On Saturday, Melbourne City will tackle arch rivals Melbourne Victory in the A-League men’s Grand Final at AAMI Park – but ask the average Aussie sports fan and odds are they’ll have no idea it’s even on.
For decades, football has been a sleeping giant in Australia.
When the Matildas reached the semi-finals of a World Cup – the nation got behind them with gusto back in 2023.
The likes of Mackenzie Arnold and Cortnee Vine joined Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler as household names, with countless sports fans of all ages swept up by Matildas mania.
Same goes for the Socceroos, who qualified for the round of 16 against all odds at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Graham Arnold’s men were eliminated after losing to eventual winners Argentina – and won plenty of admirers for holding their own against the might of Lionel Messi on the sport’s greatest stage.
On Saturday, Melbourne City will tackle arch rivals Melbourne Victory in the A-League men’s Grand Final at AAMI Park – not that many people even know its on (pictured from left, rival skippers Aziz Behich and Roderick Miranda)
Socceroos star Marco Tilio (right) is the type of player football fans love to see in full flight – he looms as a key figure for Melbourne City on Saturday
The incredible fan scenes at Federation Square in Melbourne and Darling Harbour in Sydney told the story – surely the code would now finally be woken from its slumber?
In short, it hasn’t happened, because when it comes to the domestic competition, the A-League has faded into obscurity.
Poor social media engagement and televising the majority of A-League fixtures via embattled streaming service Paramount hasn’t helped.
A lack of star quality in terms of decorated international names gracing team sheets has also been an issue.
Examine the A-League’s official account on X and you’ll soon get an idea of the scope of the problem.
Many of their posts only attract a handful of comments and shares, with the big announcement of the squads for the grand final getting one comment and three likes despite being up for four hours at the time of writing.
The league’s presence on Instagram isn’t much better.
Despite the fact the grand final has no competition from the AFL in Melbourne on Saturday, the buzz around what should be the season’s showpiece event has been next to non-existent if you’re not a committed supporter already.
The nation got behind the Matildas reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2023 – but interest in the domestic competition hasn’t followed (pictured, after beating France in the quarter-final)
Interim Matildas coach Tom Sermanni has delivered a scathing criticism of the A-League Women competition’s professionalism – and says Australian football remains ‘grossly-underinvested’ in the women’s game
Thankfully for soccer fans, Saturday night serves as an opportunity to show why the code shouldn’t be permanently viewed as AFL’s poor cousin in Melbourne.
An A-League spokesperson confirmed the Grand Final is a sell-out, with all remaining tickets snapped up on Tuesday.
Two Melbourne teams chasing bragging rights and silverware in a decider is also an A-League first, dating back to 2005.
‘We are the only sport in town,’ the A-League spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
‘No AFL, NRL or even netball is being played (in Melbourne), so we are excited (to be in the spotlight).
‘The capacity at AAMI Park is just over 30,000, and we have sold all tickets.
‘Fans can enjoy the spectacle, and also see Socceroos such as Nishan Velupillay, Marco Tilio, Mat Leckie, Aziz Behich and Daniel Arzani in the flesh.’
Meanwhile, interim Matildas coach Tom Sermanni has delivered a scathing criticism of the A-League Women competition’s professionalism and says Australian football remains ‘grossly-underinvested’ in the women’s game.
The fact the league is still not fully professional is particularly ‘irritating’ for Sermanni, given the blockbuster success of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Sermanni, who is usually a reserved character, didn’t mince his words ahead of the Matildas playing Argentina in Melbourne on Friday night at Marvel Stadium.
‘We really need to have, at A-League level, a real re-think,’ he said.
‘The (women’s) league has been going for 17 years. When we started, the coaches came from our institute programs, we had fulltime coaches and more fulltime staff than we have now.
‘We are grossly under-invested in the women’s game here.
‘It is irritating….when you think how we had the most successful World Cup ever two years ago, and A-League Women are in the situation that they’re in now, it is just not good enough.’
Sermanni was referring to the minimum wage in the ALW being just $26,000 – with the salary cap for squads a paltry $600,000.
In contrast, Canada’s Northern Super League pays players at least $56,000 per contract – and boasts a salary cap of $1.8million.
Kick-off in Saturday’s A-League men’s Grand Final is 7:40pm AEDT, with all the action live on Channel 10.
