What I don’t understand is how anyone at the APL thought this was a good idea. 

Based on the 2 main negatives expressed here (in italics below), I would just like to put forward the possible thinking of the APL.

1. That it would have been more acceptable to the fans had they been told the truth that the league was cash strapped, desperate and necessary for it's survival.

If the fans are told, might as well make it public. Imagine how that would reverberate around the media, sponsors and advertisers. Will it enhance future TV rights, hardly? Remember, negative exposure always has negative consequences.

2. That other than when Sydney clubs participate, they're lucky to get anyone at the grand final.

That may well be the case if the event location was known merely 1 week earlier, but 6 months earlier? I believe there is a case that appropriate marketing over a sustained period will boost interest in the final and boost attendance on the day. A potentially low 20,000 finals crowd figure may well turn out to be 40,000. 

Anyway, it still stinks. 

What will day 3 bring? 

Could be the beginning of the END of the A league?! What a show of disrespect to club members/fans - people that will pay money to be members/attend games have not been EASY to find and retain. Now even more difficult

Quite possible. 
Tho I hope that fans make their statements by switching attention to the first past the post title and boycott the finals.
It is however difficult go see now the A League will another TV deal off anyone significant value. 

Does anyone have any info about which clubs supported those move? Apart from Melbourne Victory's ands Williams, there silence has been puzzling. 

WU nothing Williams. Fuck SwiftKey 

Yep the TV/Streaming rights just lost even more value than it had a week ago - which we all know wasn’t even that high - despite the hype/buzz surrounding it after the Socceroos good performances at Wcup etc

What shits me most of all was the giant wall of home support when you won the right to host a grand final. I was at all 3 Roar finals and to see a stadium, except the bay behind the goal, bathed in orange was the most fantastic sight.

Sadly never again.

which is why a boycott of the GF will work. 


My first thought when i woke up this morning is that what are the possibility Victory could leave the APL and join the NSD?

Zero.

ADP voted for the decision to host it and then resigned from the APL. They get the money and he gets to claim the moral high ground. 

If he used the word "code" he is a dickhead.
Even if he said "league" he is still a dickhead as 18 years is easily the start, or even through the start of becoming a tradition.
That shit eating grin of his makes me so angry.

Yep and it's the first time in 17 years that i have TRULY thought that

APL looking like a no win situation 

They stay their course - it's over. 

They give in, the fan groups perhaps may dine on the power and go hard over other issues?

I just cannot fathom why they did this at this moment after such good public sentiment after the WC. Unless he thought it was a good idea?

It    beggers   belief .

A   week   after   we    make    the   WC    round   of  16 ,   and   there   are   fans    talking   about    this    lot  possibly   running   the   a- league   into   the   ground .

The Cove need to show solidarity and align with the fans from Melbourne and other states and announce that they will boycott the finals as well.

I really do think these guys in the little corporate bubbles in poorly ventilated offices do think they have good ideas.

Even if everyone at the first meeting agrees, nobody has the guts or cares enough to speak out at the table when the germ of the idea starts, it snowballs and eventually it's easier to say nothing and/or yes

Statement from Mariners CEO to fan..... meaning put Mariners in the against camp...

Hi everyone

Firstly can I thank everyone who has emailed, called, texted and posted on recent matters in regards to the APL decision to play the A-League Grand finals in Sydney. 

Yesterday I spoke with the Coast Ramble Podcast and whilst this has yet to go to air I'm sure once some technical challenges have been overcome this interview will get heard. In light of that delay I wanted to confirm a few items for our members and fans of the club via this forum.

I'd like to start by confirming that no-one at Central Coast Mariners had the opportunity to be involved in the decision and we were not consulted on the matter. As a point of reference I was informed on Saturday morning that this announcement was happening and that all clubs were required to send players to the announcement.

As a club who has had the hosting rights for grand finals taken away from us and knowledge that we are one of and possibly the only club that would never have the chance to host a grand final in our home city the magnitude of this is not lost on anyone at the club.

The APL is structured with a board that holds five club chairman who make all key decisions for the APL. The Central Coast Mariners are not represented on that board. I would like to confirm that the structure of the APL does not currently give our club or our fans and members the opportunity to have a voice in these decisions and we implore for structural change to this process.

We are a proud community club with a focus on player development, if I just use today as an example our focus remains with the players who will prepare for the game on Saturday morning and then also take time to do work in wrapping xmas presents as a way to raise funds for and awareness for the Bravehearts charity of which we are passionate to support.

In the past as a club we have had to make hard financial decisions for the clubs long term security and this is not lost on me in considering how it was that the APL came to make the decision to accept significant funding from the NSW Government. For years as a league we have been wanting the support of governments at all levels for our league and to see the NSW government support the A-League financially is something that needs to be acknowledged in understood in this situation.

