Are Perth Glory the best team in Australia by virtue of losing 1-0 to Sydney FC at Jubilee Stadium in Kogarah overnight?
Sydney FC were marginally the better team in a Thursday night showdown short of intensity, even if Adam Le Fondre’s winner was just about the scrappiest goal you’ll ever see.
The win moved the Sky Blues five points clear of third-placed Melbourne Victory in the current standings, although Victory still have a game in hand.
And guess what? Come this time next year, almost no-one will remember that last round.
Why? Because we play finals football in Australia to decide our champions.
Every season we have the exact same argument and every season it seems to get more and more inane.
We know that finishing top of the league after the regular season makes one team the most consistent, but does it necessarily make them the best?
It certainly does if you’re one of a growing chorus of online fans who have taken to saying the exact opposite of everything we know to be true.
For a certain type of A-League fan, reality simply has no bearing on the outcome of any online discussion.
The fact that Football Federation Australia generates a significant portion of its revenue from the sale of finals tickets, or that they might not want to lock out thousands of potential new fans from a title decider, or even that we have a title decider in the first place are all irrelevant pieces of information to those insist the A-League operates in an alternative universe.
Despite the online naysayers, the grand final remains the centre piece of the A-League season. (AAP Image/David Moir)
In that world, the A-League champions are decided by a first-past-the-post system and any debate around whether Perth Glory might get 60,000 at Optus Stadium is moot because they shouldn’t be allowed to play there in the first place.
And that would be all well and good if football were the No. 1 game in the land and A-League games were selling out on a regular basis.
But it’s not and they aren’t, and back here in the real world the reality is the A-League needs all the help it can get to raise its profile.
The same fans who complain about the A-League not being on the back page of the newspaper or the lead sports story on the nightly news are usually the first to insist no-one is interested in watching a grand final.
We know the exact opposite to be true – every season the highest attendance at an A-League game is for the grand final – but it doesn’t seem to have any effect on those who say the competition is one thing when it’s clearly another.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
That’s not to suggest that there shouldn’t be debate around how the A-League is run or that things are perfect as they currently stand.
But at some point it might be worth putting our hands up and admitting that many of the improvements fans demand to see in the A-League are realistically never going to happen.
There’s more chance of the English Premier League introducing a finals series than there is of the A-League getting rid of theirs, so why can’t we just accept that and adjust our attitudes accordingly?
As someone whose park football team twice finished top of the league but failed to win the grand final, I can honestly say I’ve never once looked back on those seasons and felt like we were champions.
And Perth Glory won’t either unless they win the A-League grand final on Election Day.
There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging that.
Every A-League team starts the season knowing exactly what it takes to be crowned champion, so for Glory the job is only half done.
They were second best last night despite finishing top of the league.
But it’s immaterial because in Australia winning the grand final is what really counts.
Punter
Roar Rookie
If SFC wins the GF they will be the ALeague champions, PG won the premiership. The AFL GF winner wins the premiership & is the AFL champions. Do you see the difference.
David V
Guest
I am a keen A-League supporter, a season ticket holder and go to every game. You really should think before responding in such a manner to a point of discussion. Yes all clubs have to start from somewhere. The question is whether Australian fans have realistic expectations for how this league will develop. I want it to thrive but also be realistic about its parameters. It has been precisely my criticism of the A-League that too much energy is being wasted on trying to attract the casual/non-football fan and on short-termist fixes rather than ensuring its long-term sustainability.
Nemesis
Guest
"It lacks a compelling narrative that foreign leagues, mainly Europe and South America, have. " Every league started with nothing. At some stage Arsenal FC was just a group of lads who worked at the munition factory having a kick about. If you find ALeague lacks a compelling narrative, fine. Go away & let those of us who enjoy ALeague create the compelling narrative that we enjoy.
RF
Roar Rookie
#BRIvNEW 18k #CCWvWSW 16k #ADLvMVC 21k These figures persist and there will be no new tv deal from anyone. The football the A League has served up this year has been, with rare exceptions, low standard, dull rubbish and these ratings reflect that.
RF
Roar Rookie
Excellent points
David V
Guest
One can live with the finals system even if it's not my preference personally, but one thing you might touch on is the A-League's fundamental weakness being a young league. It lacks a compelling narrative that foreign leagues, mainly Europe and South America, have. This is what the derbies, Big Blue, Adelaide Utd v Melbourne Victory are all supposed to provide. The reason being deeply rooted traditions in other countries that are too much of a pull.
