During what feels like an interminable off-season that the A-League season is currently experiencing it seems fans are debating one of three things: speculating the exact date and time of when Harry Kewell will sign for a club; whether or not Jan Versleijen should hung, drawn and quartered for his performances at the U17 & U20 World Cups; and lastly how we can attract more people to the A-League. And it is the latter that I would like to dwell on today and my solution to get the competition out of a sticky situation.
Brisbane Roar fans are convinced that people will flock to their games after their spectacular 2010-11 season; Melbourne Victory fans reckon that a change in manager and the signing of Harry Kewell will see a return to the crowd figures of seasons' past; and the Newcastle faithful are pretty sure that the new membership and ticketing packages will see an influx of people to their games. I hate to break it to them but I reckon that even though these things may have some sort of impact on crowd numbers, there is one thing that the A-League hasn't tried yet in its short history that may be key to getting people, especially those of the younger kind, through the turnstiles on a regular basis. It's the humble sticker.
For a number of seasons now I have wondered why there has never been an A-League sticker book. This wonderment was even more prevalent as for the first time in a long time I became a more than a little obsessed with trying to complete my World Cup Panini Sticker Album. (For the record I didn't even come close.) It did however bring back memories of times long gone when I was in short pants where I had a passing interest in collecting the cards of players from that code that dominates the sporting landscape here in Melbourne. Albeit I was not that successful at that either as I either soon either lost interest or swallowed two many sticks of chewing gum, not quite understanding the concept of something you don't actually eat.
For me the introduction of an A-League Panini style sticker book is a no-brainer as I can think of no better way to engage with young (and the young at heart like myself) A-League/football fans. I remember a few years back talking to the son of a friend of a friend who every time we paid them a visit would obsessively show me his impressive collection of collection of cards for that league I dare not mention by name. Although I incessantly ribbed him about his team of choice it has created a fan of that game for life.
Imagine if you could do the same thing for the A-League. And let's be fair there are not too many options for kids to collect sporting cards during summer here in Australia. Not only would create a fan for life but it would also immediately raise the profile of many an A-League player. Who needs press coverage when you've hundreds of thousands of football fans/players of all ages obsessively trying to swap a Carlos Hernandez for a Nicky Carle or a fan that has five Jamie Coynes that he can't get rid off (Perth Glory fans will surely know this feeling).
Not only would the introduction of A-League sticker book introduce the league to potentially a whole new audience it would also give those avid World Cup collectors something to do in the intervening four years unless of course they are collect the any number of cards/stickers that are inexorably linked to the English Premier League. So there you have it Ben Buckley and Kyle Patterson, forget about that funky new ad campaign and trying to get Harry Kewell to do some promotion in his Politix gear, stickers are the way to go.
