The A-League needs to be more exciting: that is the message from a lot of diehard football fans Down Inder and also, more importantly, from fringe football fans.
The fanatics will always turn up to support their teams, but the flakey fans will leave in a heartbeat if things aren’t exciting enough or worth their while.
So what can be done to revitalise a competition that is becoming stale and somewhat boring? Expanding the league to 12 and 14 teams is an obvious answer, as is creating a second tier. This, though, is a long-term solution and costs money the game doesn’t appear to have at the moment. What can be done in the short term?
The answer in my view is twofold. First, bring more flair and excitement to the league. Second, get more fans into the game with better value prices.
To satisfy the former we need to recruit more players from Asia. One of the few upsides of seeing the Socceroos struggle against Asian opponents this World Cup qualifying campaign has been to see how much speed and skill players from various Asian countries have.
Japanese star Keisuke Honda, who currently plies his trade with Pachuka in Mexico, is an absolute joy to watch. He has been a thorn in the Socceroos side in years gone by, and it would be a huge boost to the A-League to have a player like him weave his magic around pitches in Australia.
(AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, FILE)
Shinji Ono was a wonderful marquee for the Western Sydney Wanderers in the first two years of the club’s existence. That Eastern flair he brought to the league boosted the Wanderers, their fans and the league in general.
Chanathip Songkrasin from Thailand, nicknamed ‘Messi Jay’ in homage to the Argentine legend, was all class for the War Elephants in their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign despite them finishing last in their group. He ran Australia ragged in the 2-2 draw in Bangkok last November in a result that ultimately cost the Socceroos direct qualification to Russia.
Seeing him touch and tease the ball as he danced around Aussie defenders with finesse and intelligent positioning was football at its finest. There are likely more players of his mould in the Thai League T1 who are just waiting for an opportunity to play in a higher profile competition. The A-League clubs should send scouts to flush them out.
As far as the Middle Eastern players go, Omar Abdulrahman from the United Arab Emirates is an exciting and vibrant young player who makes the Emiratis one of the most thrilling teams to watch in Asia. He plays for Al-Ain and is on good coin no doubt. He would be well worth the investment for an A-League club.
(Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Omar Al Somah and Firas Al-Khatib from Syria were major problems for Australia in the first leg of the world cup qualifier in Melaka due to their searing speed and classy moves. Hopefully they can bring this class to the A-League one day.
The marquee players that have come from Asia in the A-League’s short history have a reputation for adding excitement to the competition, which leads to excitement in the stands.
There are players from Europe who have also added this, but the bulk of them bring more of a physical presence to the league, and while that is important, we already have that in abundance. The Australian way has always been to outmuscle opponents.
Bringing in foreigners from Europe or the UK who add to this is unnecessary. Fans are sick of seeing players smothered in tackles and brought down with tough physical challenges; they want to see more dare and dribbling around and through opponents combined with speed and quick footwork.
Asian players will bring this to the league. They will also help develop more skill and flair in Australian players by inspiring them to do the same.
We also want to see young kids in parks and fields around Australia practising their dribbling and finesse rather than putting their bodies into opponents to beat them. This will hopefully lead to a more vibrant Socceroos team in the years to come as well.
The second thing needed to boost the A-League is to get more bums on seats to create a better atmosphere. This is much easier said than done. Adding that skill and flair as mentioned above will help, but what will be most helpful is to make the games cheaper to attend.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
The German Bundesliga has led the way in filling the stands by making tickets dirt cheap. The average crowd for the Bundesliga last season was 41,500. It looks amazing on TV, thus generating more TV revenue, which is the major source of revenue for football clubs these days.
Offering cheaper seats to potential A-League fans would indeed help bring them through the gate. While a lot of clubs will argue they rely heavily on membership revenue – and they would be right – some forward and long-term thinking is needed.
First and foremost any kid 12 years old and under who is registered to play football in the MiniRoos program should receive a free membership to an A-League club of their choice. Kids are not going to go on their own to a game, meaning mum, dad, uncle, aunty, grandma or grandpa will need to take them. They will need to buy tickets or memberships to attend.
