To quote Malcolm Turnbull (or should that be Selina Meyer?) 2020-21 was a season of continuity with change. Like last year, Melbourne City and Sydney FC met in the grand final. Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers remain in turmoil, and a new franchise enjoyed an enterprising debut season. This is a familiar script, but it’s not Groundhog Day.
After years of infighting behind the scenes the administration of the professional game has been resolved; for now. The clubs, under the auspices of the Australian Professional Leagues, are now masters of their own domain. “The handbrake on the game is off,” trumpeted APL chairman Paul Lederer after contracts had been signed. Vigorous renewal is not only expected next season, but demanded.
One of the APL’s earliest acts has been to euthanise the moribund partnership with Fox Sports. The new deal with ViacomCBS has the potential to deliver long-sought-after mainstream recognition. It is easy to scoff at the prospect of celebrity Masterchef Archie Thompson giving his celebratory gyration to a sticky croquembouche, but football has been crying out for this sort of platform to normalise the sport and its athletes. Now it has the means, the APL has to be bold and brave and seize the opportunity.
Based on the past six months, the on-field product is the least of the new broadcaster’s worries. This was a hugely enjoyable campaign with free-flowing matches dominated by transitional football and populated by eye-catching youngsters. Whether by accident (Covid cost-cutting) or design (the transition towards a predominately winter season) the product, week-in week-out has delivered on its most basic metric: entertainment.
City’s grand final energy and rapacious derby performances will stand the test of time, there was a madcap 5-4, and Mark Rudan even channelled José Mourinho with his jig down the touchline and swan dive into a Western United pile-on. Wellington Phoenix, the quiet heroes of the year after relocating to Wollongong, transformed the final rounds with atmospheres back home in New Zealand that would have made even the most pernickety optics marshall strip to the waist at the 80th minute.
It was a season of superb goalkeeping, led by the returning Adam Federici, and an important one for the exposure given to younger glovemen. The imported playmakers like Johnny Warren Medal winners Ulises Dávila and Miloš Ninković continued to deliver. While established Socceroos of the calibre of Jamie Maclaren and Rhyan Grant demonstrated that international standards can be maintained in the domestic competition.
Could the quality improve? Of course, and that will always be the case, but this season, collectively, we seemed able to cut ourselves some slack and focus more on what was in front of us rather than worrying how it compared to some imagined ideal. And while that happened Denis Genreau and Connor Metcalfe played their way into the Socceroos’ starting XI, Alou Kuol earned a move to the Bundesliga, and teenagers Archie Goodwin and Calem Nieuwenhof scored goals of outrageous quality.
Nobody embodies this shift from shitposting to hit toasting more than Matt Simon. Previously he was the competition’s totem, through whom you could channel all your feelings about the A-League - good or bad. This year he is the face and shaka of the Central Coast Mariners’ revival, warming hearts and endearing himself to neutrals in the process. We haven’t needed to medicate with self-deprecation, and it feels good.
Sure, the continued excellence of City and Sydney - and the utter predictability of it - could point to the evolution of a duopoly. But in the short term, if that involves the development and retention of internationals, and setting standards for others to emulate, that is not an entirely negative outcome.
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Besides, the gap from the best to the rest will surely diminish soon with Tony Popovic on his way to rescue Victory, while semi-finalists Macarthur have signalled they are not resting on their laurels with some eye-catching signings.
All this positivity should not mask problems that need addressing. The Mariners reverted to type as soon as their finals campaign ended, and Newcastle Jets continue to drag the chain. Both urgently require new ownership. Also, the nomads of Western United are running out of the goodwill afforded them for their ambitious stadium-building licence bid.
The disruption caused by the pandemic has shielded clubs with poor attendances from intense scrutiny, but with next season hopefully taking place in more settled conditions, no such allowances should be afforded. Reinvigorating the terraces has to be a priority of the APL, a responsibility encompassing scheduling, hype, active support, stewarding, and more besides.
But with all the challenges engulfing sporting leagues, this campaign could have been catastrophic. It was not. For the first time in a long time A-League supporters can expect to look ahead at an emerging dawn instead of inkier darkness. Another campaign of continuity, with change, will do just fine.
