Football is standing its ground
Australia and more importantly the increasing body of football fans have just witnessed the conclusion to the 8th season of the premier division of Football for men in Australia. This year the A-League saw the introduction of another new franchise for the competition: the Western Sydney Wanderers. They became the fresh spark that everyone involved with the competition had been waiting for after previous newcomers had barely lasted. The debut club has become arguably one of the greatest sporting stories of all time, in their stand out red and black hooped kit, by winning the Minor Premiership in their opening season. But not only has the club brought new life and glow into the top tier of football in the country, it has also triggered yet another rapid rise of crowd support that is finally challenging the likes of its rival sport codes.
Of course, the Australian Football League [AFL] is still well and truly on a completely different page to the rest and remains the benchmark for all sports in the country. However, it is quite interesting to draw comparisons, using data from Austadiums.com, on less superior sports such as Rugby Union with the Super Rugby Championship [Super XV], and Rugby League with the National Rugby League [NRL]. Both have been around for decades while the A-League is still two years off its first. According to Mediaweek, this year’s A-League Grand Final almost claimed the biggest nugget of them all, coming within 20,000 of out-rating Channel 9’s attractive annual Sunday Rugby League broadcast of City versus Country Origin.
It is clear that there is still work to be done for Football here in Australia, particularly in relation to the marketing side of it. The A-League and Super Rugby Championship are still yet to be broadcasted on Free to Air television from where the NRL audiences thrive.
Perhaps with Liverpool FC and Manchester United agreeing to travel Down Under for their 2013/14 preseason can only signal to bigger and better things for the beautiful game and its unique set of fans here in Australia.
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