How about the fear of relegation? .... just a thought.

Boutique stadiums, embracing a 'niche sport' persona and attempting to be inclusive with diehard support seems to be a more realistic way of moving forward to me! If it's not too late already.

The EPL is a 4-6 teams trick pony and all the other major leagues are about a three teams trick pony as well. 

So who regulates to stop over expenditure. How does the league ensure strong growth. Especially if the league develops into a 3 team league ( as would most likely be the end result)?

Thats 100% right

When Australia joined Asia they were one of the biggest countries (which was the incentive for Asia to give us a gig). In fact more people in some Asian countries wore Kewell shirts when we played them than their own country. They had the same issues we had

I know we can never match the spending power of China and Japan, but the 3+1 rule means the best country in the ACL is the one that does the most with local talent. So Australia has a good chance to step ahead of the pack and thats what we should be aiming for

If we let CFG and the like cut loose, some of the teams in the A League will be bigger than those in the AFL / NRL. Saturday night games will be epic and teams like CCM will profit from home games like we have seen with visiting marquees in the past. And that was just one player

The AFL can get away with an ambiguous standard because there is nothing to compare it to. If a team thrown into West Sydney is the best the country has to offer, or a Melbourne team playing rugby, then people will buy it. But our code will always be compared to an international standard. We have to aim higher than seeing which teams win a closed off league

The CCM of Europe?

Who's Bury then?

Being a SFC fan, I hated the RBB, well maybe hate too much, but the derby rivalry was amazing, as good as what you would see in the stronger football loving O/S countries even though it was a little lopsided, as they had more fans.
Also, disliked the Victory fans too, but they came up in numbers & the Sydney v Melbourne rivalry was huge.
What happened was we were too worried, the admin worried about what others were talking about the A-League & instead of defending it's fans, the FFA under Gallop shut them up.
Crowds have fallen ever since.
So in answer to your question no I don't care what the other codes, the lovers of the O/S leagues & the old NSL people think of the A-league.
I have followed football in this country since the as a little boy I was watching the Socceroos on TV in Germany, I have my O/S teams, but the only teams that is in my blood & I kick every ball in every game & totally have unbiased views on are the Socceroos & SFC.

So basically we should be aiming to let our clubs become the Real Madrid of Asia? 

Thats right. When the A League started, football had no value. The code was dead and buried, people were skeptical, and even a club like Melbourne was put on a deal where they could slowly pay the FFA back for their licence

This is what I meant before when I said the initial A League was a necessary evil. People use today's support and interest as a paradox to say what the first year of the A League should have looked like. But everything stemmed from a 1 city, 1 club model. Consolidated support and sponsorship, a sound commercial model, and when things started to pay off - a serious TV deal

But as I said, the initial A League was a first step. There wasnt 2 teams from big cities but people knew there would be. There wasnt a womens or youth league but people knew there would be. There wasnt a second tier but people knew there would be. All of this was part of the initial vision

Once the FFA started to see the size of the dollars rolling in they decided the initial A League was the product and thats what they have been trying to sell ever since. And along with thats sales pitch comes the fear that if we dont follow the strict script set out for top tier football codes in this country the game will die. What a load of shit

We have (had?) the amount of money in our game that we always dreamed of. And instead of building a sensible football model with big clubs, success in Asia, and improvement at the top level, we have ended up as a light weight AFL / NRL played with a round ball

LOL..!

not weird at all. 

we just want and demand the best and we refused to accept that our league isn't the best in our region.

We aussies will not settle for second best. its who we are

That was a long time ago in an era of inflation and at least was on a major channel. What would that be in 2005 when the first season of the A-League got $750000 on subscription TV? Realistically that NSL TV deal had better access and was better value than the first A-League deal. 

Sincerely hope this never happens to you mate, it is an absolutely horrid feeling being ostracized for no reason. I agree with your post 100% as I have mentioned before, if there was even a remote chance South could be promoted I would also "keep an eye out" for the Aleague.

The key word was "major"

Soccer Australia had a TV deal and I think it was $1mil in total for 7 years

Wasn't the Phillips Soccer League and Coca-Cola Soccer League shown on channel 10. I think Eddie Everywhere may have also been involved.  

Yes. Otherwise I would have to use an alt account on here.

