This season has been dominated by Sydney FC. To force them to play off for the right to be crowned champions proves once again that the A-League finals are unnecessary.
Let me start by putting all my cards on the table. I am a bit of a Sydney FC fan. I’ve gone to a couple of games over the years and, as a born and bred Sydneysider, I admit I like to see them do well.
But would I cry a tear if they lost unfairly in the semi-final against Perth this Saturday? No way. Would I proudly wear their playing strip at my very amateur indoor soccer matches on a Monday night? Hell no.
Because, even more than being a Sydney FC fan, I’m an A-League fan. More than Sydney’s success, I really want to see this league do well. As the top tier of one of Australia’s most popular sports, the A-League should be striving to measure itself against the best football leagues around the world.
And one of the things that just about all of those leagues do, is play just a regular season with the team ending on top crowned as premiers. No premiers, then champions – just a simple season with a clear winner.
So why does the A-League do it? Aside from the obvious reason of broadcast dollars, which seems to trump every discussion in sport these days.
Maybe the reason is that, in Australia, we love our ‘finals footy’. It’s a tradition. Well that may be the case, but it is the wrong fit for football.
Firstly, it unnecessarily prolongs the season for our footballers, in a sport where wear and tear is an issue on quality of play. They could be using this time to focus on other matters like the Asian Champions League – if they are involved in both competitions – or recuperating or even preparing properly for an international tournament. Now that would be something.
Secondly, those extra games probably don’t get the attention they really deserve. As a summer sport in Australia, the A-League finals series seems half forgotten by the media when it rolls around in April. Fans are also investing more time supporting their favourite rugby league or AFL team. (Did someone say rugby union? Anyone? Nope… OK. Must have been the wind.)
Thirdly, it is a unique selling point. It may be a departure from other codes in Aussie sport, but why not dare to be different? After all, with a main trophy that looks like a toilet seat, the A-League has already shown it can do things its own way when the pointy end of the season comes around.
But more importantly, dropping the finals would be a good step for the future of the sport. By cutting out the finals series now, and getting players and fans used to it, it could be a stepping stone towards a multi-tiered, national football league.
As Michael Cockerill reported in the Sydney Morning Herald in March, planning is already underway to get a national second division up and running, no matter whether the FFA is ready for it or not. Let’s hope they are allowed to push this concept forward. It will grow the depth of the sport, for players who want to compete at the highest level.
To have a multi-league system, you need to plan in time for relegation and promotion games. As many fans of overseas football leagues can attest, these games can be just as thrilling as a set of finals. In time, those games could quench our thirst for fairytale football stories at the end of the season.
Scrapping the finals is a regular discussion point when looking at the A-League, but with the runaway success of the Sky Blues this season, the issue seems more pronounced than ever. It’s time to take the plunge, starting with next season.
Real Mister Football
Roar Rookie
The best finals system was the old AFL / VFL's top 5. This would be perfect for the A-League. Top 6 is too much.
Paul2
Guest
I confess to being a fan of the final series. But for those who want the focus to be on the first past the post contest, I really think their efforts would be better invested in arguing for the final round to be played simultaneously. This is a change that's far more likely to happen, and it would signal that the governing body actual cares about the 'league title'. Yet every year this issue gets ignored for the most part, and we get countless articles on the need to do away with final series.
Andre Leslie
Roar Guru
I can't see any reporting online saying that the recent Fox Sports deal with FFA is higher, because they can broadcast a set of finals. There doesn't seem to be a break down of costs. I suppose that the deal size is probably bigger, because they can broadcast extra games (which are finals)... and these deals are often done on a price per round basis. One assumes that the deal would also be this same amount of 346 milion, if you just increased the length of the season by three rounds each year til 2023. But...as mentioned... I support finishing the season off before the rugby codes/AFL start up... which essentially shortens the season.
Sebastian Jay
Guest
Most leagues in Europe finish around same time, they don't seem to have a problem with teams being too tired before the world cup? And only two teams play the 3 games! Whilst I agree with some points, the A-League needs the finals to create interest in football for non-football fans to get them on board. I do agree that the team that finishes third should be rewarded with a medals and a trophy, but a league with no relegation and no finals series would be awful. That would have meant that the last two months of the A-League this would have been completely redundant.
