A-Leagues & Football Australia General Chat and News Thread

[nobbyiscool]

Well the draw is out for the new season, so I guess it's time for a new thread!

Here's the draw: http://www.a-league.com.au/dct/ffa-dtc-performgroup-eu-west-1/Hyundai A-League 2016-17 Season Draw_yfvkya5o37bi1i67vkzousdbs.pdf

Here's the press release (apologies for the crap formatting):

The Hyundai A-League 2016/17 season will kick off with a blockbuster opening fortnight featuring Sydney and Melbourne derbies and a Grand Final rematch, Football Federation Australia (FFA) has announced today.

The first ever Sydney Derby at ANZ Stadium will be the marquee match of the opening round with a Melbourne Derby scheduled for Round Two, which also sees the Western Sydney Wanderers return to South Australia to face the Hyundai A-League 2016 champions Adelaide United.

The Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Season will kick-off on Friday 7 October when Brisbane Roar FC host Melbourne Victory at Suncorp Stadium. The Hyundai A-League 2017 Finals Series will begin on the weekend of 21-23 April and the Hyundai A-League 2017 Grand Final is scheduled for Sunday 7 May 2017.

Speaking today, FFA CEO David Gallop said the draw was full of promise for another exciting season, the 12th edition of the Hyundai A-League.

“The season starts with a bang in October and we will once again see the great unscripted drama unfold with another crescendo as we build towards the finals series” said Gallop.

“The Summer of Football concept with 10 matches in 11 days over the Christmas / New Year period is always very popular and we are expecting bumper crowds during this period.

“There's also a split round to accommodate the challenges of the AFC Champions League to give our clubs the best chance possible in the group stage.

In addition, following last week’s announcement by FIFA that the Hyundai A-League will be amongst the first competitions world-wide to trial the use of Video Assistant Referees (VARs), Gallop also announced that, subject to the successful “offline” trials, “live” use of VARs will be implemented for the Hyundai A-League 2017 Finals Series.

“All in all, I'm delighted we have a draw that will be welcomed by the clubs, players and fans.” concluded Gallop.

Key features of the Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Season draw

• Opening Round of the Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Season begins on Friday 7 October 2016 with the Brisbane Roar FC hosting Melbourne Victory @ Suncorp Stadium

· Hyundai A-League 2017 Finals Series will begin on the weekend of 21-23 April 2017 and may feature “live” Video Assistant Referees (VARs).

· Hyundai A-League 2017 Grand Final will be played on Sunday 7 May 2017.