I would consider my opinion of the aleague itself at that point meaningless - until we won our way back up.

To be honest, if we were relegated I would actually be more inclined to keep an eye on the aleague as an unoffiliated supporter. It is if we are kicked out for some reason that the aleague would be dead to me.

Also the vast majority of ex NSL teams are still alive and well 16 years later... Sure some have seriously contracted in both support and economies, but they still exist.

I really hope you are right in throwing your faith behind this "unbundling" mate as to me it is just a business decision to allow the professional clubs to have greater control of the "product". Like any business they will fight tooth and nail to protect their market and in my mind this is counterproductive towards developing the football ecosystem I want to see in this country.  You want both Japan and MLS style but they are two different things bud. Japan has a 100 year plan on how to develop all of football in their country - National men's, women's AND youth teams to be the best, for there to be 4 divisions of professional clubs and for their "soccer identity" to be the "Asian Brazil". The focus is on the sport of soccer not the economics of it. MLS just wants to keep expanding into different markets until saturation point has been reached and they have sucked every potential investor dollar that they can possible get. Success for them is how much money the owners make and how much merchandising they can do ....  Sorry to me this just doesn't appeal at all.

But you would support the Roar if there was a second division, where the promise to rebuild bigger and better was at hand.

Your view point is so much recycled and "copy and paste" from a previous era that you think the flaws of the game that I pointed out above are my opinion

Secondly you think taking a single maximum figure and applying it to player salaries only is going to stop clubs from going broke. If the salary cap is about financial regulation then why is it the same for the big clubs as it is for the small clubs? Why have we seen A League clubs go broke, several might I add, despite a salary cap?

Also you throw in the classic NSL line. You do realise that the NSL was a semi professional league with no major TV deal or commercial backing?

Every single flaw you have pointed out in removing the salary cap is a fact of the current game. You dont know what it does. You just know our code will die without one

The 1 mil+ (whether it is or not), which are probably the commited and rusted on supporters, even they are sick to death of the federations constantly in conflict with the FFA up till now 'perhaps.'
I believe the masses have been affected by constant negativity in Australia when it comes to soccer. State and Local governments favouring the other codes being prevalent for one. Also, Frank excluding teams with rich history has played a major role. The idea of de-wogafying the new A League 16-17 years ago was so the conflicting monocultures and bad practices like flares would cease. Its not the anglo Australian way and I understand that. WIth the new A League Frank's vision excluded alot of passionate supporters way back then and still today. 
The winter sport turned into a Fox summer sport, played often in 35+ degree heat, what!!! and the comp not being aligned with the rest of football in the lower tiers either.
As for the wavering supporters, many have disappeared. They enjoy other sports and easily go away because football cannot find traction...till now hopefully. This comes down to marketing and advertising which is non-existent. These supporters would come back.
I became a rusted on supporter a while back. My early days were spent playing and following another sport, all the while keeping a slight interest in football. To me somehow, football became my no.1 sport and would of focussed on playing that if I had it over again. My interest grew through the success stories of the International team. 
I would go for Sydney Olympic if they were in the A League. If there was a team nonetheless exclusive to Southern Sydney in the A League, I would probably support them. Sydney fc cannot cover the City, North/West and the South of Sydney all at once, not for me. I don't follow a team in the top flight, although, I am enthused by the A League and want it to thrive for all the right reasons. If the comp can be mentioned in the same breathe as the Eredivisie, Swedish, Croatian, South Korean and other similar leagues, well thats a major win for me.
I hope it can Now happen sooner rather than later.
Look at the populations of Iceland. Uruguay and Croatia, yet they have very strong football comps. The A League can be like this. The Enemy of Football in Australia has firstly been itself, no question!
After around 6-8 years of the initial A League, second division should of started to happen. By now, pro/rel may have been ready to be integrated.
The A League should be at 14 or maybe 16 teams by now. Perception is also very important. The Afl has 18 teams, the Nrl have 16 teams and would love to be at 18 teams. The A League is only Now at 12 teams. The more teams, the healthier and more successful the sporting code looks.
The NRL, known as something else then, had a 12 team comp back in 1981, when in 1982 Canberra and lllawarra were admitted. In those days, Johnny Warren would do a segment on soccer on a program called Sportsworld on channel 7, main host was League hard man Rex 'the Moose' Mossop.
The A League could be perceived as 30-40 years behind today compared to where they should be, that's the perception that I mentioned. If the A League grows further, the culture will eventually get stronger I believe football will be passed down to younger fans as well. 
The NBL is not a competitor to the football codes so they are not judged on their few teams that they operate with and successfully in their own right. 
I can't stress how important the 'Unbundling' was man. Now the comp needs to rocket to 16 teams in my view. If I could I would add four teams over the next two seasons as a matter of urgency and let them find their way, on the job, like most occupations, Japan and MLS style.

