A-League Attendances Highlight Newfound Strength in Australian Football
Well it’s been more than a week since Australia’s historic World Cup qualifying victory over Uruguay in Sydney and as you’d expect, the “Australian football coming of age” fanfare in the press has all but abated. After unprecedented levels of cheerful and optimistic press coverage for the beautiful game in Australia and the few obligatory articles on the possible menace to the rugby codes, ranging from slightly anxious to absolute defiance, things are pretty much back to normal in Australia’s mainstream print media.
The first of the “putting football back in its place” articles has appeared in Brisbane rugby league fanzine and part time newspaper, The Courier-Mail. While quite rightly maintaining that the A-League crowd averages rank fourth after Aussie Rules, Super 12 rugby and the National Rugby League, the assertion that “It makes sober reading for soccer aficionados who imagine the A-League realising predictions that it can become Australia’s biggest sporting competition” fails to take into account several notable factors.
Firstly, the Hyundai A-League is a brand new football competition where six of th
e eight clubs are in their first year of existence and one is only in its second. Many of the clubs in the rugby codes have had the opportunity to cultivate supporter and wider community alliances in their sports premier club competitions for close to one hundred years. The fact that the A-League average attendances of 11,271 at the halfway point in its first season are within only five and a half thousand of the National Rugby League’s 16,688 speaks volumes for the level of nationwide support and potential growth of A-League football in Australia. It’s also worth noting that the average attendance for Rugby League, “the greatest game of all”, in 1995 was only 13,915.
The second and possibly most telling factor is that, while the local Aussie Rules, Rugby League and Rugby Union competitions are the world’s best club competitions with the world’s best players for each of their respective sports, the Hyundai A-League as of yet, is not even close. When you the consider quality of European and South American top tier football leagues and their availability on television and the internet here in Australia, local interest and encouraging attendance figures for the start-up A-League bodes well for substantial growth in both the immediate and long term.
If you add to both these facts that Australian football supporters are more accustomed to watching world class European and South American football and enjoying the immense atmosphere on TV at night rather than attending local matches and contributing to the spectacle on a weekly basis themselves, the A-League figures prove that the league, even in its inaugural season, already has great appeal and should only continue to improve as habits slowly evolve and the lure of the AFC Champions League participation takes hold.
So just how truly national are Australia’s traditional sports?
Currently Aussie Rules enjoys on average just over three times the average attendance of the A-League with figures of 35,307 per match, yet when you compare the potential growth of these two sports, you have to question how much further Aussie Rules can really progress. The player talent pool of Aussie Rules is almost exclusively limited to the state of Victoria alone, whereas Australian football talent comes from all states of Australia, in both capital cities and regional centres. There is no indication that this will change as the widespread adoption of Aussie Rules in schools outside of Victoria is extremely unlikely.
The same can be levelled at both Rugby League and Rugby Union in that the playing talent comes mostly from New South Wales and sightly less so in Queensland. You are unlikely to find that many players will develop in other Australian states.
While the rugby codes are sports played nationally, they are not truly national sports in the same fashion as football. With football extensively represented Australia wide at both A-League club and more importantly the grass roots level, the capacity for growth of football as a participation and spectator sport for both men and women in Australia is enormous.
This latest attempt to rain on football’s parade has only served to highlight the newfound strength the sport has realised in the wake of recent administrative upheaval. The new Football Federation Australia administration and A-League club set up will enable Australian football to capitalise on all the benefits of this World Cup qualification and participation in the Asian Football Confederation. Meanwhile Super 12 Rugby, Aussie Rules and Rugby League remain confined chiefly to just two Australian states – and 100 years of Australian sporting history tells that it will remain this way.
* Attendance figures from The Courier-Mail
The first of the “putting football back in its place” articles has appeared in Brisbane rugby league fanzine and part time newspaper, The Courier-Mail. While quite rightly maintaining that the A-League crowd averages rank fourth after Aussie Rules, Super 12 rugby and the National Rugby League, the assertion that “It makes sober reading for soccer aficionados who imagine the A-League realising predictions that it can become Australia’s biggest sporting competition” fails to take into account several notable factors.
