Completely disagree with the premise of this article and Grem’s comments are my thoughts too.
The second tier is exactly what we need right now and their is a lot to like about it.
From a financial perspective, any club in Australia could have submitted a EOI and in that EOI there needed to be financial criteria met. Financial integrity is the key to any league start-up and the teams selected are based on those that are confirmed to be bankrolled. The competition will be run on the smell of an oily rag.
The most useful thing I see to come out of the competition is not the eventual chance for promo/relo, but the chance for a group of young players (like my own son) to stay in Australia and play. Right now, if you’re not in an a-league academy it’s extremely unlikely you’ll be playing for an a-league club. What do young people do? Head overseas and hope for the best. At least now, it will given youth an extra chance to play on pro-contracts and most importantly, keep playing instead of giving up if overseas doesn’t work out. I work it out to be about 150 extra players on paid contracts, who might otherwise head overseas and/or eventually quit the dream.
I was once unsure about having ‘old NSL’ teams vying for an a-league spot, but after almost 20 years of seeing a-league clubs on their knees financially, I have re-thought about it. If these ‘b-league’ clubs can survive (and thrive) in the football market, then I see that as a good thing. If they can’t then so be it.

Was at at the game with my family (we are a split family Sydney FC and Mariners), and I have to say the Coasties (I’ve been one for 12 years now) did the team and the region proud. Fantastic atmosphere, great vibe, but yet very hostile towards the opposition: all the ingredients you need! I’ve been to 6 grand finals now and this for me rated up there with Sydney FC v Victory in 2017 in terms of passion and electric atmosphere.
I predicted a sellout but I got that wrong. Nonetheless we saw around 23K coasties travel to the game to turn ‘Wanderland’ home end into a sea of yellow and pull off the ‘who do we sing for’ as good as any club, if not better.
The more I think about it, APL would be wise to look how a region like the central coast has developed itself into a football force. It always was a strong football area but now it is well and truly entrenched in the psyche and culture of the region, possibly like no other area in Australia. We are talking about 5% of the entire population travelling to Sydney for this match. Unbelievable!
Having moved here from Sydney, I can say it has helped to not have a NRL of AFL team here. It is all about the Mariners. The Mariners represent this area and I don’t think any other sport could do it now if they had a team in a national competition: possibly rugby league but it may be too late for them now. In many ways, Mariners getting a licence at the beginning (which was somewhat by chance) has enabled it to provide the FFA/APL with an area of Australia that is now 100% football focused.
Hence my main point: In my view areas that have no team to represent them at a national level could do well for the A-league , if the club is managed well. I think you need a population of 300K at a minimum. I can only speak for NSW but what obviously comes to mind is the Illawarra region. Roughly the same size as the central coast, a great stadium and a ready made football culture, yet without national representation in sport (I don’t count St George). I am sure there are other areas outside of NSW that fit that bill.
Loved the match last night. Unsure how it came across on tele but it was loud out there.

Ha, very true. I live on the coast and AFL is definitely the least popular of the football codes, and by a long way. Despite AFL spending big on conning public schools to put in posts for cash (yep a bribe), kids just use the two big posts as football goals and try to pull out the small posts.

It’s mostly just single seats left in the bays not sold. If it doesn’t sell out, it will be close.
My bet is that it will be sold out by midday tomorrow.
In any case I will be with the 20 000 other Mariners fans driving down the M1 tomorrow!

If Mariner’s win the final, can you have the headline:
“Worst council in Australia, best football team in Australia”

I was at the game. A terrific night.
I’m a Sydney FC fan, but my son is Mariners, so I get to see the best of both worlds.
In all honesty, the shoestring budget Mariners should be running the A-league! Football people with football insight, who are able to connect with and influence the community. Everyone here on the coast loves the Mariners. They get into schools, they have have strong links with local clubs and know how to develop youth (always perform well across all ages in the NPL). No-one should ever complain abut Mariners crowds, who are consistently the highest per population in the league, and by a long way. In fact, more than 5% of the entire coast’s population was at the match on Saturday. 5%! And notice how youthful the crowd was? A new generation of a-league fans.
I reckon Mariners crowds would average 10K+ if summer matches weren’t played at the ridiculous time of 5pm. I simply cannot fathom why this is. If the TV people want to improve their investment, stop 5pm summer kick-offs. It’s ruining the league.
On the pitch the Mariners are well organised and have looked hungry all year. Monte has the whole team firing and with plenty of talent on the bench. There’s no reason they can’t win the final.

