Robbie Slater column: A-League clubs need $5m each to lock in a marquee player to lift attendance

Dipping attendances tell you the A-League has a problem. Socceroos great Robbie Slater says to get the comp back on the right keel the answer is simple, but it doesn’t come cheap.

Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC at Etihad Stadium. 26th January, Melbourne Australia, Alessandro Del Piero celebrates with the fans after the 5-0 win. Pic George Salpigtidis

Ange Postecoglou was spot on last month when urging caution over the so-called “new era” of Australian football.

“A new era … we’ve had these before,” the former Socceroos coach said.

“They usually start with enthusiasm, and the key to that is to make that enthusiasm into something meaningful and tangible, and actually grow the game.”

The harsh reality is that despite the hype preceding this season’s A-League, the competition has failed to deliver.

As a result, crowds are down. That includes attendances at the home games of Australian football’s two best supported clubs — Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers.

And once people stop going to games, it’s extremely hard to get them to again start going to matches.

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Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero was a huge hit with fans and kept the turnstiles ticking over. Picture: George Salpigtidis

But for the sake of Australian football, it’s a problem that can’t be thrown in the “too hard basket”.

The Australian Professional Leagues, which runs the A-League, must quickly stop the rot.

And they’re going to have to dig deep into their pockets to find a solution because it’s not going to come cheap.

A marquee player fund needs to be established.

Look back through the history of the competition and you’ll find that the A-League has been at its best in terms of quality and crowd numbers when genuine marquee players have graced our shores.

Emile Heskey made quite an impact during his stint in the A-League.

Alessandro Del Piero, Dwight Yorke, Emile Heskey, Shinji Ono … these players lit up the A-League, and supporters were willing to hand over the money to watch matches from live at the grounds.

A-League clubs should be given $5 million each to sign a marquee player.

It’s obviously costly but it’ll be worth it in the long run.

We can’t afford for the A-League to stumble along.

Del Piero’s presence with Sydney FC was a huge winner.

Dwight Yorke made an immediate impression with crowds.

A good quality A-League means more fans at the games, and also leads to a stronger Socceroos team because it would lead to more depth.

Adelaide United coach Carl Veart probably got a little bit excited recently when he said that the A-League was — barring the English Premier League — among the best competitions in the world.

But who’s to say it can’t get to that in 10 to 20 years. To reach that level, the work must start now.

Better players joining the competition will lead to the standard of other players improving.

And while Veart maybe went a bit overboard with his comments, such enthusiasm should be applauded.

Ambition is what we need to resurrect the A-League and get people not only talking about the game again, but watching it again.