A-League crowds holding, despite perceptions

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PHOENIX RISING: The Wellington Phoenix are one of four A-League clubs with improved crowds this season.

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The perception is A-League crowds are falling and so is the sky for Australian soccer. The reality is not necessarily so.

Average crowds are up for four of the clubs who were in the league last season, and down for the other four.

There are certainly areas of concern. Brisbane Roar have shed around 25 percent of their 2008-09 average attendance this season - Newcastle even more off lower numbers.

Newcomers Gold Coast have brought with them the competition's smallest average crowd, as well as heavily criticised plans to cap their attendance at 5000 to save money.

While it's known Football Federation Australia is concerned about Brisbane and ropable over Gold Coast's crowd-capping philosophy, elsewhere the picture is brighter than many will have you believe.

Perth Glory's crowds are rising towards their old NSL levels, while Sydney FC, Adelaide United and Wellington Phoenix have lifted their attendances on average.

FFA boss Ben Buckley insists crowds at most clubs are in line with expectations, and any attendance dips are "performance-based".

As for why some clubs' crowds are down, there are some overarching factors to consider.

More games. 27 games for each club in a season rather than 21 means consumers can be more discerning with the matches they actually venture out and buy a ticket for.

Starting the A-League in the middle of the business end of the AFL and NRL seasons has been a massive failure.

A lot of fans have simply "lost" the competition in amongst it all, particularly in AFL-obsessed Melbourne where everything plays a distant second-fiddle at footy finals time.

Fox Sports' excellent television coverage - every game is televised live against the gate - may also be contributing to lower attendances as serious A-League fans will probably have pay-TV.

A plastic seat and a $6 beer in a plastic cup? Or plasma TV, beer from your fridge, replays of contentious incidents you won't see at the ground and matches to follow from the English Premier League straight after your A-League game?

Also, in the first four seasons, crowds have probably been higher than most anticipated.

Before the inaugural season, FFA chairman Frank Lowy said he expected crowds to be around 10,000 on average. They were markedly higher, while TV figures were around five times those originally projected in season one.

Plateauing is perhaps inevitable.

For all the discussion about crowds, the A-League is not even at the mid-point of this season.

Where crowd figures go from here - and how clubs cope - will be watched with interest for the rest of the season. Club-by-club, here's how they're faring so far (teams are in current ladder order):

SYDNEY FC: Surprisingly, the Sky Blues' average crowds are up - just - on last season. The burning question is whether 12,000 is a good crowd figure or an indifferent one for Australia's largest city. Either way, they have built a rusted-on supporter base of 12,000. Staying near the top of the table should see that grow.

Melbourne VICTORY: Starting at the business end of the AFL season in footy-mad Melbourne was guaranteed to hurt the Victory. Add two unpopular Thursday night kick-offs and they have excuses why crowds have dipped around 16 percent. However, they maintain an average crowd more than double that of most other A-League clubs.

GOLD COAST: With arguably the competition's best player and an excellent start to the season, there's little doubt the Gold Coast should be attracting more than 5,000 a match. What kind of stadium deal are they in where it's cheaper to shut three-quarters of the joint down? A real cause for concern.

PERTH GLORY: When the Glory bossed the NSL, the stadium was full. Now the good times are back in the west, and the crowds are lifting after four seasons of A-League underachievement. A highest attendance of nearly 13,000 - they haven't managed that big a crowd since season one - is most promising.

CENTRAL COAST MARINERS: Have suffered a marked dip in averages, but bear in mind their lowest home crowd of the season was actually the match they hosted at Canberra in round five. Matches at Bluetongue Stadium have attracted their usual 8,000-10,000 off the league's smallest population base, which is a solid performance.

ADELAIDE UNITED: The surprise packet in terms of attendances, recording a decent lift in their average crowd. Not once has Adelaide's crowd dropped below five figures. Considering they play out of a 16,000-capacity stadium and sit mid-table, the Reds are obviously tuned in to their fans' needs.

WELLINGTON PHOENIX: Crowds are up across the ditch, probably in part because Kiwi soccer is in excitement mode with the prospect of a World Cup appearance. Sadly, their lowest crowd of the season turned up to watch probably the best performance anywhere in the A-League in two years - their 6-0 defeat of Gold Coast.

BRISBANE ROAR: A nightmare, and those who want to whack the A-League over crowds are seizing their figures to do it. There's no positive spin to dropping 25 percent from 2008-09. Especially when you've put up ticket prices and have off-field dramas. Put another way, the Roar's home matches fill Suncorp Stadium to about one-ninth of capacity.

NEWCASTLE JETS: The biggest shedder of A-League crowds - dropping around one-third on average from a season they were defending champions. If you believe the FFA's line that crowd dips are performance-based, here's your example. This season, crowds have consistently been around 6,000 for home matches regardless of opposition.

NORTH QUEENSLAND FURY: The newcomers have brought the third worst average gate, and the 7,000 average is less than optimistic pre-season projections of around 10,000. But the Fury have been good news for the rest of the competition. Marquee player Robbie Fowler has boosted attendances for every club they've visited this season.