What does it say about our fixture list when Brisbane Roar play the two Sydney clubs, either side of an AFC Champions League playoff, within the space of a week?
The Roar can make it three wins from three tonight when they take on table-toppers Sydney FC, having thrashed Filipino side Global FC in front of a sparse crowd at Suncorp Stadium on Tuesday.
A win would see John Aloisi’s team edge closer to second-placed Melbourne Victory, but perhaps a bigger question is why the Roar are playing two of their biggest drawcards at home within a matter of days.
The ACL draw was made in mid-December, so maybe there’s an argument that FFA had to organise their scheduling around a then-unknown continental encounter.
Yet the ACL playoffs were played on the same weekend in 2016, and it doesn’t solve the logic of Brisbane playing the two Sydney sides at home back to back.
Is it any wonder only 3,500 fans turned up on Tuesday, or a slightly smaller than expected crowd of just over 13,000 was in the stands for the visit of Western Sydney last Saturday?
How fair is it to expect members, let alone casual fans, to shell out for three games of football in the space of six nights?
When FFA ruled out pushing back the Roar’s away game with Melbourne City at AAMI Park on February 11, The Courier-Mail’s resident football reporter Marco Monteverde revealed coach John Aloisi was considering fielding a weakened side in both the A-League and ACL.
Why wouldn’t they, when the Roar are set to face the might of Shanghai Shenhua at Hongkou on February 8 – the club of Carlos Tevez, Obafemi Martins and Fredy Guarin, among others?
FFA blamed the AFC for moving back the Roar’s playoff against Shenhua by 24 hours because it clashed with Shanghai SIPG’s encounter with Thai side Sukhothai across town, meaning the Roar won’t arrive in Melbourne until barely 24 hours before kick-off against City.
Yet the reality is it would have been far easier to simply push the Roar’s visit to Melbourne back a day to Sunday, February 12 – even if it impacted on rival A-League clubs.
All of which is now a moot point, because with broadcast schedules, stadium rosters and security arrangements now in place, it’s too late to do anything about the lopsided draw.
But it does raise the question: why is our fixture list so haphazard to begin with?
A-League boss Greg O’Rourke frequently references the difficulty of booking shared venues and the need to take into account broadcast requirements, but is it honestly so hard to create a home-away-home schedule across 27 rounds?
And if it really is that difficult, how about simply ensuring the same two clubs don’t play each other within a matter of weeks – as has happened frequently this season?
We now have the frankly ridiculous situation of the Melbourne derby being a hard sell, simply because the two clubs have played each other twice already this season – three times if you include the FFA Cup semi.
It leads to symptoms of fixture fatigue, whereby usually committed fans think twice about attending games or watching them on TV because they’ve seen the same fixture twenty times already.
Expansion can’t come soon enough – if only to produce one extra fixture per round – yet the powers that be continue to drag their feet on what is rapidly becoming a hugely frustrating issue.
And with the Mariners ‘hosting’ Adelaide in Canberra on Sunday, FFA has another ready-made fail on their hands that they signed off on.
It’s easy to criticise, but there really does need to be some more common sense around scheduling.
With clubs already complaining about a lack of input at head office, they hardly need yet another reason to threaten to form their own independent league.
Arto
Guest
Whilst no membership purchase covers these extras, the point that I think is trying to be made is that playing 3 home fixtures in the space of 6 days is counterproductive in terms of pulling a big crowd as the total cost of attending the games is more than most people (both members and more casual fans) can afford. The other thing to consider with regard to memberships is that for most fans the cost of attendance per game may well be lower, but that is dependent on attending most games and that is not a certainty for the majority of fans. However, the financial commitment IS certain and therefore the psychological effect of this is that people continually question whether their commitment to the team justifies the outlay of the membership cost.
tully101
Roar Guru
this one not so much, but some are very obviously clikcbait
TK
Guest
Agree JB the only ball he looked to rush was a cross in attack. Just hope he stays with us. He was really a standout.
