Football in Australia is cursed. How else can we explain the pouring rain on a public holiday for a game that might otherwise have drawn a capacity crowd?
When something can go wrong in the A-League, it usually does. And not for the first time, the weather played a huge role in keeping fans away from one of the competition’s high-profile fixtures.
That 21,000 fans turned out in steady rain to watch Sydney FC down Melbourne Victory 3-1 at AAMI Park on Australia Day is testament to the fact plenty of people still want to watch the A-League.
But just when the competition could really have used a positive headline – say, for example, by attracting a full house – the heavens open and we’re left to ponder what might have been.
How often can we say that about the A-League?
At least we’ve reached Round 19, because now Football Federation Australia’s desperately needed marketing campaign ‘for the final third of the season’ will finally kick into gear.
Should we brace ourselves for an avalanche of TV ads and radio promotions, outdoor signage and targeted digital offerings across the spectrum of A-League fandom?
Or maybe not? Having had the entire season to advertise the A-League, opting to spend the majority of their marketing budget on the final third of the season sounds like a colossal waste of time.
Is any fan who might be inclined to attend an A-League game not already aware that the competition is on?
The Big Blue aside, crowds and TV ratings were poor once again this weekend, although at least there were plenty of talking points.
Starting with the VAR. Could it be argued the system worked in Perth Glory’s 3-1 win over Western Sydney Wanderers?
Referee Jonathan Barreiro had already waved away claims for a penalty in Perth’s fast start against Western Sydney, only for the VAR to intervene and hand Glory a penalty – and Wanderers youngster Keanu Baccus a straight red card.
Fair call? It was hardly the smartest challenge by Baccus.
And when Liam Reddy tripped Oriol Riera inside the penalty box a short time later, Barreiro didn’t hesitate to award a penalty – and a yellow card to Reddy – which Riera duly converted.
So was it appropriate to send off Baccus but not Reddy? Did the VAR do its job?
In the case of the Glory game, it felt like both of those early decisions were ultimately the right ones.
And in that regard, the VAR could be said to have worked.
(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
But the problem is – and will always remain – twofold. Firstly, VAR decisions take away from the spontaneity of the action.
When a goal is chalked off or awarded by VAR, it robs fans of the spontaneous joy of the act and replaces it with trial by video.
And, as we saw in the Glory game, these incidents are still open to human interpretation – as the decision to send off Baccus but not Reddy suggests.
Yet perhaps the strangest use of the VAR came in stoppage time of Brisbane Roar’s gutsy 2-1 win over the Central Coast Mariners.
Firstly, it’s about time the cult of playing out from the back at all costs ended up costing a team three points, as it did the Mariners.
And secondly, why did referee Adam Kersey hesitate to send off Mariners midfielder Wout Brama for his horrific challenge on Corey Gameiro?
Brama should be ashamed of himself following one of the worst tackles ever seen in the A-League.
Yet when Kersey looked set to deservedly hand the Dutch midfielder a red card – with the referee seemingly having the entire situation under control – he hesitated and deferred to the VAR.
So rather than empowering the referee, the VAR is instead making them more indecisive.
Not to mention slowing down the game considerably.
It’s more trouble than it’s worth. But just like dodgy weather and dubious marketing, it looks like it’s here to stay.
josh
Guest
Exactly, I've seen one person in 4 years wearing GWS Merchandise, and that was walking through Town Hall. It's not working, no one is interested - the only people they can draw are pre-existing AFL members of other clubs who buy Midgets memberships to see their own team play (or have a foot in another camp when that team falls down). Show me the Western Sydney resident who was never into AFL before they arrived and joined up & is now a diehard.
Billbo
Guest
Lets go back to thd old rule that if the ref makes a decision thats it. If the refs want to use the VAR they should stop the game, let the VAR do its job then make the call. If the ref and the assistant are in agreement say, for a goal, why not give it, no VAR needed. The ref has always had the option to overrule the assistant for eg, offside ruling. So, let the ref make the call on when the VAR is used. And Where is the goal line technology? The Aleague has another huge problem, 2 weeks off for Brama for deliberately attacking an opponent. Papadopolous's spit gets 6 weeks for hurting someones feelings, fair enough, but 2 weeks for jumping into an opponents leg in an attempt to injure them, WOW! Clearly the judiciary rules have to change so violent conduct is getting the highest penalties. This was one of the PR spins football had over league, union and AFL that it was a 'safer' sport for the kiddies. Well, that one has gone as well. Time fof a clean out in the FFA and put some football minded business people in not, sport administrators and not someone who was told by their Dad to takeover.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Maybe limit it to 2 VAR appeals per game, if needed.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Hey guys, why don't we stop watching the football and just count the number of people who come to the game. Great idea. Crowd spotting.