The average cost of a family of four to attend an A-League game is over $100. This amounts to over a $1,000 for a season, and that is far too much in this day and age when the cost of mortgages, school fees and groceries are increasing. Reducing this cost by giving free memberships to kids and cheaper tickets for adults would go a long way to enticing more fans to go.
The Big Bash League did this for kids who play Milo in2Cricket and it worked a charm. Making the kick-off times more family friendly would help too – 7:50pm is far too late for Friday and Saturday nights. Even making kick-off around 7pm would be better for young kids and would still fit the games into TV prime time slots.
Make no mistake, the A-League is in desperate need of rejuvenation. How the Socceroos World Cup campaign pans out will also play a huge role in how our domestic league fares next year, but failing a good result, get those Asian players in ASAP – our game needs it in a hurry.
Ken Spacey
Guest
The other side of the "Romario Disaster" was that the Reds picked up Diego from his US Club and he played a pivotal role in sealing the ACL finals spot.
JANAKAN
Guest
“Depth of analysis of a teaspoon”...lol funny. It’s not meant to be an analytic article. Purely expressing an opinion that we could get Asian players to enhance the league and maybe reduce costs for families. I don’t know what harm this article is causing
Mark
Guest
This thread and article says everything one needs to know about both of you. These pages have deteriorated substantially in both the quality of articles and discussion of them over the last 12 months. The user article which demonstrates the depth of analysis of a teaspoon...the childish attack from the resident know it all, and the equally childish attack from the writer...it’s pathetic.
Buddy
Guest
Not long enough break unfortunately. It starts again in March so they have a similar off season period to bigger european leagues. Ubfortunately, it will remain a wish rather than a realistic objective!
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Who cares what the alf are doing? This is football.
JANAKAN
Guest
Definitely agree. Be good to have some Sth American flair
Kevin
Guest
I can't believe there hasn't been a concerted effort to bring in foreign players that have appeal to the large communities already in our cities..more Chileans more Greeks more Argentines , etc etc.. .. Not 50 year olds either ..
JANAKAN
Guest
Yeah that is a super idea. More injection of flair into the league would be great. South Americans such as Fornaroli are fantastic for the game. How long does the MLS break go for?
Buddy
Guest
Yes, why can’t we raid MLS stocks whilst they have a break? There are some very exciting south american and mexican players on show ever week and you can’t ignore Toronto FC’s Gervinko and Altidore who have ripped up so many teams this season!
Janakan Seemampillai
Roar Guru
lol thankyou very much for showing your lack of credibility... "I’d rather ALeague appeal to diehard football fans – even if it means just 10k turn up to matches each week – than appeal to people like you, who find nothing about ALeague to bring them joy." You have proven exactly what i have thought about you and some other soccer diehards. You want to be an exclusive club. You are happy to get 10K hard core rather than 20K including casual fans. Speaks volumes about how selfish you are and your lack of open mindedness to grow the game. The A league wont survive if we just have 10K hard core fans. Can you not understand that? Saying i dont get any joy from the A league because you dont like what i say is completely childish and immature. I am sure i wouldnt be involved as much as i am if waht you said was true. I enjoy putting people like you in your place cause you are a funny lot who are one of the major problems soccer faces and one of the reasons the game doesnt grow. Oh and its spelt soccer not "sokkah" LOL If you want an exclusive club id suggest you go and start your own private organisation where you and your clique of mates can go and talk about how the world is against you. This is a public forum where i will express my views how and when i want. If you dont like what i say, tough luck. Anyway not wasting anymore time on a person whod rather 10K in hard core fans than growing the game and attracting more.
fadida
Guest
My kingdom for a full stop
Nemesis
Guest
Sokkah is dead. We all know that. Unfortunately, Aussies still continue to prefer to play sokkah rather than the Crash & Bash sports. I'd rather ALeague appeal to diehard football fans - even if it means just 10k turn up to matches each week - than appeal to people like you, who find nothing about ALeague to bring them joy. If I thought something was as poor & failing as you constantly tell us ALeague is poor & failing, I know I wouldn't waste time writing 500 word articles on the subject. I'd simply switch over & watch something that made me happy.
