But we don't because we idolise the American way of doing things. It's frankly embarrassing.

This.
Why would anyone associated with MLS want to go to the trouble of organising something with a club in a crap league half way round the world when they have South America on their doorstep.
There's a comment above (3 years ago) that state no one wants to see us play Asian clubs - however the reality is we really should engage our neighbours more often.

Why to prove how shit we are ?

where did you hear that? 

Can't see it happening the seasons end at wrong times as is. Would love to see the Timbers play here. We have a growing Australian based supporter group as well as a Sydney based supporter group of Atlanta United.

Could possibly work better between NWSL and WLeague Champions since there seasons don't overlap as much.

Strong mail I have heard is Los Angeles Football Club and Western United FC may play some friendlies against each other.

One in LA and the other in Melbourne. 

Then again, neither was the US...

MLS more interested in growing relationships with Mexico/South America, tbh.

Always rumblings about integrating more with Liga MX, and with all the South American players coming to the league also makes sense to continue to create ties with South America.

And to answer an earlier question, no MLS team has won CCL but they have made finals. Just have had massive struggles with Mexican teams, though last year was encouraging in terms of results and this year should also see improvements with teams like Atlanta fielding easily a top-Liga MX quality side

If the A League and MLS are similar then explain the following:

1/ Why do more Australian players play in clubs in Europe or Asia than America?
2/ Why do more Australian coaches move to clubs in Europe or Asia than America?
3/ Why do more Australian teams play preseason games against clubs from Europe or Asia than America?
4/ Why do more Australian fans support clubs from Europe (and possibly Asia) than America?

The MLS is irrelevant here. The only purpose it serves is an attempt to vindicate our decision to have a salary capped closed off league. I dont see any sense in the two black sheep play off

We should have a mid season tournament each year with them.

We can call it the Misfits World Series Cup for countries that are special case!

We can have cheerleaders and fireworks after every shot! Bit like the hunger games.

I'd watch it.  If nothing else it would provide a gauge to the relative standards otherwise it's just baseless conjecture.  

Please flag this as the answer so we can move on :)

incredibly dumb idea.

wtf is this

this is a good idea but looks like the mls has overtaken us atm 

the yanks wont come over, their economy is collapsing.

How can you possibly know there would be zero care factor? A competitive fixture between Australian and American soccer champions would certainly drum up some media interest here, especially if a big name player such Kaka, Pirlo, Drogba etc were involved. Even if no big names were present how can you pretend to know how local club supporters and even the broader sporting public would react to the presence of the US football champions? Anything the Americans export in a sporting sense tends to capture the public imagination, even if momentarily, and given the MLS's recent acquisition of several high profile players and growing reputation throughout the football world I think bringing their champion team out would offer a point of difference relative to a bland pre season practice match. I could be wrong but it would hardly hurt to try.

On another point I completely disagree with you we have nothing to learn from the MLS. That's not saying we have to copy everything the MLS does but from a purely sports marketing perspective our environments and demographics are broadly similar. It would be really narrow minded to reject ideas and knowledge that have delivered positive outcomes simply because they originated in the MLS. It's also naive to suggest copying all things European is the key to success, we know from history things that are sacrosant in Europe eg 'first past the post' failed dismally here. We have far more commonality with the American market than we do anywhere in Europe so we shouldn't allow any anti American prejudice impair sound decision making.

Definitely within the top three absolutely retarded threads or ideas that have ever been suggested on here.

I award you no points.

Because of this.

How did this get to 4 pages?

We have zero ties from a footballing sense. And our games didn't evolve in the same way

The MLS was established to give America a professional top tier to justify giving the country a World Cup
The A League was a reform to revive a struggling and mismanaged game

The evolution of the two games are vastly different as is the history. There is also a 10 year gap between the two


The AFL and NFL have evolved similarly in that they are a native code and have a monopoly on teams, fans and players. So football in our respective countries have attempted to tap into some of the similarities of the respective leagues to boost mainstream appeal

But thats where the similarity ends


We dont copy the NFL, we copy the AFL. We may end up with some things the same as a consequence of these two leagues heading in the same direction (such as finals and team names) but it doesnt mean we can borrow ideas from America directly (like when we introduced the all stars, a concept that is only culturally significant to one of the countries. Or talk of building boutique stadia across the land)

Our respective countries have different challenges the leagues must overcome to grow and doing so means understanding the environment, not looking at a league with a few vague similarities and then copying what they did to grow

Nothing can be gained by us looking at the MLS. We only have 10 teams and our league has already stagnated. And this is after a horrid history of failure for the sport in our country. If the model actually worked for our country then there would be merit in peering over the fence for ideas. But its obvious we need to make more out of the European influence because thats where the support and money is


America are not a big player in football so there is zero care factor about them here, despite rivalries in other sports or some similarities in our leagues. Trying to set up an annual play off serves no purpose


Edited by bluebird: 3/2/2016 04:31:42 PM

How about the angle of A league champion versus MLS champion? The ACL is fine, but truth be told no one cares about playing Al Ittihad or Ghangzhou Evergrande? Those countries aren't even the world cup, have no/few recongisable names.

