Having a top 6 is daft.

Teams like Newcastle can have a shit season then string 4 wins together and the moronic people will crown Newcastle as Champions/best team.

Top 4 would be the ideal way to go about it. Maybe a top 5 with whoever wins the league gets rewarded with a straight spot in the final.

Or even the top two sides are only applicable for the Grand Final.

3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th play off for the third ACL spot?

(Will never happen.)

I like this idea.

I have to admit that after experiencing last season's Grand Final I don't think we should get rid of the finals series. We just need to change it to be it's own competition instead of being a conclusion to the A-League.

Piss the finals off full stop.

A month of an already-too-short season is spent playing about half a dozen games (3 of them usually between the same 2 teams).

That month could have another 4 or five rounds for ALL 10 sets of fans to go and watch.

Agreed, replace Championship Cup with FFA Cup.

Another 4 games where my team is actually going to be playing? To this I say [size=9]YES[/size]!

Agreed. Top 5 is too messy

This is simple and removes the dud prelim final

Top 2 get acl spot. 3rd acl spot to gf winner, runner up, or 3rd/4th play off in that order

but what about the interest a 4-5 week cup competition could generate for a potential major sponsor as well as TV right for the cup itself. if we used the top 8 system i suggested earlie the quarter and semi finals could be played over two legs with the final to be played at the highest ranked teams home venue with a two week build up. that way people have a chance to find accommodation and get to the game.

the FFA would then start to have a fair catalogue available for broadcasting rights

Socceroos
A-League
League Cup
and eventually FFA Cup

potentially all four could go to four different broadcasters.

Edited by jargernaut: 13/12/2011 12:09:25 PM

I'd go for the top 5 dave posted. It does seem confusing at first, but I think any finals format seems confusing at first. It gives an advantage to those teams that finished higher. The top 4 sides all should receive a home game. There's no 2-legged games which I find less exciting. It provides 2 weeks notice for the stadium to host the gf.

Bring it back up to a top 6 when the league expands again. I love the finals series, but 6 out of 10 does seem to be rewarding mediocrity too much. And bring in the FFA Cup.

Edited by Benchwarmer: 13/12/2011 03:39:04 PM

personally im from the old school...team at the top are the champions,the team at the top usually win the most games and lose the least and are the most consistent team of the year...finals series are shit,one bad game and you could be gone...you cant tell me that if the team that came 6th happens to win the GF are best team of the year...but thats just me....first past the post is the winner...

I think for the FFA to be fair on ALL a-league sides not just the ones from the major cities the FINAL should be two legged.
There is far more positives to gain from it rather than what we have now such as:
-More revenue for the FFA
-The regional sides such as CCM can actually host the grand final in front of their home towns. Imagine if the F3 GF of season 3 was actually hosted in Gosford and Newcastle instead of in Sydney where the game wasnt even a capacity crowd.
-Adds to the drama of the season.


I belief we have to HAVE finals to maintain interest in the league throughout the season. Think of past seasons when one individual side has blitzed it and think how boring it would be for the other sides/supporters who dont have much to play for.

Although i think the top 6 does kinda reward mediocrity it is still a good way to keep the fans interested in the latter part of the season even if they are struggling most teams can still mathematically make it.

This is my preffered finals system:

Week 1
1st and 2nd both have the bye
3rd vs 6th
4th vs 5th
Losers of these matches are out

Week 2 and 3 (two legged matches)
1st vs (lowest placed team to advance)
2nd vs (highest placed team to advance)
*These matches will more than likely end up being 1st vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd but still gives fans of 5 and 6 hope for a fairytale run)
*The teams which finished 1st and 2nd will host the return leg of the games)

Week 4 and 5 Grand Final
Winners of the above games play each other in a 2 legged play-off grand final.
The higher ranked side will host the return league of the GF.


This system is great because it also avoids problems we have had in previous season where the top 2 sides play each other heaps in the later part of the season which can make matches a little stale.
Eg. Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide in seasons 2 and 4
Sydney vs Melbourne in season 5 where they played each other like 4 out of the last 6 games inc. finals
Brisbane vs CCM last year.

Thoughts people?

I agree with aussie_prides assessment of that teams like CCM should be able to host the GF in their own city. Sure, you won't get the largest attendance possible, but it would truly reward the team that gained the right to host the GF, (no place like home), and the atmosphere would be truly electric! Imagine a packed out Bluetongue Stadium. The Gosford foreshore could be set up with a giant screen showing the game, etc.

:oops:
So the team that wins the league gets 2 weeks off from competitive matches and then has to play in a grand final?
Awesomely terrible idea.

