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We do things a little differently when it comes to the round ball game down under.
We have one of only a select few leagues in the world that doesn’t have promotion and relegation.
While many work out the fundamental possibilities of such a system in Australia, few consider quite possibly the biggest stumbling block of all – the timing of the A-League.
The A-League is the only professional football league in the world where the top flight plays on a different time period to that of the lower leagues. The professional league plays from October-April, and the non-pro leagues play March-October.
How can promotion ever become viable in Australia with this sort of irregularity?
The A-League is played during the summer for two reasons. The first is to have a simultaneous seasons with the larger European leagues. This is a ridiculous reason, as we have no relation with any of these leagues, apart from the signing and selling of players. Even this is irrelevant, as such leagues as the MLS, Tippeligaen, Russian Premjer Liga, and the J-league have no issues with this time difference, as they all sell and buy off the major euro leagues while having different seasons.
However the most relevant reason to run a summer comp is to avoid clashing with the AFL and NRL. I also find this to be somewhat odd, hiding away in the summer months to avoid having to share the lime-light with other football codes.
We should not fear any other league. The majority of A-League supporters do not follow the other codes.
The original design of the ‘summer of football” was to allow the A-League to dominate news headlines and run unopposed during the warmer months, however mainstream media would rather cover some pointless off-season AFL story than the Melbourne derby results.
What do you think Roarers? Is it time to move back to the colder months?
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