It truly is a little bit of everything.
The pandemic, for one, has undoubtedly contributed to a selectively restrained economic climate – families are wary of where their dollars are being spent and it doesn’t help that venue ticket prices have been a sore point for years.
Perhaps the ultimate crescendo came in the form of this season’s debutants Macarthur FC charging an eye-gouging $50 per person for Sydney FC active fans to attend Bulls matches, which club director Sam Krslovic attributed to COVID and an unanswered voicemail.
But Australian football’s problems existed well before the COVID-19 outbreak - all the shutdown period did was put our longstanding issues under the microscope.
Share on Twitter
In the wake of the reappearance of coronavirus cases in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW) state premier Gladys Berejiklian introduced a number of new restrictions in Greater Sydney to clamp down on any potential further spread of the virus, including the limiting of household guests to 20 and the mandating of mask-wearing on public transport and in indoor venues.
Ms Berejiklian, however, declared that there was no need to cancel sporting events at this stage. We re saying go about your normal business,” said the NSW Premier. “Enjoy Mother s Day. Enjoy what you do normally.it s business as usual.We re saying to businesses to keep doors open
Share on Twitter
The official crowd of 990 people that watched United down the Jets’ 2-0 on Monday evening represented the sparsest, non-behind closed doors crowd in A-League history - 13 less than the previous low-water mark between North Queensland Fury and Brisbane Roar in 2010-11.
United themselves don’t fit the on-field profile of a club that would attract such a small crowd: their win on Monday evening moving them into the league’s top-six as they seek to back-up a semifinal appearance from a year ago.
Nonetheless, crowds - with some notable exceptions such as Central Coast Mariners’ clash with Sydney FC on Saturday - have been consistently down across the entire A-League in 2020-21.
Stuff Sports
24 April, 2021, 12:22 pm
The Wellington Phoenix haven’t played at their Sky Stadium home since March 15 last year. Picture: STUFF SPORTS.
Wellington Phoenix fans have been forced to wait for confirmation the team will play in New Zealand this A-League season – and it’s possible they might only get one match on this side of the Tasman, if they play here at all.
The final set of fixtures was announced by Australian Professional Leagues on Friday, with the venues and kick-off times for the Phoenix’s two home matches, against Western United on May 22 and Perth Glory on May 30, still to be confirmed.
Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay is desperate for the club to return to New Zealand after 400 days without a game at home.
Wellington Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay has hit back at Distance Derby rivals Perth Glory after their chief executive revealed to New Zealand’s only professional football club has not been able to play in its own country for more than 400 days due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the opening of the trans-Tasman travel bubble has raised hopes of staging the final two home games against Western United and Perth in Wellington and Auckland. The venues for those games on May 22 and 30 were still listed as ‘to be confirmed’ on the latest fixture list released by the Australian Professional Leagues on Friday but Perth chief executive Tony Pignata told