EasyBeingGreen
Debutant
- Feb 2, 2015
- 50
- 50
- AFL Club
- Fremantle
- Banned
- #1
The FFA has announced several changes to this year's tournament, namely the introduction of Saturday night standalone final and a condensed match schedule to favour state league teams so they're not playing so far out of season.
http://www.theffacup.com.au/article...eld-ffa-cup-in-2015/uxluvjd0guvb1co5eocxp1kdk
The standalone Saturday final is a fantastic idea and is just what the competition needed, however I think the condensed fixture is disgraceful. If they want the competition to make an impression on fans, and let's be honest here, a vast majority of football fans in Australia follow the A-League, not the state leagues, then it has to be played mostly concurrent with the A-League season. Next season only the Semis and Final will be played after the A-League starts.
Playing the competition so early means most A-League fans won-t be in 'football mode' and won't give two hoots about the cup - less TV ratings, lower crowds.
If they want the state league teams to have a bigger impact in the competition then scrap the weighted draw and make it random like every other Cup in the world, also introduce a nationwide round of 44 (add the A-League teams next round to make a round of 32) to give more state league teams the chance to get on a Cup run as well as playing in their season.
Every round after the round of 32 should be played concurrently with the A-League culminating in a February or March final.
Playing it in the pre season will result in A-League teams experimenting with weak squads, tactics and youth players and will prove counter-productive to the competition, put simply; if the clubs don't care, the fans won't.
http://www.theffacup.com.au/article...eld-ffa-cup-in-2015/uxluvjd0guvb1co5eocxp1kdk
The standalone Saturday final is a fantastic idea and is just what the competition needed, however I think the condensed fixture is disgraceful. If they want the competition to make an impression on fans, and let's be honest here, a vast majority of football fans in Australia follow the A-League, not the state leagues, then it has to be played mostly concurrent with the A-League season. Next season only the Semis and Final will be played after the A-League starts.
Playing the competition so early means most A-League fans won-t be in 'football mode' and won't give two hoots about the cup - less TV ratings, lower crowds.
If they want the state league teams to have a bigger impact in the competition then scrap the weighted draw and make it random like every other Cup in the world, also introduce a nationwide round of 44 (add the A-League teams next round to make a round of 32) to give more state league teams the chance to get on a Cup run as well as playing in their season.
Every round after the round of 32 should be played concurrently with the A-League culminating in a February or March final.
Playing it in the pre season will result in A-League teams experimenting with weak squads, tactics and youth players and will prove counter-productive to the competition, put simply; if the clubs don't care, the fans won't.