The action on the field has been of high quality at times this A-League season, but the atmosphere in the stands has been even more impressive, with bumper crowds reaching lofty heights in the first two rounds.
While there were feelings of discontent that Round 1 had only garnered a cumulative figure of just over 90,000, Round 2 banished any negative thoughts by cracking the league record, with 106,082 coming through the gates.
Allianz Stadium welcomed 41,213 fans decked out in sky blue and red and black for the Sydney Derby, the highest crowd the arena has seen for a regular-season sporting fixture.
WATCH THE LATEST A-LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS
And the Cross Border Derby between Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory attracted more than 33,000, a surprise for even the most optimistic fans.
A reasonable crowd of almost 8000 for the Mariners’ loss to Wellington, an equally respectable 8800 for Perth’s first home game of the year and almost 16,000 for Melbourne City’s draw with Newcastle rounded off the impressive weekend.
Of course, not every weekend is going to boast derby days to boost numbers, and weekly accumulative attendances will rarely venture above 100,000. But hitting an overall crowd average that surpasses the boon year of 2007-08 is not outside the realms of possibility.
While Victory will continue to boast strong attendances, Kevin Muscat has moulded a team that should win silverware this season. If he can bring the glory days back, then an average of more than 25,000 is realistic.
Melbourne City, along with Adelaide and Brisbane, have posted record membership numbers this season, and that should equate to big crowds in the stands. Each of those sides can hit the 16,000 mark, with Brisbane hopefully surpassing last year’s average of 18,000, while Western Sydney will attract their predictable weekly crowds of up to 15,000.
That leaves Sydney FC as the last of the big clubs that needs to overtake their crowds from last year. Alessandro Del Piero may no longer be there to pull the numbers, but Graham Arnold has instilled optimism in supporters that has for too long been absent.
Their win against the Wanderers showed true grit, and a run to the finals and a challenge for the top two should witness average attendances touching the 20,000 mark.
That leaves the four smaller clubs to provide the necessary backing power.
What is promising is that Wellington Phoenix, Perth Glory, Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners have all held their own so far this season. All have impressed in patches during the first two games, and despite each being written off in preseason, they are all capable of pushing for the top six.
That should equate to bums on seats. Wellington, Central Coast and Newcastle offer some of the cheapest tickets in the A-League, while Perth have a historically fervent fan-base that’s just waiting for a reason to get back on board.
While Central Coast were criticised for only hitting about 10,000 in the F3 Derby, they produced a solid crowd of 7237 against Wellington Phoenix. It’s nothing extraordinary, but it has to be accepted that the Gosford-based club will never reach massive average attendance figures.
I’ve been a detractor of the Mariners on several occasions when crowds have been low, but with the club boasting reasonable ticket and memberships prices, it’s probably the best we can hope for. But if Phil Moss can keep grabbing against-the-odds results and they push an average of 9000, then it’s a job well done.
Perth have been a similar problem child as the Mariners, a once-successful club that regularly attracted attendances of more than 10,000 has fallen on tough times. Poor results on the field, and chaotic management off it, has left supporters dismayed, and attendance averages have acted accordingly.
Though against Brisbane on Sunday, Glory supporters, despite battling against the elements and forced to fork out for some of the league’s most expensive tickets, turned out with a crowd of 8789.
With new recruit Andy Keogh scoring his third goal in just two games, and the team claiming maximum points from their opening fixtures, Perth could be set for a surprisingly successful season, with finals a definite possibility. There’s no reason they shouldn’t crack 10,000 if Kenny Lowe keeps them on track.
Wellington and Newcastle have also more than held their own in the opening two rounds, and have realistic chances of making the top six. Newcastle were one David Villa away from shocking Melbourne City, while Wellington defeated the Mariners away from home after going close against Perth in Round 1.
A healthy and competitive league means fans will stay interested for longer periods of time, as both the premiership race and the finals race stays even throughout the season.
