It was a very respectable and relatively popular league with a decent slice of the summer pie and then S Lowy and Gallop went to war with its own fans.

The game has never recovered since.

Professional football is popular in Australia.

We’ve just made some poor assumptions and decisions over the last 50 years.

Over the last 15 years we thought a professional league based on Australian sporting culture would do it.
In fact we promised the owners riches beyond compare, setting a policy course that doesn’t meet our expectations nor the expectations of those who invested in the League.

We thought marquees would be a game changer.

We thought if only there was less or no ethnic clubs then the Australian masses would see less of an impediment to crossing over to the beautiful game.

They thought getting rid of  active support, seen as rowdy and symbolic of the ethnic Football days as the way to attract the threatre goer.

We thought World Cup qualification would be the game changer and everyone would just hop over to the true football.

We think winning a World Cup will do the trick without any thought or consideration in what is needed to achieve that.

The owners brought over Scudamore to tell them how to make the game more popular, but didn’t like what they were told.

The journey to what we want for the game here is a long one. And we’ve lost a lot of time, sidetracked by distractions of grandeur.

We have to be more Club focused, Clubs are the engine of the game the World over, they are the marquee. Great players have come and gone through Real Madrid, but people support Real Madrid not the galaxy of stars that have passed through.

To win a World Cup our players need to be playing and dominating in the top 5 leagues of Europe. With the top 5 clubs in those leagues.

To get those players to those clubs and leagues we have to have a vibrant and competitive league here, that includes transfer fees, promotion Relegation, a connected pyramid, diverse and innovative player development especially at the youngest ages (I’m talking ages 4 to 12), parental education on how they can best help the kids get the skills they need just to enjoy the game. We have to come to the realization that not every kid is elite, but if they stay in the game taught to love it they will be the next administrator or sponser or coach etc.
we have to stop saying, AL you are the professional clubs, NPL you are the development clubs, Community you are for the masses. Telling Clubs this is your territory, and the people in this territory belong to you. Clubs siloed into a specific roles is like creating an East German sports model without the drugs. Even those  clamoring for age restrictions on clubs In competition don’t get it, just playing youth in the AL NPL or wherever isn’t the game changer people think if the kids aren’t good enough they’re not good enough.

And we can’t have arbitrary player payments regulations, Licensing conditions etc etc that don’t reflect the financial capacity and level of the game. We have to have more of an organic approach and that takes time. Like the Japanese who have a 100 year plan.

So my point we need to accept we are in the long game, there is no silver bullet, there is not one thing we can do that will change our circumstances, but there are many small things we can do and build on. In particular we need to equal regulations for all Clubs within a free market framework.
Could write a lot more on this but I think I’ve put my view across.

one word... Eurosnobs. 

Define popular? We were averaging 10k for years, there is nothing wrong with that.

In my opinion  what makes a sport ‘popular ‘ is that it is immediately identifiable by the average ‘joe blow’. When the A-league, the Socceroos or the Matildas are mentioned  it’s ‘blank looks’ by the majority of the populace. Whereas cricketers, ‘footy’ players of any of the other codes even tennis players are instantly recognised. Perhaps it is down to a lack of publicity ( must admit even my wife knows who Tim Cahill is and she has zero interest in football).

Define popular? We were averaging 10k for years, there is nothing wrong with that.

But we happy to taste the food though! 

Funny country.

South Melbourne has had three bites at it (entering the A-League), and at least for the 2nd and 3rd tries, missed out to inferior bids.
Damage done I'd say.

The irony of multiculturalism and diversity being seen as a positive in every aspect of Australian life except mens football is not lost on me.  In most other cultural and social areas ‘the ethnics’ are celebrated but in football we have actively shunned them. Bizarre and backward thinking. And out of step with modern Australia. But it’s not irretrievable.

I love how people are turning this thread in to an “A-League is not popular” thread. 

Constructive observations, especially from clockwork orange. I agree, no silver bullet sadly. It’s a slow road back. Let’s get to 14 or maybe 16 teams quickly then put a five year plan in place for a second division pro/rel.  Aim for this to all be in place by 2030, with public commitments and milestones. I really want some old surviving NSL clubs back in the mix. What a club like South Melbourne would do, notwithstanding the counter arguments, would be awesome and very symbolic. A brilliant gesture to the old guard but also there are commercial opportunities to be exploited.  

