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So Jason Culina and his team-mates are pumped up to play in front of a big crowd on Sunday. We know this, because he wrote as much in his blog on The World Game website. But for all the good will surrounding Gold Coast United’s offer of free admission on Sunday, what difference will it actually make in the long run?
The Gold Coast Bulletin is reporting that around 15,000 free tickets have already been snapped up, with optimists predicting a crowd well in excess of 20,000 for the match.
But history suggests there’s a chance many of those who have registered for a free ticket may not actually turn up, especially if another ferocious thunderstorm rips through the area on the day.
Heavy rain is already anticipated, and it’s ironic the weather may put a dampener on proceedings given not much has gone right on the Gold Coast so far.
Granted, the club recruited astutely for their maiden campaign, signing players of the calibre of Culina and Joel Porter and mounting a decent tilt at the title.
But off the pitch, United have been a well-documented disaster, with the low point Clive Palmer’s constant attempts to cap crowds at their unloved Skilled Park home.
And while it’s a noble gesture to offer free admission for the match against the Mariners on Sunday – ostensibly as a ‘thank you’ to Frank Lowy for the World Cup bid, but surely just an attempt to drum up some positive publicity – what will change even if United do manage to finally draw a crowd this weekend?
We’ve had big crowds for one-off events before: from various National Soccer League Grand Finals to the visit of touring international sides and a couple of trips from Goldenballs himself, David Beckham.
So how many of the thousands of spectators who turned out for those matches have been converted into bona fide football fans, and how many of them regularly turn up at A-League games?
Not many, if the numbers are anything to go by, and part of the problem is that throwing open the gates or inviting a high-profile international star fails to address the grass-roots problem of how to regularly increase attendances in the A-League.
Ticket prices on the Gold Coast are too high, as far as I’m concerned, but it’s also about time we faced the fact certain so-called fans have an unpleasant habit of employing every excuse under the sun for not attending A-League games.
Mind you, having been down to Skilled Park several times myself, I can guarantee the atmosphere is hardly the sort to make you want to ring fifty of your mates and casual acquaintances and insist they turn out at the next game.
That’s precisely why Culina is so excited about playing in front of a decent crowd this Sunday – let’s face it, it improves the spectacle inside the ground and makes for better viewing on TV – and I certainly hope United can break their ground attendance record.
I just don’t think it will solve any of their problems, especially if their next home game against Perth Glory is played in front of another miniscule crowd of less than 2,000 supporters.
As my Roar colleague Ben Somerford wrote yesterday, it’s not enough for United to simply entice thousands of spectators with the offer of a freebie, there must also be a conscious effort to persuade those same supporters to return in future.
Otherwise the whole exercise is pointless, and we’ll be sitting here next season cursing the fact Gold Coast United just can’t seem to draw a crowd.