Reserved for all those Stormtroopers

They have just over 20,000 pre-sold for the derby, underwhelming. Start of holidays and a marquee fixture, where is the advertising? Those fighting over the congress model need to take a good hard look at themselves. The self interest and inability to resolve piss ant decisions is what is and has been hurting our game- contribute or piss off!

Victory/Adelaide 16,788

(A league website)

And as things stand MV will be playing finals football

Shows the massive gulf between the claim that a top 6 keeps fans watching the league longer as their team still has a chance, and the reality that a team that is 6th in a 10 team league is probably shit and only attracting core support

Have any of these NRL / AFL led myths actually turned out to be true? Or have we been sold a lemon

Is that the lowest Victory v United crowd since we’ve left Olympic Park?

@ bluebird

This seasons not the season to draw conclusions, the ffa and Lowy have screwed the A league over.

Is finals football popular though?

Yes it is with regular big crowds (despite ffa setting high ticket prices) and big tv viewing.

But is the journey of getting to finals football “exciting”?

Nah, being in the race for 6th or 7th doesn’t set the pulse racing

Aside from the grand final, finals generally represent a good crowd for teams. Usually the 2nd or 3rd best. Not great like the AFL, but still good

The grand final is definitely a showcase piece. I don't (necessarily) want finals to go. I want the FFA to stop using finals as a commercial gimmick and use it as a proper means to determine the season winner

They should scrap this "ACL spot at the end of phase 1" crap. Nobody wins an Olympic medal for getting the best time in the heat. The ACL spots should be grand final winner, runner up, and semi finals loser play off - which is how every other fucking competition in the world that has 3 awards and a finals system operates (and of course the national cup competition spot going to the national cup competition winner)

Also there should be a top 4 in a 10 team league


If these two changes are made then the journey to getting to finals becomes exciting, and the FFA cup final becomes more of a drawcard because there is something on the line

As it stands - the dilution of what it takes to accomplish something in the league has made it so that fans really only care about the premiership race, and then the grand final

It's an interesting point you make bluebird. 
The top 4 system used to get just as good attendances and probably had the same amount of games we currently have (remember the x2 legged semi finals).
The only real issue with the old top 4 system is 1 v 2 play two legs in the semi and are then odds on to play in the GF which results in far too many repetitive fixtures.
I remember Sydney FC v MV played each other 4 times in a month inc the GF in one season.

My happy medium balance would be similar to that top 4 but with the inclusion of wildcard round for spots 3-6 to play off & 1&2 get a week off.
God forbit i know the FFA want the top 6 to in theory keep all sides interested right until the end but i agree teams & fans don't go woo we made finals and a prestigious achievement (except maybe Jets fans hehe).

Should be 3 v 6 & 4 v 5 in week one.

Week 2 & 3 (2 legged play off like the old top 4 system) 
1 v lowest ranked winner of week 1
2 v higher ranked winner of week 1

Winners go straight into the GF and it avoids 1 v 2 playing one another in the weeks leading up to it and gives quiet the incentive for the side who is first past the post.

I also agree we need to showcase the FFA final on a saturday night and try and build it up more than it currently is.

Well that is false, Mexico they have a couple which progress through the league and 2 through the finals. Same happens in the MLS, same with Uruguay and probably the rest of the other South American leagues using a playoff system aswell.

The A League doesn't have conferences and it doesn't have a split season. It is a single tournament with a consistent number of teams

The league part is phase one (seeding / elimination) the finals part is phase two (determining the winners)

So the Mexican league doesn't just qualify the top 8 teams to a knockout tournament? Because they sure do. It is also flawed logic comparing the league format to that of an olympic heat in which they don't even race against all the competitors, the league format is the most accurate way to determine the best side of a league with the finals which follow simply another cup tournament. People can argue which is more important but that doesn't stop the so called less important trophies containing a spot for continental qualification.

