A-League boss Greg O’Rourke revealed the news as he launched the 2016-17 A-League finals series in Brisbane on Monday.

Australia’s three clubs competing in this year’s ACL started their campaigns in woeful fashion, including Western Sydney Wanderers and Adelaide United suffering 4-0 and 3-0 home defeats respectively on matchday one.

The lopsided results triggered a discussion on the A-League’s future led by Fox Sports commentators Mark Bosnich and Mark Rudan who labelled it “embarrassing” and the “darkest day in Australian club football”.

Among the criticism was talk around fixture congestion with better scheduling needed to best help A-League clubs compete against sides with far bigger budgets.

For example, Brisbane Roar, who qualified for the ACL via the play-offs, were forced to play eight games in 28 days including trips to China and Korea.

“We’ve tried to address the things that have been a concern,” O’Rourke said.

“It’s a bit of a challenge around the draw … what we’ve done is moved the draw a little bit.”

O’Rourke said the 2017-18 season would include two split rounds. There was one split round in Round 23 this season, with two matches taking place during the March 10-11 weekend followed by three on the March 17-18 weekend.

There was an ACL matchday during March 13-14, meaning the split round eased the burden on clubs competing in Asia.

However, the timing of the split round was almost two weeks after clubs were forced to play ACL matchdays in consecutive weeks around A-League fixtures, which will change moving forward.

“Where next year there will be back-to-back matchdays, we’ve now put double split rounds in as well to give Australian teams a much better chance and take away a few of the hurdles that were in their way in this season,” O’Rourke said.

Only once in the 2017 ACL will clubs compete in consecutive weeks in the group stage, but that will happen twice in 2018, which will be tighter due to being a World Cup year.

The head of the A-League also confirmed FIFA international windows wouldn’t be recognised during the 2017-18 season but said there would be greater flexibility.

Wellington Phoenix have long called for the A-League to recognise international breaks, with their side missing up to seven first-team players for matches this season due to national call-ups.

“We’re not going to stop for FIFA windows at this point in time,” O’Rourke said.

“It’s a contracted season. We have said to all clubs, we’ll show some agility towards the draw.

“There’s a big Under-23’s tournament in January next year (the 2018 AFC Under-23 Championship in China) which will take Olyroos away from A-League sides, so we need to work with a bit more flexibility next season.”

O’Rourke also said the A-League was hoping for a crowd of approximately 20-25,000 for Friday’s Brisbane Roar-Western Sydney Wanderers elimination final at Suncorp Stadium.

The timing of the match coincides with the Brisbane Broncos clash away to South Sydney on Friday night.

O’Rourke said the fixture was scheduled for Friday as both Brisbane and Wanderers were due to compete in the ACL in midweek but also because the competition couldn’t afford to bend to rival codes.

“We potentially might lose some fans but this code needs to stand up and face this stuff head on,” O’Rourke said.

“It’s no use us giving clear passage to other codes all year.

“We already play in the alternate season to ensure we have some clear air and this game gets its position both in the media, crowds and broadcast.

“We’re not going to open the door and let them walk through each and every weekend.”