So it has come to this, the once obscure scenario that the A-League’s preferred grand final venue Etihad Stadium would be unavailable should Victory win hosting rights has come to pass.
There is something of a blame game occurring, but there are multiple reasons for why this scenario has occurred and negotiations over avoiding a repeat still rumble on.
Personally I don’t blame the AFL at all. We live in a society where multiple sports hold high public appeal and all play out of predominantly third-party stadiums. At a governing body level, the respective sports administrators are not just administrating sports which hold public good value, they are also managing competitive sports businesses.
Firstly, we have to delve into the fact that there is a rotating grand final in the first place.
There are predictably some calls saying it should be more fixed, but this author counters that firstly this conflict has predictably arisen because of pushing the start of A-League until after the AFL and NRL finals and the finish deeper into Autumn.
Secondly, the rotation system where the highest rank finalist earns hosting rights need to be preserved.
The rotating grand final and the fact that there is no clearly defined home ground suits the strategy where football can make for a strong number two sport in each state to the point where it has a strong aggregate effect.
The signs football has been slowly developing a strong undercurrent in each state over the A-League’s inaugural ten years can be seen perhaps in the healthier than expected Asian Cup crowds across all the hosting states and venues.
This brings us back to the 2015 finals series and their role looking ahead. It is fitting that this debate should take place in the same season in which the inaugural FFA Cup was a part of the football calendar as this then brings into focus the role of the finals as a de facto Cup competition going forward.
In the inaugural ten years of the A-League the finals have been considered a great way to promote the sport to general sports fans and big-event goers.
Thankfully the staging of a Melbourne derby semi-final at Etihad ensured the FFA got their big 50,000-plus showpiece event that this demographic were able to attend. This means a members-only (in effect) grand final at AAMI Park is less controversial.
It also ties in nicely with the challenges for the sport going forward. That is to say the focus is changing from being geared towards mass appeal to one of consolidating and strengthening the foundation of the football fraternity.
Namely whereas the FFA Cup serves a useful role in linking the strong grassroots to the strengthening professional tier in such a way to strengthen the bond between the two and smoothing over any ruffled feathers over the transition from the NSL era to the A-League era.
Similarly, whereas previous grand finals have been useful in having a big event vibe, there is nothing wrong with adjusting its focus in 2015 and taking on a quality event vibe.
Sydney FC CEO Tony Pignata has lamented the fact the game will not be played in front of a larger crowd.
In this case, however, there is much value for the sport in firstly having a ‘hottest ticket in town’ aura to the grand final as this serves to strengthen the prestige of the A-League showpiece event.
Secondly, the fact the stadium will be effectively inhabited exclusively by fully committed hardcore fans of both teams means the vibe of the event will be less celebratory and more intense and parochial.
The fact it is in the stadium most conducive to atmosphere means it should be an event to remember and perhaps even a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Frankly there is no better way to promote the value of being an A-League club member, and so the 2015 A-League grand final will serve to teach the value of being fully committed to an A-League club to already engaged fans.
Horto Magiko
Roar Rookie
Thanks for link AL! Found myself shaking my head in disgust/disbelief as I read.. Interesting stuff mate and super informative. After reading this, the etihad/afl debarcle seems like just another day at the office.. Same $h1t different century :) "The aussie rules is doing what they have always done to Football in Australia. The strategy of bullying Football out of grounds goes back pre and post WW1 & 2." That's for damn sure buddy!
Laurie
Guest
Nice try, but there is no way in the world the final is better at AAMI than Etihad. Football deserves better.
Ian
Guest
Don't mean to intrude but Fussball your wife has threatened activity for a year if you don't attend her best friend's kids christening - or just a lunch organised by her. Thank God my wife loves football as much if not more than I do.
Ian
Guest
Good to see Horto has his ref excuses out already. MV fan claims another team has the ref on their side. *looks out window and sees a pig
Realfootball
Guest
Hope you fellas never meet in a pub. Really, some restraint is needed.
AR
Guest
"A 1st Class eff wit"..? Really Fuss? Better that than a poor speller, coward or hypocrite I guess.
