This past week saw David Gallop post an article on the well-known site the Roar about the future of the A-League and this article is one that has started to create a discussion about any future A-League sides.
Gallop in his article stated: “we firmly believe that any new clubs should be located in markets where there are millions, not just a few hundred thousand in population” and this is something that could be seen as hosing down any potential Canberra bid in the near future. This comes after the city drew acclaim for their handling and crowd support of the most recent Socceroos match against Kyrgyzstan, which saw around 20,000 loyal supporters through the gates.
Gallop seems to be committed to the idea that any new A-League clubs should be in a secure marketplace where the potential audience is higher than the actual audience the club may receive. If recent speculation is to be believed, then any new A-League side to enter the competition, most likely at the hand of the Wellington Phoenix, would be a side based in the Sutherland and Wollongong regions, a move that would not only see the prospective fanbase of Sydney FC decrease but also a move that could weaken the market in Sydney at the expense of TV dollars. As Sydney FC chairman Scott Barlow told the press, any new side to pop up in the Sutherland area would cause severe damage to Sydney FC, as roughly a quarter of club members come from the local area. Any move to put a side in the area would most likely be seen as an attack on the existing clubs in Sydney and this may be why Gallop identified two other key locations to any future expansion in his article.
Gallop specifically mentioned Perth and south-east Queensland as two areas that fulfill the criteria of having millions of people as a population base and this is something that requires more detailed research. If Gallop is implying that the two areas are ideal for a future expansion side, then a look must be had at the current local A-League teams and how they perform in terms of attendance. Currently, Perth is the side looking the least impressive, with the lowest average attendance for the games played so far this season out of the ten teams with a paltry 7,616 per match. South-east Queensland is performing above average thanks to the strong attendance of the Brisbane Roar, who pull in an average of 11,935 per match.
While the population base is there for both areas – Perth has an approximate population of 2.02 million and south-east Queensland has an approximate population of 3.4 million – there is still a question as to whether these places deserve another side based on the current attendance and whether another club would be viable in those areas as a result.
Gallop linked these two areas to the FFA’s goal to have one million members attached to A-League clubs by 2035. Currently, the league has just over 100,000 members attached to clubs and Gallop feels that “clubs will need to live up to the mantra that a club exists because of fans, not the other way around”. This is something that relates directly back to the notion of having clubs in areas with large populations as opposed to smaller areas with passionate fan bases. Gallop expressly noted the Sydney and Melbourne derbies as something that pushed the A-League forward as a result of having two clubs in the same market, but this gives rise to an issue Gallop seems to be missing. Having a derby between two sides is supposed to be a special occasion, something that is savored by fans and looked forward to in the few times a season the match is played. Having several derbies across the season would lessen the experience for fans and essentially make the concept of the derby worthless.
This would directly go against what appears to be the main theme of Gallop’s article; to talk directly to the fans and get their input about the future of the league. The FFA under Gallop appears to be moving away from this idea and moving towards what would draw the biggest crowds and naturally make the most money. While this would be a great business move, the FFA risks losing the thing that makes the clubs special: the fans themselves. By centralising more clubs in major markets such as Sydney and Melbourne, the chance for fans outside of those markets to get attached to an A-League side is significantly lowered and this could be something disastrous for the league as a whole.
That being said, the FFA should be applauded for being ambitious in their plan to expand to one million members by 2035. However, one cannot help but feel that they are going about it in the wrong way. Gallop is saying that the FFA should talk to the fans, but the actions of the FFA seem to ignore this core concept. The last few months have seen fans get more and more restless with the FFA and their handling of several important events, most recently the leaking of confidential information to the mainstream media, something the FFA cannot ignore. Fans who are demanding change, even in the smallest way, are being ignored by the elite and this is something that needs to fix if the average fan is to believe the FFA are willing to listen to fans.
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