‘Maybe it’s not the best decision’: Grand final drama revived in A-League Women

Crunch time has arrived in the A-League Women, and not only for the four teams left vying for glory on the pitch. For the competition itself and the people in charge of it, there will be just as much at stake in this season’s finals series as the players.

A few months ago, Australian soccer was tearing itself apart over the contentious deal cut by the Australian Professional Leagues to sell hosting rights for the next six grand finals (three in the men’s league, three in the women’s) to Sydney, via Destination NSW.

It bucked decades of local tradition, removed a crucial meritocratic element from the crowning of the A-League’s champions, and crossed a red line for many hardcore fans – resulting in fans entering the playing surface at AAMI Park, and Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover being injured with a bucket of sand thrown at him by pitch-invading Victory hooligans.

Which brings us to the ALW finals, and Tuesday’s media launch at the Museum of Contemporary Art in The Rocks. Sydney FC captain Natalie Tobin was there on time, but it started half an hour late, ironically because the representatives from the three other teams – City, Victory and Western United – were delayed in transit from Melbourne.

The elephant in the room was the grand final, to be played on Sunday, April 30 at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta, no matter which teams qualify.

Sydney FC captain Natalie Tobin with the A-League Women’s grand final trophy.Credit: Getty

Tobin admitted it was a “huge advantage” to know her team won’t have to travel if they’re good enough, particularly in a semi-professional league where players juggle their commitments with full-time work – although she pointed out that the Sky Blues had earned that comfortable run by finishing top of the ladder and clinching the premiership with a 4-0 win over Newcastle Jets on Saturday.

Her Melbourne Victory counterpart, Kayla Morrison, was a little more pointed about the prospect of an all-Victorian affair.

“It would be great to have two Melbourne teams in the grand final, with all the drama surrounding where the grand final is,” Morrison said.

“I think that would just be a really big opportunity for everyone to say, ‘Maybe this wasn’t the best decision.’”

APL chief executive Danny Townsend – the public face of that decision – is optimistic of a record-breaking crowd of over 10,000, which would clear the relatively low bar set at the 2019 grand final, when 6,127 people watched Sydney FC win 4-2 over Perth Glory in Sam Kerr’s last domestic outing in Australia.

Melbourne Victory captain Kayla Morrison, Melbourne City captain Emma Checker, Western United vice-captain Hillary Beall and Sydney FC captain Natalie Tobin at the A-League Women’s finals series launch.Credit: Getty

Recent offers to A-League club members in Sydney for discounted or free tickets, however, suggest that it has been difficult to convince people to travel for it – particularly on a Sunday afternoon, which Townsend admitted was not “perfect” – while some fans have vowed to boycott all men’s and women’s grand finals until the APL reverses tack.

That won’t be happening. Townsend insists the move was made by club owners for the right reasons, and the appeal will become clearer next year, when the A-League Women expands to a full home-and-away season and the grand final is played in Sydney during the same week as the men’s.

“That was always the concept. I think we’re heading in the right direction, we’re putting all the right foundations in place,” said Townsend.

APL chief executive Danny Townsend.Credit: Getty

“Having had now four months to work with all the stakeholders in the game to ensure that it is a celebration of women’s football, and a league that’s going from strength to strength in terms of its on-field product ... we’ve already sold over 2500 [tickets] without knowing who’s in it yet.

“If we could get over 10,000, and break the record, it’ll go some way to demonstrating why we did what we did.“

Townsend said the APL owners were “all in” on women’s football, even if the domestic competition is struggling to leverage the increasingly huge following of the Matildas, who play Scotland in a friendly on Friday night (10.15pm AEST) and then England in London on Tuesday morning (4.45am AEST).

Average attendances in the A-League Women hover at around 1200 – down from the pre-COVID record of 2164, despite improving on-field quality, the involvement of locally based players like Cortnee Vine, Katrina Gorry and Clare Hunt in the Matildas program, and investments made into the expansion of the competition both through number of clubs, which will climb to 12 next season with the admission of the Central Coast Mariners, and games played.

“We’re working feverishly behind the scenes to ensure that the investment we’re making in the game builds the foundations to commercialise it, to ensure that we can keep investing more and more money in it. Because in reality, it’s a bit behind in terms of where it needs to be commercially,” Townsend said.

“The Women’s World Cup, hopefully, will be a catalyst for engaging support for the women’s game on a more regular basis than every now and then, like it is with the Matildas. But these things take time. And we’re in for the long haul.”

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