I can also confirm that last night when finally given the opportunity to have a voice on the topic our Chairman Richard Peil had recommended we take inspiration from sporting leagues like the NFL that allows the long term financial sustainability of the league. This allows cities to bid years in advance for hosting rights to ensure every location gets a fair go whilst also maintaining the financial stability of the league.

There was a statement that was posted by APL last night which had Richard Peil's name included, this was quickly removed because there was no agreement from the Richard and other Chairman that this would go out that way. Whilst all the chairman excluding one were in attendance in the shareholders meeting from which that statement came from it is important to note this.

In saying all this I know there is a lot of conversations to be had and hence why I wanted to start with this post here on the forum. I will make myself available at the pre-match function at the bowling club for all members to ask questions, vent, discuss and most of all be heard so I can continue to ensure that everyone above myself is clear on the position of the CCM fans and members.

I would like to thank the Official Supporters Club and the Yellow Army representatives for their recent dialogue with myself and I encourage all fans to engage with the OSC, the Coast Ramble Podcast and the Yellow Army or any CCM fan group to keep making sure your concerns and voices are heard.

In regards to why the club has not jumped to make any official statement I would like to simply say that as this has been evolving at a rapid rate and new information continues to come to light we have so far taken the position of wanting ourselves to know all the facts. Not that we wish to remain silent but more that we wanted to be honest, an official club statement whilst may come soon needs to be accurate and consider all the ramifications that it would have for us as club.

It is with great concern that I have on how this matter has been handled and will be expressing this at every opportunity I have to do so. I am aware that this post will not answer all the questions and not in anyway alleviate any concerns. Highly likely that I will be criticized and questioned by some at the APL and they have my number if they want to call me to discuss.

I support our members and fans of the club in wanting to ensure that your voices are heard.

I will come back on this forum later today to answer any questions as best that I can, I will also make myself available directly to fans and members at the pre-match function.

Shaun Mielekamp - CEO

Clubs in favour
- Sydney FC (Board Member)
- Western Sydney Wanderers (Board Member)
- Melbourne City (Board Member)

Clubs that are against
- Melbourne Victory (Board Member)
- Perth Glory
- Brisbane Roar
- Western United
- Wellington Phoenix
- Central Coast Mariners 

Unclear as they are yet to make any comment
- Adelaide United
- Newcastle Jets
- Macarthur Bulls

https://www.news.com.au/sport/football/world-cup-hero-mathew-leckie-stays-out-of-grand-final-controversy/news-story/ef6f3c1836e4492f30e29b5b43150152

Have many other players spoken out?

Only Goodwin i think- but Socceroo players that play in the AL can have the most influence on the decision makers and Goodwin is a legend for speaking the truth - not a pissweak fence sitter like some

was going to travel 2 hours on train from regional Vic this weekend for Melb derby but now I can’t be arsed anymore

So   the   Mariners   say   they    weren' t    informed     until    Saturday ?

like    What    the   Actual    F   .

The   more   that   comes    out   about    this ,  the   more   beyond    belief   it   seems   to   get  .. .

It sure would make a good movie one day RC 

Obviously I disagree with the decision. 

I can guess what their thinking was: 5 of the 12 teams are in NSW.  Thats 42%.  Factor in that WSW or SFC have a better than random chance of making a  GF perhaps that's 50%.  So the risk of two non-NSW team playing a GF isn't scarily high, 3 of them even less so.  Then they're factoring in the theatre goers which might offset the lost interstate fans.  Add the head fucks the AFL has caused for stadium availability plus the AFL owns Docklands potentially capping Melbourne GF's to about 30,0000.  In a worse case scenario they figure they'll still get 20,000 which is what happened in Melbourne last year anyway, but they get more money, and they can choose the stadium size to match the demand.

The onion in the ointment is that they may not have factored in the fan protests.  Or they did and dismissed it as a small number not worth the money appeasing. What they haven't put a value on is the goodwill and point of difference

Equally they considered none of this and just took the money and ran.

Fans should add "get rid of VAR" to their agenda as well.

looks like PG and AU management have fallen into line with the APL and CCM sitting on the fence. Very disappointing.  

So a few (non board) clubs have now said something along the lines of "we were not consulted on the matter". I'm struggling to believe the accuracy of those statements. Maybe there weren't consulted in a formal manner, but I find it near impossible to believe that they didn't have at least a wiff of what was happening. If it is true that these clubs had no idea, I can't see a way in which the Aleague progresses in a positive way. 

how to we prevent this sort of decision making in the future? Would a board with elected fan representatives be an option?

You can't.