The Central Coast Mariners defeated Adelaide United 2-1 Sunday afternoon in a bottom of the table clash in the A-League.
Goals to Fabio Ferrera and Kwabena Appiah were enough to edge the Mariners past United, it’s the first time this season the Mariners have been able to secure back-to-back home wins, albeit this victory came from a moved home fixture to Canberra.
It also means that the Mariners are able to keep their slim finals chances alive heading into next weekend’s match against the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Surprising as that may be to many, considering the poor first half of the season the Mariners have had, it shows that the A-League has now reached a point where a ten-team competition just isn’t enough.
For the Mariners to be in a position to make the top six and the finals after 18 games, with four wins, four draws and ten losses shows a serve lack of competition.
If they beat the Wanderers, Paul Okon’s men could head into Week 20 of the A-League three points adrift of the sixth spot with seven weeks remaining in the season. That shouldn’t be possible.
The fixtures also produced another Melbourne Derby, only six weeks after Victory and City had played each other.
The buildup was lacklustre, the excitement down as the day approached with yet another derby scheduled so soon. On February 18, Sydney FC will play the Wanderers in another instalment of the Sydney Derby, a mere five weeks since they played out a 0-0 draw at Allianz Stadium.
Sometimes too much of a good thing can eventually be detrimental to the product.
Is the A-League in its current form getting stale? I say yes.
For the past few years the Promotion and Relegation calls have been building steam, alongside that has been the call for further expansion of the current top tier A-League.
With Football Federation Australia opening talks between potential bidders for new A-League licences, it couldn’t come at a better time. More teams equal more games, more games mean the derbies and big clashes are more spread out across the season and not scheduled every time the first day of the month arrives.
A second division is still years away, and while I believe it is something that is needed, expanding Australia’s top league should be priority first.
An expanded A-League of 14 teams will generate renewed excitement and give football a fresh shot in the arm, not to mention the extra revenue more teams will provide.
A 14-team league would see each club play each other twice during the season, one home and one away, which means we no longer get saturated with replayed fixtures only weeks apart. The season would go for 26 weeks in a round-robin system, only one match day short of the current 27 the A-League plays, plus finals and the FFA Cup.
It would also create more pathways for professional footballers in this country, something that is clearly lacking as limited opportunities are given in the current ten team A-League setup.
With bids from Melbourne, Tasmania, Wollongong, Geelong and Brisbane already being made public, with potentially a Sydney bid among others, there are plenty of suitors for the FFA to create a 14-team A-League.
Official criteria for the expansion bids are set to be released in March, which will outline what each consortium will need for acceptance into the competition.
Hopefully among that criterion is the plan to add another four teams, even if it means a two and two system broken up over the next four years.
It would give the A-League a fresh look, new sets of fans and new rivalries. It is something the league is crying out for it.
David
Guest
CCMariners certainly should NOT think about moving to Sydney. 1. Too much has been invested by the owner to create income streams, the training facilities and Central Coast Stadium is one of, if not the best venue to watch football. 2. The fans will not EVER agree with a move away and have protested even the suggestion for years! and 3. It doesn't solve the problem of more clubs required in the competition (you know, the whole point of the article ;) )
Arto
Guest
I can see a SW Sydney team becoming a reality anyway, one of (if not the) biggest growth area in Oz at present, will become a 3rd CBD in addition to current city-area & Parramatta (ie: corporate backing possible), potential for tribalism/differentiation. When this happens is the question - I can't see it happening during the course of the coming broadcasting deal, but possibly after that. When it comes to where expansion teams will come from, people really have to drop some of the nostalgic reasoning - those reasons won't help the club if they aren't a success either on or off the field in the 1st few years. Eg: just because it's the nation's capital, doesn't mean Canberra has earnt the right to a team (& the idioitc reasoning of NZ's capital being represented, but not Aus' in the A-League???!!!). People need to look seriously at the reasons for and against a place starting a team and the reasons need to be backed up by facts. Ps. I don't have a preference where teams come from. I'm not partial to any of the potential candidates and welcome any and all of them eventually. It'd be great to have a 14-16 team league. Not sure that we NEED pro/rel even though it would add some positives to the league. More important to focus on connection with grassroots and development pathways so that we manage to take advantage (both in a sporting and financial sense) of the great participation numbers we have at present.
Caltex & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
If they (BBL) expand (8 more games next season) they are going to disrupt Test Cricket and ODI. Also it's going to squeeze the AFL for oval stadia---this has the potential to explode in their face---add AFLW into the equation, then it is going to cause a lot of angst for all these new competitions to schedule their fixtures adequately. Add some bad weather into the mix and we could see Cricket and AFL in real conflict. I hope it happens---code wars will escalate to a new level.
