What better way to drum up immediate curiosity than borrowing someone else’s fame? But what then?To marquee or not to marquee? That is the question for A-Leagues operators the Australian Professional Leagues. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and Covid chaos, or to take arms against a sea of troubles?A key pillar in the league’s short-term strategy to emerge from its horror 2021-22 campaign was unveiled mid-week, as APL managing director Danny Townsend revealed that a list of 35 potential “world-class” signings had been earmarked by the league as potential “sugar hits” for what is hoped will be a reinvigorating 2022-23. Continue reading...
The expansion clubs are universally derided but United’s on-field trajectory can offer the Bulls hope after Ante MiličićThey are not exactly expansion bedfellows, and certainly not friends. But Macarthur FC and Western United bear striking similarities – and not just because they are expansion clubs. The very nature of the both their births, selected by then-Football Federation Australia to join A-League Men in 2018, means comparisons are inevitable.Off the field, both United and the Bulls have quickly become two of the most universally derided clubs in all of Australian football, the mere mention of their names almost certain to attract cantankerous commentators with grievances to air. Alas, unlike the likes of Melbourne Victory or Sydney FC, this is not born...
With their ACL and ALM finals hopes hanging by a thread, Australian football’s most successful club finds itself in an unfamiliar positionCertain points in the history of the A-League Men can be seen as seminal moments that have forever altered the competition’s young landscape. Brisbane Roar turning to a manager whose most recent gig had resulted in relegation from the Victorian Premier League is one example. The bitter congress wars of the late 2010s and resulting independence of the leagues from Football Australia is another.The decision by Sydney FC in 2014 to appoint Graham Arnold as their manager is yet another. For all the notoriety gained from Alessandro Del Piero’s two-year stint at Moore Park, the double-winning campaign of 2009-10...
On paper it was eighth plays ninth, both teams flawed and prone to imploding. But the Mariners and Jets’ rivalry is exactly what the ALM needsTo ape Bill Hader’s famous Saturday Night Live character Stefon, the A-League Men’s hottest rivalry is the F3 Derby. Located on a sodden field in Newcastle, the latest edition of this regional rivalry had everything. Twists and turns, emotions bubbling over, VAR disallowing goals, dramatic comebacksand Matt Simon almost coming to blows with a red-carded Daniel Penha.After serving as the unexpected highlight of ALM’s opening round of the 2021-22 season, overshadowing the greater ballyhooed Sydney Derby, punters were incredulous they were forced to wait 153 days for Saturday evening’s rematch between the Central Coast Mariners...
The most gripping football on offer around the world exists because clubs risk relegation to a lower tierThere is a haunting presence in the A-League Men. Shuffling from ground to ground clad in tattered purple, orange, or red and black regalia, they are the ALM revenants: those whose seasons have long since died but continue to walk amongst us. Their hopes and dreams dashed, their only purpose now is to haunt the rest who still draw breath.This is the reality of what confronts Perth Glory the Western Sydney Wanderers and Brisbane Roar as the 2021-22 season concludes. With little to no hope of finals football, supporters watch on as their beloved clubs, once so full of promise, go through the...