The key argumemt from me though is that the 1 mil+ ( if that is even a real figure or even if it is less) who are involved in soccer dont need to be sold on the sport, they already like it in some form or another so NRL and AFL opinions do NOT (or should not) affect how these people see the game. Let me put it another way as I'd like your opinion on this and anyone else who wants to chime in, lets pretend the 1 mil+ that already like soccer  in this country are the last people left in Australia..... this covid thing gets out of control and by some devine soccer God providence the only people left in Australia are those who either play the game, are involved in a club or are spectators of local and or international soccer (just a hypothetical scenario, no need for anyone to rush out and buy loo paper) .. That is 1 million people who like the sport and only 50k at best are watching the Aleague...... Market to them first and even a 15% increase is another 150K of supporters. Those 1mill+ are not being "serviced" why? That is the golden question. Federations overseas have national populations less than 1 million yet manage to run multiple divisions and a healthy soccer system, not to mention countries like Iceland who make World Cups with a population smaller than Geelong.... 
Other sports are NOT to blame mate nor is the attitude of bogan Australia, these are just excuses, we have a huge support base the FFA is just useless..... 

Not conflicting at all. The A League has been abit on the nose through its history. Alot of the reasons that you have come up with are hard to argue against.
It has not built up a high enough profile at the same time over the years as compared to the established codes in Australia.
The FA and APL are tasked with trying to change the perceptions and stereotypes that football is wogball. They can do this through marketing and more exposure of their content. 
For one, as much as me and you understand flares, the mainstream here find them revolting and insightful and that will never change on the macro scale.
What works overseas doesn't always work over here. For one they are illegal. No argument there.  
Other codes through their players often find themselves embroiled in hot water with various issues but not being wogball, they are easily forgiven generally overall. A player misbehaves or a fan at a match does something wrong in the A League and it is wogball. 
Andy Harper is great to listen to about his study and findings about the roots of football and its journey in Australia.  
As 1 mil+ are involved in soccer, it is not equating into enough interest in the A League. The code is not the finished article as we know. 
Hopefully with this reset that has recently occured, it is the one chance that football has to eventually change perceptions and start to make a dent within the Australian sporting landscape. I find that the product has subtly improved already.   

Your giving conflicting answers mate. So are Aussies not  interested in A league because they hate wogs and flares or because they prefer NRL and footy? Are you saying they just dont like the sport itself or is it the Aleague that is on the nose? If 1mill+ are engaging in some way with soccer elsewhere  I would assume the latter.

Yeah I get what you meant but who do I watch? What team? Mine isnt allowed entry into the competition therefore is NOT on primetime.... why would I bother? 

This is the best lot of imports to play on these shores as a collective quantity so there must be appeal toward the A League atm.
The young talent is like a production line.. the League is travelling as good as it can for now.
It is a reset season and there are systems not in place like a naming sponsor, if the Apl goes about it that way, or whatever way.
Crowds are not allowed to full capacities as well due to you know what.

All this is based off your opinion. If you want to see what happens when finances aren't regulated have a look at the dying days of the NSL, club turn over was next level.

I mean don’t worry about the legal entity status of a bloody club and just enjoy football on tv in prime time. Jesus. 

Its more complicated for soccer in Australia. There are other more established codes here. Always been issues. Many play, volunteer and watch tv but are not too passionate about ALeague like you and me. Too much infighting, Aussies in the past had been put off by flares and foreign club names. It's always been a hectic and colourful history.
Unbundling (the bundle of cotton thread) should not be underestimated though. This could be the First and Only Restart to soccer in this country for all parties.
It happened in our lifetime in this country with all the politics, which is astonishing alone.
Adding new teams and implementing all the other principles that JJ mentioned is the way forward, even for some ex NSL teams to possibly get back to the top League.