I have decided to take up a columnist position at Soccernewsday and therefore will not be updating this blog in the foreseeable future.
You are find regular football articles from me here
Brendan

Got up and watched the opening match of the 2011 Asian Cup last night and was very glad that I did. Fantastic game and one that deserves more attention from the media here in Australia.
If you ever needed more evidence that Australia is yet to embrace our move into Asia you only need to scan through the news stations today and witness and the total lack of reporting about the Asian Cup.

Hi all

I am back after a six month hiatus and what a six months it has been.

A new season and with it a new club in Melbourne. After a great start the Heart seem to be struggling. Not that this should be a surprise to anyone. It was always going to be a difficult ask for a new club to enter the Melbourne market and take significant support away from Melbourne Victory.

Its disappointing to hear that yet another A-League club, Gold Coast United, are struggling financially after it was revealed that billionaire owner Clive Palmer has notified the FFA of his intention to withdraw his support of the club.
Must say the timing is very suspect with the FFA just concluding a rescue package for North Queensland we now have the leagues richest owner deciding that he can no longer sustain the losses the club is currently experiencing.

Although this year has seen crowd levels drop off from their stellar highs of the previous years I must say I cannot remember a more exciting race for the Premier Plate in the A-leagues short history.
Congratulations must be extended to Sydney for taking out what became a three horse race late in the year when Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney all showed that they are a class above the rest of the competition.

I was genuinely excited when the FFA announced that one of the new clubs to join the A-league this year was to be Gold Coast United. Here was a team to be based in the fastest growing area of Australia, was backed by one of Australia's richest men and would have one of the more interesting (if slightly insane) characters of the game here in Australia guiding them in Miron Beilberg.

One of the points in Frank Lowry's speech I failed to touch on in my last blog was the idea of moving the start time of the A-League Season to the first week in October.
After a honeymoon that was the first three seasons it has become blindingly obvious in the last two that the A-League struggles to make any impact in the mass media in the August/September period.

I have a huge amount of respect for Frank Lowry. Five years ago Frank was the driving force behind the rebirth of football in this country. The creation of the A-league, the move to Asia and the recruitment of Guus Hiddink all contributed to a resurgence of the game here in Australia.
However I do wonder if Frank understands that all of this new found love for the game may evaporate if a few missteps are made.

Its been just over a month since I last put fingers to keyboard and tapped out a paragraph or two for this blog and a lot has happened in that time. Crowds continue to be a major talking point and I was very pleased to see Gold Coast and Brisbane take steps to reduce their ticket prices and make them more affordable for the general fan.

With confirmation that Danny Allsopp has left for Qatar club Al-Rayyan Sports, Melbourne Victory has lost not only one of its two primary scoring targets but a long time servant of the club.
Of course the writing has been on the wall (or in this case within the forums) for a week now after Allsopp failed to not only take the field against Newcastle but wasn't even present at the game.

Last year Brisbane Roar played Central Coast Mariners in a Round 3 match that attracted 12,185 people along. This year their round 4 fixture against Central Coast could only manage 6,433. The low crowds in Brisbane have been focus of media attention over the last two weeks and much conjecture about the reasons behind this.

Interesting article on The Roar today regarding the viability of having the A-League on Free To Air (FTA) TV. It has generated a substantial amount of discussion amongst the readers and got me thinking about where I stand on the topic.
Although author Adrian Musolino makes some good points I cannot help but think he has missed a critical one.

If you are looking for a place for football betting.
Monday saw the Victorian Football Federation launch its Victorian Premier and Women's Premier Leagues at the Young And Jackson Hotel. The night was a celebration of 125 years of Victorian football. It was on February 29, 1884 that a group of gentlemen meet to finalise arrangements for the forming of Carlton, South Melbourne, Richmond and Prahran and thus kick off club in Victoria.

With the A-league Final on Saturday between Melbourne and Adelaide I thought I might have a go at a preview of the match.
There is a lot of history between these two teams. This will be the sixth finals match that two teams have played against each other. In fact in six finals appearances Melbourne has only ever faced Adelaide, a strange statistic.

Great news overnight with FIFA confirming that Kofi Danning will be granted exemption from their recent rule change that tightens international eligibility for Under 18 players.
The rule in question states "for any player who refers to art. 15 par. 1 of the Regulations to assume a new nationality and who has not played international football in accordance with art.