• Grand Final Re-Match (Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers FC): Round 2 (Friday, 14 October 2016 @ Coopers Stadium)
• Derby Days
  • Sydney Derbies (Sydney FC v Western Sydney Wanderers FC): Rounds 1 (8 October @ ANZ Stadium), 15 (14 January @ Allianz Stadium) and 20 (18 February @ ANZ Stadium).
  • Melbourne Derbies (Melbourne City FC v Melbourne Victory): Rounds 2 (15 October @ Etihad Stadium), 11 (17 December @ AAMI Park) and 18 (4 February @ Etihad Stadium).
  • F3 Derbies (Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets): Round 7 (Sunday 20 November @ Hunter Stadium), Round 21 (Saturday 25 February @ Hunter Stadium ) Round 26 (Sunday 9 April @ Central Coast Stadium)
  • Distance Derbies (Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix): Round 2 (Sunday 16 October @ nib Stadium), Round 14 (Thursday 5 January @ nib Stadium), Round 22 (Saturday 4 March @ QBE Stadium (Auckland)
• Adelaide United vs Melbourne Victory @ Rounds 3 (Saturday 22 October @ Coopers Stadium), 14 (7 January @ Coopers Stadium) and 21 (Saturday 25 February @ AAMI Park).
• Summer of Football’ with 10 matches in 11 days (i.e. Rounds 12 and 13) which includes two matches on Boxing Day (Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix @ Hunter Stadium & Adelaide United v Sydney FC @ Coopers Stadium), one match on New Year’s Eve (Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne City FC @ Central Coast Stadium) and one match on New Year’s Day (Western Sydney Wanderers FC v Perth Glory @ANZ Stadium)
• Themed Rounds
  • Remembrance Round – Round 6
  • Play Football Round – Round 18
• Round 23 will be a “Split Round” in order to accommodate back to back AFC Champions League Match Days 2 and 3 with matches scheduled as follows:
  • Week 1 – Friday 10 and Saturday 11 March 2017 (2 Matches) - No Clubs participating in the AFC Champions League;
  • Week 2 – Friday 17 March, Saturday 18 March and Sunday 19 March 2017 (3 matches) – including Adelaide United, Western Sydney Wanderers FC and Brisbane Roar FC)
• The following fixtures at alternate home venues have been incorporated:
  • Round 6: Saturday, 12 November 2016 Central Coast Mariners v Wellington Phoenix @ GIO Stadium, Canberra, ACT
  • Round 10: Saturday, 10 December 2016 - Wellington Phoenix v Central Coast Mariners @ Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, NZ
  • Round 11: Saturday, 17 December 2016 - Wellington Phoenix v Western Sydney Wanderers FC @ Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, NZ
  • Round 13: Monday, 2 January 2017 - Melbourne Victory v Newcastle Jets @ Simonds Stadium, Geelong, VIC
  • Round 16: Sunday, 22 January 2017 - Western Sydney Wanderers FC v Newcastle Jets @ Campbelltown Stadium, Campbelltown, NSW
  • Round 17: Friday, 27 January 2017 - Newcastle Jets v Melbourne City FC @ C.ex Coffs International Stadium, Coffs Harbour, NSW
  • Round 18: Saturday, 4 February 2017 - Wellington Phoenix v Western Sydney Wanderers FC @ Yarrows Stadium, New Plymouth, NZ
  • Round 18: Sunday, 5 February 2017 - Central Coast Mariners v Adelaide United @ GIO Stadium, Canberra, ACT
  • Round 22: Saturday, 4 March 2017 - Wellington Phoenix v Perth Glory @ QBE Stadium, Auckland, NZ

· Fox Sports will show all matches of the Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Season and Hyundai A-League 2017 Finals Series exclusively live.

· SBS TV will broadcast Friday night matches live and the Hyundai A-League 2017 Finals Series on a one-hour delay.

· ABC Grandstand will broadcast all matches of the Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Season and Hyundai A-League 2017 Finals Series on local radio or digitally via the Grandstand app or website.

· Croc Media will broadcast Friday night matches live and also all matches during the Hyundai A-League 2017 Finals Series.

Read more at http://www.a-league.com.au/article/...pu9wasna9ug71mb406lwi28ho#7JXwJWc2SfcVvB50.99

 

[chazwazza]

Just a quick look over the fixture. I'm always interested in the spread of Friday night games as they're FTA. Normally it's a pretty even spread. But this year it's not so even.
First number is games hosted second is games away.

Adelaide hosting 4, away in 3.
Brisbane 4/5
Victory 2/1
City 4/4
Wellington 0/0
WSW 2/3
Sydney 4/2
Newcastle 3/1
CCM 0/1
Perth 0/3

Poor old Wellington get none at all. Perth (obvious time difference) and CCM hosting none. Surprising that Victory only involved in 3 and hosting 2, as with WSW involved in 5 and hosting 2. I wonder if this has anything to do with the crowd issues during last season.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

One only one trip to Wellington and 8 out of 12 homes games on a Saturday night. More than happy with that.

 

[nobbyiscool]

Just a quick look over the fixture. I'm always interested in the spread of Friday night games as they're FTA. Normally it's a pretty even spread. But this year it's not so even.
First number is games hosted second is games away.

