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The A-League season that wasn't

07/28/2010 02:40:54 AM

Low-key is too strong a word to describe the build-up to this A-League season. Only a week out from the first game and you would struggle to find anyone talking about football.

Perhaps FFA are worried about football fatigue after the World Cup or perhaps football's big wigs are a little occupied wining and dining our friends from FIFA as they run their eye over our credentials for the 2022 World Cup.

But if they had some time to talk to those outside of their five-star hotels, the FIFA delegates would surely be struck by the sheer lack of buzz around the game just a few days out from the start of a new season.

I can't speak for all of Australia. Maybe the main street of Townsville is painted in two hues of green, maybe the Swan River in Perth is lined in purple, but considering I live in a town where there will be a second football team in the national league for the first time in seven years in the nation's sporting capital, I'm not finding a lot of enthusiasm.

Because it now comprises 30 games, and it overlaps with the end of the AFL and NRL seasons, the A-League has opted for a softer, gentler launch. But how soft is too soft?

Melbourne boasts the two most intriguing A-League stories of 2010-11. The brand new team and a competition powerhouse on the rebound, and it boasts a state of the art purpose built stadium. The place should be buzzing with football expectation.

But instead AFL still dominates. Rather than anxiously awaiting the Heart's debut on August 5, the people of this fair town are mired in rubbish AFL debates about Jason Akermanis, interchange rules and the surface at Etihad Stadium.

Melbourne Heart has built a formidable side in its first year and boasts an ambitious young coach intent on playing attacking football, but John Van 't Schip and his new team can not get a look in. Sure 20,000 turned out to see them play Everton but 50 percent were wearing Everton shirts and the remaining 49 per cent probably didn't pay to get in.

A survey of Melbourne sports fans would likely reveal that very few would even know what colours the new team are wearing.

This is the most competitive sports market in the world and hiding from the opposition by flying under the radar for the first two months is no way to win the war. You either take them on, head on, or you delay the start of the season until October.

Otherwise, we are all just wasting our time for the next two months.

 
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images
Comments
Posted by Mat at
29/07/2010 09:17 AM
Does the A-League season start next week? I'm a football lover and even I didn't know that. The A-league needs some free-to-air exposure rather than being stuck on pay tv. SBS did a fantastic jobwith the world cup and australians recognise SBS as the Australian football channel. I know money comes into it but football needs exposure. I love the game and I want it to succeed in Australia, but the FFA are doing a great job of letting us forget about it.
Posted by shib at
29/07/2010 10:24 AM
I think you are right it hasnt had much PR but I will say this preseason hs been more intense double the exposure and world class . The football that is happening in Sydney right now has world wide media attention be patient the suport is there I think the Heart will get a big crowd for their opener and remember it is a longer season and we are in it for the long haul
Posted by Lance at
01/08/2010 12:06 AM
I can only speak on an individual front, but the talk about the A-League in my office is as strong as it ever has. I'm in Melbourne and there has been a great divide and real banter about the Heart v Victory. A rivalry has already began and it's split the office. We are counting down the days til Thursday. Go Heart!

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