Beau Busch
The kids are alright
It was hoped it would provide a pathway for young footballers to progress to professional football but the National Youth League has out performed all expectations becoming more of a conveyer belt for producing and nurturing talent.
When it was announced that the 2008-2009 Hyundai A-League ...
Adrian Musolino
Can the FFA win you back?
The new issue of FourFourTwo magazine won't be well received at Football Federation Australia offices - and I'm not referring to the Tim Cahill-loving Everton sympathisers bemoaning the cover that proclaims the rise of 'New Liverpool'.
I am, of course, referring to the 2011 Fan Census results, ...
Arabella Vaughan
Czechmate, Lavicka!
For all of his dubious personality traits, John Kosmina certainly wasn't afraid of throwing a surprise in the team sheet. In what was a discouraging final season as coach of Sydney FC, he gave significant game time to Chris Payne, Matt Jurman, Anthony Golec, Brendan Gan, Rhyan Grant and Kofi ...
Adrian Musolino
Fox Sports' growth key to A-League's
Another government review, OneHD's move away from its sports-only format and the AFL's mega television deal: three recent developments that will, according to many, reaffirm Australian football's place in this country; as a fringe code burdened by immense expectations.
The AFL's billion-dollar ...
Kathy Stone
12 Reasons to worry in the off-season
Long before Johnny rediscovered his Mellencamp, the Cougar did a good line in pain. Hurts So Good might not be the best anthem for the A-League but it certainly strikes a chord.
That's not to say there aren't positive signs on the domestic front. After a dismal start, Victory and Sydney ...
Adrian Musolino
One big door closes for the A-League
When football fans imagine their utopian A-League, it's inevitably broadcast on free-to-air, with a commercial network replicating the wall-to-wall coverage Fox Sports has provided from day one without the need to pay those monthly Foxtel bills. Only OneHD could have done that.
But Australia's ...
Adrian Musolino
After Gold Coast, where does the A-League go?
Given the recent comments from coach Miron Bleiberg and the unpredictability of owner Clive Palmer, it's time for Football Federation Australia to prepare the A-League for life post-Gold Coast United, if they weren't doing so already.
Even if Palmer intends to continue supporting the club ...
Beau Busch
Building from the ground up
The recent demise of the North Queensland Fury and the ongoing problems of Gold Coast United has cooled A-League expansion talk but perhaps it is the means of expansion that should be changed, not the idea...
The start of 2009-2010 Hyundai A-League was set to be a momentous occasion for ...
Kathy Stone
The shape of things to come
I confess to getting a little misty-eyed for the A-League. Yes, I know, better dig in - six months and all that. Watching the gladiators of "footy" thunder back into the arena with all the nuance of a set of white goods hasn't helped (though it did inspire me to check out the ...
Adrian Musolino
Grand final success vindicates October start
To truncate or not to truncate, that is the question as the reality of a six-month A-League off-season sinks in and the motivations for that move are examined.
Football Federation Australia is set to delay the A-League season start to October with an expected end date of May - a change from ...
Adrian Musolino
Does Gold Coast United have a future?
Amidst the hoopla of grand final week and the lauding of the two best teams this season, Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners, spare some praise for the defeated preliminary finalists, Gold Coast United... for their performances on the park, that is.
The expansion team achieved the ...
Beau Busch
Don’t Come Play
In April 2010, the Football Federation Australia saved North Queensland Fury from extinction. Eleven months on the heroes have had a change of heart, ushering in an age where money, not football, will be the governing body's biggest concern...
When Sepp Blatter announced Qatar not Australia as ...
Adrian Musolino
Are the FFA pricing fans out of the grand final?
What's expensive to some seems cheap to others, particularly when it comes to tickets for sporting events. If the response to the A-League's grand final ticket prices is anything to go by, there is a stark difference of opinion on whether the price befits the event.
The grand final ticket ...
Adrian Musolino
We need A-League finals cause we’re Australian
This time last year the A-League finals series came under the spotlight like never before. Why did we need it when the two best teams in the league, Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory, squared off in the final round of the season for Asian Champions League qualification and the Premiers Plate?
The ...
Adrian Deans
A Pyrrhic Victory?
In ancient times, the mighty King Pyrrhus won a great victory against his enemies at the Battle of Asculum, but despite the win, the battle was ruinous to Pyrrhus who claimed that another such victory would be his undoing.
In rather more modern times, the fans on the Victory forums are debating ...
Adrian Deans
Goalkeeper Howlers
Early this morning - Australia Day - we won a famous victory against Uzbekistan to take us into our first Asian Cup final. Like Australia, Uzbekistan is a newish member of the Asian Confederation, but how much do we Australians know of Uzbekistan: its history and heroes?
Perhaps Uzbekistan'...
Kathy Stone
What the HAL?
First off let me say I'm as surprised as anyone to find inspiration in the comedic stylings of FIFA president, Sepp Blatter. His humorous confections - or Blatterisms as I like to call them - no doubt remind him of a more innocent age when a wife could be bought with a goat and two ripe ...
Matt Morris
The missed opportunity
It's official. The world has decided not to ‘Come Play' in 2022, and I'm glad that the whole ordeal is over.
Now, more than ever, we have a chance to focus on what really matters in Australian football - bringing the A-League to the forefront of the Australian sporting landscape.
This is ...
Kathy Stone
Fighting for our field of dreams
Whatever the outcome of Friday's World Cup announcement I hope we can finally dispense with the gag-inducing civilities afforded the AFL.
The code's talking head Andrew Demetriou - surely a mob enforcer in a former life - is possibly feeling a little antsy with D-Day fast approaching.
Sensing ...
Matt Morris
The ugly peoples game
As a blogger that tries (mostly unsuccessfully) to stay in touch with the thoughts and wants of all Australian Football supporters and pundits, I did something that I've never done before in the history of the A-League a few of weekends ago.
I attended a match not involving my own team as an ...
Arabella Vaughan
A Tricky Pitch-uation
I used to think Viteszlav Lavicka's choice to put the sprinklers on pre-home games was silly. Turns out I was the silly one; he may have actually been saving players from sustaining serious injuries (although this may not have been his aim).
Sure, he has to compete with multiple NRL teams, the ...
Kathy Stone
From Zurich with strings
Regrets, I've had a few - here's hoping December 2 isn't one of them.
In about a fortnight the host for the 2022 World Cup will be named. Ratcheting up the pressure a few media hysterics have put the whole box and dice on the outcome of the Australian bid. A cold-shoulder from Zurich and ...
Matt Morris
Tell us what we've told you to think
Lyall Gorman sent me an email last week. The subject was "Help shape the future of the Hyundai A-League".
Excitedly, I opened up the email only to find that rather than personally congratulating me on my helpful skepticism through this blog on his performance as A-League chief so far and ...
Kathy Stone
When bad teams happen to good people
For some time now I've half expected the family to land on the doorstep for a "surprise" intervention. Now the Sky Blues are seeing blue skies again and for the moment, at least, the dark clouds of futility have parted. As John Lennon was fond of saying, nobody ...
Matt Morris
What's the secret plan, Lyall?
I have to apologise to fans of both Heart and Melbourne for the circumstances surrounding the Melbourne Derby being postponed by a week.
During the week, a forum thread had gone up criticising the lack of media coverage the derby was receiving in favour of the AFL Grand Final. Jokingly on ...