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
The reason for that is that top of the table is the BEST way to determine the champion of a League tournament. It gives you the best team over the course of a season, not just at a point in time. Football, of all sports, due to it’s difficulty in scoring and therefore low scoring nature is the sport where you are more likely than other sports for an individual match to have an upset result. A team may dominate the match but unluckily fail to score. Conversely, a team may only have one attack, score a lucky goal, and win the match. Over the course of a long league campaign, these anomalies will balance out and the best team will win more points than the other teams. That is why a pure league system of every team playing every other once home and once away, where the top of the table is is the best system for a for a football league. This is why it’s used by the best leagues in the world. Of course short cup competitions have their charm and merit for short tournaments, or ‘intraleague’ tournaments, eg champions league, but not to decide a league champion.
brisvegas
Guest
I'm with you, Paul. It is a downgrading of Perth's efforts. I personally enjoy the finals and think it adds colour and enjoyment to the game. I don't care whether the Champions are the GF winner or the league winner or both. However, to imply that it is an inconsequential triumph to win the league is bizarre at best. To say that the only thing that 'really matters' is winning the grand final relegates the whole league season to a series of preliminary ties to decide who plays who in the lead up to the only game that 'really matters'. It's a strange narrative. It may be the Australian way, and I've lived with it for a long long time, but it always makes me shake my head and wonder.
RF
Roar Rookie
Like Fadida, I came through the Tas system, which was (then) first past the post, and knockout cup with stages throughout the season. I find finals bizarre, but that’s the way it is, and, frankly, in a 10 team league it’s hard to see any other way of generating any real excitement. In any case, it’s a side issue to say the least. The A League’s existence is in question right now, and finals v first past the post is just a distraction – one that rolls around every year at this time rather like a local bus. The desperate search for filler stories, most of them repetitive, on this site is a reflection of the problems the A League is having with waning interest and, it must be said, relevance. In an age of television sport and Manchester City versus Spurs on a Saturday evening live, the A League is really up against it.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Actually, that is what Mike is trying to say, it's not a matter of personal opinion at all, the current system, signed up to by all the clubs, is that the Champion is determined by the winner of the Grand Final. That's the current system. That is a fact which is not really a matter of debate, it's an open and shut case. People can argue whether that should or should not be the system, but until that systems is changed, we currently determine the Champion as being the winner of the Grand Final. I suspect that the longer we continue with the system as it currently stands, the harder it will become to change in the future. I'd also like to point out that in its early years, the NSL decided the champion by way of the traditional European first-past-the post system. It did wonders for that league at the time (just like P&R).
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The premise of this article is that the Grand Final's worth is a matter of opinion, and the best measure of that opinion is public interest. The article surmises that as long as people file through the gates and tune in via various media, the finals will hold a place in the football landscape of Australia. The question people need to ask isn't "are the Champions the winners of the Grand Final?", as that is a matter of personal opinion, but "(i) what is the best measure of the footballing public's opinion as to the definition of Champion?"; and (ii) "what trend does this measure show?" If people don't believe gate receipts and media numbers are good measures, then perhaps they can suggest other measures.
AR
Guest
“Just like this year if SFC wins the GF, they didn’t win it PG did.” Again, no. That is merely your opinion. If SFC wins the GF, they will be ALeague Champions. PG won the Premiers Plate. This is pretty uncontroversial stuff. Are you seriously unable to distinguish what is a ‘fact’ and what is your ‘opinion’?
Punter
Roar Rookie
I totally disagree. As a SFC fan I know we won it last year & this year we came 2nd. Fullstop. Lovely to win the grand final, but doesn't hid the fact we came 2nd.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Ignorance & stupidity must never be accepted. Ignorance & stupidity must always be challenged.
Punter
Roar Rookie
I don't think 4th out of 10 is better or legitimate then winning from 7th out of 18. Because MV did not win it last year, SFC did. Just like this year if SFC wins the GF, they didn't win it PG did.
Jordan Van De Vorst
Guest
Every team bar one's season ends in disappointment. If my team's season is to end in disapppintment, Id prefer it to be after winning the Premier's Plate. If my team won the Plate, but then didn't do the double, I'd say "that was a great season to watch both at the stadium and at home on TV, we had a great team this year. Pitting we couldn't finish the job and do the double. Oh well, on to next season." A few years back, Roar couldn't beat Victory to claim the plate, then surrendered a 3-0 lead against WSW to miss the GF. A very disappointing way for both trophy quests to end, but man was it an entertaining season. Adelaide did the double, good on them, but I look at the season through the prism of my own team. Disappointing, but dramatic and very entertaining that season
Mister Football
Roar Guru
You didn't just state a fact....it was a FACT!
Mister Football
Roar Guru
He's not denigrating anyone, he's telling it the way it is. The Glory has won the Premier's Plate, but they are not champions until they win the grand final. If some poor deluded soul prefers to call it a knock-out cup, or a league cup or the Giro di Sydney, or whatever they choose to call it, doesn't really change this basic fact. And that's a FACT!
Paul
Guest
Maybe but Mike is just denigrating the achievement of Perth winning over 27 rounds. The 27 rounds is qualification for the finals for the top 6 and is essentially a knockout tournement. I have heard some call it the post-season cup.
AR
Guest
Couple of things... 1) I didn’t state an opinion, just a fact, about the format of the ALeague season, as prescribed by the body who run it - the FFA. 2) if I did provide an opinion, then I certainly wouldn’t be bothered whether some thought it was wanted or unwanted - it would just be an opinion, like anyone else’s. 3) if you think winning from 4th out of 10, is somehow ‘better’ or more legitimate than winning from 7th out of 18, that sound like a pretty thin argument. But each to their own.