The August kick-off has caused much consternation in recent seasons with the opening weeks of the A-League going up against premium NRL and AFL games as they head into their finals series in September.

At a media briefing this morning in Sydney, PFA (Professional Footballers Australia) representatives argued an October to May season makes better sense.

However, it’s believed the current broadcast deal does not give the A-League much room to move on the issue. Broadcasting rights are up however in two years’ time and at that point they hope the issue is revisited. 

“The players’ long-term view is that the season should run from October to May. We understand commercial contracts presently preclude that from happening. But we’d like to see that move occur as soon as those contracts allow,” PFA CEO Brendan Schwab said.

“The reason is that it’s best from a player’s point of view they can best plan transfers into Europe or Asia due to the January and June and July transfer windows.”

The former national soccer league also kicked off in the first week of October and that competition ran till around April.

August A-League kick-offs have in some cases affected pitch surfaces at multi-use stadiums. And while there are other issues regarding crowd numbers generally, the PFA say this is one avenue to be seriously explored.

“Also we think it gives us an opening to launch our season that also sees us go head to head with the other sports with our premier content as we approach the better part of our season," said Schwab.

“We think that will maximise our competitive position.”

Schwab added that western Sydney should have been one of the first teams FFA looked at when expanding the A-League, describing the area as football heartland.

“There are four times the number of registered participants for football in western Sydney then there are rugby league players,” he said. 

“It’s absolutely essential for the long-term viability of the league that we have two very strong teams in Sydney.”