A-League boss Greg O’Rourke says it’s time for the game in Australia to have the confidence to stand up and face scheduling clashes with other football codes.
Brisbane host Western Sydney at Suncorp Stadium in the first A-League elimination final on Friday, the same night NRL heavyweights the Broncos take on the Rabbitohs, albeit in Sydney.
“At the end of the day this code needs to stand up and face this stuff head on. There’s no use us giving complete passage to other codes,” O’Rourke said on Monday.
The A-League boss is confident of drawing a strong crowd at Suncorp Stadium given the rivalry between Wanderers and the Roar.
“We would be pushing for 20-25,000 for a Friday night game,” O’Rourke said.
Western Sydney beat the Roar in the 2016 semi-final but have not managed a win against the three-time premiership winning club this season.
Both sides will face a short turnaround due to matches in the Asian Champions League (ACL) on Wednesday night.
The Roar take on Thailand’s Muangthong United and the Wanderers meet Japan’s Urawa Reds, games considered in domestic finals schedule.
“We needed to make sure we put on a good spectacle for our finals series but did not compromise clubs and their chance to stay alive inside the ACL,” O’Rourke said.
This season’s Golden Boot winner, Roar striker Jamie Maclaren, said he was excited by the prospect of multiple games in a week.
“It’s a short turnaround for Friday but players would much prefer to be playing rather than training,” Maclaren said.
saul
Guest
20,000 -25 is pathetic for a finals fixture. If that's all they are expecting then they need to drastically reduce the cost of the tickets and start promoting it more
j binnie
Guest
It is noticeable that O'Rouke states "WE would expect 20,000 to 25,000 on FrIday night but seems to forget that it will be the FFA that will be running this game so he should clarify what he means by "WE".. Look forward to a veritable deluge of advertising of the game between now and Friday. Cheers jb.
TK
Guest
Yeah I definitely need to be in bed earlier since having kids Ian !! (I'm sure you are referring to them going though).
Ian
Guest
These finals games always seem to be Friday night then Sunday arvo. Pretty sure last year is was 3rd vs 6th on Friday night as well. When we win, ok..if, the game against Victory should be on Sunday30 April. And we have the game against Thailand on Wed 26th. I do agree 7.50pm kick off is on the late side. But that's having kids.
Lionheart
Guest
8pm game's a pain for me, as I don't get home 'til well after 11pm and win or lose, usually can't sleep for a few hours. But that's an aside, nothing to gripe about. You just go with it, and enjoy. TV viewers should like 8 pm.
TK
Guest
Well earlier, but sat or sun arvo would have been better though as someone pointed out thats not good for acl scheduling but i don't know if this was a factor or just coincidence. Pretty sure foxtel would have the scheduling sorted before the teams were known
At work
Roar Rookie
I would guess TK's is a general gripe that games now start at 7:50pm, what ever happened to 7:30pm or even a 7pm game on Friday and Saturday nights?? The Sunday game should be on at 5 or 6pm if they want the maximum crowd possible, but I see how 7pm works best for TV
Lionheart
Guest
so are you suggesting 6pm, earlier, or not on Friday?
Griffo
Roar Guru
Yep. Stop worrying about 'clear air' and just take care of the game.
At work
Roar Rookie
It's lucky that both Brisbane and Wanderers are facing each other so their game could be scheduled for Friday, that way nobody is disadvantaged by a short turnaround from a Sunday night game.
Al
Guest
I agree. I remember one of the Sydney derbies at Allianz was on the same (almost) time with the big bash "derby" next door at SCG. No issues from an attendance perspective. We just need to look at within ourselves and be a master of our own domain!
TK
Guest
Yeah you tell em Greg. An 8pm kickoff on a friday night is really shoving it up the nrls jumper. Jeez man forget about trolling the code wars and use your energy to promote the game to the football community instead so you might have a chance of reaching your target crowd. Personally i think there will only be around 18k there due to the timing but happy to be wrong.
Lionheart
Guest
He's right - A League has to stand up. Sunday's Roar game at Suncorp coincided with AFL Lions game at the Gabba and was preceded at Suncorp by the Reds on Saturday and Broncos on Friday. It's crowded, just go with it.