At the end of yet another tumultuous week for the A-Leagues, it was easy to forget there was a round of football being played – something the APL seems to do every single week.
Perhaps it was fitting that a largely forgettable round of A-League Men action ended in front of an empty stand scorched by an oppressively hot summer sun on Sunday afternoon.
Kick-off was pushed back to 6pm local time for the ALM clash between the Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne City on Sunday, but it was still around 36 degrees Celsius when the game got under way.
The match itself was hardly forgettable, with Angel Torres scoring a dramatic late winner in his side’s 2-1 victory before his Mariners teammate Storm Roux was sent off for his part in a bench-clearing brawl – despite having already been substituted.
It was just everything else around the game – from the empty stand on the TV side of the broadcast, to the multiple drinks breaks to counter the oppressive heat – that made the clash tough to watch.
It also pushed back the A-League Women’s fixture to an 8:45pm kick-off on what was supposed to be a family-friendly double-header.
The bundling together of the men’s and women’s leagues – while well-intentioned – has regularly inconvenienced fans of both competitions this season.
It’s true that A-League Women’s fixtures have enjoyed a spike in attendances, but that’s coming off an extremely low base, not to mention a hugely successful Women’s World Cup.
It’s been the inability to grow the game in every other key area that has alarm bells ringing – and which resulted in the Australian Professional Leagues making up to 40 of their staff redundant last week.
Job losses are never something to celebrate.
But if the reports are true the APL is set to axe digital arm KeepUp after only a couple of seasons, having burned through a reputed $40 million on the website and app, then serious questions must be asked of the APL’s leadership.
Plenty will point the finger at Danny Townsend – the chief executive who sold grand final hosting rights to Sydney, failed to secure a European opponent for his ‘festival of football,’ then ultimately absconded to Saudi Arabia.
Former Australian Professional Leagues Chief Executive Danny Townsend stepped down in October of 2023. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
But the whispers around the game are that Townsend wasn’t acting alone, and there appears to be growing disquiet around the pernicious influence of the City Football Group.
There’s no doubt the A-Leagues are hard-up for cash.
It’s just hard to imagine exactly where the tens of millions of dollars that have supposedly been invested into the game have been spent.
It’s easier to pinpoint where things have gone wrong.
“APL is a digital sports entertainment holds the exclusive and perpetual right to operate, market, and commercialise the top-tier professional domestic football competitions in Australia,” reads Silver Lake’s portfolio blurb on the APL.
Nope.
The APL should be the governing body for our professional football leagues – one that focuses on decisions that benefit football and the fans who pay to watch it.
Yet in the endless quest to chase mythical fans that either don’t exist or have no intention of ever setting foot inside an A-League stadium – from casual fans to Eurosnobs – the APL has alienated the only supporters it actually had.
The A-Leagues’ unique selling point is atmosphere inside the stadiums – something that has been diminished time and again by a series of administrators who simply don’t understand what makes football fans tick.
Maybe it’s too late to save the A-Leagues.
But if the APL wants to try, they should start by focusing on football.
Talk to fans. Fix the schedule. End the obsession with the Sydney and Melbourne markets.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
In short, run proper football competitions.
Because all the focus on ‘digital strategies’ and ‘sports entertainment’ has failed.
And unless the rest of the APL wants to follow their unfortunate colleagues out the door, they need to change tack and start appealing to the only demographic they’ve got left – actual football fans.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Maybe just publish the refutations - that would be funny
Tony Harper
Editor
It also needs to be right. And there is a credibility issue when someone isn't prepared to put their real name to articles that are refuted by organisations
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
I agree MIke, but a public entity like the ABC is supposed to also report the issues/events outside a supposed mainstream of popular issues. And football is a big sport where the A-League deserves regular attention. Here in Albury, local soccer is always on the television news, so i cannot see why the A-League does not get suitable attention. Having said that, sites like Roar provide opportunities for all to report football. and build readership, assuming th9ere is interest.
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
ok Chris, show the links to articles where AFL stooges sought to undermine the A-League. Give the author/s a right to understand where he or she has stated bias against the A-League.
chris1
Roar Rookie
So you've actually gone to the AFL and league tabs and denigrated their game? You've written articles that patronises their game and posted it on the AFL, league tabs? I'm sure they are taking pot shots over on those tabs at football - the diving and poo fta game etc. But who cares? That's on their specific tab and they can say whatever they like. Just like we do on here to those games. What I'm describing is totally different. It's disruptive and denigrating.
