Is the A-League about to become what we've always wanted it to be?

Hi JB, yes watched that awhile back, very good insight & entertaining.

Punter - have just been viewing a series on Netflix called " The English Game" which I am quite sure you would find most interesting as it mirrors exactly what has been going on in our game almost since the opening day some 150 years ago. The gist of the programme is as to how "working class people" tried to break into a game that appeared to be the realm of ex-public schoolboys. The teams are recognisable to football aficionados as It centres around Blackburn Rovers first dabbling in buying, and paying players in an effort to snare the FA Cup, from the Old Etonians, up until then almost the habitual winners. Great viewing. Cheers jb. i

I think you actually need to re-consider what you think is the crowd cap. When they talk about a 50% cap - that is the maximium. The venue has to submit a safe Covid plan which in many cases is considerably less than 50%.

100%agree, junior football but for decades now we have, in many cases had to depend on parents to fill coaching roles. a dangerous precedent, when that parent has little or no knowledge of football, coaching ,it’s principles, and how to get that knowledge over to their charges. & my knowledge here is strong.

Not sure what your point is here. But yes no doubt the last few years, the last years of Lowy jr days & this last year has not been good, many factors here, but agree the A-League struggling, like I said even I was struggling to get excited about new season, but.... I see some excitement in the games this year, is this another false dawn, I don't know, but I'm an optimist. I have to be, while my involvement in football was nothing like yours in the NSL or even before the NSL, football today in this country has never been better for people who follow football. I have followed football since way back in the 70s with Rasic's socceroos, as a little boy & we have always struggled, been the poor cousin of Aussie sport. How do we get out of this, I out of answers, I now just enjoy what we have, hence why I'm enjoying the A-League today.

Punter- You don't have to have a PHD to locate the facts. In 1974 a highly educated (note the word) man from England brought with him the findings of a huge investigative sporting establishment school in England called Loughborough College. Their findings were into sport in general and pointed out that up to that point coaching of kids was totally misdirected. The man's name was Eric Worthington and his doctrine ,contained in his books, told us of small sided games, on small pitches, with heaps of ball working exercises as the way to coach different age groups.. Some 35 years later, at great expense, we were presented with a National Curriculum, based exactly on those same factors. Now I don't know your experience in junior football but for decades now we have, in many cases had to depend on parents to fill coaching roles. a dangerous precedent, when that parent has little or no knowledge of football, coaching ,it's principles, and how to get that knowledge over to their charges. Worthington's job in 1974 was to set up sessions, country wide, for people who wanted to teach these same kids. He failed, not for lack of know-how but for lack of money when cigarette advertising was removed from sport. His wages were paid by Rothman's and the ASF management of the time could not raise the necessary replacement funds. You will find his name in the Australian soccer hall of fame. Cheers jb.

Punter - I do not question your observation as to young home grown players being given a chance in our top competition although the corona virus and the necessary isolation rules could be affecting that as well. Until "top" teams are sorted out to me it is presumptious to hint that it is developed talent that is causing what you are claiming as "a step forward". In fact I could argue that the usage of those same young players and the hiring of the coaches you mention could be put down to lack of funds more than any other factor. The A league by virtue of the use of these players and coaches could be classes as an "L Plate' competition , not, to my eyes, is a way to increase crowds by at least 50% which this figure so far indicates are needed. Remember Punter it is now 13 years since Lowy's numbers crunchers told clubs they needed to average 10,000 per game ,just to exist. So far that figure has proved elusive to more than a few clubs and the general financial health of those clubs is a constant problem for the A-League. Now if after those 13 years we had an A-League made up of 12 or so Melbourne Victorys, with their 5 figure average crowds, how much better would be the future. No???? Cheers jb.

JB, When it comes to the National Curriculum knowledge, I'm in Kindergarten & you have a PHD on it, I always value your input, especially from your great experience. However, my point being that this current crop are getting a chance to express themselves in the highest competition in the land at an earlier age due to the COVID issue, unlike the previous generations where positions were taken by marquee type players, ex socceroos, foreign journeyman & returning O/S Aussie professionals. This is what is exciting everyone, for the first time, we are seeing new Aussie coaches like Moon, Veart, Ksnorbo, Garcia giving young players 16-22 year olds a go. This is what got me excited about in the A-League this year. While I don't think I've seen a Viduka or a Kewell yet, we are seeing that our youth are maybe not as bad as what we thought & NC maybe not as bad as we thought. All they needed was a chance. Look at someone like Anthony Caceres, a player who I always thought was highly skilled & had great potential, he is 28 years old, showing his wares in a very slick SFC outfit, but in 10 years as a professional he has only played 160 professional games, just not enough. Definitely though our standard has not improved as some other countries, but that also shows that we not spending the monies to improve coaching (money football in this country does not have or being spent in the wrong places, you again would have more knowledge on that side of things).

Punter - Have already explained my fears to Samuel, my comment was not meant as a criticism it was facing the monetary problems clubs could experience ahead.. One thing you could explain to me. It is now some 11 years since the National Curriculum was foisted upon us and to my knowledge it has been amended 3 times since. You say we are only starting to see the benefits now and that leads me to a question I have that you may be able to explain. If we accept the Curriculum has been available for 10 or 11 years then surely the older kids ,around 12-15, should have been showing benefits much sooner. After all not ALL the kids getting taught the contents were only 5 or 6 in 2005. No? jb.