At work
Roar Rookie
Completely agree Kaks, apart from checking that the linesman has his flag down, I don't want anything else disrupting the celebration of scoring a goal. Anything else and it will turn it into the NRL. Goal scored = Clap, clap, clap now turn to watch the big screen to see if it is given the green light. Goal gets given = Clap, clap, clap. Instant decisions or nothing #VAROut
Kangajets
Guest
I totally agree , it’s what went wrong with nrl refs too . But they never listen mate
Kaks
Roar Guru
The VAR is doing exactly what the Video referee is doing to NRL. Referee's are afraid or reluctant to make real time calls anymore as they know they have the ability to review (if they wish) a call. The Glory vs Wanderers game was the perfect example. Further to that, it is creating inconsistencies with some challenges being penalised more severely than other challenges, even though the replays show similar outputs. And that's the problem, at the end of the day it is still a human interpretation so we will never correctly weed out the 'mistakes', so lets not ruin the whole game in the pursuit of perfection. And further to that, it completely slow down and ruin every moment in the game. What's worse than celebrating scoring a goal only to have to wait 2 minutes for the VAR to find any reason to disallow it? Goal line technology is a must, but I can do without the VAR.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Yes, even the VAR is not consistent. Why was one a red card and the other not? Can anyone explain? There is no perfect refereeing system. VAR is run by humans anyway. [Bring on the AI computer generated VAR.] Just have to accept it and move on. No A-League game has ever had the scoreline changed after complaints from fans. I'm glad people think that an 11K average crowd for the A-League is poor. Shows we football fans have ambitions and that we expect better. In the NSL days we were happy with a crowd of 2K. Unfortunately the FFA is spending all their money on exorbitant salaries for its board members and senior managers and legal fees to lawyers to try and keep their jobs, challenged by club owners and FIFA. Will this ever be sorted out and the money go where it would do the most good for all of us football fans, players and officials; we the foot soldiers?
Lionheart
Guest
They've got their own league, and play Cup in Malaysia, and in SE Asia. Why would they want to join us? Especially as they would be restricted with visa player numbers.
Nemesis
Guest
Huh? What are you on about? I specifically said: Hopefully, the big drawing teams are more competitive next year I don't rate SydFC as one of these teams. The 3 big teams in terms of support are: MVFC, WSW & Brisbane Over the past 12 seasons of ALeague either one, or all 3 of these teams, has finished Top 2 and challenging for the Premiership over 10 of the seasons (noting WSW only played past 5 seasons). We have an unusual alignment this season where all 3 are not playing well. That's never happened before.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
"Hopefully, the big drawing teams are more competitive next year." Except that this current SFC team is probably the best in the club's history, but the crowds are down. So clearly having a competitive team isn't enough to bring people through the gate or turn on the TV. It would be nice to hear the head honchos outline a plan to turn attendances and viewership figures around. Both at club, comp and sport levels.
chris
Guest
Nem which makes me very suspicious of Bonita Mersiades claim in her book regarding Sepps comment that Aus didnt stand a chance in WC bid due to the time zones etc. Our time zone has more people in it than any other area when you factor in places like China and India. And if Japan/Korea got the rights in 2002 then it smacks even more of sour grapes on her part.
Nemesis
Guest
It's all about The Game. As long as "they" are playing The Game in huge numbers at grassroots level, that - and that alone - is the sign of a thriving sport. Who cares if they don't pay big money to buy the rights to the local league? It took 100 years for England to pay big money to buy the rights to their own local league. Asian economies & the size of the middle class consumers will dwarf that of Europe. It's highly likely, within 50 years, Asian football competitions will generate more TV revenue than UEFA. The spending power of Europe will be a mere afterthought in terms of global commerce.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Tommo You're spot on there, and quite obviously, if anything, it's likely to do the exact opposite to what the keyboard experts were saying. As I have said many times, a few years back the Japanese FA banned these big club tours because they knew this too well. It effectively takes big bucks out of the local football economy, and all it achieves in doing is lining the pockets of large, wealthy clubs. You would think in Australia we learned the lesson long ago, when in the 2nd year of the A-League, a little known club from the weak MSL pulled 80,000 to a game against SFC (in one of the most farcical games of football you will ever see in your life).
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
They're all Premier League mad, and what they pay for the Premier League TV rights is many multiples of what they pay for the rights to the local league.
j,binnie
Guest
Mark - Peaks and troughs???Statistical analysis over a season tend to absorb peaks and troughs into an "average". eg Last season the HAL average crowd dipped under 14,000 for the first time at game 44. That lasted until game 91 when the figure slipped below 13,000. This "dip' lasted until game 135. This season that average figure dropped below 12,000 at game 40. That brings us up to game 89 when the figure has dropped to 11,060 and by game 91 could slip under 11,000 for the first time this season. Funny how these things appear to keep repeating ,is it not? Cheers jb.
Post_hoc
Guest
No need Chris, all good mate
punter
Guest
An NSL bitter & a AFL fear mongering, double whammy there AR.
Waz
Guest
There all eurosnobs Kanga, more Liverpool shirts in Singapore than merseyside ?
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
I"ve made this point many times - it's not so important what the attendances are this season, or even next season. What is important is what they are in 100 years time, only then can we truly judge.