On the eve of the A-League finals kicking off, AFL media personality and former North Melbourne chairman James Brayshaw has taken a brutal shot at the competition.
With overall crowds and TV ratings in decline, A-League officials will be hoping the finals will bring a much-needed boost to the competition when it kicks off on Friday night between Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix.
Brayshaw, however, has stressed that very few sports fans even know the A-League finals are about to start and that the round ball game has failed to live up to its potential in Australia.
"Completely transparent that competition - it’s like a bit of glad wrap, you see straight past it," Brayshaw said on Triple M's The Rush Hour.
"You’re only going back five or six years and I remember as the chairman of Norths sitting in commission meetings and everyone was saying it’s only a matter of time before this game takes over.
"The A-League is close to irrelevant in this country. No-one even knows the finals is starting."
Football Federation Australia boss David Gallop recently admitted it's been difficult seeing the A-League struggle but hopes the finals can reignite some interest in the competition.
"The fact that every game is going to count - that's what we have tried to market around the next few weeks," Gallop told SEN on Thursday.
"And just picking up that excitement that things can go down to that split second.
"That's the momentum that we're looking to build...the future is bright."
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