NickA
Roar Rookie
FF I think that is exactly what attracts clicks. If you use the Roar articles as a microcosm you can see that articles with negative titles attract more interest than positive ones.
Football Fan
Roar Rookie
Tufanooo, Ch10 still report on other sports, quite a lot in fact, whereas the other networks, especially ch9, only talk about football when there's something negative to report. All of a sudden, football becomes newsworthy.
Football Fan
Roar Rookie
So it's no longer about what is newsworthy, it's about clicks, even for the ABC? That's sad to hear. I'm curious Mike, from your experience, do negative Aleague stories attract clicks with these MSM platforms including ABC? I would have thought not, yet they seem to take up pole position in the main sports articles and sometimes the main articles.
Kitwally
Roar Rookie
On a rare positive note, there are two football articles with 150 odd comments each in “Roaring Hot” :happy:
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
How many times have I taken potshots at the AFL and NRL, though? More than a few. It's got to work both ways.
chris1
Roar Rookie
Im not referring to Tony or you. I know you are football fans. The point was made very early on which seems to have been lost now…do you allow the same tr olls to de-rail conversations on other tabs? And do you publish rubbish articles from people that are clearly there just to deride that sport, thinly masking the article as legitimate. Few and far between you say? There shouldnt be any let through. And it was in relation to why are there not as many football contributors as there used to be. Hey it’s your call. You guys can publish whatever you want and allow whatever comments you like to appear. A lot of us on here are left to defend the constant cr ap that is published on here but sounds like it’s all good with you. Don’t bemoan when there is no one left on here.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Tony is as big a football fan as any of us. He's been a supporter of the A-League since day one. At the end of the day, people can write whatever they like. I know I sure do. I think that as football fans, we need to be bigger than worrying about what some AFL fan thinks about the A-Leagues. Those sorts of pieces are few and far between on here anyway.
Kitwally
Roar Rookie
Do not agree that the A-League is a bunch of “sub-standard rejects running around”. When was the last time you went to a game or even watched the highlights of a game?
chris1
Roar Rookie
If the footballers in this country are sub-standard rejects what does that say about our rugby league players? Who are sourced from the western suburbs of Sydney and a few Pacific Island nations - and not many players at that. And AFL? Well Victoria, SA and WA must be some sporting nursery Nirvana. They should send sports scientists to those states to see these sporting Gods all choosing to play AFL.
chris1
Roar Rookie
Huh? Be bigger than what? I was talking about the authors - it was Marcel who talked about editors. But while we're on editors and their role. You have a responsibility and it's you who has the final word of what gets published and what doesn't. You asked somewhere about the dwindling number of football fans that come on this site and I'm offering you 2 reasons. One, you allow derogatory articles to be written about the A League v how great AFL is. Articles written by d*m wits with hardly a clue about football and only write the articles to put soccer in it's place. And two, you allow the tr olls to infest the conversation on every article and you sit idly by and say "well it's all within the rules".
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
My interest is in a lot of sports and my interest is in sensible debate formed by facts, Punter. People who come on her crying conspiracies, putting down other sports for not being 'international enough' and persisting with this deluded opinion that the A-League will eventually crush all (Krusty is coming, Krusty is coming) are going to get called out. You mention the days when SFC and WSW were getting 60k a game...it wasn't 4-5 years ago. It was 7 years ago. Yes, it might sound pedantic but it also highlights just how far the game has fallen. It was not a stupid decision by the APL. It was several. But it is also the market. The people have spoken. You are now a niche league. I think on another tab there is a suggestion to scrap the A-League and start over. I would agree with it. Delusions of grandeur will help no one Punter.
Randy
Roar Rookie
people need to know that Australia can produce world class footballers. You guys keeps saying how massive and global football is (duh) but if Australia can't produce players who can make it in the top Leagues then who cares about the domestic game? Its just feels like a bunch of sub-standard rejects running around, all the marketing and game day atmosphere in the world won't matter much. I sincerely think the success of the A League is dependent on how well we are doing Internationally. Who are our big names in football right now? definitely no Cahill's, Kewell's or Viduka's, not even any Jedinak or Rogic's
Tony Harper
Editor
I didn’t mention editors I was just quoting a response. Seriously? Be bigger than that mate.
chris1
Roar Rookie
I didn't mention editors I was just quoting a response. So the editors just allow these articles through and you don't do anything about it and then you wonder why you are losing football readers? Interesting take.
Tony Harper
Editor
You mentioned Roar editors, not contributors. It's an opinion site so you should expect some opinions you don't agree with. But a claim that The Roar editors are deriding football should be backed up with some evidence.