A-Leagues & Football Australia General Chat and News Thread

[ioppolo]

They moved one of our games to 3:30pm in the middle of December for T.V. That s**t won't be going ahead when it is 40 degrees at kick-off.

Because I'm a lazy millennial, which game?

 

[gaskin]

Because I'm a lazy millennial, which game?

IIRC the game against Newcastle on the 21st.

 

[ioppolo]

IIRC the game against Newcastle on the 21st.

Mega LOLs of true. Only due to the magnitude of stupidity. Newcastle's blokes will be farked

 

[gaskin]

Just checked and it is 4:30 and not 3:30. Still bullshit.

 

[Colonial]

Just checked and it is 4:30 and not 3:30. Still bulls**t.

Nah just complete and utter stupidity

 

[ioppolo]

Just checked and it is 4:30 and not 3:30. Still bulls**t.

33 degrees instead of 35.

 

[acm21]

Hehehe. Yay, Wellington's on FTA every week.

They changed alot of the nix games to 245 aedt (mainly those in nz). From my count nix will have 7 games featured. But from the looks of the schedule it will feel like they are on almost every week, with a couple of weeks in a row at stages

 

[giggler99]

lol what a tweet

 

[giggler99]

Heard it all before, We want action not wanky talk.

A-League: How the national competition plans to kick on to new heights
10:00pm, Oct 7, 2019

The new face of football: A young Western United fan during the A-League friendly match between Western United and the Western Sydney Wanderers. Photo: AAP

The battle for eyeballs in Australia’s summer sporting marketplace is a crowded and fiercely combative one and, after much soul searching, football’s A-League is trying anew to get to the top of the pile.

Set to kick off this week, Australia’s revamped domestic football league enters a battle for attention against cricket, basketball, tennis and the increasingly covered AFL and NRL off-seasons.

Following long negotiations, the 2019-20 season will mark the first in which control of professional leagues – the A-League, W-League and Y-League – will transition from Football Federation Australia to a group representing Australia’s professional clubs – the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association.

The battle for eyeballs in Australia’s summer sporting marketplace is a crowded and fiercely combative one and after much soul searching, football’s A-League is trying anew to get to the top of the pile.

Set to kick off this week, Australia’s revamped domestic football league enters a battle for attention against cricket, basketball and tennis, as well as AFL and NRL off-seasons that are attracting an increasing level of coverage.

Following long negotiations, the 2019/20 season will mark the first in which control of professional leagues – the A-League, W-League and Y-League – will transition from Football Federation Australia to a group representing Australia’s professional clubs – the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association.

Taking cues from the English Premier League, the new club-run structure is just one facet of the largest shake-up of Australia’s top flight since its birth in 2005.

Initially taking a low-key approach to marketing the league in a hope of finding clear air following the AFL and NRL seasons, news broke last Friday that Australian football had found a new home on free-to-air television, with the A-League, W-League, Socceroos and Matildas games being broadcast on the ABC for the next two seasons.

The league then flexed its marketing muscles with a slick, comic book-inspired marketing campaign.

“We wanted to do something very different,” league chief Greg O’Rourke told The New Daily.

“We were listening to fan feedback that, in the past, the marketing campaign has fallen a bit flat and that it just looked like a bunch of players saying, ‘Look at us, we’re footballers, we’re back, you should love us’.

The A-League has found itself slipping in the eyes of hard core and casual fans. Photo: Getty
“What comes with the ABC, which might not be immediately obvious to people, is that they’ve got a whole range of other mediums through their digital and online, through their kids programs, through their radio, through their podcasts …

“Some of our research in the past has been that people don’t know where to find the Socceroos, or the Matildas, or the A-League, or the W-League.

Not only does it bring the leagues onto the same channel, it actually brings football to the same channel on free-to-air.

“You’ll find the Socceroos there, you’ll find the Matildas there, you’ll find the A-League there and find the W-League there.”

There will also be a new look on the field, chief among them the entrance of expansion side Western United to the competition.

One of the last major decisions the FFA made regarding the A-League, west Melbourne-based United is one of two sides selected to join the competition last January – south-west Sydney’s Macarthur FC is to play out of Campbelltown Stadium from the 2020-21 season.

Artist impression of the proposed stadium for the new Macarthur South West A-League team.
Securing a licence largely on the back of its promise to build an A-League-first, privately funded, team-owned boutique stadium at Tarneit; United will play home games in Geelong and Ballarat during the facility’s construction – promising it will move into its new home in time for its third season.

Melbourne and Sydney are the historical hotbeds of Australian football; the addition of a new franchise in both cities has the potential to provide much-needed depth to the competition.

Since reaching an average of 13,041 fans in 2013-14, A-League attendances have fallen in every subsequent season, sitting just 10,671 in 2018-19. Television ratings have followed a similar trajectory.

Australian football’s core fan base has faded away, while the casual fan base’s interest shifted to competitors such as the NBL and Big Bash.

“We need to make the product better and we need to attract people,” O’Rourke said.

We’ve got quite a few new coaches that have different playstyles and that, in and of itself, is going to change the dynamic.

“Most, if not all, of the clubs we’ve spoken to have said they’re going to be much more attacking … and much more aggressive in trying to score goals.

“There’s also going to be incentives announced to encourage clubs to play with more under-23s, to ensure that we can unearth some new talent. People are looking for local, home-grown heroes; the next Daniel Arzani coming through the system.

“We’ve spoken to all the clubs to see what they’re going to do on match day to attract families and keep families interested with the whole event and precinct experience.

