Perhaps the most sobering reality check for Adelaide United following a gripping final round is that they also won the Premiers’ Plate in the first season of the A-League.
Not only did the Reds finish top of the standings in season one, they did so by finishing an impressive seven points clear of runners-up Sydney FC from the 21-round campaign.
That’s worth remembering for the simple fact that it was the Sydney FC, not Adelaide, who wound up being crowned inaugural A-League champions.
If Guillermo Amor thought he’d done the impossible by steering the Reds from the foot of the table to the summit, he now needs to re-focus and hold his nerve in knock-out football if he wants his team to be crowned champions of Australia.
That’s the nature of the A-League and, rightly or wrongly, Adelaide’s accomplishment in winning the Premiers’ Plate will be quickly forgot should they fail to go on and win the grand final.
That’s to take nothing away from the Reds, who showed nerves of steel to beat Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Friday night, then watch with bated breath as arch-rivals Melbourne Victory did them a title-winning favour by holding Brisbane Roar to a scoreless draw.
Had the Roar taken any one of their countless chances – from Matt McKay’s scuffed volley at the start of the game, to Thomas Broich’s snatched effort at the end – it would have been John Aloisi’s team lifting the Premiers’ Plate.
Instead, one of Adelaide’s favourite sons watched on stony faced as the Roar blew a glorious opportunity to finish top of the league.
Western Sydney’s clinical 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix a day later saw the Wanderers leapfrog Brisbane on goal difference and book a home semi-final – compounding the misery for the Roar.
Brisbane face Victory once again in an elimination final at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night, and Aloisi will need to draw on all his experience to motivate his side in the wake of a demoralising weekend.
It’s safe to say the Roar were the big losers from an enthralling final round of action, although neither Melbourne City nor Perth Glory will go into the finals brimming with confidence, and perhaps it’s fitting that the pair face off against each other in Sunday’s second elimination final.
There are plenty who argue that the A-League should be decided on a first past the post basis, but to do so would not only ignore the local sporting landscape, but also the ten seasons of finals football that preceded the current campaign.
Along with the hot-button issue of simultaneous kick-offs in the final round – a nice thought, but one that would require weeks of pre-planning from host broadcasters – finals football is a topic that generates heated debate every season.
It’s not as if all our Asian neighbours employ a first past the post system – the J.League switched back to a multi-stage format and a Championship series last year – while back home the finals draw the biggest crowds and best TV ratings of the season.
The finals are here to stay whether the purists like them or not, so fresh from driving his team to 14 wins during their league campaign, former Barcelona star Amor needs to inspire at least two more victories to be written into South Australian history.
With the Reds set to host their semi-final at the compact Coopers Stadium, they’ll hope to go one step further and book an Adelaide Oval decider on May 1.
The 53,000-capacity stadium might not be the ideal venue to host an A-League grand final, but it’s simply the reality of what we have to work with.
Amor has so far done a fantastic job of working diligently with what he’s got.
He deserves sincere congratulations for winning the Premiers’ Plate – and perhaps a gentle reminder that the job is only half done.
Kris
Guest
This is absolutely farcical. Nothing more than click bait from @Mike Tuckerman.
Fussball IUL
Roar Rookie
JB - I'm more than happy to cross swords with the egg balls sport. I would certainly be happy with a 36 round competition, but would the rest of the A-League community join us? Some already think playing the same teams 3x per season is too much. Interestingly, the Austrian top league also has only 10 teams. They play 36 matches each season, but they split the season into 2 intervals with a 6 week break for Christmas/winter. Maybe we could try this: Season starts in Aug, finishes in April, with a 1 month break in December... Aug-Nov: R1-18 Jan-Apr: R19-36 It seems prior to Christmas, December crowds fall as people are more likely to be involved with other commitments on the week-end.
Midfielder
Guest
JB We will cross swords when the media let us... We are trapped by the golden handcuffs .... we like other codes largely ste our season around what the media companies want ... not pleasant to accept but tis your answer...
j binnie
Guest
Fuss - Don't disagree with any of these suggestions but what is wrong with a 36 game competition,sooner or later we will have to "cross swords" with the big boys of each state. in other codes. Cheers jb
j binnie
Guest
Fadida - so that you understand clearly, when it nears the end of a season and the number of games used to get the aggregate average is getting quite large, a "big" crowd or a "small" crowd make very liitle change to the overall figure. For example the 20,012 that attended the recent Victory v Roar game in the last round, only added 58 to the average, whereas the last game, when Sydney FC .drew 8700 only reduced the average by 26. cheers jb
Ian
Guest
Cheers Horto......I got the joke. Actually I know I don't call myself a guru/expert (nothing directed at you) but you know sometimes the most unlikely can find out some inside info. ;-)
Buddy
Guest
Mike, The irony scattered throughout the posts is that the dual system of reward causes division, debate, confusion and leaves room to be poked fun at by other codes or general ridicule that the debate even exists! Life would be far more straightforward if we were just typing "congratulations Adelaide on a fine season" and well done WSW for qualifying for ACL. Alternatively, there is no plate to hold aloft at the completion of round 27. The reward is a week off and only at the completion of the GF do we offer any congratulations.......... It must happen in an alternative reality somewhere out there?