Adelaide hosting 4, away in 3.
Brisbane 4/5
Victory 2/1
City 4/4
Wellington 0/0
WSW 2/3
Sydney 4/2
Newcastle 3/1
CCM 0/1
Perth 0/3

Poor old Wellington get none at all. Perth (obvious time difference) and CCM hosting none. Surprising that Victory only involved in 3 and hosting 2, as with WSW involved in 5 and hosting 2. I wonder if this has anything to do with the crowd issues during last season.

I reckon it has more to do with the fact that Friday night isn't the top game/premium game.

As you say, you'd think they'd do a better job of getting an even spread on FTA. But I guess if Foxtel are pulling the strings, and if Victory and Wanderers are the 2 highest rating teams, it's not altogether surprising. It's also not that surprising that Wellington don't get any Friday night games, partly cos of the inconvenience, and partly cos they don't pull a crowd for SBS.

I'm more disappointed by the press release seemingly making it abundantly clear that there'll be no more negotiations on a new FTA broadcaster for this coming season, and FTA viewers are stuck with SBS treating the league like shit again.

 

[nobbyiscool]

A few things I've picked out:

- There are a massive 7 weekends with no games in Melbourne. There are 6 weekends with no game in Sydney (although 1 of those weekends has the Wanderers at Gosford, and another 1 of those has Sydney at Gosford). As someone whose first love was AFL, where teams are introduced for the express purpose of ensuring a game in every major market every weekend, that is some garbage fixturing. Perhaps it's a little more understanding in Sydney given the Wanderers stadium situation - but it's still pretty rubbish.

- Victory's early draw was startlingly predictable! An away blockbuster week 1 - which in itself is dumb if you want to start the season with a bang, given Victory will give you the biggest guarantee non-derby crowds; the now traditional Melbourne Derby on Caulfield Cup day; I think we knew from reports out of Adelaide that we'd be away to them in week 3; we've got the Melbourne Cup Day Eve game vs Wellington.

- I like that they've gone with the Christmas/New Years "feast of football" - but I think they could've done a much better job of fixturing some big games during that period.

- With it being Victory's turn to host 2 derbies, both of them are at Etihad. I'm not sure how I feel about this - on one hand, City's price gouging for Derbies is disgusting, but on the other hand 27,000 people at AAMI park is a much better atmosphere even than 35,000 at Etihad.

- Only one trip to Wellington, and only one trip to Perth. Part of me thinks this is awesome, cos they're the 2 away trips that I'd never consider doing (along with Newcastle I think). But part of me thinks "**** the FFA are idiots, sending Victory around Australasia when we're in the ACL, and doing the opposite when we're not in the ACL."

- The break down of home games is 8 at AAMI Park, 5 at Etihad Stadium, and 1 at Geelong - from what I can tell, it's Victory (not their opponent) who've given up the home game this season. Granted, we get an uneven number of home and away games - but after only getting 13 home games last season, it shits me that, now that it's our "turn" to get 14 home matches we sent one down the highway.

- Trips we do twice are Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney FC, and Western Sydney. Depending on how these ANZ Stadium games look and sound, I may have to consider one of those.

 

[SloaneysDanger]

Strange how we play the Phoenix 3 times between rounds 9-17 happy only 1 of those games is in NZ. Also only 1 trip to Perth which is good.

 

[Greasyrhys]

Not bad except that once again, our round 1 away game is on a Bloody Sunday, giving us only 5 days before the 1st home game. Seems every season we play our opening game away is on a Sunday, bloody eastern state bias once again...

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Can we stop plugging the sponsor in every title?

 

[Bomberboyokay]

One only one trip to Wellington and 8 out of 12 homes games on a Saturday night. More than happy with that.

Flogging a game to Geelong every year is annoying. I don't want to go there.

Edit: Oh you don't go for us

 

[nobbyiscool]

Can we stop plugging the sponsor in every title?

Yep. You're right. Fixed

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Yep. You're right. Fixed

 

[Greasyrhys]

After having looked at the fixture, I'm surprised (& a little disappointed) that our only away game against WSW is at GWS's home ground & not at ANZ. But then again, SA-based teams never play at Olympic stadiums...

