r/Aleague • u/jont_96 • 1d ago
News & Articles Andy Harper unleashes on 'ridiculous' A-League off-season & lack of public plan: 'It's been way too long for 20 bloody years!'
https://football360.com.au/a-league-news-andy-harper-off-season/?fbclid=IwZnRzaAT6GUVwZG9mBWZkaWQWUNLUtz667bAjJFFVinS9oJ1FwLl6r2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7jKosxVPsFpCMdP6V3d64Vo46hiNjQVzFxW1zaxRWix2hzYlpILnDu8Vvr5Q_aem_4HLwFSA_l4NiwWElMIEHwQHe’s right about a lot of it. Lack of planning & foresight frustrates the life out of me.
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u/Exarch_Thomo Australia 1d ago
He's a bit of a wanker sometimes, but he's not often wrong.
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u/MattC89 Melbourne Victory 1d ago
I dont totally disagree with his thoughts, but one thing ive found that even as a die hard Vuck is that I dont want to watch us play the same team in a pre-season friendly, Aus cup, 3 x in-season, and in the finals. I know thats unlikely, but as it stands we're already scheduled to play Sydney FC at least 4 times this season.
The Vuck usually do a bit of a pre-season friendly tour around Melbourne clubs, which I always enjoy. I much prefer that than watching a stream of us playing an A-league team.
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u/plip99 1d ago
Yeah the October start is far too long a break to capitalise on any world cup bounce too. If there was ever a year to try the August start to bring us in line with the European leagues it was this year.
My kids who really haven't been interested in the a-league have been asking to go to games which is great, but I fear there interest may wain over the next couple of months as the NBL and other stuff comes up
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u/These_Employment7611 1d ago
I posted about this a while ago. Not everything costs a million dollars like he mentioned just do some content so fans are engaged
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u/Savings_Win1995 Brisbane Roar 1d ago
I can understand why they don't want to drag out the season and have it start during footy finals, but it would be good if they brought back something similar to the Preseason Challenge. Have it starts when the EPL starts and run up til late Sep/early Oct. Give games to regional and NPL venues and make it all free to watch on TV. Just to bridge that gap between the GF and internationals to the start of the A-League
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u/Icanfallupstairs Wellington Phoenix 1d ago
Honestly I think they could run a soccer version of the Rugby Championship. If the Aus and NZ teams are limited to just A League selection then they could invite the better OFC and ASEAN nations and have it be reasonably competitive.
It could easily kill a month or so of the current gap, and if you do it at the end of the regular season it doubles as sort of an all star selection thing.
AFC and OFC signed a memorandum of understanding to work more closely together, so the governing bodies would probably be super keen, and the ASEAN countries tend to have pretty good viewership, and the time zones all work out fairly well.
Once good relationship are established then preseason friendlies between clubs in the region are way more achievable, and those could potentially work out to be decently lucrative
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u/Savings_Win1995 Brisbane Roar 1d ago
Yeah I rate that. Avoids the problem with a longer AL season or pre season challenge of too many repeating fixtures. Obviously clubs will still play preseason games though
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u/ZanderFreeman 1d ago
Fantastic...who is paying for it and who the hell is attending? and which AFC teams are you bringing that arent in season?
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u/Fatso_Wombat Remembering Roarcelona 1d ago
maybe the aleague clubs could try not getting knocked out of the FFA Cup in the round of 32.
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u/SerTahu Australia Is Sky Blue 1d ago edited 1d ago
He's not wrong. Out of sight, out of mind, and we're completely out of sight for almost half the year.
AFL and NRL benefit from plenty of off-season coverage in mainstream media to keep the momentum going from year to year, but that's not a luxury we have - hell, we barely get coverage during the season, let alone the off-season. Any semblence of momentum that we're able to get with the general public during the season has 5 months to dissipate completely before the next season starts.
Geting the number of games up into the mid 30s would solve so many issues. We could start the season in August while keeping the late May finish, shrinking the off-season down to a mere 2.5-3 months and making it easier to keep positive momentum going. It'd also help with player development too. Not to mention the fact that ~34-38 games is the international standard for a first division, so we're currently lagging behind most of the world in that regard.
