By Scarlett Hurst
Key Points:
- The Hyundai A-League is moving the season to winter.
- Hot temperatures were a main contributing factor to the decision being made.
- A season during winter means that the A-League will be competing with other major sporting competitions
The Hyundai A-League has announced a huge change to their future seasons, moving the competition to be held over the winter months instead of during summer.
A reason for the dramatic move was due to the increasing temperatures over the summer months was impacting the quality of football being played. In the start of the 2019/2020 season, many games had to be rescheduled to be played at night due to the scorching temperatures. Many games also had to include drink breaks for players, splitting up the game into quarters.
Bathurst football coach and avid Sydney FC supporter fan Declan Gilkes believes that there are both positives and negatives to come out of the change. But he agrees that both the playing conditions and players performances should improve dramatically.
“I think the quality of football will increase, the quality since the COVID break has been far superior. I believe that this is due to players not being fatigued in the head of Aussie summer.”
Declan Gilkes
However, many are concerned that moving the game to this time of year will hurt the sport, as it will have to compete further with the NRL and AFL competitions. The A-League is already the least popular of the three, and having games played over the same time of year may mean that fans will pick just one league to watch and/or attend. This is something that the A-League organisers will be looking at during the next season to see whether or not is worth changing the dates of the competition for good.
“I’m all for it from a spectators point of view, although I’m concerned football wouldn’t be able to compete in an already saturated sporting market against League, Union and AFL.”
Declan Gilkes
“I think that the A-League offers a unique fan experience that should mean good attendances however I think the marketing and promotion of the game must be improved if it is to compete against the other sports.”
Declan Gilkes
It will all be a waiting game for the A-League’s next season to kick off to know if this will be the new normal for professional football in Australia.