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A-League threads [Merged]
- Thread starter Lidsand
- Start date
My 4 (nearly 5) YO son has started playing this season . As touched on lots of times previously in this thread, the participation of youngsters is huge, but for some reason doesn't convert into wide scale, interwoven emotional attachment to the domestic game here in Australia.
Obviously one of the best things the elite end of the sport did here in Australia from a practicality and marketing point of view, was switching the season to the summer months to line up with the northern hemisphere season. But also avoiding a crowded domestic sporting marketplace of the winter months.
My question to those who are closer, or longer observers than I. Has there ever been any suggestion for the entire sport at every level to switch to the summer months to bring it into line with the elite level? So everything from A-League, through State Leagues, to local club and amatuer level to juniors and tiny totts switching to summer.
As a newbie family to the sport observing, it seems quite disjointed with a job half done. I appreciate I am as far south as one can get in Australia, so our summers would actually provide beautiful conditions for playing, as opposed to the more brutal summers further north. But perhaps it would be an evening sport around the country if the switch was made more holistically. Twilight and/or under lights.
There would be reason to have the A-League aligned with junior leagues, if they clubs and the league did a better job reaching out to kids they might get more support, but as you say it is a winter sport so the A-league is rigthfully moving back to winter rather than moving other lower level leagues to summer.
I think it does require a slow burn to build that attachment. the majority of adults havent grown up with soccer, so even if their kids play they dont form an attachment to an A-league team. and if parents arent attached it is hard for kids to develop that love.
the a-league is coming up for its 20th birthday so the hope would be that there are soon to be adults who have been attached since they were kids, and they will pass that onto their kids.
I wonder whether that will be a hinderance rather than a help. Coming back up against a crowded winter sporting market. That was the whole point of moving to summer (as well as lining up with the northern hemisphere season). They might come to regret such a move.
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Yet the greatest spectacle of the game - The World Cup (And Euro Cup for that matter) - is played at the height of summer.
Either way a crowded sports market PT. Also if they start to integrate with a second division and lower leagues then it makes sense running through aligned seasons.
The A-League could stay Summer but the lower leagues couldn't. The clubs would be fighting for grounds with cricket clubs. The worst time to play in Australia was summer. Either post season comp or pre-season comps. It was like playing on concrete and a slide tackle would rip so many layers of skin off that you wouldn't have to worry about getting sunburnt for that summer.
If we move to a relegation system them you need all the leagues to stay in sync.
Those grounds are nice and soft. Well watered and managed so that they are near perfect. That doesn't happen in the lower leagues.
@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.
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:
But I also have an alternate option for a winter/Calendar year season that has the potential to work.
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.
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.
Just a follow up from my last post, it now looks like the new Paramount+ streaming Service (10Play All Access is being rebranded as Paramount+ as of July) is now the front runner. I am not yet sure if that’s a good thing, but I have always felt that ch 10 was always a natural FTA partner for the A-League. It also reopens the prospect of moving to winter.
It looks like Paramount/ch 10 are the winners of the A-League rights, with a decision on the mens and womens national team coming soon.
www.smh.com.au
Amazon preparing bid for FIFA Women’s World Cup
The global streaming giant is set to make a play for the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup, the largest event in Australia since the 2000 Olympics.
clearly no Citeh supporters on here
There aren't. People just talk up city to wind me up.
but congrats to them. As I've said previously, I kinda feel sorry for them because I can’t see them winning the toilet seat with players out due to Socceroos duty. They’re handing it to Sydney on a platter.