AL
Guest
The aussie rules is doing what they have always done to Football in Australia. The strategy of bullying Football out of grounds goes back pre and post WW1 & 2. http://neososmos.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/1954.html Same old lines from aussie rules and their stooges.
Bondy
Guest
To bloody right I'm not .. AR do you stop for refreshments ? ...
Horto Magiko
Roar Rookie
Lol! No man Katy perry always brings a tear to my eye. Her underground hip hop jazz rockabilly stuff.. When she was all about the music
Bondy
Guest
AR Leach's thoughts are respected but sports aren't toys where you throw them around and see where they end up , no midweek game thanks ...
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Hmmmmm, paid poster, next you'll be telling me his day job is with the AFL Media unit or the Herald Sun doing the occassional post here as part of his entertainment or job description :) Surely there are no individuals on this site that fit this bill???
Casper
Guest
MF - i think we can safely say that Bondy is not a paid poster then.
The artist formerly known as Punter
Guest
There's one!!!! haha!!!!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
AR is a 1st Class eff wit. A complete football illiterate who is incapable of adding to any discussion relating to technical, or tactical aspects of football. I can only presume he is not an adult, or an adult with poor social interaction since he spends hours upon hourse each day commenting on ALeague when he clearly doesn't watch a single match.
cm
Guest
Spray 'em!
Mister Football
Roar Guru
No grammatical mistakes and reasoned discussion? Call the police! :)
Midfielder
Guest
Heaps of AFL folk on here since it opened .... some turned out to be paid posters... You see what gives away a paid poster is they hardly ever make a grammar error or spelling error ... seem to be able to get links on almost anything to prove a point... often attack the creditability of a poster ... appear across multi tabs ie RL, AFL Football etc... always argue the voice of reason defence ... and seem to be able to ever if it suits to link a post someone may have made months or years ago... Most importantly always stay on message with support or defence for your particular issue ... The Dylan song the Times are a changing is the wrong Dylan song pertaining to Football growth over recent years... I leave it for others to decide what is the best Dylan song ...
Horto Magiko
Roar Rookie
Expense of logic indeed. When the kitchen gets hot and all his nonsense is cooked he makes for the fire escape. Would expect anything less AR :)
AR
Guest
Ok. I thought I had been fairly reasonable. If you're incapable of discussing something without all that nonsense, best not to bother replying to any of my posts going forward. Cheers
Horto Magiko
Roar Rookie
Francis Leach is hardly a dedicated football commentator. And far from a credible one anyway. He's a jack of all trades and clearly master of none. He's the guy that poses in photos with sherrins right? I personally don't rate him and he's definitely not my source of information when I'm in search of footballing insight. "As for the AFL...it has always played it’s Grand Final...Saturday afternoon" Bingo! Never on a Wednesday night? Thanks AR. As for the HAL, the Grand final has also NEVER been played on a Wednesday night. "AFL (which, again, for this discussion, is irrelevant)" but rugby is??? Expense of logic indeed! "100 year tradition. There’s no such tradition in the ALeague " Yes and we know the thought of 100 year ALeague traditions wakes u at night in cold sweats. Think of it this way, we are 10% into a 100 year tradition.. We don't need biased A(ustralian) R(ules) posters meddling in our traditions.. And what your basically saying is "our tradition is older and therefore more important" ???? Hardly skewed and biased at all!! I'll have you know there have been footballing traditions engrained in this country longer than there's been the HAL.. "would an AFLGF work on a Wednesday night? Maybe it would. It would obviously attract a bigger TV audience. I certainly wouldn’t be so precious to declare it an “insult”" Ok so we're in agreement then, that these staunch 100 year AFL traditionalists would not be insulted that the pinnacle event of their beloved sport has been shunted to a midweek-school-night slot (and not to mention that it all came about because of scheduling problems with venue/rival code)...and that they wouldn't all look at Francis leach like he crazy??? Is that what you're saying? Or are u saying "we were here first, our traditions take priority coz we have the (diminishing) monopoly ..so get in line sokah boys while we make our power-plays..while we still can" Yes, your mere suggestion of the biggest night in aleague football calender being moved midweek is a massive insult. If you don't see this then you've lived up to your reputation as a biased, and far from benign, AFL fan posting on the football tab.