The ALeague is a story of 2 missed opportunities. 
The first 2 seasons of the A-league combined with the 2006 WC success was the first squandered opportunity. Instead of building on this success immediately, the decision was made to do nothing to expand the game. Bugger all investment in the following seasons and the game went nowhere.
The next big opportunity was the season when Wanderers joined and we had Ono, ADP and Heskey in the league. Genuine football fans were again enthused, but the FFA decided to go to war with the active fans because they thought that attracting Big Bash and AFL followers was more important.

The ALeague is a story of 2 missed opportunities. 
The first 2 seasons of the A-league combined with the 2006 WC success was the first squandered opportunity. Instead of building on this success immediately, the decision was made to do nothing to expand the game. Bugger all investment in the following seasons and the game went nowhere.
The next big opportunity was the season when Wanderers joined and we had Ono, ADP and Heskey in the league. Genuine football fans were again enthused, but the FFA decided to go to war with the active fans because they thought that attracting Big Bash and AFL followers was more important.

The ALeague is a story of 2 missed opportunities. 
The first 2 seasons of the A-league combined with the 2006 WC success was the first squandered opportunity. Instead of building on this success immediately, the decision was made to do nothing to expand the game. Bugger all investment in the following seasons and the game went nowhere.
The next big opportunity was the season when Wanderers joined and we had Ono, ADP and Heskey in the league. Genuine football fans were again enthused, but the FFA decided to go to war with the active fans because they thought that attracting Big Bash and AFL followers was more important.

Professional football is popular in Australia.

We’ve just made some poor assumptions and decisions over the last 50 years.

Over the last 15 years we thought a professional league based on Australian sporting culture would do it.
In fact we promised the owners riches beyond compare, setting a policy course that doesn’t meet our expectations nor the expectations of those who invested in the League.

We thought marquees would be a game changer.

We thought if only there was less or no ethnic clubs then the Australian masses would see less of an impediment to crossing over to the beautiful game.

They thought getting rid of  active support, seen as rowdy and symbolic of the ethnic Football days as the way to attract the threatre goer.

We thought World Cup qualification would be the game changer and everyone would just hop over to the true football.

We think winning a World Cup will do the trick without any thought or consideration in what is needed to achieve that.

The owners brought over Scudamore to tell them how to make the game more popular, but didn’t like what they were told.

The journey to what we want for the game here is a long one. And we’ve lost a lot of time, sidetracked by distractions of grandeur.

We have to be more Club focused, Clubs are the engine of the game the World over, they are the marquee. Great players have come and gone through Real Madrid, but people support Real Madrid not the galaxy of stars that have passed through.

To win a World Cup our players need to be playing and dominating in the top 5 leagues of Europe. With the top 5 clubs in those leagues.

To get those players to those clubs and leagues we have to have a vibrant and competitive league here, that includes transfer fees, promotion Relegation, a connected pyramid, diverse and innovative player development especially at the youngest ages (I’m talking ages 4 to 12), parental education on how they can best help the kids get the skills they need just to enjoy the game. We have to come to the realization that not every kid is elite, but if they stay in the game taught to love it they will be the next administrator or sponser or coach etc.
we have to stop saying, AL you are the professional clubs, NPL you are the development clubs, Community you are for the masses. Telling Clubs this is your territory, and the people in this territory belong to you. Clubs siloed into a specific roles is like creating an East German sports model without the drugs. Even those  clamoring for age restrictions on clubs In competition don’t get it, just playing youth in the AL NPL or wherever isn’t the game changer people think if the kids aren’t good enough they’re not good enough.

And we can’t have arbitrary player payments regulations, Licensing conditions etc etc that don’t reflect the financial capacity and level of the game. We have to have more of an organic approach and that takes time. Like the Japanese who have a 100 year plan.

So my point we need to accept we are in the long game, there is no silver bullet, there is not one thing we can do that will change our circumstances, but there are many small things we can do and build on. In particular we need to equal regulations for all Clubs within a free market framework.
Could write a lot more on this but I think I’ve put my view across.