this early stage.(one of the best attended games in the HAL,the Melbourne derbies is included in that figure for last season) and that would account for part or most of the drop over the last 2 days.It's called statistical analysis and that's what I base most of my discussion points upon. not pessimism,not HAL dislike,just pure facts and figures. OK? Once again,keep up the good work. Cheers jb
Punter
Guest
I would suggest that Frank & the Sydney real estate agent would have some analysis to back their opinions. Where do you get your opinion from?
kevin dustby
Guest
must be right if Frank Lowy says that its going up, much like asking a Sydney real estate agent on what will happen to the price of property
Bevan
Guest
Three misses by Mabil! Time to go son - You'll never be a footballer!
Bevan
Guest
What I find amazing is ALL those KPI's are up despite the best efforts of the FTA commercial tv networks and the ABC conspiring together with News Corp to 'blackout' ALL coverage of the sport from the MSM in an effort to hide the game from the general public - That is truely amazing! No other sport played in this country, be it AFL, NRL, Basketball or whatever could hope to survive let alone thrive in such a hostile environment of blind commercial media hatred. That is the sole reason that the game will become the biggest sport in this country sooner rather than later and not because of anything clever that the clowns that run the FFA have ever done. BTW, I'm watching the inept Okon decimate the Young Socceroos chances of making the WYC next year with his unfathomable selections causing yet another disfunctional performance. How in god's name can he play Naumoff at no. 10 instead of Ikonomidis or De Siva? Replace Okon immediately! I don't believe it just as I say how could Naumoff play no. 10 he plays a killer pass for the opening goal but Alessi gives away a soft penalty to even things up.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Cameron The extra crowds depends heavily on how well the big rival interstate teams are performing. By 'big rivals' I mean: AUFC, SydFC & WSW. MVFC's 5 matches at Docklands this season are: WSW, MBC x 2, SFC & BRI We've never played WSW at Docklands. If SydFC & AUFC are travelling well, I'd expect good crowds to the matches. I'd expect total crowds for these 5 matches to be 160-200k for an average of 30-40k this season.
j binnie
Guest
RBB - Thank you for your explanation. I had guessed it was the opening round figures you were having a crack at analysing and the fact,as I pointed out,most of these games last year were played "mid term" I think the FFA planners are to be congratulated in giving the 3 best supported teams from last season opening home fixtures this year. That is not a bad marketing strategy and should give the games a great send-off. Re. marquee's I wonder what the crowds would be had Georges Samaras,(Victory)Francesco Totti (Sydney) and David Beckham (Roar) had all been in the line ups??????Get my message now?, no one says we need them. but one has to speculate what their presences would do to the numbers????Cheers jb,.
Paul
Guest
10th season - technically we're still in the first decade
RBBAnonymous
Guest
Sorry JB I am talking about the opening round fixtures. The first match is obviously a typo. I let you deduce who it should be, and just quietly it isnt Melbourne City. As for my prediction, judging by the momentum of the FFA cup, the World Cup, the ACL champions league run by the Wanderers, the Asian Cup. All these factors I believe will lead to the best and biggest A-league season yet. Sorry I cant give you a figure, its merely speculation. Lets just see what eventuates at the seasons end. Cheers.
Midfielder
Guest
Just saying and tis a little off topic ... hhhmmm maybe not off topic... remember all those that said we would fail... I won't put the code in but this is no longer Football and these type of articles are not written about us any-more ... this article is from one of the codes hard core rusted on... we have moved on and I liked the phase John used when he said its like we are about to enter a new era. http://www.espnscrum.com/australia/rugby/story/243671.html
Midfielder
Guest
John great article and by and large I agree with you ... enjoyed the read...
striker
Guest
yeah i reckon this will be the best Sydney FC squad they have ever had and with Arnie i reckon you and MV will be the teams to beat.
Punter
Guest
They are predicting between 25K to 30K tomorrow. I think big year for SFC, Striker, I like the look of our team.
Realfootball
Guest
Just a small point but nothing can be terminally ill and then recover. Terminally ill means you die.
j binnie
Guest
RBB The contortions your mind makes and takes absolutely astound me at times.Where in my comment did I say anything about what was going to happen in the HAL this season ???? A pessimist you call me. I can and do supply detailed figures to you showing a continued improvement in the HAL's fIgures for the last four years,figures that only point out the advancements the league has made.Why then would I question in any way what is going to happen in the HAL this coming season.You see I don't have a magic crystal ball and tend to believe what the statistics tell me could happen with a high probability factor engaged in the calculation. David Gallop said the other day ,amid a fanfare of trumpets no doubt , that the league would crack the 2 million fan figure for attendances this year. That doesn't surprise me in the slightest for if the league simply attains it's average growth over the last 4 years it will not only reach that figure ,it will "murder" it. Now let us examine your "hopes" fot the future. MV v's Victory (I assume you mean MC vs Victory). Your expectation 35-40k Last season the game drew 45,202 !!!!! Syd FC vs Melb City Your expectation 25-30k Last season this game drew 16,008 (mid season) Roar vs Adelaide Your expectation 18-22k Last season this fixture pulled17.600 (mid-season) Mariners vs Jets. Your expectation 10-12k Last season this fixture drew 11,000 (mid season) So as you can see it could be argued that by comparing your forecasts (mid range) with actuals for last year we are left with an increase of around 6% from the 90,000 actual to your 96,000 forecast.That to me would be very acceptable. Now to get back to the point under discussion. I was simply pointing out to the writer that in his article he touched on subjects without diving deeply into the cause and reasons.Obviously you don't think ADP had such a big effect on crowds all around the country and so be it,I prefer to look at the figures generated at every ground he visited to prove otherwise,but then again you may be right and the figures could be wrong. A tip? Don't pass comment on my pessimistic rants it could lead to depression. Cheers once again jb.
fadida
Guest
"Starting to peter off"? Says who? Fans of other codes. Memberships are up, its an even field which increases interests. Explain how this " uncertainty" putd people off!? 6 teams can win it, so there are 6 lots of fans with increased interest. Odd posts. And how has the league reached its zenith? Crowds are up. Tv interest up. Increased TV revenue, mores clubs are financially stable. The onfield product is improving and better players are being produced and imported
Bill
Guest
It is possible. Judging by the comments on these boards interest is in this season is starting to peter off. Further, with the title race seemingly wide open fans may be put off by the uncertainty of the outcome. On the flip side, the Australian public like to support an entertaining under dog and in the sporting landscape the A-league is just that.
Cameron
Roar Guru
The only reason I could see 35k being reached would be based purely on the fact it is the opening round, otherwise matches at Etihad have not proved to be any more of a draw card than matches at AAMI.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Fuss, in Victory's past 11 matches a Etihad Stadium not involving Heart, they have yet to crack 25k. This would indicate to me that 25k let alone 35k will be a tough number to crack. I could continue looking through these numbers but let's stick to more times as that would give us a better indication.
striker
Guest
Rocco gotta agree we can only grow bigger in the future and cement our position as the number three football code here in OZ.