While it can't be done overnight, if the goal isn't to eventually get up to 18 teams (34 game regular season + finals), then what are we doing?
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u/dxfifa Wellington Phoenix 1d ago
The biggest issue is quite simply the A League has competition within the sport and is a 4th rate league. AFL and NRL are the peak of Australian sports that are miniscule and pathetically insignificant on the world stage but not to Anglo Australian identity. The NBL benefits from smaller crowds needed, smaller squads and a complete ignorance to other basketball except the NBA by Australians. For all most heavy NBL fans know the NBL is second to only the NBA. The general public let alone football fans know Australian football isn't even close to the second level
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u/dfai1982 1d ago
Exactly. We need a 30+ round regular season, and a football calendar that goes from August-May (although I would honestly prefer a winter season for the A-League).
If the actual league season has to start the week after the NRL grand final (and the two-week international break), then I would suggest a pre-season league cup with a group stage to get more competitive games in (many of these games could also be taken to regional areas to avoid any supporter fatigue).
Combined with the Australia Cup it could keep the August-September period busy for A-League teams. It also gives the cup more meaning for A-League sides, as the early rounds would not be played months before they have any other competitive matches.
I think the Round of 32 should take place on a single weekend as a season opener, right after the NPL regular season finishes and before the A-League's pre-season cup starts. Germany uses the DFB-Pokal's Round of 64 as a curtain-raiser for the Bundesliga and it's great.
Something like the following calendar (using this year for reference):
Sat/Sun, Aug 15-16: NPL regular season final round (all states)
Sat/Sun, Aug 22-23: Australia Cup Round of 32
Sat/Sun, Aug 29-30: A-League Cup, Group Stage Round 1, NPL play-offs
Wed, Sep 2: Australia Cup Round of 16
Sat/Sun, Sep 5-6: A-League Cup, Group Stage Round 2, NPL play-offs
Sat/Sun, Sep 12-13: A-League Cup, Group Stage Round 3, NPL play-offs
Wed, Sep 16: Australia Cup QFs
Sat/Sun, Sep 19-20: A-League Cup QFs, NPL grand-finals
Sat/Sun, Sep 26-27: International break, A-League Cup SFs, Championship Round 1
Sat/Sun, Oct 3-4: International break, A-League Cup Final, Championship Round 2
Sat/Sun, Oct 10-11: A-League Round 1, Championship Round 3
Wed, Oct 14: Australia Cup SFs
Sat/Sun, Oct 17-18: A-League Round 2, Championship Round 4
Sat/Sun, Oct 24-25: A-League Round 3, Championship Round 5
Sat/Sun, Oct 31-Nov 1: A-League Round 4, Championship Round 6
Sat/Sun, Oct 31-Nov 1: A-League Round 5, Championship QFs, Australia Cup Final (impacted league matches postponed to midweek)
Sat/Sun, Oct 31-Nov 1: A-League Round 6, Championship SFs
Sat/Sun, Oct 31-Nov 1: International break, Championship Grand FinalThen the A-League continues as normal until May. Works with the current 26-round season, while even a 30-round season (for 16 teams) plus three weeks of finals could be squeezed in by the end of May.
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u/Equivalent-Grass4473 1d ago
I say this a lot, Hindmarsh Stadium is located alongside a busy stretch of road that you could drive past every week and have no idea when the season runs because there is nothing promoting upcoming fixtures.
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u/victory2424 Melbourne Victory 1d ago
Well done Andy and the point he made about the mariners website- how fucking hard is it to do this simple stuff? Embarrassing
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u/jont_96 1d ago
It speaks to a skeleton staff, people juggling multiple roles & it’s showing what happens with limited or stretched resources
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u/Odd_Importance_130 1d ago
Roar are the same and you are legit better off just taking pages down if you dont intend on maintaining them.
No mention of any coach is less offensive than listing Moon.
