an interesting tweet from a South Melbourne supporter:

In 1991, when Melb had a population of 3.2 million & 5 #NSL teams, we saw a Melb derby GF crowd of 23,318.

In 2022, our game has progressed so far, we have 3 #ALeague teams, a population of 5.1 million & a Melb derby GF of 22,495.

My goodness.

A League is looking very dismal with just over 5000 fans per game average. That is a total collapse. 

The FFA is going to have to do something here - bring back the clubs in a second division and have promotion and relegation.

If this continues, A League is a dead duck. 

So, are the NPL teams thriving,  and the A League teams suffering? What is your point? NSL also dipped until it Collapsed. It Absolutely Failed.
Everyone knows that the Football CODE as a collective has been suffering, including South Melbourne like everyone else! Mainly because of how the FFA, now FA/APL have, and do run the game, such as the Mass Postponements, being as Insular Closed League and on a Budget Salary Crap, Gallop, Townsend and Nikou style.
Next year, if the Leagues can unite via a NSD as a starting point, as part of a general Reset, crowds may start coming back.
Crowds do have to get off their collective asses and go to games, as well as subscribe to Paramount plus or just watch Channel 10, the product is there. 

It was also a sell out at the old Olympic Park.

If Docklands existed back then the demand would have been high enough to have the match played there. Surprisingly the mainstream media coverage of that gf here in Melbourne was huge.

Hahahah thats gotta have been my man Mickey? 

Stiff that, dont drag us down with the plastic sinking ship...., Let the Aleague stand alone for as long as it lasts.

You are probably right. It seems like its a sinking ship. It might be best that the clubs don't get on board it before it sinks. 

But on the other hand, the clubs may be able to resurrect football in Australia.

There are hundreds of thousands football fans who are disenfranchised when the FFA embarked on a program of inquisition against it's football base. If we are able to get these people back, then the A League has better chances of surviving and thriving. 

So it's very difficult to look at the crystal ball.

I happen to believe that if we are somehow able to resurrect the A League and bring the grassroots back into the fold then that in my humble opinion will good for the game in Australia. 

It would be very good for the game in Australia however it doesn't appear as if the APL wants to or can connect with the rest of us.... Time for Football Australia to cut the apron strings and just move on.

A foreign equity partner now owns about one third of the APL.
They have invested in the closed shop football model.
Do you reckon they give a damn about grassroots football?
Do you think they want to share broadcast and sponsorship dollars with anyone outside of the APL?
Absolutely zero chance.

Makes   you   wonder   what   the  APL   have   done   with  all   the   money   from   selling   off   the  leagues .

22k   to  a  Grand  Final   ffs ...

That the APL decided to hand over 1/3 of the League to someone who doesn't give a damn tells you the APL don't either

What sort of crowds can teams expect for next season? 

Honestly it’s too hard to tell. Given the struggles other sports are also finding, getting people back into the habit of attending matches will be a very important thing to get right. 

At this point you would have to beg AFL to join Para. No way should they. 

Aleague should never have left Kayo. 

Hard to say. My other sport nrl didnt rebound apart from origin and magic round

i think people are cautious of large crowss until the pandemic is truly over, not just over in terms of restrictions. Boosters aimed at new variants will help and hopefully out by the season

i think ive had trouble following teams with the same degree of intensity as i normally do

its hard to find highlights on keepup. There arent good player stats. Not a lot of articles on the intrigue and drama of on field performances (theroar at the moment seems to be the best which isnt great…)

its beeen hard to figure out when matches are on…
yeah its been a tough year

I get all the info from here or a league Reddit. Then highlights on YouTube then a few podcasts but I do get your point and I wouldn’t even bother with keep up

is there a site for player stats? Aleague.com.au use to have all sorts of individual stats

I don’t know if there is a site but I recommend FotMob which has stats and fixture or a league live which are both apps 

you mean Fox - welcome back Legend !

Agree with a lot of that, bloody hard to find stats and info.
Also, I know it was an interrupted season, but there were times when it's like 7pm or something, and you discover that a game just finished, and it started at 5pm or something like that, and you're wondering:  bloody hell, who knew that was on??

Before the pandemic wsw had crowd averages dip below 10k. Stupid question: what happened?

Weren' t   they   "homeless "  for  a  couple  of  seasons ?

3rd last will do that to a club.

Interestingly in the 3 seasons affected by the pandemic they either had the highest or second highest average attendance.

maybe they can return. Such a promising club

squawka give good a league stats and might be a good replacement for aleague.com.au

Australia cup attendance:

https://www.austadiums.com/sport/football/results

Wow the Tarneit fans dont like to travel midweek do they :)

How many WU fans you reckon were there?

No idea, didn't watch but if the crowd was 3k I would presume 2,800 of them where Victory members.

Yeah probably.
Can't imagine there would be many making the trip to Edensor Park in that case.