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
It's actually a problem the world over, especially so in Argentina and Brazil. I'm amazed when people here try to point out average match attendances as being indicative of the health of a league, when they know so little about things like this. Take for example the Argentine league. matches are set out at the start of the season, only by round. eg round 12 velez vs boca, but will not specify which day of the week or time the match will be played, only that it will be over the weekend of 12-14 June. they then decide the actual day and time maybe 3 weeks out from the match. Sometimes, it's as little as the week before. Over there, its all about the t.v schedule and they control who they want to play when, and they don't care if the stadium is full or empty.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Nonsense.
tully101
Roar Guru
no you write click bait
j binnie
Guest
TK - Am glad someone else noted the "little midfielder who replaced Mackay" I was totally "gobsmacked" by the way this kid set about his business, he moves a ball with incredible first touch passing that in almost every situation found his team-mate ,and his movement on and off the ball had to be seen to be believed. He shows an understanding of the modern tactical innovations that many of his compatriots don't. I was not alone, for I remember one of the commentators at the game mentioning that, "that's the first pass he has turned over to an opponent"..He was correct , it was the first but it was also the last.!!!!!!!! Incredible at this level of footballl. Cheers jb..
j binnie
Guest
Mike - I thought a man with your journalistic experience and therefore "better than most" knowledge of the workings of the media in general, could not have written this artIcle without making reference to the "money underwriters" of our league, the TV channel, for I cannot believe for a moment that they do not have more than a little input as to who plays where,and when. Cheers jb.
Lionheart
Guest
hey, it's great. The more games the merrier, everyone agrees. But I think why the rush on home matches when we then will have no HAL football in Brisbane for two weeks. Much better to spread the home games out a bit as there's only so many home games and only so many fans to go round. I'd go to three home matches in three weeks, but in one week that's a lot of travel for many of us.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Lee, in what way are the Mariners a drain to the A-League?
Cameron
Roar Guru
As Cool and Cold pointed out, they actually had a pretty good deal surrounding these three fixtures.
Cameron
Roar Guru
With everyone of those matches nigh on full capacity.
Barto
Guest
Can you imagine if those sauce bottles erupted like the flamethrowers at the Sydney derby? You could just hold your pie in the air and watch the sauce drizzle down onto it
Cool and Cold
Guest
Let's look at the bright side. Six to 7 young players took part in the match of BRFC vs Global. Also, some BRFC young players will have a chance to play against Melbourn City FC on 11 Feb.
Cool and Cold
Guest
I believe that because of my joining of some clubs, like Brisbane Roar Fans Club, I got a special. This special is "3 matches at the cost of 2 matches" coming from Brisbane Roar FC, despite not a member of BRFC this year. I paid $103.95 for 6 orange tickets. I forgot to say that the 3 matches are BRFC vs Wanderers, BRFC vs Global and BRFC vs Sydney FC.
Johnny J-Dog
Guest
I can't make every game so it is cheaper to not be a member and like to have my choice of seats. The real solution would have been to not charge top dollar for a qualifying match.
At work
Roar Rookie
Lee I'm pretty sure your thinking is at the complete opposite end to most A League fans; we need expansion desperately. Plus the Mariners ay not be financially well off, but they have performed better the most other teams and have a great stadium. Have you ever watched a game there, every seat in the house has a great view. Compared to Allianz, Etihad, Westpac, Suncorp and Newcastles home ground I think most clubs would love to play out of a Gosford style stadium... And c'mon, the giant sauce bottles have gone from being ridiculed to being a positive talking point.
Lionheart
Guest
woah, that's pretty tough on the Mariners, and I think that the appetite for expansion is very healthy, among fans, players and owners but I do agree that NQ Townsville was treated very poorly by FFA.
Griffo
Roar Guru
There is an article out there about when Mourinho vs Pep squared off in quick succession, familiarity bred contempt, and began affecting the Spanish national team... ;-)
Nemesis
Guest
In the 2012/13 Spanish football season, Barcelona played Real Madrid SIX times. 24/8/12 Super Cup 1st leg 30/8/12 Super Cup 2nd leg 8/10/12 La Liga (Barcelona home) 31/1/13 Copa Del Rey 1st leg 27/2/13 Copa Del Rey 2nd leg 3/3/13 La Liga (Madrid home)\ Just as well they didn't meet in the Uefa Champions League (they both made the Semi Finals) that season, or it would've been 8 matches within the same season. I remember watching a few of these matches. The passion of the fans never waned. In Austria they have 10 team competition and the teams play each other 4 times each season. Doesn't seem to bother them.