“We’ve also spent a bit of time talking to stadium police and security … The five clubs sat down with police [in Sydney and Melbourne] about how to better work together so our fans can get a better experience; so that they don’t feel the events are over-policed.”

A-League: How the national competition plans to kick on to new heights | The New Daily

 

[peternorth]

sydney fc show on fox sports now (bill and boz)

 

[Colonial]

At least we will soon be talking about the games and not the garbage stuff.

Sky Blue dreams.

 

[nobbyiscool]

At least we will soon be talking about the games and not the garbage stuff.

Sky Blue dreams.

Until December.

When the league is repetitive. It's unattractive vs the BBL. It doesn't make good enough use of the holiday break. It's fixturing makes no sense.

Come on mate, we've all followed A-League enough to recognise these tropes from the naysayers.


Personally, I'm really excited about this season. With Perth and Sydney still powerhouses, with Victory injecting a bunch more players, with WSW returning to Wanderland, it's probably the most excited I've been for a new season in 4-5 years. But, as I say, we know how this goes for all but the diehards come mid-December

 

[Colonial]

Until December.

When the league is repetitive. It's unattractive vs the BBL. It doesn't make good enough use of the holiday break. It's fixturing makes no sense.

Come on mate, we've all followed A-League enough to recognise these tropes from the naysayers.


Personally, I'm really excited about this season. With Perth and Sydney still powerhouses, with Victory injecting a bunch more players, with WSW returning to Wanderland, it's probably the most excited I've been for a new season in 4-5 years. But, as I say, we know how this goes for all but the diehards come mid-December

Yeah I know.

I'm disappointed so far on how the comp is being promoted, but, it still isn't fully handed over to the clubs yet.

So willing to give them the time to get it right.

City look the goods as well.

 

[juss]

The A-league promotion, exposure and marketing is so bad I only today saw that there is the new Western United FC club competing as an expansion.

Contrast this to the new NBL SEM Phoenix team who I was aware of well before their inception and saw so much marketing I decided to subscribe to updates and attend their first game. I was not a big NBL fan and was actually my first ever game attended compared to the A league where I have gone to I reckon over 40 games in my lifetime, and used to be a member of MVFC probably a decade ago.

It's not as if I don't consume sports media, I am across/watch American sports, AFL, NRL, the Socceroos, Matildas, ESPN, FOX sports, listen to SEN radio daily, my Facebook feeds and YouTube content is loaded with sports stuff, yet I saw it randomly this morning....

If the league is to grow it needs revenue and support. They will only attract new fans or in my case re-engage with old fans by exposure, promotion, marketing, etc. Really disappointing how poorly the league is run in this area.

 

[SM]

The A-league promotion, exposure and marketing is so bad I only today saw that there is the new Western United FC club competing as an expansion.

Contrast this to the new NBL SEM Phoenix team who I was aware of well before their inception and saw so much marketing I decided to subscribe to updates and attend their first game. I was not a big NBL fan and was actually my first ever game attended compared to the A league where I have gone to I reckon over 40 games in my lifetime, and used to be a member of MVFC probably a decade ago.

It's not as if I don't consume sports media, I am across/watch American sports, AFL, NRL, the Socceroos, Matildas, ESPN, FOX sports, listen to SEN radio daily, my Facebook feeds and YouTube content is loaded with sports stuff, yet I saw it randomly this morning....

If the league is to grow it needs revenue and support. They will only attract new fans or in my case re-engage with old fans by exposure, promotion, marketing, etc. Really disappointing how poorly the league is run in this area.

That's more a commentary on you I think, they've been posting every time a Western United player picks his nose.

 

[juss]

That's more a commentary on you I think, they've been posting every time a Western United player picks his nose.

If you know anything about marketing, it's not at all. I consume so much sports media, and I compared it to another team/sport/league that I have followed less than the A league but was more aware.

That's simply an example of effective vs ineffective marketing.

 

[SM]

If you know anything about marketing, it's not at all. I consume so much sports media, and I compared it to another team/sport/league that I have followed less than the A league but was more aware.

That's simply an example of effective vs ineffective marketing.

Well it's all over fox sports, a league social media, ffa, etc.

That you didn't even know the new team exists is odd.

 

[gaskin]

I'm not in Melbourne and I have seen more than enough about Western United to know they exist.

 

[peternorth]

I know about western united. But i feel some may silenty muse "where is western western of?"

 

[SM]

I know about western united. But i feel some may silenty muse "where is western western of?"

West coast and Western bulldogs aren't much different?

 

[peternorth]

West coast and Western bulldogs aren't much different?

Same.

 

[juss]

Well it's all over fox sports, a league social media, ffa, etc.

That you didn't even know the new team exists is odd.

It is odd, and it crept up on me. Really different to the SEM Phoenix in the NBL, a sport I follow less but I feel their awareness and marketing has been a lot better especially with this expansion team.

I find it interesting, having worked in the marketing teams for a few years.

 

[SM]

It is odd, and it crept up on me. Really different to the SEM Phoenix in the NBL, a sport I follow less but I feel their awareness and marketing has been a lot better especially with this expansion team.

I find it interesting, having worked in the marketing teams for a few years.

I have never even heard of the SEM Phoenix, probably because I don't follow the NBL.

 

[Quivorir]

Only reason I know of the SEM Phoenix is I was actually hoping for an SE team. Turns out the are SE by name only.

 

[peternorth]

Only reason I know of the SEM Phoenix is I was actually hoping for an SE team. Turns out the are SE by name only.

Based in Wantirna South/Knox, south east. But yes, arent playing games there as such.

Also very interesting to note that both Western Utd and SEM Phoenix have the same colours!