 

[WagonBang]

Victorys draw never really changes each season. Home derby first home game, Adelaide Away in first couple rounds, Wellington on Cup eve, Away derby weekend before Christmas, Home game at AAMI on 27th or 28th of December, Sydney Australia Day at Docklands, Second derby in Feb.

Geelong is the 14th game the clubs a encouraged to take to new Markets.
Wanderers have Campbelltown
Newcastle have Coffs Harbour
Victory have Geelong
Much rather Geelong than Tassie.

Wanderers 5 ANZ games are
Sydney FC x2
Victory x2
Perth Glory on New Years Day (Showgrounds unavailable due to BBL)

 

[nobbyiscool]

Victorys draw never really changes each season. Home derby first home game, Adelaide Away in first couple rounds, Wellington on Cup eve, Away derby weekend before Christmas, Home game at AAMI on 27th or 28th of December, Sydney Australia Day at Docklands, Second derby in Feb.

Geelong is the 14th game the clubs a encouraged to take to new Markets.
Wanderers have Campbelltown
Newcastle have Coffs Harbour
Victory have Geelong
Much rather Geelong than Tassie.

Wanderers 5 ANZ games are
Sydney FC x2
Victory x2
Perth Glory on New Years Day (Showgrounds unavailable due to BBL)

Ugh... Now you're just making me lament the fact that the extra game isn't in Tassie!

Having grown up there, and with most of my family and many friends still living there, a game in Tassie on 2 January, from a personal perspective, would've been ****ing amazing!

 

[giggler99]

Looks like the Bakries are finally going to wipe their hands off the Roar.

Bakries agree to sell Brisbane Roar
Wednesday, June 08, 2016 - 9:11 PM
Source: AAP
Author: Vince Rugari

The Bakrie Group's tumultuous reign over Brisbane Roar is almost over with the A-League club poised to be sold to a consortium led by Melbourne businessman Daniel Cobb.

Cobb, the owner of energy comparison website Electricity Watch and former Adelaide United sponsor Clean Energy Enterprises, heads a group that has agreed to buy the Roar's A-League licence from the Bakries - a sale that is subject to due diligence and approval from Football Federation Australia.

The process could see Cobb's consortium take either 100 per cent ownership of the club, or a controlling share, with the Bakries showing interest in staying on as a minority shareholder.

Cobb recently approached the Indonesian conglomerate with the proposal to buy the three-time A-League champions, subsequently flew to Jakarta to meet key Bakrie representatives, and was made the club's managing director and interim chief executive officer earlier in the week.

Family head Nirwan Bakrie has also agreed to inject $2 million into the club in a move that will allow coach John Aloisi and football director Craig Moore to begin planning for the new season.

"I'm the managing director of the club because a party that I'm related to has agreed terms with the Bakrie Group," Cobb told AAP.

"We've signed a terms sheet that will see them exit the club and us acquire the club.

"FFA need the club stabilised and we have secured a capital injection from the Bakrie Group during the time which the process with the FFA and the engagement with other stakeholders in relation to the sale is completed."

The recapitalisation from the Bakries should mean players and staff are paid on time next Wednesday, avoiding an insolvency event that would have triggered an A-League licence breach and given FFA the opportunity to take over.

Cobb intends to hold a media conference in Brisbane on Friday to elaborate on his plans for the club, but said he was unable to reveal the identity of the other investors.

Cobb's company Electricity Watch recently became a business partner of Football Federation Victoria.

Another one of his businesses, Clean Energy Enterprises, signed a three-year, $1 million sponsorship with Adelaide United in 2013.

However, it only lasted a short time before Cobb terminated the deal, and it's understood there is residual ill will between him and the club.

http://www.sportsfan.com.au/bakries-agree-to-sell-brisbane-roar/tabid/91/newsid/199945/default.aspx

 

[nobbyiscool]

Well bugger me...