Going by the above estimates for each club, average attendances would equate to 14,500 for A-League 10. The average last season was 13,038, while the benchmark is the 15,300 from A-League 3.
This weekend is the next chance to continue the strong start so far, with the Melbourne Derby a chance for Victorians to show Sydneysiders that they don’t own rights to the A-League’s biggest and best rivalry.
Smashing the 100,000 mark is definitely achievable, and crowds at Adelaide and Brisbane will be crucial to the final figure. It would represent the first time the A-League has cracked 100,000 twice in a season and would go a long way to pushing average attendances north of 14,000.
It’s an exciting time to be a football fan in Australia and the slump of 2010-11 is firmly in the past. If the overall average attendance hits 15,000 this season, then it’s going to be an appropriate celebration for our shiny new league’s 10th birthday.
DonBradmansDuck
Guest
Well, given the way the attendances panned out for the rest of the year the article seems a have been a lot of premature hubris. Given the expectaions, did A-League soccer actually go backwards this year? Hard to imagine it could support any more teams, and administration has been poor ( Perth salary cap, Grand Final venue fiasco). I sometimes wish A-League admin and fans would show alittle more humility when they get a good crowd... instead of instantly translating it to "Soccer will take over, its inevitable" mantra. It just gets peoples backs up, and in the end many of us don't want to support something so full of itself.
Perry Bridge
Guest
Often interesting to review such articles a little further on. We've seen Cricket both struggle and thrive - the ODI's v Sth Africa (meaningless in a broad sense - effectively pre WC friendlies??), in the middle of the 4 test series v India and of course we've seen BBL4 kick into gear through December with some big crowds and regular nightly FTA TV coverage. The A-League got off to a flyer with the first 3 rounds over 90K each and a 3 round per game average of over 19,000. Since then though the best single round average has been 15,278 for the 4 matches of Round 11. The 52 matches after round 3 have averaged 12,892 compared to 19,195 before. What will happen now - the recess for the Asian Cup. Tennis Grand Slam. Cricket World Cup. F1 GP. AFL and NRL pre seasons. It'll be interesting to see how the back half of the season progresses with the amount of distraction and competition around.
Bondy
Guest
Perry I'm somewhat confused why would people want to come and play AFL in Australia, there's no serious sight of an International element to the sport and the sport financially is not conducive to an International salary, I just cant get my head around it . You must remember the greatest honour that can be bestowed upon an athlete is to represent their nation.. Was that what you were suggesting ? ...
Perry Bridge
Guest
Yep - agreed entirely however - just as people criticised the A-League for what it wasn't - in Australia we need to be better at celebrating things for what they ARE. btw - 2 top league clubs in each of the 2 'niche' states puts the AFL on a par with the A-League (although different states) - the participation and development programs in QLD and NSW for the AFL are active and developing, noting that this years AFL GF saw 10 players take the field from NSW (from Albury and Wagga region - obviously, but, also a number from Sydney itself and up to Nelson Bay). In general - there's being #1 and then there's having an effective 'niche' presence. Only one entity can be #1 at any given time unless we try to allocate #1 across a whole bunch of measures that virtually ensures a variety. A code like the AFL has very, very minor niche presence overseas - and indicative of this was the recent international cup with 18 mens teams and 7 womens teams coming out to Australia (with no expat Aussies donning jumpers). That clearly is all very cute and nice in a cuddly way - - however - - it's the development of talent and career pathways that define effectiveness. The challenge for the AFL is to bring the various leagues and scattered junior programs 'online'. It's slowly happening across the South Pacific region but yet to bare obvious fruits although there are a couple of Kiwi's who are close, along with a couple of US ruckmen who have been more cherry picked than developed in leagues. btw - I speculate there'd be more organised social gatherings set up around the globe for the AFL GF than say Qatar vs Iran as exciting as that will be back in the home nations.
