In my first piece I wrote on which teams I thought should join the A-League next. My main reason for writing this was the way that the last season was covered in the media and the way that it was portrayed.
Watching news coverage of the A-League last year sometimes felt like watching the new qualifying format at the Melbourne Grand Prix – where the focus was always on who was slowest rather than who was fastest.
The final three teams that were left at the end of the competition were Brisbane, Adelaide and Western Sydney who went through the season playing an attractive brand of attacking football inspired by the Spanish style.
But instead of this being the story the media often focused on the troubles of Central Coast, Newcastle and Wellington Phoenix as well as the form slump of Sydney FC who also had to play in the ACL.
When the A-League gets as little media attention as it does compared to the AFL and NRL it portrays a very poor image to the public. You have ten teams of which only nine are Australian and the bottom four are struggling or under performing.
How is the A-League supposed to attract new fans, sponsorship and broadcasting deals when that’s what people are seeing? It doesn’t inspire confidence that the A-League is worth investing in, or worth watching.
With the new broadcasting deal coming up next year the public conversation has turned to expansion as a way to bring new interest and money into the league.
Unfortunately the FFA hasn’t been forthcoming with its strategy for expansion going forward. All the public knows it that they want to “fish where the fishes are” and that they are looking at markets with millions of people – not hundreds of thousands.
So what is the FFA’s vision for the A-League in the future? What do they want the A-League to look like and how are they planning to achieve it? Do they want a large number of small teams in the big cities like the AFL and NRL, or do they want a small number of large blockbuster teams to fill big stadiums with a few regional teams to add balance and interest?
If you add Sutherland, Liverpool and others in Sydney then you just split the support base of FC and Wanderers and dilute the atmosphere in the stadiums, in which case they need to be smaller.
But if you build a 40-50,000 seat stadium in North Sydney and upgrade Parramatta Stadium to a similar number then you get three massive derbies in big stadiums and create an atmosphere the NRL would find difficult to match.
Add in fierce regional rivalries with Wollongong, Canberra and Newcastle as well as the Hawkesbury derby with Central Coast and it’s a pretty good competition without the risk of diluting the support of FC and Wanderers.
In Sydney there are nine NRL teams with just one in the north, as well as two AFL teams and two BBL teams all south of the Bridge. So there’s a big gap in the market in North Sydney that could be filled an A-League team.
The images on TV with the harbour and bridge as a backdrop to the fixture would also be attractive to sponsors, especially if the viewers are watching from overseas.
If the A-League develops and the larger teams can attract more big marquees then people in England and Europe could start to take interest like the BBL does in England, especially if the matches are timed so they start in the morning over there before their own matches start around midday.
Some people might suggest that people in North Sydney would have little interest in the A-League. But North Sydney Oval was once the home of the NSL team Northern Spirit FC where they managed to draw average crowds of 15,000 per game and got 19,000 in their first match against Sydney Olympic.
Two former members of the team were Graham Arnold the current coach of Sydney FC and Ian Crook who was previously the manager of Sydney FC but who has since gone on to be the current assistant manager of Wanderers. So there’s a bit of interesting history there if North Sydney makes a return to the national level.
This relationship could make FC, Wanderers and Spirit the A-Leagues three amigos. Or would they be ‘frenemies’? It would also be good if the North Sydney supporters group take after The Cove at Sydney FC and call themselves The Neutrals.
The FFA might not be forthcoming with what they want the A-League to look like, but what do people on this forum think? Would you rather have a small number of large teams who can fill big stadiums and have the ability to attract international stars like Dwight Yorke, David Villa and Alessandro Del Piero who could begin to market the A-League to an international audience?
Or would you rather have a large number of small teams with a grass roots feel like the old NSL? How many teams should there be in each city and what place is there for teams outside the capitols?
Sydney’s south has been identified as the most likely location for a new team but can Sydney support three or more teams south of the bridge, or would that just flood the market and weaken all of them?
Fan
Guest
What is needed is for everyone to forget about utopia and get behind what we do have. Everybody has their own ideas on what the FFA should do. (I'm no different) But we need to work with what we have. Better promotion of the games and the clubs. Improved quality throughout the competition, Players, Management, and Referees. Every Club should have a Full-time Journalist, whose job it is to get positive stories in the papers EVERY day. If they already exist, they need to be replaced as they are not succeeding. It can be done look at NRL and AFL, every paper, every news broadcast. Has anyone else noticed how every time there is a football show on Fox, there are AFL advertisements in the breaks. Talk about ambush marketing. Now there is something the FFA should be talking to Fox about.
Bob Brown
Roar Guru
The FFA have made it very clear about their expansion policy and vision. There will be no new teams for at least 4 years while the competition consolidates and becomes more financial. The FFA is a not for profit organisation and has very limited finances. They are not going to build billion dollar stadiums for football and A-League games. They are pretty much restricted in what they can do, but with the salary cap and the relatively short period in existence, I think they've done a pretty good job and we have a national football league that we can all be proud of. Relatively speaking its one of the best football competitions in the world and good value for money. If some or all the A-League franchises go broke because there is not enough money in Australian sport to finance it, then that's a fact of life and not really the FFA's fault.