Waz
Guest
Seriously, we get the same stories every year
Ken Spacey
Guest
Well fine. The gist of it is that working in with Fox, assuming they keep putting up the money is the key to the structure. GF is a big pay day and marketing op for FFA I suppose but if they got extra for overall rights they;d consider past the post. We also have to assume we'll get expansion and that will extend season anyway.Main point is that solid pay TV deal may be more secure than bigger FTA deals. Just read that TEN with their Big Bash bonanza are still losing many millions.
Al
Guest
Thanks for replying. Sorry to emphasise this point, however, your "hell no" statement just shows that even as a casual supporter, you would not wear a Sydney FC jersey. But if you were say a rooster's supporter, you would wear roosters merchandise. I just wanted to highlight that there is a mindset still that people are apprehensive to wear aleague merchandise at an indoor soccer centre. Just an interesting observation.
Realfootball
Guest
Actually, not always. Right through juniors, and in the state league comp I played in it was first past the post, then a completely separate FA type knock out comp that was very much a second tier title. I don't know when the whole finals thing started or where, but it certainly isn't a cosmological or Australian cultural truth.
Realfootball
Guest
Thanks. That has brightened my day considerably. Very positive indeed.
Nemesis
Guest
"The finals are really about making the FOX investment worthwhile" Can you explain this a bit more? I don't understand. The Finals are no different to any other round of Aleague for FoxSports. In fact, the regular season 5 matches attracts more viewers for ALeague on Fox than the finals. Foxtel's main revenue source is subscriptions. I think it's fanciful to think people are going to subscribe to Foxtel for 5 Aleague finals. If you're an Aleague fan the only reason you subscribe to Foxtel is to get the whole season of your team, or all the teams. The FoxSp ratings for the Elimination finals was a total of 240k. This season, 23 of the 27 rounds of Aleague pulled total ratings of 240k or more. So, the Home & Away rounds attract more viewers each week (& presumably more advertising dollars) than the finals. Obviously this is because some ALeague fans watch more than 1 match each round.
Andre Leslie
Roar Guru
Hey Al.. I am not saying at all that it is embarrassing to wear an A-League jersey. No way. I'm merely trying to show that I am not that big a fan of SydFC .. to prove that I am not giving this opinion on cutting the finals just because Syd did so well this year. People should wear whatever jersey they want, wherever they want.
Ken Spacey
Guest
The finals are really about making the FOX investment worthwhile. If they said more regular games with no finals for similar money then I'd happily support a first past the post trial.The Leicester miracle made their all of their last ten or so games into finals and then you'd watch what their opponents were doing. Heaps of clutch matches there. Even the MV vs Roar (sorry to remind some) was a bit like that to see who got the plate. We all want to live in an ideal world but I am increasingly of the opinion that being tied to Fox and their cash flow is a better place to be. Ch 9 being encouraged to down grade test cricket and that is symbiolic of the decline of FTA and their big sports budgets.The AFL is now more Fox oriented so how much longer the big AFL/NRL deals? So I tend to support the view of the people putting up the cash. It's not huge but without it Football and it's plans are rooted.
Jordan
Guest
If Adelaide moved to Adelaide oval, which is about the capacity of Suncorp Stadium, and still got the same crowds would they still be a big club or would they join Roar as not one of the big 4 clubs?
Nemesis
Guest
Well, we are football. We do things differently. The finals are a legitimate competition but the winner of the finals is not the best team over a season. The winner is the best team over 2-3 knock out matches played with possibly Extra Time & penalties.
cjs
Guest
No, it's just a compromise that fits in with Aus sporting culture.
Nemesis
Guest
FoxSports 2 elimination finals 2017: 240k 2016: 179k So that's around 33% increase. Brisbane always rates reasonably well in finals, but City vs Perth was the big surprise. Last year the same fixture (City vs Perth on Sunday at 5pm) rated 70k. This year, 116k.
Al
Guest
"Would I proudly wear their playing strip at my very amateur indoor soccer matches on a Monday night? Hell no." Just out of curiosity, why do your see it as embarrassing to wear an A-league jersey for a team you sort of support? I am sure you wear Arsenal or Real Madrid jerseys..... I am not sure of this logic, Whats wrong with wearing an A-league jersey. I'm buffled.................
hansen
Guest
The top teams play 60+
Realfootball
Guest
Agree 100% on Brisbane and the stadium. Suncorp is the biggest issue facing the Roar, but there is no solution short of a new stadium. Not going to happen in my lifetime.
Realfootball
Guest
Good to hear, but can you quantify "significant" in terms of numbers? Also, do you have a view on what "significant" denotes? 5%? 10%?