So we now have confirmation that the A-League will be sticking with 8 teams for the 2008/09 season. If the respective Gold Coast and Townsville bids both failed to meet the criteria necessary to field a competitive team both on and off the field then I think it’s a wise choice to give them another year to prepare…the big question, that I guess only those closest to the process will be able to tell us (and we’ll see if they go public in the fallout from today’s decision), is just how high the FFA raised the bar for the new teams. Certainly teams coming into the league now have 3 years of historical data on which to base their financial forecasts and are entering a league with a greater degree of stability than those foundation clubs did…however the FFA needs to be careful not to make the barrier to entry too big. No-one wants to see teams coming in and falling over quickly but we should also not be scaring potential investors off by making football too difficult or unappealing to invest in….it’s a fine balancing act which I’m not claiming for a minute is easy given the potentially damaging repercussions of a poor decision.
However, having opted for caution I would now call upon the FFA to lengthen the season anyway….discussions must have been had with Foxtel regarding the extension of the season so let’s do it anyway and move to 28 games with each team playing each other home and away twice…it brings a better symmetry to the league. Let’s give the clubs some flexibility in their local markets as to when they schedule the extra home games – for instance over Christmas and New Year….strong holiday crowds on the Central Coast, Adelaide and Newcastle over the festive period this season suggests the public could handle extra games over this period…what about games on Boxing Day/New Year’s Day...traditional football dates in the UK... let's give the public the chance to watch their own league when they're off work..rather than have to wait until the wee small hours for their holiday football fix..…allow the home clubs to pick their preferred dates over the period…obviously Melbourne are not going to go against the Boxing Day test but Sydney may choose a home game that evening. Some clubs may want to schedule games around state public holidays or feel a mid week game here and there might work.
The desire and need for more games seems to be have been met with universal agreement….so let’s add an extra round now and give us the longer season it seems we all crave. Season 4 was the season earmarked for more football….let’s make it so.
However, having opted for caution I would now call upon the FFA to lengthen the season anyway….discussions must have been had with Foxtel regarding the extension of the season so let’s do it anyway and move to 28 games with each team playing each other home and away twice…it brings a better symmetry to the league. Let’s give the clubs some flexibility in their local markets as to when they schedule the extra home games – for instance over Christmas and New Year….strong holiday crowds on the Central Coast, Adelaide and Newcastle over the festive period this season suggests the public could handle extra games over this period…what about games on Boxing Day/New Year’s Day...traditional football dates in the UK... let's give the public the chance to watch their own league when they're off work..rather than have to wait until the wee small hours for their holiday football fix..…allow the home clubs to pick their preferred dates over the period…obviously Melbourne are not going to go against the Boxing Day test but Sydney may choose a home game that evening. Some clubs may want to schedule games around state public holidays or feel a mid week game here and there might work.
The desire and need for more games seems to be have been met with universal agreement….so let’s add an extra round now and give us the longer season it seems we all crave. Season 4 was the season earmarked for more football….let’s make it so.