Buddy
Guest
Agreed...we are a strange lot but I don't pretend it doesn't exist, I just don't donate time and money to it. There will be more fans than available tickets for a home semi final so let someone else have a chance of attending. Ticket allocation is never satisfactory no matter you dress it up so I would rather not take tickets and distribute them to people who I know that might like to go along, hoping that others might get an opportunity. There are plenty of examples of competitions not well supported around the globe. The League cup in the UK is an excellent example where few fans care if their team is eliminated and crowds are poor. There is a certain excitement if you follow a smaller team and you get drawn away to the big guns and the usual excitement of a giant killing. Even the european champions league at group phase is not so well supported since they invited so many participants. Many journalists have argued that the competition proper starts at knockout phase.......not sure about ratings or attendances but in relation to quality football, it has merit.
Fussball IUL
Roar Rookie
jb, I agree there is an issue with 5 teams playing 14 'home' matches & the other 5 only getting 13. But, unless we move to a 36 match season, that's the anomaly we have to live with. What I would like to see is: 1) Each team plays 13 home matches 2) For the 5 teams that would normally get the extra 'home' match, I'd like the FFA to take control of the match and have the match played in a neutral regional venue to expose the Aleague to a new environment. The FFA would do all the marketing, organising & get the gate receipts, etc. We could go as far as having all 5 matches played on the same "Regional Round", perhaps, during the summer school holidays. MVFC has been doing this when we have 14 home matches. We've taken the 14th match to Hobart & Geelong. This season, Brisbane took their match to Cairns & CCM took its 14th home match to Geelong. But it needs to be formalised and not ad hoc.
j binnie
Guest
Fuss - Yes, point taken about the effect of derbies and who actually gets the "home" gate added to their figures but of course the same logic could be applied to the "other half" of the derbies meaning that the figures showing for City (+600 per game)+ and WSW (+ 1700 per game) for this season would also drop slightly. One thing that did emerge when summing up my figures was ,as someone else suggested and asked,why do we have 5 teams playing 14 home games per season and the other 5 only playing 13 home games per season. Surely that is an area where "program expansion" could take place,albeit small. Your thoughts?.Cheers jb
Midfielder
Guest
We did an a big offer foe Wilko ... Also we are looking for a ten ... something we have always had in the past .. Tommy P Prenz Musty Rogic Carcers / Kalid ... both did not live up to their potential.. A 10 is being chased plus I believe an offer to an established A-League keeper my guess is Danny V as he will struggle to lodge the kid they have their and because of an illness in his family he wants to be close to his family.. Plus if things get signed a young gun out of Everton .... Jury still out on TW as a coach ... I don't rate him however
Midfielder
Guest
yes agree
marcel
Guest
"I dunno how u all sustain the interest in the same circular clickbait going nowhere arguments"...... Absolutely priceless coming from you Mr Nord.
Midfielder
Guest
Lester My point my friend is your response to people saying supporting what has been a traditional sporting tradition or simply not being overly critical makes them unacceptable is simply insane... Equally your language boarders on insulting ... as I have said thank heavens you will never be in a decision making capacity ...
fadida
Guest
An "abomination that spits on sporting merit?" Sums up lester. Who then supports traditional European leagues where there is no merit or equality
Sydneysider
Guest
I hope you are right Kasey because if Adelaide United do get to host the grand final, it will be on the same weekend when there are AFL matches being played in Adelaide. In saying that, Hindmarsh Stadium needs a roof over the 3 other grandstands so that fans don't get baked in summer heat from the sun. Good luck getting that upgrade with your state government....
lester
Guest
Do you actually have a point? "Inept administrators" has nothing to do with this. Linking support of traditional football culture to incompetent administrators of a semi professional league is a whole new level of wrong. Your feelings of shame and self loathing towards our games culture and desire to cover that by adopting the identity of mainstream Australian sport is pretty sad for a bloke that is supposedly born and raised in West Sydney.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Look forward to reading it, Mid!! I hear your lot signed Faty today and look likely to secure Wilkinson soon. Keen to see the rebuild on the coast.
lester
Guest
So you'd rather football be unique in the world following AFL and NRL culture rather than unique in within Australia following football (and Asian Football Confederation) tradition. How ridiculous. People like you don't want football to be confident and proud in its history and culture, you only just want it to be better than the NSL.
lester
Guest
"are US football fans and players any less “real” for having a conference and play off system." Yes. It is an abomination of a system that completely spits on the idea of sporting merit that Football holds onto. MLS is NFL lite with a round ball and the quality is garbage for a league with so much money.