Les Mara
Roar Rookie
The whole world is going to be Salary capped and Gallop will be the reason. Ha hahahaha
Kasey
Roar Pro
MF Typically you use a football article to take an oblique swipe at football. Yes we *know *that AFL teams have far larger membership bases than A-League teams. You haven't added anything to the discussion there. You deliberately twist the argument of the OP. The Western Bulldogs *are* a small club so are North and St Kilda. In relation to their competition. Comparing the club formerly known as Footscray, St. Kilda and North to an A-League club is a classic strawman argument. Western Sydney Wanderers *are* a big club they have a big membership and an impressive 'presence' in the Domestic football realm. In terms of the A-League the FFA need to decide if they want a group of clubs the size of the Central Coast Mariners with a handful of clubs from the bigger centres as the 'bigger' clubs in the competition. If they do choose that path FFA need to be aware of the way the sports journos who cheerlead their more preferred sports will report on the league with a club having a crowd of say 5,000 compared to their beloved sports mega crowds. Just like MF has above. Now 5k isn't neccessarily a bad crowd if the stadium they play in isn't ridiculously oversized and expensive to hire. If a Central Coast Mariners sized club can pay its wages and be competitive and stable then there is nothing really bad about having more CCM-sized clubs. I think it would take more support from FFA in terms of the annual dividend from HQ to the participating clubs as well as an understanding from the PFA that smaller clubs might want to pay less than the 90-something % of the Salary cap to remain within their budget. Perhaps there could be an agreement that clubs with an annual turnover of less than $Xmillion can negotiate to pay less total wages than the current wage floor. As long as they pay their bills the PFA should be happy that they are generating stable jobs for their members. Jobs that have the potential to transition into higherpaying jobs if the player is good enough.
reuster75
Guest
I think what would work well in terms of exansion is to challenge communities such as Canberra, Geelong and Wollongong that are often mentioned as possible expansion sites to start building a team. Get the community involved, create the facilities/stadium, enter a team into the NPL and prove over a period of years that you can not only sustain a team but that it can thrive. Basically take the model used for WSW but do it over a longer peiord of time. You don't have to offer any guarantees if you're the FFA but throw the challenge down to these areas to prove they are worthy of an a-league licence if the times comes that the FFA to decide. Very much along the lines of this brilliant article by Seb Hassett about promotion/relegation - http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/blog/2016/05/24/dont-wait-ffa-promotion-and-relegation-our-hands
Paul
Guest
Thanks CG Sydney have options: Leichhardt Oval or Kogarah both of which are boutique and are used for NRL Will CCM get crowds up? Why don't you sack Walmsley and get Rado Vidosic?
CG2430
Guest
MVC: Docklands is owned by super funds but the AFL stands to inherit it in about 2025 due to funds they tipped into its construction; Rectangular Stadium is owned by the govt; neither are perfect - the former is a decent size but not a proper rectangle (does get reconfigured) and the latter is a bit on the small side for bigger games but they seem to have the best stadiums of any club. MCT: Rectangular Stadium is too big for them at the moment but not outrageously so, and where else would they go? CCM: Central Coast Stadium - ditto MCT remarks WSW: Parramatta Stadium is being rebuilt as a 35,000 seater - perfect. SYD: Have backed themselves into a corner - don't really have a suitable alternative to the SFS NEW: Hunter Stadium is a bit too large but nowhere else is suitable (remembering that The Gardens, the Breakers' old home, is now primarily for greyhounds and is in an ordinary location) PER: nib Stadium is fine, even if the Western stand is ancient ADL: Hindmarsh Stadium - ditto PER remarks WEL: Shouldn't be in the league anyway. BRI: Completely stuck. By law, the Queensland Government has a monopoly on stadiums larger than 9,999 (ridiculous, I know) and charges exorbitant rent; Ballymore is in a shocking state and not quite as accessible; QSAC probably isn't much better and is also owned by Stadiums Queensland. Govt has them over a barrel. BTW A merger between NEW and CCM would not work - both sets of fans hate the others and neither would bother travelling to the others' location. Novocastrians are pretty parochial and Coasties didn't look kindly upon the Northern Eagles set-up in the NRL. NEW will probably have a new owner soon and CCM will stinge our way along until the next TV deal, when hopefully we have some breathing room because the FFA would never prop us up.
