Now is the Summer of our Discontent...

Many Football fans Australia wide are disenchanted by the month long lay-off in the
A-League. Phill Chadwick reports the games should continue.

Why, oh why, do we have to have a December break in the A-League season?

A-League football has built up some momentum over the past few months. We have seen 15 rounds of good quality football. Crowd numbers are improving and there seems to be a rising level of public awareness of the new beginning. World Cup qualification has also generated new interest in the game.

So what do we do? Do we capitalise on the good start? Do we take advantage of the improving weather to generate even better crowds? No we do not, we go on holiday for a month!

I just don't get the logic. Fair enough, the Club World Championship is on in Japan and Sydney FC are our representatives. They have to play a few games over there, which will be good for the A-League's profile, both here and overseas. Especially if they can put up some good performances.

But why does the whole league have to stop?

Liverpool are also playing. Does the English Premier League also stop? They do not. Liverpool presumably have to play make-up games mid-week.

Why can't Sydney do the same? In the last NSL season, Adelaide United did just that: after their last-minute entry to the competition the first few rounds were held back until later in the season. The third place finish proves that there were no ill-effects.

It is not as if the season is particularly arduous or long. They only play 21 rounds, after all. I am sure that the players and coaches appreciate the break, but it is the fans that count. Please, please next season let the games continue through December.

While I am in the mood to make suggestions, here are a few more ways this competition could be improved.

Make the season an even draw by having each team play every other team four times for a total of 28 rounds.

Allow clubs to increase the size of their squads to at least 25, including more under 23 players. Maybe allow two "marqee" players outside the salary cap.

Institute a Reserves/Youth squad for each club. This will give young players a pathway to professional football without looking to Europe, as well as creating a way for injured players to come back up to match fitness.

Get New Zealand Knights out of the competition. I realise this will be difficult, given the start-up guarantees, but their participation is embarrassing. The gulf between top and seventh is not as great as the gulf between seventh and eighth. Maybe they could be relocated to Canberra or Tasmania. The inconsistency of having a club from New Zealand (part of Oceania) in the A-League (part of Asia) is surely enough by itself. What if they (by some miracle) qualified for a place in the Asian Champions League?

Begin the season later in the year. At least wait until the AFL and NRL finals are completed. Back in August and September, only the committed football supporters even noticed that the A-League had started. After the major codes had their Grand Finals, other sports fans began to wake up to football.

And, speaking of Grand Finals, could we please change the system to a more traditional football method of selecting the Champions? This Australian obsession with a full season "minor" round, followed by a semi-knockout "major" round can lead to deeply unjust results, especially in a low-scoring game like football.

One simple mistake in the all-important Grand Final could undo a whole season of consistent winning football. In high-scoring games like AFL, single errors are not often game-deciding, but in football they can be. By all means have a post-season competition, but let's make it an additional trophy, not the whole thing.

Do away with the white away strips, unless the regular strips clash. This is particularly bad on television. Unless the casual viewer is particularly eagle-eyed, it is very difficult to see at a glance who is playing. When news services show just a few highlights, how much better would it be for viewers to see immediately if it was their team involved?

So there they are, my summer break whinges. Don't get me wrong, I am loving the A-League. And not just because Adelaide United are top!

I even find myself, incredibly, putting nearly a lifetime of support for Everton firmly into second place behind my burgeoning passion for Adelaide United. Maybe the Toffees will come back to the fore during the Summer break.

I doubt it.

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