With the high standard of play in the A-League, why are the crowds so low?

[Frankly Speaking]

Doesn't help that we play the most boring football on earth

I have to admit that unless it is a crucial game, I now avoid watching the Roos. Life is too short.

Is it the players or the coach? The players are an ordinary group, admittedly, but my feeling is that Arnold and now Popa are the drivers of the playing style. They are both coaches who play from a starting position of fear.

 

[biggiemic]

I have to admit that unless it is a crucial game, I now avoid watching the Roos. Life is too short.

Is it the players or the coach? The players are an ordinary group, admittedly, but my feeling is that Arnold and now Popa are the drivers of the playing style. They are both coaches who play from a starting position of fear.

If we play an open game we will get slaughtered.

Players arn't good enough so we are forced to play defensively/negatively.

 

[BA81]

was this a thing in the Aleague? Thats pretty poor... why did they do that?

Resentment that said GG ‘Roo wasn’t playing for their A-League team instead, which is understandable but I agree the extent to which it was taken in most of those cases was just laughable.

 

[BA81]

Doesn't help that we play the most boring football on earth

The Salvadorean NT would dispute that, lol

 

[BA81]

If we play an open game we will get slaughtered.

Players arn't good enough so we are forced to play defensively/negatively.

There’s coaches out there who would disagree w/those opposite approaches being mutually-exclusive..but the FFA obv doesn’t want to hire foreign gaffers w/poor-to-no grasp of English(and likely non-white) bc ‘commercial optics’(never mind the fact the ppl it SO eagerly sucks up to genuinely don’t give a rat’s ar$e about the ‘Roos coaching gig either way)..

Regardless of whether the NT coach is a local or not, we know we are seeing more technical players coming through the ranks - it’s a matter of bringing them into the fold instead of being dismissed as ‘showponies’ or ‘not team-players’

 

[Frankly Speaking]

If we play an open game we will get slaughtered.

Players arn't good enough so we are forced to play defensively/negatively.

I am unconvinced that is true. We will have friendly games coming up and ideally we will see what happens if the shackles are taken off. With Popa though, the odds aren't good in that regard. He's a reactive coach through and through.

My concern is that we are going to be slaughtered anyway, playing this way. The performance against a B Japan side was seriously concerning. We played defensively AND were completely outclassed. No one should allow the fact that we snagged an undeserved win distract from just how poor that performance was.

If Popa goes to the US next year with this group of players, playing this way, we are going there just to make up the numbers in our group.

 

[Frankly Speaking]

Back to topic, does the standard of the A League deserve better crowds, or are they sitting pretty much at attendance levels commensurate with performance? I think, club by club, yes, with one exception: Melbourne City. But in their case, how do you sell a club without identity or tradition, or connection to community, to the public? I have no idea, and accordingly exclude MC from consideration.

Oh, and I exclude Western United. Their situation is so anomalous that it should not be seriously considered.

 

[someguyjc]

Oh, and I exclude Western United. Their situation is so anomalous that it should not be seriously considered.

I disagree. They are filling their venue every week. They are one of the few AL clubs that actually have an appropriate sized home ground. It took them too long to get to that point, but if they can keep up the good results on the pitch they will easily overtake MC in terms of crowd figures once/if that real stadium ever gets built. MC actually admitted they have done everything they can to grow the fanbase and have essentially given up. Their focus is on making money from transfers.

 

[NoMates]

Other then the Nix and Auckland will there be another ALM clubs with players at the world cup?

 

[Sutherlandbear]

Other then the Nix and Auckland will there be another ALM clubs with players at the world cup?

Google is your friend.

 

[AUFC_Fan]

SR1968 just for reference - Avg season crowds far right.