Paul
Guest
The FFA is relying on cashed-up owners to run franchises (euphemistically called clubs). The original model included boutique stadiums that were owned by the franchises. In looking at what we have today, most of the money goes in stadium fees plus the FFA get the lion-share of jersey sales Melbourne Victory playing at Etihad (owned by AFL) and AAMI park (owned by ?). AAMI Park is slightly undersized Melbourne City playing at AAMI park (owned by ?). They need a Hindmarsh sized stadium Sydney FC playing at Allianz (owned by SCG Trust). They also need a Pirtek or Hindmarsh sized stadium as the largest crowds are usually reserved for Sydney Derbies.. Western Sydney Wanderers played at Pirtek (owned by SCG Trust) but temporality to Spotless (25K) plus ANZ for Sydney Derbies and probably Melb Vic. Imagine if they had their own ground located at the Blacktown Olympic precinct of 35-40K how much money could be saved in ground fees. Newcastle Jets play at Hunter Stadium. Ground holds 30-35K but is oversized for the Jets Adelaide play at Hindmarsh which appears to be undersized by about 5K. Perth Glory play out of NIB stadium which appears to be about right if they are travelling well. Brisbane Roar play at Suncorp which is massively oversized based on last years numbers. They need to play out of a much smaller stadium. I have seen that some recommend Ballymore, but the fees are just as too high. Central Coast Mariners play at Gosford and would be fine if they got 10K regularly. Wellington Phoenix can't fill their cake-tin. There is no spectacle playing in cavernous venues with empty space rather than small stadiums that look almost full. Boutique stadiums should be re-visited. The FFA also needs to get the grassroots to connect with the A-league. Perhaps, there should be free tickets given to grassroots clubs like the January experiment this year throughout the season Should consider adding Canberra and Wollongong but only with significant community involvement. Maybe, the Mariners should be merged with Newcastle and another club from either Victoria or Queensland be invited to take over the CCM license The other issue that the FFA needs to address is media management. They should NOT cave in to the anti-football mainstream media by simply rolling over to the likes of Newscorp journos
Freycinet1803
Roar Rookie
Other options would be Chatswood, Hornsby or Epping/Ryde (three main areas outside Manly on the north side). One NPL2 team (Northern Tigers) plays out of Hornsby (which is owned by the local association that covers from the harbour to the Hawkesbury) Another NPL2 team (GHFA Spirit) plays out of Ryde area And a third NPL2 team (Northbridge) plays out of Northbridge (near Wiloughby) - the local clubs play in the association that owns the Northern Tigers
CG2430
Guest
North Sydney Oval is also heritage listed, as I pointed out last time this fanciful idea came up. Where else could you go, and would you want to? Perhaps there's a reason why all of the big former NSL and/or current NPL clubs are from the south, west, or southwest. Manly United is the only exception I can think of off the top of my head.
CG2430
Guest
Best guess is that they'd support Sydney FC or wouldn't be a big enough supporter base to justify a team under the FFA's current operating model of franchises and obsession with crowds and how the stadium looks on TV.
Sydneysider
Guest
I honestly think that the FFA need to get to 12 clubs in the next 2 years. It's becoming too monotonous with 10 teams and no expansion. I guess they are waiting for money from the new TV deal but if the FFA could just accept that not all clubs are going to be as big as the Victory and the Wanderers then things could progress. Having big and small clubs is the fabric of futbol around the world and in this country.
Squizz
Guest
Chatswood Oval would be nice - close to the station and bars/restaurants. Big con is that it is used by Gordon Cricket Club
Ahmed
Guest
The major problem with this solution is the NSW Stadium strategy. The NSW government might perhaps look at supporting Manly and a new North Sydney team at a boutique ground if they can show it would financially support itself, but it is unlikely. North Sydney is a very interesting area of Sydney as well. Many Rugby Union fans, and the Swans have a large presence there as well. North Sydney would be a risk that the FFA does not need to take right now.
marron
Guest
Cheers middy, I'd thought it was later for some reason. I was one of them a couple of times in those averages. As a side note I think we're up against the spirit in npl2 this week....
peeeko
Roar Guru
But if you build a 40-50,000 seat stadium in North Sydney? did you actually mean to write that? i wouldnt worry too much about the press reporting on financial difficulties - have some faith, football is doing well
Midfielder
Guest
Marron Rangers came in at the end of the second season and averages at that stage were between 12 & 15 K a game...
Freycinet1803
Roar Rookie
The FFA do put a little about their strategy for the A-League in the whole of football strategy, but it is very generic and broad. The Perth Glory CEO has been asking for the FFA to come up with a detailed strategic plan for the A-League this season, after he took over at Glory and complained that it was hard for Clubs to formulate a mid to long term strategy when the competition / governing body doesn't have one.
Freycinet1803
Roar Rookie
Norths rival in rugby were also Manly ... so this shows the divide in northern Sydney. You may get a good rivalry with the Mariners if you put the stadium up Hornsby way. Or an oval in Chatswood / Epping could create rivalry with WSW (train network to Parramatta).
Freycinet1803
Roar Rookie
I'd suggest Chatswood Oval or a new oval in Hornsby would be a better option. Would look for a 15,000 stadium max though. Lots of money on the North Shore ... can they turn it into sponsorship and fan dollars though?