The 'rumour' posted in the old thread last night regarding Tim Cahill may have had an element of truth to it. (If you didn't see it, I'd heard last night that Tim Cahill was on the verge of signing with City, which was going to prompt a delay in todays fixture announcement.)

Ray Gatt (The Australian) has just reported on Twitter that City and the FFA went to other clubs asking them to allow City to play with 3 marquees next year so they could sign Cahill, and they were knocked back.




Incidentally, the same guy who gave me the info last night reckons a deal was pretty much done. Take that for what you will, given last nights mail was only half true (at best.)

 

[chazwazza]

Almost as bad as Sydney wanting other clubs to help pay for Del Pierro

 

[nobbyiscool]

Brisbane also tried to bend the rules a few years ago to keep Berisha and were knocked back, so this can't be a surprise to City.

It's also worth noting that that other clubs are already pissed off with City, hence the "Caceras rule" which, if it hasn't already been ratified, will be soon.

 

[nobbyiscool]

The likelihood of Tim Cahill playing in the A-League next season has nosedived.

Football Federation Australia appears to have failed in an audacious bid to convince the other clubs to allow Melbourne City to sign the Socceroos legend as a third marquee player.

It can be revealed that a meeting of club chairmen on Wednesday gave a resounding "no" after they were asked to allow City to go outside of the rules and field three marquees instead of two for next season so they could accommodate Cahill.

BF rules prevent me from quoting the whole article - but given The Australian's paywall could safely house terrorists, given how few people see behind it, I thought I'd give some notes having somehow gotten through.

- negotiations between City and Cahill have been ongoing for 3 months. (Which suggests the pow wow with Gallop was the final step in getting Cahill to the A-League, not the first step.)

- Sydney FC were named as a pursuant for Cahill, but baulked at Cahill's $3m+ wage demands (even allowing for the FFA's "fighting fund" which would have also contributed.)

- Mooy is gone, Fornaroli has been upgraded to a marquee - Gatt also says that City will soon unveil a "big-name signing" that they've had under wraps for a few months, with that deal done before they believed Cahill was a realistic option.

- Opposition from the other 9 teams was unanimous. "Everyone was in agreement that it would be a grossly unfair advantage."

- There was then some detail from Gatt relating to the tv deals - this probably goes hand in hand with the tweet I've posted, with Gatt believing the FFA were desperate to do this to boost the tv deal that is going to be negotiated very soon.


* by the way, I bolded the big saying the meeting was on Wednesday, only cos I think I owe my source an apology. I may have cursed at him, questioned his parentage, and questioned his honesty when I got up this morning to the information that the draw was coming at 11.30. If we read between the lines, it seems to me like there's a very real possibility that Cahill could've been announced today if the other teams had agreed to it yesterday

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Incredible they thought the other clubs would agree to it.

 

[FAITH]

so ffa want other clubs to allow city to cheat

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Well bugger me...

The 'rumour' posted in the old thread last night regarding Tim Cahill may have had an element of truth to it. (If you didn't see it, I'd heard last night that Tim Cahill was on the verge of signing with City, which was going to prompt a delay in todays fixture announcement.)

Ray Gatt (The Australian) has just reported on Twitter that City and the FFA went to other clubs asking them to allow City to play with 3 marquees next year so they could sign Cahill, and they were knocked back.




Incidentally, the same guy who gave me the info last night reckons a deal was pretty much done. Take that for what you will, given last nights mail was only half true (at best.)

And I thought Glory had no respect for the rules. City are taking the piss.

 

[giggler99]

Meh.. If the FFA are that desperate to get Timmy then they can change the rules themselves and allow clubs to have a third Marquee.

As stated below its a real possibility.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/footba...l/news-story/0a007ba9365745385d4cb7b6f43f7553

 

[FAITH]

FFA are bunch of idiots seriously

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

l0l I n0!