​

ADL	AKL	BRI	CCM	GCU	MAC	MCY	MVC	NEW	NZK	NQF	PER	SYD	WEL	WSW	WUN	Total
2005–06	10,948	–	14,785	7,899	–	–	–	16,167	9,022	3,909	–	9,734	16,669	–	–	–	10,956
2006–07	12,165	–	16,465	9,828	–	–	–	27,728	12,573	3,011	–	7,589	15,555	–	–	–	12,911
2007–08	12,697	–	16,951	12,738	–	–	–	26,064	13,209	–	–	7,596	16,963	11,683	–	–	14,610
2008–09	11,713	–	12,995	10,465	–	–	–	24,516	9,729	–	–	7,942	12,375	7,193	–	–	12,180
2009–10	10,765	–	8,665	7,388	5,297	–	–	20,750	6,358	–	6,723	9,205	13,677	8,966	–	–	9,793
2010–11	11,552	–	9,291	8,168	3,419	–	8,312	18,458	8,429	–	4,245	8,488	8,014	7,829	–	–	8,429
2011–12	8,829	–	13,387	9,505	3,438	–	9,082	20,714	12,117	–	–	8,972	11,861	8,691	–	–	10,497
2012–13	9,793	–	13,857	9,994	–	–	8,860	21,885	13,389	–	–	8,876	18,737	6,877	12,466	–	12,347
2013–14	11,225	–	14,957	9,398	–	–	9,933	21,808	11,949	–	–	9,418	18,682	8,201	14,860	–	13,041
2014–15	12,637	–	11,660	7,585	–	–	10,374	25,388	8,968	–	–	9,542	17,378	8,583	12,520	–	12,511
2015–16	11,287	–	12,850	8,111	–	–	11,047	23,112	9,586	–	–	8,986	16,637	8,042	14,297	–	12,326
2016–17	9,565	–	13,892	7,395	–	–	10,593	22,008	8,645	–	–	10,533	16,001	6,211	17,746	–	12,294
2017–18	9,830	–	9,093	7,194	–	–	9,868	17,631	11,016	–	–	9,186	14,593	5,694	11,924	–	10,671
2018–19	9,031	–	9,632	5,562	–	–	8,135	20,604	9,079	–	–	10,360	13,566	8,533	9,191	–	10,411
2019–20	8,326	–	9,388	5,504	–	–	8,397	17,366	7,386	–	–	8,382	12,110	8,477	13,729	5,653	9,428
2020–21	7,383	–	6,181	5,697	–	3,488	6,154	5,823	4,056	–	–	4,777	7,686	5,329	8,062	3,061	5,682
2021–22	6,501	–	4,538	4,296	–	3,118	6,530	9,473	4,843	–	–	4,281	5,534	4,001	7,388	3,351	5,353
2022–23	10,359	–	5,629	6,646	-	3,514	6,481	10,124	6,152	-	-	4,451	17,008	6,333	10,769	3,168	7,553
2023–24	10,035	–	6,510	7,399	-	4,161	8,488	12,227	5,704	-	-	5,655	14,293	8,940	10,326	3,274	8,087
2024–25	10,575	18,101	6,216	6,392	-	4,674	6,192	12,778	6,496	-	-	6,090	15,282	7,990	9,809	3,644	8,788
Green and red background denote club's highest and lowest A-League Men season attendances respectively.

Dropping from '14 - if I was looking at my business EOFY balance sheet I wouldn't be jumping up and down last few years of 1k increments but better than a poke in the eye as my ol man would say.

The reason Adelaide had such low crowds in 21/22 was because the entire eastern stand was closed that season.

And I’m sure that Perth’s crowds would’ve been affected when they errr building the new stands at HBF park too

 

[AUFC_Fan]

Why would any roos come back to Australia and play in the A League? Without exception they get the shit bagged out of them. Neil, Cahill, Kewell. The list goes on.

I feel that doesn’t happen now. No one bags the likes of Matt Leckie or Craig Goodwin.

