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Asian Comment: J-League Format Exposes A-League Shortcomings
The triviality of the A-League Finals Series has never been more conspicuous, writes Goal.com's Chris Paraskevas...
Feb 22, 2009 6:03:25 AM
For all of the arguments about Australia’s inherent superiority on the international stage of the Asian Football Confederation, what is undoubted is the administrative and football superiority of Japan’s domestic scene.
Within the Australian football sphere, figureheads, journalists, fans and players who have experienced or even heard of the J-League will virtually all attest to its professionalism, growth and organization.
Gamba Osaka’s crushing Asian Champions League victory over Adelaide seemed to confirm notion of domestic power in the Land of The Rising Sun, though it is perhaps typical of Australia’s rather introverted mentality that it took a 5-0 aggregate loss of one of its club sides for the gulf between the two nations to be truly recognized.
Perhaps not enough direct attention is paid towards what Australia manager Pim Verbeek told Goal.com is undoubtedly the strongest league on the continent – one from which much can be learned.
On this occasion the J-League has again showed the way to its Australian counterpart with the adoption of a single-stage format in recent years.
Whilst initially the move away from a play-off series system in Japan was met with scepticism and contributed to a brief decline in attendances - inevitably towards the end of the campaigns of struggling sides - the classic league format has brought about three consecutive years of late-season drama.
In 2005, Gamba Osaka clinched their first ever title on a final day where five teams were in contention to lift the trophy. A heartbreaking last-minute equalizer conceded by local rivals Cerezo Osaka and Gamba’s similarly dramatic 4-2 win away at Kawasake Frontale – the home side twice equalized before Endo’s late effort set the visitors on their way – gave Akira Nishino’s men the title.
The following year saw the Urawa Red Diamonds win their maiden J-League trophy with a final day victory over defending champions Gamba, in what was effectively a final played out in front of over 60,000 fans at Saitama Stadium. Urawa satisfied the growing thirst of their fans for a title to match their growing reputation within Asia with a 3-2 win, before they collapsed on the final day away to already-relegated Yokohama FC the following season, handing the title to traditional powerhouses the Kashima Antlers.
Whilst the J-League’s traditional league format has produced more organic excitement, the A-League finals series has been the preferred determinant of the country’s domestic champions.
The play-off series is contested between the four best placed league sides at the end of an eight-team season of 21 rounds, with the top two teams given a second chance to qualify for the grand final.
Whilst initially the two-stage format provided a refreshing change to what are understandably predictable and repetitive seasons (teams play each other three times) it is a novelty that is slowly beginning to wear off.
In its inaugural season, increases in crowd figures for the grand final and semi finals were noticeable (with one match in Adelaide the exception, due largely to non-football reasons), though aside from a two-legged tie between Sydney FC and Adelaide, the matches were rather formulaic affairs.
The concept of the ‘Finals Series’ is one that has been embraced across all sports codes within Australia, with fans generally enamoured with the concept of the knockout format.
However, this season has seen both Adelaide and the Central Coast Mariners disappoint with crowd figures during the series, with neither able to attract over 10,000 for their most recent home clashes.
One might argue that the apparent lack of support for Adelaide is more to do with a city isolated by the much-publicised rant of manager Aurelio Vidmar following his side’s 4-0 loss at the hands of Melbourne but history suggests that finals football does not necessarily guarantee an increase in attendances.
Nor, as has been proven by the latest installation of the two-format season, does it necessitate drama; predictable is the word which has best described Melbourne’s march to the A-League Grand Final.
One wonders then, what practical purpose the finals series continues to serve in Australia.
A revenue-raising exercise for the Football Federation of Australia? An inherent desire to cling onto cultural and historical traditions? (The now-extinct National Soccer League retained a two-stage format for the majority of its existence.)
Whatever the reason, the concept of the ‘Grand Final’ is quickly losing its credibility within the football sphere and the final series continues to be nothing more than an attempt to cover-up the league’s shortcomings (stemming mainly from a currently unavoidable lack of variety in an eight-team competition) with a poorly promoted gimmick that has the potential to do injustice to the true league champions; Adelaide in season one and the Central Coast in season two.
Resources currently put towards the play-offs would be better served in helping to establish an FA Cup-style competition that would provide a number of benefits for the domestic football scene at all levels.
It is perhaps understandable that there has been a reluctance for change in the formative years of Australian football’s new domestic competition given the sheer size of the A-League but with the introduction of two new franchises next season in the Gold Coast and North Queensland, the justification for a two-stage competition becomes increasingly difficult.
If tradition and cultural context be the main argument for a retention of the play-off series, then Australian football would be better served in following the tradition of the National Soccer League, the first seven seasons of which were not decided by a finals series – it was, after all, the first national league of any sport in Australia.
