4. Boutique stadiums

Smaller, football-specific stadia are about a lot more than just atmosphere. Australians consume more sport on television, per-capita, then any other nation on earth. 41% of the entire country regularly watches AFL. This makes broadcast negotiations crucial to a sport's popularity and there’s nothing broadcasters hate more than showing empty stadiums.

It’s damaging to a network’s brand and ratings because people don’t like watching or attending empty stadiums. Television broadcasters have even pressured state governments to reduce the size of their infrastructure to accommodate widespread dips in attendances across the NRL.

Having A-League clubs take greater control of their stadiums is also integral to encouraging the public to take the competition seriously. After 13 years at Central Coast Stadium, the Central Coast Mariners still play at a ground with the name of a defunct NRL club displayed across the seats.

Giant sauce bottles and a blimp? No worries. Spraying the team name on some seats? Too hard. 

Football specific stadiums and carefully designed stadium-sharing agreements could also bring an end to pitch-wars. Although it happens less now than ever, Australian football fans shouldn't have to watch the beautiful game played on sun-baked, rock-hard, turf-rotting cricket pitches. 50 metre-marks still painted on, the Toyota logo clearly visible in the middle.

It's admittedly a very long-term strategy, but a publicly-available, long-term plan is exactly what the A-League needs. If FFA begins to prioritise realistic venue selection when releasing fixtures and setting targets for football-specific stadiums then they'll be on the right path.

Their recent inclusion of stadium-specific criteria for A-League expansion bidders is exactly what the A-League needs. Whether it will be followed through on, however, remains to be seen. 

5. Marketing 

If you've watched FFA’s advertising campaigns over the past few years, their target demographic is undoubtedly kids. Arguably the most successful, the ‘Yoshi’ campaign, pleaded for youngsters to choose an A-league side.

This season’s marketing was practically indistinguishable, yet less memorable. The “You’ve Gotta Have a Team” campaign undertook an even more literal approach, which judging by attendance numbers, failed dismally.

Confusingly, FFA also preached a ‘soft launch’ mantra, ostensibly to save money on advertising, which could then be reinvested in defending VAR cock-ups or crafting Star Wars merchandise.

But are Yoshi commercials or ‘You’ve Gotta Have a Team’ campaigns the right way to target Aussies who would rather squint, bleary-eyed through a 3am EPL match then attend the A-League?

Australian football depends on this demographic, but its current advertising ignores them. Well-targeted advertising delivers a financial return, so it’s hard to blame limited funds. FFA’s marketing strategy seems to think the horse has already bolted; there’s a generation lost to foreign football, so they’re focused on saving the future.

Critics jested that Yoshi will end up supporting an EPL club, but there are sombre reasons for that, that A-League campaigns ignore. Say Yoshi’s family are EPL fans, just like all his friends’ families are. The chance of Yoshi rebelling against the curve and supporting an A-League club are next to nothing.

You’ve got a better chance of waiting until he’s a teenager and attracting him through the promise of flares and crowd violence.

Instead, it makes sense to target the older football fans who inspired his love in the first place. They’re the role models for the next generation and if they’re already lost to the sport then their kids and siblings will be too. 

Identify what the A-League offers that other sports - especially on television - can't (it begins in 'a' and ends in 'sphere') and improve it. Then base a widespread advertising campaign around it.

The current slogans are ineffective and possibly a little desperate.