 

[biggiemic]

I am unconvinced that is true. We will have friendly games coming up and ideally we will see what happens if the shackles are taken off. With Popa though, the odds aren't good in that regard. He's a reactive coach through and through.

My concern is that we are going to be slaughtered anyway, playing this way. The performance against a B Japan side was seriously concerning. We played defensively AND were completely outclassed. No one should allow the fact that we snagged an undeserved win distract from just how poor that performance was.

If Popa goes to the US next year with this group of players, playing this way, we are going there just to make up the numbers in our group.

I agree, now imagine if were more open, had more men forward, the Japanese B team would slice straight through our team.

 

[biggiemic]

Back to topic, does the standard of the A League deserve better crowds, or are they sitting pretty much at attendance levels commensurate with performance? I think, club by club, yes, with one exception: Melbourne City. But in their case, how do you sell a club without identity or tradition, or connection to community, to the public? I have no idea, and accordingly exclude MC from consideration.

Oh, and I exclude Western United. Their situation is so anomalous that it should not be seriously considered.

Does any standard "deserve" a said crowd?

Doesn't matter if its EPL, or Indonesia Liga 3, if the supporters are passionate about the team, people will attend regardless of standard.

In saying that, I think we are on par with League Two so I believe our crowds are very good, especially when taking into consideration population + geography etc. We just keep comparing ourself to the eggball sports unncessarily.

 

[Lupi]

Does any standard "deserve" a said crowd?

Doesn't matter if its EPL, or Indonesia Liga 3, if the supporters are passionate about the team, people will attend regardless of standard.

In saying that, I think we are on par with League Two so I believe our crowds are very good, especially when taking into consideration population + geography etc. We just keep comparing ourself to the eggball sports unncessarily.

I would say on par with the National League in England. League Two has a grueling schedule I doubt A-league clubs with their squad sizes would be able to keep up with. The rest I agree with.

 

[AUFC_Fan]

I would say on par with the National League in England. League Two has a grueling schedule I doubt A-league clubs with their squad sizes would be able to keep up with. The rest I agree with.

What a crock of shit

Ask anyone who has played A-League and they generally compare it to League One or lower end Championship.

FYI: AL clubs generally have bigger squads than League Two clubs

 

[Lupi]

What a crock of shit

Ask anyone who has played A-League and they generally compare it to League One or lower end Championship.

FYI: AL clubs generally have bigger squads than League Two clubs

naturally anyone who has played in the A-league is going to talk it up, it floats their own boat to do so

do you think any A-league club is at the level of Birmingham City? You're in lala land.

 

[grazorblade]

There is a company that tries to rank leagues through a combination of transfers, how successful those transfers are in the new league and competition. It ranked the a league as slightly below league 1 and well above league 2. It passes the smell check as you see some league 1 players be standouts (Jay O'Shea), some are decent (Clough), some are below average (Edmonson, Tunnicliffe, Gilleshphey) some were poor (Holloway)

Transfermarkt also values our players as slightly below league 1 and well above league 2

 

[AUFC_Fan]

There is a company that tries to rank leagues through a combination of transfers, how successful those transfers are in the new league and competition. It ranked the a league as slightly below league 1 and well above league 2. It passes the smell check as you see some league 1 players be standouts (Jay O'Shea), some are decent (Clough), some are below average (Edmonson, Tunnicliffe, Gilleshphey) some were poor (Holloway)

Transfermarkt also values our players as slightly below league 1 and well above league 2

Would put both Tunnicliffe and Holloway in the extremely poor category while Clough would be close to a standout

 

[LFC]

for me website ranking etc is all like the pub test talk.
Proof is actual proper competitive play and not mickey mouse friendlies (like visiting clubs who really are not 110% in nor regular comp start up line ups) that in the end is hard to properly compare apples with apples.
Best of 3 would be the perfect test, AL vs L1 or L2 if only it would/could happen.
The rest to me is stats that provide a picture but does it translate clearly the live aspect outcomes.