The Mexican league awards its primary spot to the grand final winner and the grand final runner up. It then does the same for the second league

Granted it doesn't have a 3rd / 4th play off system so any additional spots are given to the best performing league team already not given a spot

But either way, the finals is not "another cup tournament" and is not treated as such by any league aside from the A League. The finals is used to determine the tournament winner and any prize money is usually given to the grand final winner


The A League is backwards in that its primary spot is awarded to the phase 1 winner. The secondary spot, which once was a .5 spot, is given to the grand final winner (or runner up if the same team)


Of course people can argue which is more important in Australia. But in Mexico they can't

The AFC determines who gets a gig in the ACL and they stipulate the winner of the league gets the first spot and they define a league as a home and away competition.  Similarly any spot other than the Cup winners spot goes to 2nd, 3rd etc in the home and away competition.

If you want it changed you better get on to the AFC because they are the only ones who can change it.  The FFA, however, can decide to nominate the FFA Cup winner instead of the Grand Final winner as the club allocated the second spot in the ACL.

Can you give me a source for this point?

My understanding is the FFA have called the finals a cup competition for purposes of the ACL

Now that we have a proper cup competition, there is no reason why the league cant be decided with the finals system like every other league with a finals system. In fact some of the other Asian nations are looking into the use of a finals system after what they have seen the A League grand final do. I doubt they are looking at replacing their cup competition

The finals is the second phase of the league. Its the same tournament. I don't see why Asia would recognise the part where the teams play each other 3 times, and not the part where 6 teams play against each other in specific games based on seeding

 
Entry Manual - AFC Club Competitions 2017-2020
Section 4: ACL Criteria
Criterion 4 Organisation of Professional Football League
4.03 - League format of national top division - Home and Away

Also in 4.01 and 4.02 "league, cup tournament, and grand final if applicable" are separate parts of what makes up the minimum 27 games requirement for a season.

It was reported years ago that the FFA discussed with the AFC the possibility of using the finals to decide who qualified 2nd, 3rd etc but the AFC insisted the position in the league was the determining factor.


Section 6: Club Eligibility to Participate in AFC Competitions
12 Sporting Criteria
12.2 Where an MA has more than one (1) national knockout cup, it shall inform the AFC and its clubs of the "national knockout cup"  for the purposes of Article 12.1.

FFA have advised the AFC that the finals series was the national knockout cup.

That proves what I have said

4.01 and 4.02 specify that finals are included in the game count and are part of the league

The FFA, not the AFC, decided to exclude the finals and count it as a separate competition. There is no reason why, now that we have the FFA cup, that the grand final winner is the league winner and the FFA cup winner is the cup winner


As for your "reported years ago" I would like to see the source of this. I suspect it was around the time BR won the grand final and got the .5 position, or when GCU finished 3rd in the finals but didn't qualify for the ACL

This would have been because as the finals is the nominated knock out comp, it is eligible for one winner and one winner only. The finals can only be used to determine 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc... if it is an extension of the league (which is acceptable in 4.01 and 4.02) - and that can only happen if we use the FFA cup as the knockout comp or forfeit the spot altogether

Not looking good for Roar this arvo, another day of storms and the motorway south blocked. Sub 5k?

Just over I would say.

5,192

Boom called it.

Pretty bad turnout for the Sydney Derby I would say.

36,433

Many from the  West won't be back. Say goodbye to these 'glamour' matches.

Largest attendance of the year so far.  Wanderers will need to pick up some form before the next derby to match it.

8063 in Perth. Source:-  ultimatealeague.com

pwoh shit

Hopefully this will put an end to all this 1 game at home each and the third at Homebush pish.

Didn't the stadium offer WSW $500k per derby to play there?

They won't stop until the new stadium is complete

Said it 1000 times. What made the derby so sought after was the small stadium at Parra meaning the SFS derby was the only chance for many to attend. 

But that doesn't explain the 60k that went last season. It is undeniable that interest in the league this year is an all time low. Even the Melbourne derby was low

It doesn't help either when the two teams are at opposite sides of the table