Flashback to December 1st 2022. It’s 2am on a Thursday, Normally the only people awake at this hour would be drowsy shift-workers fuelled by caffeine.
Instead, thousands of punters occupied Melbourne’s Federation Square to watch an iconic moment in Australian football history unfold before them.
It was one of those “you had to be there” moments, and it peaked when Matt Leckie put Australia ahead in the do-or-die encounter against Denmark. A win on the day would secure the first World Cup knockout stage appearance since the Golden Generation achieved the feat in 2006.
Fans who were at the live site for the game would’ve felt like they just won the jackpot on a real money casino. The passion in the crowd, the flares, the classic underdog story we love, it all culminated in a feeling of pride and excitement for the future of our national team, and more importantly the future of the sport in general.
There was a push from fans for more live sites around the entire country, with supporters pestering their state governments to host similar events in each capital city for the all-important Round of 16 tie against one of the pre-World Cup favourites Argentina.
Although the Aussies couldn’t get the job done against Argentina, they pushed them all the way in a tight battle that ended 2-1, which Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni admitted was his squad’s toughest game of the tournament. The momentum from the World Cup was evident, with the Round of 16 run and the Federation Square footage dominating the news cycle in the mainstream media.
The feeling was back in football fans across the country. Those who were known as the ‘soccer’ person in the workplace were hounded with questions and interest from the casuals. It was hard not to be aware of the World Cup. Transitioning these casual fans who had joined along during the unexpected run into fans of our domestic competitions looked like such a simple but achievable task for the APL.
Just ten days after the Argentina face-off, the APL managed to destroy all of the momentum that had been created. The first major announcement after the Socceroos exited the tournament wasn’t a promotion that would capture new fans. It wasn’t a marketing showcase that highlighted how many players in the Socceroos squad were developed or still play in the A-Leagues. It was a decision to sell off the Grand Final hosting rights to Destination NSW, locking the final in Sydney for the next three years.
Hosting the Grand Final based on merit has set the A-Leagues aside from Australia’s other sporting codes who also have a predetermined finals location. To announce this off the back of an exhilarating world cup campaign is an insult to existing fans, and an absolute deterrent to potential fans.
The announcement sparked a series of boycotts from the active supporters of numerous teams, and caused atmospheres at games to be tense. It led to the flare situation with Thomas Glover at a Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory derby, where fans rushed onto the field after Glover was seen to have thrown a flare back towards the Victory fans.
Instead of going from strength to strength after one of the highest points of Australian Football, the period after has seen controversy after controversy. Fans are disenfranchised, and boycotted some of the finals matches whilst certain fan groups maintained their support throughout. We have two factions of league-wide supporters going at each other online instead of being united in support of the league as a whole.
We are in a weird state of affairs now where fans are called out relentlessly online if anyone gets a whiff of you wanting to attend a finals match. Mariners fans have been through an awful decade, only turning it around in these last few years to reach their first Grand Final in 10 years off the back of selling out their stadium against Adelaide in the semi-final. Their desire to support their team is met with backlash online.
Melbourne City fans should be preparing to host a home final after another dominant season, however to do so now they will have to fork out potentially thousands for flights and accommodation in their trip to Sydney. Nobody is a winner in this scenario.
The APL decision to sell the Grand Final hosting rights has been a lose-lose situation for so many reasons. Existing fans have been punished. New fans have not been capitalised upon. The timing of the announcement has left a sour taste in the mouths of the true stakeholders of this sport; the fans. And without the fans, the league is nothing.
Enjoy this content? Support The Football Sack
Due in part to COVID and lack of current sponsorship we are at risk of not having the funds to continue running The Football Sack. If you enjoy our content and support our work in training talented young writers, please support us with a donation. If every reader contributed just $3, our funding would be covered for over ten years.
| DONATE |
