~An open letter to r/a-leagues / why some redditoid's need to shtoom~
please read the whole thing, even if it does sound like the ramblings of a mad man
I don't understand the AFL / NRL (to a lesser extent) argument of "well they don't have pro rel ..." AND? Is there a culture of pro rel in Rugby or AFL such a non argument.
We need to stop comparing ourselves with the US market, we have a similar ish soccer system currently and historically but they have greater opportunities to invest in the game then we do.
Financial and geographical worries I understand they could be fixed (80-90%) but the infrastructure and mechanism of the league is completely fucked, and nothing is being done to build upon and change system put into place 20 years ago.
Of course South is mentioned, A-League fans HATE us (can't think why ... mike lol). I think a split conferences league is a good idea, makes the final series and FFA cup more 'credible', but ... but ... VIC and NSW team dominance because every other league's winners aren't from the biggest couple of cities?
Crowed violence is such a mute point now, yes it happened in the NSL but it happens in the A-League. Classic Sydney United fans thing gets brought up, yes Nazi's are bad but why isn't there the same energy for the Western United fans displaying a flag of an apartheid state? Do they get the clear to be racist because the victims of that were Black Africans and not White Europeans???
Not defending the NPL (because it is FUCKING horrible) but don't speak on it if you don't go / watch / aren't involved with the game.
Why didn't the NSL have relegation (WHO GIVES A SHIT!), its a now defunct semi-pro league again this was some how South's fault (in some peoples eyes).
If a A-League franchise is not able to survive after getting relegated it is not fit for business and thus unsustainable, ffs NQ Fury was able to operate many seasons after dropping out of the A-League and they were complete shite!
Promotion and relegation are a basic requirement for any national league's system.
Once again u/Meapa (a moderator) of the sub ADDS NOTHING TO THE CONVOCATION OF ANY SUBSTANCE WHAT SO EVER, WHY ARE PPL LIKE THIS RUNNING THE DISCUSSION SPACES ABOUT AUSTRALIAN SOCCER IF THEY CANT STRING 2 FUCKING STANCES TOGETHER.
Why do A-League try hards, think that WE (Non A-League fans) think that adding pro / rel is going to fix Australian soccer. New flash buddy it won't, but it is a basic requirement and is just a tiny piece to how this whole shit show needs to be fixed.
The A-League is built on a spaghetti like infrastructure, for every problem it tries to address another pops up and so on and so fourth. Due to the Suits creating a league system that relies on gimmicks, franchise expansion, marquee players it has created a unsustainable footballing environment. Time and time again the league has attempted to address Australian football shortcomings but has in turn created more problems. By getting rid of 90% of the established teams in '05 they fractured the fan base (a schism if you will) I understand we needed a professional league, but was this really the way to go about it? Yes crowed violence, but imagine if they did this in England when they had even WORSE crowed violence, kicking out the ethnics wasn't the solution. They tried marquee players initially Romario, Fowler, Collymore (rejected) but they hit it big with Del Piero and Heskey who were arriving from top tier clubs did it work in the short run YES, have they tried to replicate it to little success YES but Maccarone, Bobo, and Juan Mata don't really hit the same do they. I remember early 10's the A-League being quite pricy, this would have stopped years of potential fans going, so they made it cheaper if not FREE on some occasions are crowds still crap? Yup.... It is incredibly hard to attracts proper ownership and prospect on investment when there is no room for potential growth and salary caps. Why would anyone wan't to put money into a 2nd tier team? They are locked out of participating in the A-League, and larger AFC comps, we won't see people investing in bottom lower tier clubs because there is 0 growth opportunity outside of a small community, the ceiling is incredibly low. A-League owners want to protect their investment by not having relegation because they could actually loose lots of cash if their clubs get relegated due to the complete disjoint between the leagues. If City football group don't even max out their salary cap can we actually expect to be competitive with the rest of Asia or are we just going to fall behind. They tried to expand and create new teams, who gives a fuck about Western United and MacArthur???
The league is a complete mess and the only way to fix it is a complete restructuring from top to bottom.