Finals/play offs/ whatever are just daft imo. A team who manages to string 3 wins in a row should never be considered higher than the most consistent team of the season and it's bad enough that the premier isn't acknowledged more than the champion here. If you need knockout football, then wait for the FFA cup and bring back the state cups. Scrap the finals when the FFA Cup come in and if you must have some sort of series have the next 4 teams play off for an ACL spot.

Agreed..... can't have a top 6. Should just of stuck with a top 4. A Top 6 especially in this league rewards mediocrity.

For mine this is one short sided part of the FFA. Hosting a grand final could do amazing things to ingrain the sport into the culture of these areas. Moving it to sydney might make more money for the FFA short term, but its benefiting the sport less long. Perhaps that could be an advantage of an FFA cup. I would imagine they would again take the most profitable route though.

For those wanting to scrap the Finals for a cup. Do you honestly believe the FFA cup will draw 1/5 as much attention as the finals system does? Some people seem to think we live in europe. First pass the post wont work and a cup wont be as popular as the FA cup.

I believe a post season knockout League Cup would draw more fans than the system we have now with its 1 v 2 home and away and the loser of that playing the winner of the rest to see who gets to the grand final.

Leave the format as it is. The a-league needs stability, tinkering and changing the system just creates confusion for the general non-football public.

Ah that's it f1dave - that's also quite similar to what they have at present, or what I've seen from other codes anyway?

BTW Guys a bye straight through to the final is a disadvantage, hence scheduling like Dave outlined - As Top Ladder teams go without the football, intense football, for all that period, while the team they face has been through 2-3 hardening qualifiers, so they're sharper, more geared up and gelling together to take on their opponent. We've seen it happen before too, such long byes never serve any team well.

Final 4.

Playoffs are exciting, they are a part of most Australian sports leagues and I think most people like em.

Moving that Grand Final pissed off a lot of people. It was an incredibly short sighted decision and led directly to a decline in Mariners crowd numbers. You would have had a full Bluetongue, a live site opposite in the adjoining park, the foreshore buzzing. In short, you would have ingrained football indelibly within the area.

Instead the opposite happened and many people have not returned from season 3. If you earn the right to host the Grand Final you MUST be allowed to hold it. In other words - the Mariners have become less profitable to support the FFA. The stupidity of that move is still being seen years later with crowds never returning and the Mariners struggling financially.

Edited by patjennings: 15/12/2011 02:14:50 AM

Exactly and the sad thing is the FFA will do the same again (and it could be this season).
2 legs sort the problem out where the Jets would've played at home first leg in season 3 in front of 28k and the next week in Gosford wouldve been a sold out sizzler in front of a further 20k.
2 legs, 2 weeks of public media attention, 2 awesome rivals playing one another
total of 48k
vs
A neatural venue with a lack of home ground feel for a total of 36k

I know which one makes more sense to me :-k

The current system is ludicrous. If the finals were tomorrow there would be 6 teams who could win the league, when there is clearly one side who deserve it.

Also if the finals were in a few weeks 8 teams could be a chance to win the season.

@tsf
They should change the finals system imo.

At the moment 1&2 need to win 2 games, 3,4,5 &6 need to win 3 games (to be champions).

If you changed the system to
Weds
5 v 6

Friday
3 v 4

Sunday
2 v 5/6

for the first week of the finals it means 5 & 6 would have to win 4 games, 2,3 & 4 would all have to win 3 games and 1 (who plays in the semi the week after) has to win 2 games. That at least would be an advantage for coming first. Also it would deny the possibility of a (long shot) 5 v 6 gf. And you get the extra game for tv/revenue.

Edit; actually that doesn't work out. But they should change it somehow :)

Top 5

F1: 2nd vs 3rd
F2: 4th vs 5th
F3: 1st vs Winner F1
F4: Loser F1 vs Winner F2
F5: Loser F3 vs Winner F4
GF: Winner F3 vs Winner F5

Whilst they have an unbalanced HHA or AAH season there should be the top 6 to try and balance things out.

When it's a HA season the a 4/5 team final is fine.

My preference would be a two legged 1v4 2v3 SF and single game final.

I'm not a big fan of AFL style lucky losers.
Finals imo should win only.

I guess for 5 teams you could play
Wednesday
3v4
Thursday
2v5

Sunday
2/5 v 3/4

Sunday
Gf
1 v winner

Have the 1st place go straight to the gf.
It shortens the finals by a week and one game.

Top 6 in a 10 team comp is ridiculous, seriously harms the credibiity of the league.
Drop finals to top four, it will intensify regular season competition and give the finals a more authentic feel. Two home and away play offs followed by grand final.
If crowds drop can always go back to top 6.

The thing I don't like about home and away is it doesn't give much of an advantage to the team that finished 1st. Only a home second leg. Also, that teams aren't knocked out in the first game would mean you lose the playoff vibe a bit.

Then what if the 2 teams play each other in the FFA Cup? They would play each other 6 times.