Bondy
Guest
Perry Its a small world for AFL though isn't it ...
Punter
Guest
But it's not, it's in Australia & in 4 states it's massive (huge), in 2 states it has a presence (a niche), in the rest of the world it's well.....any Asian cup match up be far bigger then the AFL GF.
Perry Bridge
Guest
Geographically - the AFL covers an area that anywhere else in the world WOULD be an international competition. It's a transcontinental game/league. (so too is the A-League which also has a team in NZ so therefore IS an international league). Relative to the EPL, or Bundesliga - (physical - not human) geographically those games are small by comparison. Punter - for the most part those soccer folk from the North - concerned with the playing of their domestic seasons - have scant regard for those from the South (A-League) - but you can jump up and down and wave your arms and claim they do but reality is you're a long way down the pecking order. But sure - the Asian Cup next year will show something more regional.....there's some mighty match ups the whole country is counting down to? (oh - actually that's the RL 4 nations cup??)
Punter
Guest
What are you talking about? it's the most popular spot in the world.
Perry Bridge
Guest
A lot of kids still play it as an early sports introductory game that is pretty basic and easy to play - the parents may not be fans of the game - and the modified junior version is somewhat removed from the real thing anyway. For many - at its simplest - it's an activity. Perhaps similar to swimming lessons - although that has a certain weighting based upon 'life saving skills' - however - precious few people who take their kids to swimming lessons will go home and watch swimming on tele.
AR
Guest
"You’ve obviously never been to the Spring Carnival, if you think “it is on Saturday during the day”." Ahh, let's see. Of the events you listed... "Caufield Guineas, Caufield Cup, Cox Plate, Derby Day & Stakes Day" - all these are on a Saturday during the day. The others (Melb Cup and Oaks) are mid week, when ALeague matches are not played. Remember, we're talking about competing tv viewership. So of the 5 ALeague games that are scheduled each week, we have 1 Saturday arvo game which may have an overlap with the horse racing on tv...for 5 week period. Do you actually consider your posts, or is it all just frantic guesswork? As for "the AFL doesn’t compete with anything in Winter – during the day, or during the night" ...I really don't know how to even respond to that.
Punter
Guest
Why are people so mean?
Midfielder
Guest
LOL Real ... but very true ...
Realfootball
Guest
Try goldfish in a teaspoon and you have a more accurate analogy for AFL.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
You've obviously never been to the Spring Carnival, if you think "it is on Saturday during the day". But, if you want to take that approach, the AFL doesn't compete with anything in Winter - during the day, or during the night - by playing in winter, the AFL is guaranteed "clean air" for the full season.
Punter
Guest
Perry, Yes it is a whale in the southern ocean, but while the area mass is bigger then a puddle, the fishes are minimal & those from the north rarely relates to the south.
Perry Bridge
Guest
Towser - or have a bit of both in their lives. The problem about being a minor bit part player in a global game is that you are just that. And Australians have seen the power shift in recent years in the example of Cricket - it is emasculating. The national psyche. What the heck is that? Not the Fed Govt-AOC whipped up demand for gold medals at the Olympics to measure our self worth upon? The Whale in a puddle notion is a falseness - it's a whale in a southern ocean feeding zone that is non-migratory.
AR
Guest
So in Melbourne, the ALeague competes with the horse racing on tv...which is on Saturday during the daytime?
Justin Mahon
Guest
I love football so much its commercial success is of critical importance to me, and more importantly, my son whom I want to grow up not having to worry about whether there will be a national league or cup competition next year like I did. So if you are too authentic and cool for chatting about the games commercial development - how about you don't? Just a thought.
Haz
Guest
Completely agree! The A-League are the only league I know that go on about their crowds this much. Its probably because its more interesting than the actual league itself.
Leonardo
Roar Guru
"Crowds won't come back if there is no quality" Most boring Aussie Rules season in years, so they are about to nosedive, especially WSW.