This, there needs to be a reason, some kind of angle that stirs emotion like a championship cup, but we have the ACL, there is no tribal component in this idea

I didn't know we had zero ties with the US. As stated in my original post we have a similar football culture and format. Our leagues are similar and have evolved similarly. Our leagues are at similar stages of development. We have unique ties with the using culturally, politically and sporting wise that we don't share with Europe or Asia. All I'm saying is that perhaps that can be leveraged for the benefit of the code here and relationship between the two countries and leagues.

It doesn't have to be the "similar stages of development rivalry" , or the "western democratic justice rivalry", it could simply be the 'A league champions v MLS champions'. It wouldn't even be a forced rivalry with heavy marketing pitching the giants of USA football against the underdogs from down under, but it might, in time, pick up its own steam and become a genuine competitive fixture. Maybe not like Celtic v Rangers but something that builds value and interest in our code. You never know unless you try.

I think it might work, 2 legs, home and away. A-League Champions vs MLS Champions.

Or looking further, they should have an Intercontinental Cup, Where the Champions of Asia play the Champions of North America.

Before the World Club Cup was born, the used to have the Intercontinental Club / Toyota Cup played in Japan every year between the Champions of Europe vs Champions of South America.

Some people are just stick in the muds
I have no idea why anyone would oppose friendly off season games like this
I'd be interested to see A-League champion vs any other league champion in the off season. Not sure why anyone wouldn't be.

There's no shortage of big teams that want to play here. Once upon a time that may have be true but not any more

Not only do we have an inevitable two big fixtures on FTA but we also have the ICC to look forward to. Don't forget Arsenal next season


People like rivalries but not forced ones. What rivalry are we talking about here. The "not first choice code in country" rivalry? The "we have a salary cap too" rivalry? "Bullshit nickname rivalry"?

What are you hoping to establish?

People are disappointed an Aus NZ rivalry isn't happening in the A League like it does in other sports. So why would an Aus US rivalry work in football when we have zero ties with them and zero interest - just because it works in swimming or tennis

I don't see clubs lining up to bring MLS teams over here as it is. The timing of their season is all wrong and the fee they demand wouldn't see the ROI


Its obvious what works. Its obvious what sells. Why fight it?

If you want to wank over becks then. Just bring him out. Dont waste time with this gimmick bullshit. As it stands with China they are fucking eclipsing the MLS re signings and they are in our confed. Fuck gimmicks with the MLS.

As stipulated above there is more than one reason to bring a champion MLS team over (or one of ours going there). Beckham was arguably not possible to bring over when he was at Man u and Real Madrid, it took him going to LA to get him over here. Similarly it might also be more feasible and likely for globally renowned stars to come here as part of an MLS squad rather than waiting for big European clubs to decide to take a holiday here.

Why would the fixture not spawn any interest? The MLS is growing and developing a reputation for importing excellent players, some even in the prime of their careers, as well as playing a high standard. There's a huge European/South American influence across many MLS teams, many who have international caps. When people think of the MLS they probably think of folks like Beckham, Kaka, Gerrard and the glut of other stars making their way over there. I'm not saying the MCG is going to sell out to watch victory v Timbers, but surely there would be *some* media interest in such a fixture - an Australia v America kinda thing. Call it gimmicky but that doens't mean it wouldn't work, people like rivalries. Others like myself would be interested in seeing how the A league fares with the MLS, which league is developing quicker. If they bring a big name who can sell out a stadium that's a bonus.


Edited by rusty: 3/2/2016 01:29:39 PM

What interest?

When LA Galaxy came here the interest was in 1 player - Beckham, who is European. There is no interest in American teams, players or branding

I bet most people here couldn't even name the last 3 title winners


Bringing over an American team with big name European players to spawn interest is beating around the bush when we can just as easily bring over the big name European team that created them

Its like going to a buffet in hope they serve a slice of pizza instead of going to a Lygon Street pizza restaurant and getting the real deal


I'm not saying a playoff will hurt the game. But equally not having a playoff won't hurt the game either. There is a cost to putting such a thing in place (travel, scheduling, appearance fees etc...) and it would only be in hope they had a good selection of reputable European players in their line up that could attract a crowd and interest here

The current arrangement of trying to bring over a big name team has the same impact plus more because it is a direct approach. Or alternatively if we had an A League / J League play off it could help cement an Asian alliance. Given the current ACL crowds and ratings this is much more important for the development of the game

I remember in Hawaii??

Melbourne heart went i think i remember collarado rapids as well