@Panthera Tigris, there is a lot to say in response to your question/s.
Firstly, the A-League moved to summer to take advantage of what people call “clear air” during the warmer months. It has nothing to do with aligning with Europe. But this whole clear air is a myth. We live in a country where sport is on 365 days per year. And the A-League hasn’t been very smart with scheduling IMO.
Football Australia (The FFA is now called Football Australia) CEO James Johnson wants the A-league to move to winter. To align with the NPL and grassroots seasons, plus the Asian confederation.
Personally, I am against this, for 3 main reasons.
- Obviously, the clash with the other football codes. I’d prefer to avoid having to choose between Richmond and Victory. And many other fans will be on the same boat.
- Aligning with the NPL means people will have to choose between going to watch their NPL team or A-League team… and both leagues end up losing out. Keeping it separate means people don’t have to decide between the 2.
- Stadium surfaces. People claim the game is better and faster in cooler weather (which is true), but so does playing on pristine pitches. If we move to winter, we’ll be playing on pitches chopped up by the rugby codes. Sure, the long-term plan is for all teams to build and play out of their own stadiums… but until that occurs, we cannot move to winter.
Stan Sport (who appear to be the front runner to win the TV rights) have come out and said they want a summer league. And now that the A-League has separated from Football Australia, James Johnson now has very little say in the scheduling.
So long story short, I believe the A-League (and future second division) will play in the summer. And I am not convinced aligning all of the leagues is the best way forward.
My personal view is that the season should run like this:
- 14 teams with 26 rounds (eventually expand to 16 teams with 30 rounds).
- Begin September, with the GF in late April/Early May (perhaps start a tradition of an ANZAC Day GF?).
- Have a 4-week summer break in January (to avoid playing in the peak of summer heat, to avoid clashing with the tennis and BBL where we get lost in the landscape, plus AFC tournaments such as the Asian cup, are held in January).
- Do not play on FIFA international dates.
- Improve scheduling (eg. do not schedule Perth Glory games at 2pm local time in the summer. 6pm Sunday games don’t work for fans).
- Play the early rounds of the FFA cup in the preseason.
But I also have an alternate option for a winter/Calendar year season that has the potential to work.
- 14 teams with 26 rounds (eventually expand to 16 teams with 30 rounds).
- Begin mid-February. Playing the first 13 rounds, 2 FFA cup rounds (on standalone weekends, plus the March FIFA international date), will take you to the end of May.
- Have a 8-10 week winter break that will take you to early August (we have FIFA tournaments in June, plus world cup qualifiers, reduces clashes with AFL/NRL, minimises stadium issues, etc)
- From early August, 13 more rounds, more FFA cup rounds and more FIFA international dates, will take you to mid-late November, with the GF to be held in mid-December.
The pure reality is that we need to play when the stadiums are in use the least. And IMO that is spring and summer. We should also not be so dictated by TV, so that player safety is at risk. For example, we have had many games over the years where the conditions have failed the wet bulb test, but Fox Sports have insisted the game go ahead. Its also more fun to travel to away games interstate in warmer weather.