Firstly, the Hyundai A-League is a brand new football competition where six of th
e eight clubs are in their first year of existence and one is only in its second. Many of the clubs in the rugby codes have had the opportunity to cultivate supporter and wider community alliances in their sports premier club competitions for close to one hundred years. The fact that the A-League average attendances of 11,271 at the halfway point in its first season are within only five and a half thousand of the National Rugby League’s 16,688 speaks volumes for the level of nationwide support and potential growth of A-League football in Australia. It’s also worth noting that the average attendance for Rugby League, “the greatest game of all”, in 1995 was only 13,915.The second and possibly most telling factor is that, while the local Aussie Rules, Rugby League and Rugby Union competitions are the world’s best club competitions with the world’s best players for each of their respective sports, the Hyundai A-League as of yet, is not even close. When you the consider quality of European and South American top tier football leagues and their availability on television and the internet here in Australia, local interest and encouraging attendance figures for the start-up A-League bodes well for substantial growth in both the immediate and long term.
If you add to both these facts that Australian football supporters are more accustomed to watching world class European and South American football and enjoying the immense atmosphere on TV at night rather than attending local matches and contributing to the spectacle on a weekly basis themselves, the A-League figures prove that the league, even in its inaugural season, already has great appeal and should only continue to improve as habits slowly evolve and the lure of the AFC Champions League participation takes hold.
So just how truly national are Australia’s traditional sports?
Currently Aussie Rules enjoys on average just over three times the average attendance of the A-League with figures of 35,307 per match, yet when you compare the potential growth of these two sports, you have to question how much further Aussie Rules can really progress. The player talent pool of Aussie Rules is almost exclusively limited to the state of Victoria alone, whereas Australian football talent comes from all states of Australia, in both capital cities and regional centres. There is no indication that this will change as the widespread adoption of Aussie Rules in schools outside of Victoria is extremely unlikely.
The same can be levelled at both Rugby League and Rugby Union in that the playing talent comes mostly from New South Wales and sightly less so in Queensland. You are unlikely to find that many players will develop in other Australian states.
While the rugby codes are sports played nationally, they are not truly national sports in the same fashion as football. With football extensively represented Australia wide at both A-League club and more importantly the grass roots level, the capacity for growth of football as a participation and spectator sport for both men and women in Australia is enormous.
This latest attempt to rain on football’s parade has only served to highlight the newfound strength the sport has realised in the wake of recent administrative upheaval. The new Football Federation Australia administration and A-League club set up will enable Australian football to capitalise on all the benefits of this World Cup qualification and participation in the Asian Football Confederation. Meanwhile Super 12 Rugby, Aussie Rules and Rugby League remain confined chiefly to just two Australian states – and 100 years of Australian sporting history tells that it will remain this way.
* Attendance figures from The Courier-Mail
posted by aus.footy.fan at 5:41 PM
7 Comments:
You raise a point that I've been saying for years yet everyone, journos and administration alike keep overlooking.
There are many more football fans than the 11000 average suggests. Unlike AFL and NRL there are alot fans brought up on an even better brand of the sport overseas whether it be Serie A, Primera Liga, Premier Leage... whatever. I'd say that most don't go to A-League games or don't feel like they should bother getting behind the team. Take for example my football club, they have 19 teams 2 women, 8 mens, one of the biggest social and amatuer clubs in WA BUT at the training grounds on a weeknight you'll see maybe one or two A-League tops.
Most of the ex-pat from other countries would rather watch their home leagues on tv than watch the A-League.
COnvert these people and you will be filling stadiums every week!
Didn't really want to correct you but AFL has many players developed in WA and SA not just Victoria.
That’s very true, but those people who chose to only watch European football on TV could hardly have been inspired by an administration that offered so little hope for the game that it was impossible have the kind of faith or pride in your local team in the way that many people do when they support overseas teams.
Also, if those people genuinely love football, then the only way to truly introduce their children to the game is to actually take them to watch A-League football and let them enjoy the infectious aspects of the game beyond simply playing from age 7 to age 14 and then becoming an armchair rugby league fan.
The FFA has identified the need to convert the participants into spectators and I have every faith that they will pursue this vigorously.
A-League participation in the Asian Champions League will also capture the imagination of football fans especially those who’ll make the mind association with the UEFA Champions League.
I stand corrected on the Aussie Rules development, thanks. :-)
I think I have some stats somewhere on the number of social players. If I can dig them up, I’ll post them in the comments here.
Thank you for your comments.
Leggenda Di Canio
This may be of interest to you.
Thousands of Aussie juniors get free Nike footballs from Asian Football Business Review
FFV expects to have between 110,000 and 120,000 participants in its 2006 season, more than tripling the 30,000 of 2001.
Great news and good work. Oh how times are changing. :-)
LDC
Saw a few inbound hits to my site from your blog. Thanks heaps for the link to it. Where are you based? Which A-League team do you support? I like your turn of phrase. WOuld you like to do some writing for A-League News? Drop me a lin and let me know what you think. Stephen (from www.neurotribe.net/aleague)
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