Janakan Seemampillai
Roar Guru
LOL is that all you got? Bit dissapointed tbh Nah its not nonsense. Clearly you are closed minded and find me a threat on this site lol Doesnt worry me one bit. Attacking me to try and discredit what i write isnt working lol all you and your clique of mates have to say is that im talking rubbish or have no knowledge of football or i hate a league lol nothing constructive, just childish attacks. Speaks volumes of your lack of intellect and more importantly proves one of the reasons why soccer struggles compared to other sports i.e. an exclusive boys club who think they know everything and are afraid of anyone different who comes along.
Nemesis
Guest
Fair enough, JANAKAN. In that case, your nonsensical articles must just be due to a reason other than ignorance of the underlying topic. To be honest, in your position, I'd have thought it preferable to blame total ignorance for the 500 word nonsense you write each day.
Ken Spacey
Guest
Fair enough but let's be very, very clear. Some of the worst articles ever written in the history of journalism have been written to degrade the sport and its fans. We're are not talky funny,ironic or tongue in cheek we are talking poisonous, inaccurate,vicious calculated bile of such intensity that it would make a hard core hater break down and cry. Some of these clowns have set new standards in scraping the basement under the bottom of the barrel. This doesn't happen to other sports in fact this gutter journalism simply doesn't happen elsewhere in the mainstream media in this country to this intensity.
Pete
Guest
@Nemesis not sure what your issue is? The author has simply said he would like to see more Asian players to enhance the league and suggested more affordable tickets to attract fans. What is the problem with that? You may not like or agree with it so what? Now personally I’d like to see more youth players come through the ranks but I wouldn’t mind some skilful players from overseas be it from Asia or Europe or even South America.
JANAKAN
Guest
NEMESIS I hope you aren’t one of those types who think you know everything and anyone who has a different view to you is wrong? I don’t need to justify myself to you but if you must know i have followed a league from day one. Followed a team properly since the Wanderers came in. A member of two clubs. The other being a club I have volunteered for in helping to market and promote them. Also been heavily involved in playing, coaching, refereeing, administration of soccer clubs at a local level. Travelled extensively overseas for soccer reasons too. Now all of that is not important. Tell me why you and some other people on here think you know More or have More right to have a say than others? You are welcome to disagree but the way you all talk like this is your page and your domain and Anyone different is not welcome or is a threat is just odd and tbh not accepetable. This is a public forum for people to air their view. Also the way you say that Anyone who’s view you disagree with is an AFL fan and is bored is just immature and childish. Soccer fans like yourself need to get over themselves and stop thinking you all know everything. And attacking people cause you find them a threat and don’t let like what they say is childish. Quite frankly I will express my view on this public forum and if any of you don’t like it tough luck. You may think you carry the flag for soccer because soccer is oppressed But get over yourselves and evolve
JANAKAN
Guest
I’ll blame autocorrect
Nemesis
Guest
I think there have been 12 articles over the past week about who will make the 8 in AFL. Should the ALeague be concerned the AFL is getting more articles on who will make the 8 than there are articles about ALeague in crisis? And, do you know the TV Ratings for "Bold & Beautiful" yesterday? I've heard more people ordered Domino's Pizza yesterday than watched Bold & Beautiful. Should CBS be concerned about this?
Nemesis
Guest
Hey Janakan When did you start following ALeague and what exactly is your involvement? Regular attendance at home matches? Watch at least 1 game on TV per week? Or, just an AFL fan, who is bored for 6 months of the year and wants to get involved in discussions about big sports that are active 24x7x365? I've been following ALeague since Day 1. Nothing you write makes any sense. Maybe, you should focus your efforts on big issues like: How can AFL become popular in NSW & QLD? Will BBL become even more exciting if it is reduced to 10 overs? Or maybe just 1 over? Should AFLX play with a round ball, offside rule & goals with crossbar? And ... no tight shorts and singlets? Lots of topics for people like you who have limited knowledge of Football.