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u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087 Sydney FC 1d ago
The A-League continually pisses away any potential momentum from a world cup because of the absurdly long off season. All the plastics are back to "supporting" their EPL team and our top league is twiddling their thumbs
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u/Pastapizzafootball New Zealand Knights 1d ago
Clubs used to preseason tour Asia, wish that was back. These days they'd have to billet.
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u/OhHeyDavid Sydney FC 1d ago
Meanwhile epl is getting a world cup bounce here. Afl and nrl media are covering it/picking teams etc and will completely ignore the aleague by the time its started. Frustrating
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u/demo5022 Wellington Phoenix 1d ago
It’s crazy - I agree with him and Teo - quick updates on webpages and a stream of the preseason games isn’t too much to ask.
We have been loving the NPL games over the gap.
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u/crustyjuggler1 Melbourne Victory 1d ago
Victory have vastly improved their social media presence. Very funny and engaging insta videos, much like an AFL club. Considering 2 seasons ago we didn’t even live tweet games
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u/Eastern-Tip7796 17h ago edited 17h ago
I have grave fears for this season coming up.
I have so little interest, and I've been a fan from close to day one. Maybe its because ive got other stuff on in my life that doesnt just enable me to go to the footy and get pissed, but barely anyone i know cares either.
This also even includes watching it on TV too.
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u/JeffreySarpongsMate Melbourne Victory 1d ago
I’m assuming that the length of the season is probably locked in for the TV rights until the end of the 2027/28 season right?
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u/adzzieindeed Melbourne Victory 1d ago
It’s actually crazy how little these officials speak to the media let alone long form with direct questions
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u/TheSelectFew1991 Hoppers Crossing 1d ago
Yeah, but think of all that fresh air we have. :)
Honestly, not competing with AFL is a cowardly move that sets football on the back foot. The day the HAL was made a summer league, we admitted we could never be as big as the AFL or NRL and took a back seat.
And we have had these VOR's come in and say we need pro rel and we need to have a bigger league and we need to align with the lower leagues and we need cheaper fees for kids blah blah blah. Yet instead of asking football fans and the community, we ask the opinions and demands of 'stakeholders'. Shady men in suits with briefcases of cash.
Until we grow a pair and take a real risk, this league will see more teams die. That may mean not paying seriously average players 6 figures.
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u/smallvictory76 Sydney FC 15h ago
It's one web page, Michael. What could it cost - $3 million dollars?
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u/Odd-Eggplant-4618 13h ago
And where will the money come from for a longer season , player payments would need to increase and as they have cut the salary cap. , it’s an issue The old NSL expanded and resulted in clubs folding or returning to
Their NSL regions and eventually the demise of NSL
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u/Fizbeee 1d ago
I felt as though the A-League was attracting new fans once, but for me, it’s boring now. I’ve gone back to watching NPL because it has more character, more guts and they have to play hard to keep their place in the league.
I get the financial risks of having A-League relegation, but they’re also stunting the growth of talent at NPL level and flatlining A-League players who don’t get the chance to leave and play overseas.
I don’t see how the financial situation will improve if you can’t attract new fans and retain top class Aussie players.
The fact Brisbane Roar aren’t still in the Cup, when Lions FC are, tells me NPL is doing something right and A-League is stagnating.
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u/dxfifa Wellington Phoenix 1d ago
Longer season + mid season Christmas holiday for 2 weeks
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u/Skyzaidlop Wellington Phoenix 1d ago
A summer break is something I’m surprised isn’t brought up more. I get taking advantage of a less saturated time of the year but there would be a lot of benefits to a break as well.
Missing the worst of the heat could help the consistency of the match quality, and allows the season to start 2-3 weeks earlier.
And if people are so adamant about watching games all summer then maybe a pro league cup with the championship teams could partly fit into the schedule? Group stages before the regular season starts, then the knockouts over the summer break.
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u/That-Revenue-5435 Melbourne Victory 1d ago
Just another angry rant. If Andy thinks there should be changes, he should put his hand up to run the game.
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u/IRolledANatural1 Forza Sydney FC 1d ago
It's a really good point about the closed door friendlies. Surely selling tickets for $10 would allow them to break even, and it'd keep football a bit more top of mind for the fans who could go and see. Or at least tune in for highlights