Realfootball
Guest
Agree. One form has to suffer - if they expand BBL. In the end, money rules. I suspect they will expand and make all sorts of noises about how test cricket won't suffer.
SVB
Guest
Realfootball It will be interesting if they move in a different direction. Remember also that the test matches are a big part of the traditional summer. One form of cricket is going to suffer imo. But as I said if they are going to compare apples with apples, then play a 30 week competition. Put their money where their mouth is. Don't do a little "sugar hit and run" and claim victory. I welcome them to have a 30 week competition and show that they are the real thing.
Realfootball
Guest
SVB, the indications are that CA is moving in that direction with BBL. We shall soon find out. Agree that currently it is akin to going to the circus.
Realfootball
Guest
Will take your word on the data and am encouraged by that. My concern was more of a projection. All the indications appear to be that BBL will be expanded into a longer competition. I agree with those who say there is a "sugar hit" at work in the BBL at the moment, but a long form comp will compete more directly with the A League. Is the BBL a bubble waiting to burst? I thought it was, but I no longer believe that. I think we are looking at something that taps into an ingrained element in the Australian sporting culture and tailors it for a generation shaped by gaming and reality television.
Beny Iniesta
Guest
A gold mine? The Australian economy is larger than Indonesia, five times larger than the economy of Pakistan or the Phillippines and a comparable size of to South Korea. Not sure about all these gold mines, or why countries like China or Japan would be that interested in Australian soccer clubs! Not sure about that.
Beny Iniesta
Guest
I agree that the A-League should follow the format pioneered by the NSL in the 1980s. Back then of course the NSL had a Conference system with 2 Divisions that had 24 teams competing for the silverware in Australian Soccer. It's a real mystery why they cut back from 24 teams into a single division. A real missed opportunity. Certainly the national sporting landscape in the 1980s was a lot less competitive than now - in fact their only real competition was the NBL basketball. Of course the NBL also went on a spree to add teams in the 1990s and look how it boomed! No doubt the A-League should follow this model as shown by the NBL in the 1990s. Adding clubs, and you might lose some along the way, will build credibility as it shows more places can participate in the top league - even if only for a year or two. The NBL showed that such a feat is possibile - so why not follow the NBL's example?
Squizz
Guest
Capital Football were keen for the two games and encouraged CCM to book in both games. They were to do a lot of the grassroots groundwork while CCM looked after the corporates. After the backlash towards CCM and towards Capital Football's agreement to the deal from the first game Capital Football did minimal work for the second and CCM knew there would be a smallish crowd. CCM may have made some money from the game - but it would only have been through corporate sponsorship.
Squizz
Guest
Yep - I saw two.
Nemesis
Guest
I don't think the BBL is a competitor at all. It runs for 6 weeks during the School Holidays. Heck going to the beach, or having a BBQ, would be a bigger competitor for ALeague fans' recreational time than BBL. But, maybe, you are correct. I will be convinced BBL is taking away ALeague fans if you can show: 1) crowds for ALeague drop during BBL compared to when there's no BBL 2) TV ratings for ALeague drop during BBL compared to when there's no BBL My data shows this does not occur, but my data may be wrong.
Swanny
Guest
Well said s v b
AZ_RBB
Guest
Actually no. Plenty of A-League clubs and even some NRL clubs have gone broke with the salary cap in place. Poor administration isn't protected by the salary cap.
Swanny
Guest
The jets are owned by a chinese businessman . Has provided some stability but the jury is still out waiting to see if long term improvement will materialise. Fingers crossed
Swanny
Guest
Bournemouth have a very rich owner . Simple way to climb through the lower leagues .
Swanny
Guest
No salary cap What a joke Then u will have a 4 team competition within 5 years . 2 from Sydney and Melbourne . That's it The salary cap has saved both the afl the nrl and the a league from clubs sending themselves broke .
Swanny
Guest
The nrl and afl regularly expand there competition constantly diluting the quality of players but creating extra games which t v stations love Why shouldn't the A league do the same ?
c
Guest
fuss that is not 100% correct the afl have nonstop waffle in the media
cambrai
Guest
I agree with you. You cannot force people to watch a sport in which they have no interest. We have to accept the fact that football as a spectator sport in Australia is not really 'mainstream' yet. It should focus on its own game,improving governance, quality of play and good behaviour by players and spectators. Then , you never know, more people might engage with it. Good luck to the AFL with their women's League but some perspective. IN 1920, a women football game was played in Goodison Park, Liverpool, attendance: 53,000.