Currently though, it is Japan who pay greater homage to Australia’s football history and who continue to pioneer administration and organization within the region - even if their overtures are largely unheard...
Chris Paraskevas, Goal.com
Within the Australian football sphere, figureheads, journalists, fans and players who have experienced or even heard of the J-League will virtually all attest to its professionalism, growth and organization.
Gamba Osaka’s crushing Asian Champions League victory over Adelaide seemed to confirm notion of domestic power in the Land of The Rising Sun, though it is perhaps typical of Australia’s rather introverted mentality that it took a 5-0 aggregate loss of one of its club sides for the gulf between the two nations to be truly recognized.
Perhaps not enough direct attention is paid towards what Australia manager Pim Verbeek told Goal.com is undoubtedly the strongest league on the continent – one from which much can be learned.
On this occasion the J-League has again showed the way to its Australian counterpart with the adoption of a single-stage format in recent years.
Whilst initially the move away from a play-off series system in Japan was met with scepticism and contributed to a brief decline in attendances - inevitably towards the end of the campaigns of struggling sides - the classic league format has brought about three consecutive years of late-season drama.
In 2005, Gamba Osaka clinched their first ever title on a final day where five teams were in contention to lift the trophy. A heartbreaking last-minute equalizer conceded by local rivals Cerezo Osaka and Gamba’s similarly dramatic 4-2 win away at Kawasake Frontale – the home side twice equalized before Endo’s late effort set the visitors on their way – gave Akira Nishino’s men the title.
The following year saw the Urawa Red Diamonds win their maiden J-League trophy with a final day victory over defending champions Gamba, in what was effectively a final played out in front of over 60,000 fans at Saitama Stadium. Urawa satisfied the growing thirst of their fans for a title to match their growing reputation within Asia with a 3-2 win, before they collapsed on the final day away to already-relegated Yokohama FC the following season, handing the title to traditional powerhouses the Kashima Antlers.
Whilst the J-League’s traditional league format has produced more organic excitement, the A-League finals series has been the preferred determinant of the country’s domestic champions.
The play-off series is contested between the four best placed league sides at the end of an eight-team season of 21 rounds, with the top two teams given a second chance to qualify for the grand final.
Whilst initially the two-stage format provided a refreshing change to what are understandably predictable and repetitive seasons (teams play each other three times) it is a novelty that is slowly beginning to wear off.
In its inaugural season, increases in crowd figures for the grand final and semi finals were noticeable (with one match in Adelaide the exception, due largely to non-football reasons), though aside from a two-legged tie between Sydney FC and Adelaide, the matches were rather formulaic affairs.
The concept of the ‘Finals Series’ is one that has been embraced across all sports codes within Australia, with fans generally enamoured with the concept of the knockout format.
However, this season has seen both Adelaide and the Central Coast Mariners disappoint with crowd figures during the series, with neither able to attract over 10,000 for their most recent home clashes.
One might argue that the apparent lack of support for Adelaide is more to do with a city isolated by the much-publicised rant of manager Aurelio Vidmar following his side’s 4-0 loss at the hands of Melbourne but history suggests that finals football does not necessarily guarantee an increase in attendances.
Nor, as has been proven by the latest installation of the two-format season, does it necessitate drama; predictable is the word which has best described Melbourne’s march to the A-League Grand Final.
One wonders then, what practical purpose the finals series continues to serve in Australia.
A revenue-raising exercise for the Football Federation of Australia? An inherent desire to cling onto cultural and historical traditions? (The now-extinct National Soccer League retained a two-stage format for the majority of its existence.)
Whatever the reason, the concept of the ‘Grand Final’ is quickly losing its credibility within the football sphere and the final series continues to be nothing more than an attempt to cover-up the league’s shortcomings (stemming mainly from a currently unavoidable lack of variety in an eight-team competition) with a poorly promoted gimmick that has the potential to do injustice to the true league champions; Adelaide in season one and the Central Coast in season two.
Resources currently put towards the play-offs would be better served in helping to establish an FA Cup-style competition that would provide a number of benefits for the domestic football scene at all levels.
It is perhaps understandable that there has been a reluctance for change in the formative years of Australian football’s new domestic competition given the sheer size of the A-League but with the introduction of two new franchises next season in the Gold Coast and North Queensland, the justification for a two-stage competition becomes increasingly difficult.
If tradition and cultural context be the main argument for a retention of the play-off series, then Australian football would be better served in following the tradition of the National Soccer League, the first seven seasons of which were not decided by a finals series – it was, after all, the first national league of any sport in Australia.
Currently though, it is Japan who pay greater homage to Australia’s football history and who continue to pioneer administration and organization within the region - even if their overtures are largely unheard...
Chris Paraskevas, Goal.com
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