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A-League a success???

C

chileman

Coach
Messages
10,523
After watching the weekends games and some very exciting matches that in some ways were just dead rudders I think it's safe to say the 1st year of the comp was a success except for maybe NZ and their dismal season and crowds! OK we may not have the class, skill or quality of players that the european and south american leagues have but it, along with making the world cup this season, has promoted the game of football here in a way that many fans that have suffered years of ethnic problems and lack of good promotion and leadership in the round ball game here in OZ!
 
skeepe

skeepe

Immortal
Messages
48,225
Cut the Knights, bring in a Canberra team and it will be much, much better :D
 
SP

SP

Bench
Messages
3,376
i reckon it has been a sucess, even though the one eyed supporters of other sports were expecting it to be like the EPL, serie A ect ect.

Ive been to the last 4 Qld home games and it was great. pity they didnt make the finals
 
MONY

MONY

Juniors
Messages
2,360
Wollongong Wolves........ i'd support them.... even though i live half way between sydney and wollongong.
 
Frank Ryan's Whisky

Frank Ryan's Whisky

Juniors
Messages
20
It's been better than anything offered up during the NSL era, so on that basis alone, i'd say it has been a success.

The 25k crowd at last weeks game (which was a cracker btw) was probably more than the weekly crowd aggregate for however many Sydney NSL clubs there were.

Still, improvement has to be made. Financial security is one thing. Quality is another - Dwight Yorke has more time on the ball than any other player in the leageu. Not sure what can be done about that though - the best young players will probably continue to go straight to Europe rather than make a name for themselves in the A-league.
 
U

Unknown Pleasures

Juniors
Messages
789
Aren't the Wolves in that much debt they were lucky to get in the revamped NSW Premier League? Don't see how they could go in the A-League.
 
S

STEVE R

Juniors
Messages
371
The Wolves wouldn't succeed in the A League. It would have to be a new entity entirely, with more community involvement.

The Blue Devils just got cut from State League, so I don't see how they'd get it!

In my opinion, some teams need to take a game or two away from their home base. EG, Sydney play once a year in Wollongong, Queensland play one up in North Qld, etc.

Overall, it seems to have been a success. Hopefully support will grow and it will continue to improve.
 
TiTTieS_[CNTDN]

TiTTieS_[CNTDN]

Juniors
Messages
2,470
Unknown Pleasures said:
I don't think clubs can afford to take home games away yet. They need as many home games as possible to build up a supporter base.
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I think you are probably right about that. Take, for example, the Roar. If they played one game up in Townesville, they might attract a crowd of 10 thousand. Would these 10 thousand people then start to watch the game week in week out on TV? I suggest not as they would have been watching it in the first place if they were really all that interested.

Maybe a better idea would be to take a training camp there for a couple of days.

I'd also like to see the A-league set up dedicated places where you can go to watch the game televised. Good places would be Clubs and Pubs. If they wanted to, they could probably set it up that you register for it in places like Services clubs where you need to be a member or a guest of a member to get in. Not that you should really need to seeing how cheap membership there is, but it might provide that incentive.

Whatever it takes, they need some sort of incentive for people to go and watch it if they don't have pay tv or can't make it to the ground.
 
Southern Rooster

Southern Rooster

Bench
Messages
3,986
weasel said:
I enjoyed it, but would have liked Roar to finish higher.
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IF QLD finished some chances earlier in the campaign they would have been. There future is bright they have a host of good young kids but losing Baird and Brosque will be big losses for them.
 
Bumble

Bumble

First Grade
Messages
7,995
I agree at the A-League needs to replace NZ with a Canberra team.

I could care less about the state of Kiwi football...apart from that joke of a franchise, the A-League has been very sucessful in it's first year and will only grow.
 
skeepe

skeepe

Immortal
Messages
48,225
STEVE R said:
The Blue Devils just got cut from State League, so I don't see how they'd get it!
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The cutting of the Blue Devils was politically motivated. They would have had no problem meeting the criteria, however Football NSW or whatever they're called simply didn't want a Canberra team in their competition. Their choice I guess as Canberra isn't a part of NSW, but politically motivated nonetheless
 
woodgers

woodgers

Bench
Messages
3,569
Still, improvement has to be made. Financial security is one thing. Quality is another - Dwight Yorke has more time on the ball than any other player in the leageu. Not sure what can be done about that though - the best young players will probably continue to go straight to Europe rather than make a name for themselves in the A-league.
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They will but then we will still see players aspiring to get overseas and fall short meaning they will play in A League so I think the quality and standard will lift. As it grows and gets bigger I think more players will stay on rather than drop out in their teenage years, it will at least give them something to aspire to.

My thoughts are that it has been a success and done very well for a 1st year. It certainly has its place here and I predict it will grow. The bigger it gets the more attractive it is for quality players to come here as well.
 
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