Straya - A-League and State Leagues

West-Gone United

733 replies · 142,565 views
12 Jan 21:59 · edited 12 Jan 22:01 · History
With the TV deal payout going down to a shadow of its former self, there is much less enthusiasm (fewer potential applicants) for new clubs starting, as it needs more money than before. Auckland FC was an outlier to get off the ground due to an owner with big pockets, leveraging off other interests (other sports / other countries).  This bought A-FC some security, and also success.

Christchurch has bugger all in terms of European immigration (per capita) which provided the grassroots footballing heritage in Australia.   And money is really tight in NZ right now.  I also hope the OFC team will be a useful litmus test for local interest, assuming we will get to see the team playing here rather than just in North Island.

Actually, getting outplayed quite a bit these days

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12 Jan 22:45 · edited 12 Jan 22:49 · History
What they could do is 14 teams - play each other home & away. 26 League games each. Then, ONLY, the top four could play semi finals - 2 legs, home & away before a grand final. No more minor premiership. Just a straight winner takes all. For the semis, 1 V 3 & 2 V 4. All semi final & grand final games divide the gate takings. 33% of each game take to each club and 34% to the APL.
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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12 Jan 23:02 · edited 12 Jan 23:03 · History
1 v 3 and 2 v 4 is a bit odd.

Finishing first should be rewarded with both a minor premiership trophy, and easiest on paper playoff draw

People get too hung up on how European (esp UK) football comps operate. This is Australasia and all the sporting codes have end of season finals.

Broadcasters and sponsors expect a finals series and pay for them. The A League might as well just be a semi pro comp without the extra revenue the playoffs bring in
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12 Jan 23:18 · edited 12 Jan 23:20 · History
coochiee
Buffon II
Doloras
Surely the serious thing to do would be to bring the Snakes back at the same time as introducing another expansion team (Canberra? Woollongong? Gold Coast?) to create a 14 team two-home-and-away-rounds comp


And no finals.

The finals bring badly needed dosh to a cash strapped league. They are never going away.


Canberra have had 2-3 years now to get the $20M+ entrance fee together, and still seem no closer. Their women's team needed a ACT Govt bail out.

Haven't heard any local Gong or Gold Coast groups pushing themselves as alternatives. Need the TV rights deal to improve big time, so the annual club disbursements can get back up closer to where they were before. Macarthur are try to take legal action against the APL, due to financial promises not being met, ie the annual disbursements dropping away to basically nothing.

If WU returns the ALM maybe stuck at 13 teams for awhile, even if the APL want further expansion.

A South Island (popn catchment 1.25M, over 2x bigger than Canberra) team based out of shiny Te Kaha, maybe the best bet to be the 14th team. Having new OFC League club is a start. 

Total catchment is a bit misleading there. Christchurch metro is about 557k and that's probably most of what you're getting, which seems to be only slightly bigger than Canberra.

Dunedin only adds 133k and that would probably only be for a match or two per season. So say 700k max, with 20% being from a second city. Would love to see it, but based it's not really a clearly better option aside than some of the Aussie cities
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13 Jan 00:07 · edited 13 Jan 00:08 · History
coochiee
1 v 3 and 2 v 4 is a bit odd.

Finishing first should be rewarded with both a minor premiership trophy, and easiest on paper playoff draw

People get too hung up on how European (esp UK) football comps operate. This is Australasia and all the sporting codes have end of season finals.

Broadcasters and sponsors expect a finals series and pay for them. The A League might as well just be a semi pro comp without the extra revenue the playoffs bring in

1 v 4 and 2 v 3, with 1 and 2 having home advantage is the usual format.
But you're right, the reason we (Aleague) have a top six is purely for the broadcast market and removing "dead rubber" games at the end of the season.

Queenslander 3x a year.

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13 Jan 00:54
Southernix
coochiee
Buffon II
Doloras
Surely the serious thing to do would be to bring the Snakes back at the same time as introducing another expansion team (Canberra? Woollongong? Gold Coast?) to create a 14 team two-home-and-away-rounds comp


And no finals.

The finals bring badly needed dosh to a cash strapped league. They are never going away.


Canberra have had 2-3 years now to get the $20M+ entrance fee together, and still seem no closer. Their women's team needed a ACT Govt bail out.

Haven't heard any local Gong or Gold Coast groups pushing themselves as alternatives. Need the TV rights deal to improve big time, so the annual club disbursements can get back up closer to where they were before. Macarthur are try to take legal action against the APL, due to financial promises not being met, ie the annual disbursements dropping away to basically nothing.

If WU returns the ALM maybe stuck at 13 teams for awhile, even if the APL want further expansion.

A South Island (popn catchment 1.25M, over 2x bigger than Canberra) team based out of shiny Te Kaha, maybe the best bet to be the 14th team. Having new OFC League club is a start. 

Total catchment is a bit misleading there. Christchurch metro is about 557k and that's probably most of what you're getting, which seems to be only slightly bigger than Canberra.

Dunedin only adds 133k and that would probably only be for a match or two per season. So say 700k max, with 20% being from a second city. Would love to see it, but based it's not really a clearly better option aside than some of the Aussie cities
and with cities like Nelson being closer to Wellington than Christchurch its far from certain that a Christchurch team would catch all of the south island
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24 Jan 04:06
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24 Jan 21:27
What does he mean by "question whether NPLV 2026 is possible"? Was there some thought of loaning WU players out to NPL clubs to keep them busy until a possible return to A-League?
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26 Jan 05:50
They had no fans anyway.
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26 Jan 20:09
Simon B
What does he mean by "question whether NPLV 2026 is possible"? Was there some thought of loaning WU players out to NPL clubs to keep them busy until a possible return to A-League?
I think it's in reference to their reserve team that plays in NPL Victoria - I think they were supposed to still take part in the next season unaffected by the A-League team hibernating. But I guess they are now unsure whether they will be able to participate
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