The APL should take special note of the Mariners and population base. I’m a Sydney FC fan but moved to the central coast, like a lot of people from Sydney. The fact that many Sydney FC fans live on the central coast but they still punch above their weight is testament to their winning formula. Firstly, this is probably one of the few areas in Australia where football is the number one sport. Juniors and seniors playing everywhere. Second, the Mariners have built the team into the psyche of the community. Everyone know the Mariners and they have respect. The club has worked hard to go into schools etc to promote the club AND the sport. Third, the players and coaching staff are visible across the community because they have strong ties to the local clubs. Fourth, people from the coast genuinely see themselves as a seperate area from Sydney and one to be proud of. Geographically it has natural separation from Sydney but demographically, it is pretty similar to Sydney but distant from Newcastle, making for a great derby with the hated Newcastle. Finally the club is built as a family club. Family friendly. As much as I like the blokey atmosphere of Sydney games, the family environment works.
In fact I believe the Mariners crowds would even be a lot higher if the matches were not put on at the stupid time of 5pm in the middle of summer. What at is the APL thinking? I mean everyone is at the beach! Mariners games in summer need to be at 8pm.
I’ll be at today’s sellout match with my boys.
My thinking is that Wollongong could produce a similar story for the A-League, possibly Canberra too.

For the sake of the A-League Grand final, let’s hope the Mariners win today. At least then the APL can avoid total humiliation with regards to the GF crowd.
Mariners apparently have 19K tickets sold for today. Well done for the club with the highest a-league crowds per population! That’s what you get when football is the number one sport in the region.

Ida, you lost me when you said:
“manifestation of the city’s east-west divide”
errr no it isn’t.

I think virtually every Sydney FC fan is fed up with the nonsense being linked only to the city/east, given that most don’t even live there

I agree with your ideas and desire to attract these fans. .However my comments relate not to any particular individual but rather to the continued, obvious, conscious neglect of a large swathe of football fans that shun the a-league. It’s clear as day that there were thousands of Sydneysiders in arsenal jerseys last night that have absolutely no intention of supporting the team of their own city. Yes we have all tried to convert them. Some will but most don’t. It works both ways too…it’s not just us and our clubs trying to attract fans of EPL clubs but it’s the internal philosophy of the individual. It’s a genuine wider question…why do so many support a team on the other side of the world yet have a local club up the road that they have never seen? I’m not talking about those people that support multiple clubs…many A-league fans would do that. But I very much doubt that these games do that much to assist in the conversion we all want. I’m sorry but I stand by the term euorosnob for the majority of attendees.

Asking them why they don’t support the team of their local city first and foremost is hardly an insult.

Dull as dishwater. There is a reason why Sydney FC fans largely ignore these euorosnob fests.
Give me Sydney FC vs wanderers anyday.
And why are all these Sydney people not supporting Sydney teams first and foremost? Having lived in UK and been to plastic EPL matches…..my philosophy is…spend time supporting your local team.

Don’t these games and commentry just perpetuate the eurosnob mentality? How does it do anything to advance the game here and win over potential fans?

I would agree except that I think Sydney FC treated it as more of a joke than Liverpool. We only had to go up the road….Liverpool flew half way around the world. Arnold purposefully played the second half with a team of ‘nobodies’

Even the euronsnobs must of realised they were being taken for a ride.
Further, Don’t they ever wonder why a- league fans refuse to go to these games? Or are they too fixated on their weird affiliation with a far flung team?

The whole thing was a joke. I’m a Sydney FC fan and turned off after 3 minutes. No one was interested except the eurosnob money extractors.

The attempt from the traditional custodians of the game to ‘Australianise’ it to other areas in their endeavour to normalise it there. For many if not most of us in the northern states it will always be seen as a threatening import that potentially erodes traditional sports like football and the rugby’s. It feels like halloween’. We all know it belongs somewhere else but commercial interests are thwarting kids interests.

Wasn’t trying to be funny

Well picked Valhalla. I know I shouldn’t have….but couldn’t resist

The a- league attendances are really being held back by a couple of teams. Why is Wellington there? Please explain? Again, lowest crowds in the league. Surely there next two expansion teams will add to averages…. They simply cannot be worse than welly

VFL should run back to their deluded shell. More than half of Australia couldn’t care about it, so why would China..a football (soccer) progressive nation. I give them points for trying to expand but why not accept that the glory days are over in the globalised world? My own view is that VFL over the he next 100 years will fade in relevance and become like many traditional local sports around the world; a parochial but pronvincial game. Nothing more. One single comp with decent attendances does not make it a popular sport in the big scheme of things.

No the school should not have accepted the conditions. It’s quite simple. I’m not blaming the AFL but the school.

I’m actually not. I was Eddy but could not remember my old password

Schools are there to introduce kids to a broader PE/athletic palette –
Exactly…..and not to be bribed by one sport, to muscle in, out of nowhere and try and change the sporting landscape. It’s why the dept realised they got it wrong. Why should the oval of a oublic school only have AFL posts in school a rugby/soccer area?
AFL is seen as a viral competitor to the traditional sports….volleyball frankly isn’t.

Bollocks. The AFL have done NOTHING for my child’s interests or school and my lad is free to play whatever game he wishes. The FFA try very hard but simply don’t have the same level of financial clout as AFL. What they do on a shoestring budget is amazing however. They do all those things you mention actually.