Samuel -You obviously did not absorb my last sentence when I said my article was not a troll on the game ,but nevertheless a huge problem for the clubs involved. I'll put it into dollar figures so that you may get my fears. Using $25 as an average entry fee, last season that would have ,after 8 games, seen a total $ figure into club coffers of $ 2,790,000 or $697,500 each (on average). To compare this season so far we have, using the same entrance fee, saw 58,400 contribute $1,460,000 to the 4 home teams giving each $365,000. Now losses like that in business would have liquidators sniffing around, and, although there has been a great attempt to support the Jets in their financial strife, can you imagine what would happen if say 3 or 4 other clubs "put out a hand for help" Just something for the bosses to chew over. Cheers jb. ps The virus epidemic has not helped, we are all aware of that problem. jb

Samuel, you would understand that with the AFL, the competition is everything to the game. Whereas, the A-League, these young players lighting up the competition is not only good for the A-league, but good for football in this country, we watch & hope some of these players will develop & play for the Scocceroos, move O/S & create a career ala a Kewell, Dukes or Cahill, this is not to say I've seen anyone of their quality yet. These kids coming thru are some of first coming thru the NC (National Curriculum) & maybe this is working as we are giving the youth an opportunity to play. This is something I thought JBinnie would be interested in instead of the crowds or TV ratings. I believe the standard of football in Australia has improved, just not to the level of other countries, that is all.

Agree with you Punter, I still have my Foxtel subscription since I watch AFL and Cricket with it and obviously the A-League. However many people I know have canned Foxtel which I'm very much thinking about doing once this A-League season is up and just getting Kayo. Ratings are irrelevant and only trolls or A-League haters will bring them up in an argument against. Sure, they are very poor, but without context they don't mean a whole lot. Hopefully the great start so far continues for the rest of the season.

Very good points. We can't make comparisons or jump to any conclusions until we are well past this particular period, hopefully, it will be soon.

Very well put Samuel, I think with what happened with COVID, the recent decline of the A-League, the reduce TV rights & total lack of respect from Foxtel, lots of players leaving the A-league for better paying leagues, even the most ardent A-League fans were not expecting much. I know I, despite continuing on with my SFC membership, but with the goings on with COVID & other issues have not been pumped for season start was not expecting much. However, as per Mike's article, has been pleasantly surprised with the start of the A-League & the performances of some of the teams. I have not cared at all at TV ratings (as a matter of fact I cancelled my Foxtel subscription, they were no longer getting any of my money) or attendances. I'm just worried about how it's going on the football field, once that is going again, everything will take care of itself.

I'm extremely aware of the poor crowds the A-League gets to some matches most of the time, but let's go through each match and analyse each crowd. #1 - Western United v Adelaide United (5,128) - It's extremely important to know that the crowd was capped at 7,000 for this game, and for a Monday night it wasn't too bad. Western United were getting 3-4,000 for games on Saturday's last season. #2 - Brisbane Roar v Melbourne City (9,279) - Match was played at Dolphin Stadium with a capacity of 11,500. Great crowd for a Tuesday night with fans having to go all the way up to Redcliffe. Had electric atmosphere, well done to the Roar and all their supporters. #3 - Western Sydney v Macarthur (10,128) - When the Sydney outbreak was close to it's peak, to get over 10,000 to a match with a capped crowd of 15,000 on a Wednesday night is a good effort and without the outbreak and all restrictions, I think it could've nudged the 20,000 mark. This 'derby' will only get bigger. #4 - Central Coast v Newcastle (5,273) - Average crowd yes, with the crowd capped at 10,000 and for the local derby I thought it would be around the 7,000 mark but in the middle of a COVID outbreak it can be excused this time. #5 - Wellington v Sydney (3,637) - Again, in the midst of a COVID outbreak with very poor weather in Wollongong, I think 3,600 is an OK result, especially since Wellington aren't even from Australia, let alone Wollongong. Sure most were Sydney fans but if the Phoenix can pull a few thousand to a game I think that's a good result. #6 - Melbourne Victory v Brisbane (8,555) or (10,304, which is it?) - Whatever the crowd was, it was good to see fans back in the stands in Melbourne and when McManaman scored the roar from the crowd was spine-tingling. Crowd capped at 15,000 as well, not too bad. Definitely seemed like more than 8k though. #7 - Macarthur v Central Coast (4,538) - Macarthur's first home game and with the expected crowd only being 3,000, I think 4.5k is a decent result but something that they have to build on in the future. Some ticket prices to Campbelltown are way too expensive and must be looked at. Not to mention the capped crowd was about 8,000. #8 - Adelaide United v Melbourne City (10,106) - Sensational crowd, especially since the cap was 12,500. I was lucky to attend this game and I loved seeing professional football live again. The atmosphere generated by the Red Army was electric and credit to the City fans for turning up, almost filled their entire bay. So analysing the crowds so far, it really doesn't look bad at all. Yes there are many things the APL, FA and A-League need to work on but hopefully when restrictions are lifted crowds increase. I know crowds have been dwindling for years and I have been extremely critical of them but it's almost unfair to criticise crowds in this particular situation.

samuel- You as a fan may not like to see people commenting on crowds but unfortunately the money men behind the FA, the clubs, and the various bodies may well notice that last season (not a particularly outstanding year) after 8 completed matches the crowd had totaled 111,600 for an average gate of 13,950. This season after 8 completed games we have seen a crowd total of 58,400 giving a game average of 7,300. From a financial point of view these figures cannot be described as anything other than drastic. Let us hope this trend can be reversed, and soon, or some clubs are going to find the going awfully tough. That is not a troll against the game, it is simply a fact of life that has to be faced and acted upon. jb.

In what has been a difficult opening to the season, which might still worsen, there has been some positive news amidst the gloom.

season ticket holder from day 1, behind the coach boxes. Yelling at jamo after he got sent off, gave a wry smile in our sections direction as he walked off lol

yep

Hey Mid, haven't worried about the Wanderers for years not going to start this year. You must be a happy man with Mariners sitting top of table with some decent players still to come in.