The New A-League Season

There was finally some positive news for the beleaguered FFA and A-League on Tuesday, as the fixture list for the 2011-12 season was announced.

Reassuringly, the A-League hierarchy has taken on board many of the scheduling criticisms levelled at it during recent campaigns. Amongst the improvements:

* Round 1 will kick off on October 8 – after the AFL Grand Final – allowing the competition some much-needed airspace.

* Greater consistency of scheduling. 27 rounds over 25 weeks with more of a ‘home-and-away’ feel. Last season suffered from a disjointed programme, with poor scheduling of byes and distribution of home-and-away fixtures. Most clubs will enjoy a familiar home-followed-by-away routine throughout the year.

* Reduction in poorly-attended midweek fixtures, down to 10 from 30. This was one of the major criticisms levelled at the competition last year and a major factor in the drop in average attendances across the league. European football has a tradition of midweek competition but amongst the congested sporting landscape in Australia it has failed to become part of the match-going culture.

* Midweek fixtures are all scheduled in December and January. This will ensure all midweek games coincide with school holidays and allow families to attend matches together. The intensity of fixtures in this period should also guarantee the competition maximum visibility at a time when the other major football codes are least active.

* Regular east coast 8pm Friday night timeslot for feature matches. Because of the geographical spread of the A-League, the competition has suffered a lack of a consistent key product. In line with the AFL, NRL and Super Rugby, the A-League can now market a well-publicised Friday-night fixture to its television audience.

* The early rounds are front-loaded with key fixtures, including a round one Grand-Final rematch and consecutive Melbourne Victory grudge matches, against first Sydney FC, then Adelaide United and finally Melbourne Heart. There will be three Melbourne derbies, in rounds 3, 12 and 18.

The overall feeling generated by the announcement is one of a more cohesive competition that will better represent the quality of the football on the pitch.

Unfortunately, the season is four months away, during which time the other football codes will dominate the sporting landscape. Encouragingly, the FFA has scheduled attractive friendlies against Serbia and New Zealand in the coming weeks to provide further exposure to the game while the domestic league returns to action.

Hopefully this announcement is the first step in an improvement in the administration of the game in Australia after recent high-profile challenges have brought the FFA’s leadership into question. Of greatest encouragement is the indication that the administration has listened to and acted on the concerns of the football-supporting public.

The FFA announcement also included the comment that: “The Hyundai A-League 2011/12 season will also see a greater marketing effort with substantial increase in marketing spend and innovation in new digital channels and social media growing the Hyundai A-League into a bigger, brighter and more interactive season than ever before.”

Again, this is an acknowledgement that the marketing behind the 2010-11 season missed the target and, with no World Cup bid to distract this year, there are no excuses for a repeat underperformance.

Promising signs then from the FFA and A-League, let’s just hope the game hasn’t been completely discredited by FIFA before October 8 …

Midweek marathon mars A-League draw
Adrian Musolino

There's a lot to like about the 2011/12 A-League draw - the later start avoiding the AFL and NRL finals, the grand final rematch on the opening day of the season, blockbuster features spread across the opening few rounds, regional visits, more consistent timeslots, and midweek matches dramatically reduced and condensed into the summer holiday period.

But the 'innovative' new feature in the draw, a midweek marathon of back-to-back games on January 4, drew most attention and set some tongues wagging.

To comprehend what the A-League marathon is, here's how the statement from the FFA described it: "In a Hyundai A-League first, Wednesday 4 January, will see a football bonanza with five matches, back-to-back, starting in Wellington and moving through Melbourne, Newcastle and Gosford before finishing off in Perth for an amazing 11 hours straight of Hyundai A-League action, all live and exclusive on Fox Sports."

Interesting... Kudos to the FFA for pinpointing the summer holiday period as a critical stage of the home and away season to get crowds out to A-League fixtures. But the key point here is that Wednesday January 4, 2011 is not a holiday. In fact, it's the day working folk who haven't taken annual leave or don't have holidays have to return to work.

The first match in the marathon kicks off in Wellington at 3pm (1pm AEDT), followed by Melbourne Heart hosting Adelaide United at 3:15pm AEDT, then Newcastle Jets versus Gold Coast United at 5:30pm AEDT. The following two matches kick-off at 7pm and 7:45pm AEDT. So three of the five matches fall into a time of the day when those who are back at work will be unable to attend matches, and unable to watch.

While the FFA and defenders of the marathon will claim many people take time off in the first week of January, extending out their summer holidays, many don't or can't. So why schedule such a unique feature into the calendar based on an assumption that 'a lot' of people will be taking annual leave or sickies on that day?

While the marathon may be a dream ticket for Fox Sports - 11 hours of scheduling locked in for that day - the FFA must not loss sight of the pattern that's emerged over the first six seasons of the A-League, namely providing excuses for people not to attend matches. The A-League draw should be making it as easy as possible for fans to attend, not producing roadblocks.

It would have been far more effective to spread those three 'day' midweek matches throughout January and February, into more friendly night timeslots. After all, the school holiday period can only truly be maximised if kids not old enough to get to the games on their own have parents, guardians, older siblings, etc free to take them.

Hopefully for the FFA's sake there are a few planning on turning January 4 into a public holiday, otherwise the novelty of a marathon A-League day is wasted.

Brigate Rossonere wrote:Decided to buy a Heart membership this season. Need to get more involved in local football.

fatman123 wrote:anyone going to the celtic vs CCM game?

ausbaz wrote:HOLGER I WANT SEE LECKIE YOU GIVE LECKIE NOA.

Meh, we never give chances to the youth we always seem to play the vet's.

paxtonpale wrote:Perth Glory have a glorious attack (see what I did there) with Todd and Smeltz. Sydney have recruited well and I put my money on them coming into the top 3. Gold Coast are the only team (i think) are struggling at the moment. Should be the best A-League season we have had ever! Can't wait to see Sydney F.C and Melbourne Victory play! Good luck Sydney!

fatman123 wrote:

paxtonpale wrote:Perth Glory have a glorious attack (see what I did there) with Todd and Smeltz. Sydney have recruited well and I put my money on them coming into the top 3. Gold Coast are the only team (i think) are struggling at the moment. Should be the best A-League season we have had ever! Can't wait to see Sydney F.C and Melbourne Victory play! Good luck Sydney!

you is not really from sapin are you?