Bet on the Wanderers fans making the most of the last derby to be played at Parramatta for at least three years. When they eventually return after a $300 million facelift, let's hope it still feels like home.

The next, perhaps most crucial phase, of the A-League evolution is stadiums. Until that gets sorted the metrics will never be viable. The American experience has shown that. In a crowded sporting marketplace where football has historically played second fiddle - just like Australia - Major League Soccer only began to gain traction once clubs began to own their own stadiums, thus controlling match-day income.

When the MLS was on its knees in the late 1990s, billionaire investor Lamar Hunt made what proved to be the most important decision in the league's history. He spent $28 million ($45 million in today's money) to build the first football-specific stadium in the MLS for one of his clubs, Columbus Crew. It was the game-changer.

When a new stadium in Orlando opens later this year, 15 of the 20 clubs will own their own venues. In those dark days of the late 1990s, three billionaires - Hunt, Bob Kraft and Phillip Anschutz - owned all 10 clubs between them, pumping in around $100 million simply to keep the competition afloat. These days it costs $100 million to buy a single MLS club. Stadium ownership has a lot to do with that.