FFA Fan of the year Award

The award is part of what new A-League boss Lyall Gorman describes as the major "point of difference" between A-League football and the other codes in this country.

And while he wasn't too clear on how it would actually be adjudicated on, Gorman was confident the award would further entrench the "fanmade" ethos now used to advertise the league.

"Our fans are the point of difference. They bring a tremendous game-day experience that other codes just can't deliver. And I think we are fan-made," Gorman told au.fourfourtwo.com at today's season launch of the A-League in Sydney.

"We very much rely on our community and grassroots for that emotional connection between supporter and club and it's the challenge ahead to build on that fan-base model."

Gorman himself was one of the architects of arguably the best community level club in the A-League at Central Coast Mariners and he's hoping that inclusive, grassroots vision will lift the league to new levels.

"We've built the platform in five seasons of A-League football, the challenge for us is to know what it will look like in five years time," he said.

"That's the opportunity and the challenge at hand to raise the benchmark."

He added that the league might engage some of the thousands of "Barmy Army" fans expected in Australia from England this summer for the cricket season.

In other A-League news, a team of inspectors from the AFC will be in Australia from September 2-11 as part of an on-going ACL participation criteria visit. They will visit all the clubs and venues and meet with the FFA.

Gorman, who sits on the professional clubs' committee at the AFC, played down expectations that it may lead to an increase in A-League teams for the ACL from two in the short-term at least.

He added: "It's certainly possible over time [to increase] but our numbers are locked in at two and that's probably where it's at for the next two to three years." 

CMON FEVERITES WE CAN WIN THIS