On Saturday, reigning W-League premiers Melbourne Victory played host to the team that’s looking increasingly likely to usurp them, Western Sydney Wanderers.

There were several intriguing narratives coming into the match: former Victory players Ella Mastrantonio and Kyra Cooney-Cross returning to face their former teammates; star Wanderers import Lynn Williams still waiting for her debut goal; a save-off between two of the most impressive goalkeepers of the season in Casey Dumont and Abby Smith; a shot at redemption for Victory who returned from their maiden AFC Women’s Club Championship with little to show for it; and a chance for Western Sydney to make history with their best start to a league season.

The game largely delivered what it said on the tin and the 1-1 draw ticked a number of these storyline boxes. But the picture we saw on screen was of a largely empty suburban grandstand, with just 443 people showing up to watch.

Perhaps it was because Victory played this ‘home’ match at Latrobe City Stadium in Morwell, a two-hour drive from the Melbourne CBD. That would also explain why Melbourne City drew just 500 spectators to their ‘home’ game against Adelaide at John McEwan Reserve in Shepparton — also a two-hour drive from the city — last week.

But it doesn’t explain why Perth Glory’s round-three grand final rematch against reigning champions Sydney FC at Dorrien Gardens, a 25-minute walk from Perth’s CBD, drew just 797 fans, nor why Adelaide’s round-two home game against Sydney at Marden Sports Complex, a 15-minute drive from the city, attracted just 784.

The W-League has a popularity problem. The 2019-20 season is experiencing the lowest average attendance since these statistics began to be recorded in 2016. Just 26,419 people have shown up to the first sixteen games, which has included three double-headers — games that historically attract more fans than standalone matches.

What’s going on? It’s not like there’s no market for women’s football as the 1b people who tuned in to watch the Women’s World Cup proved. It’s also not like women’s football isn’t popular in Australia, with recent research showing fans have a stronger bond with the Matildas than any Australian sporting team. But despite 20 of the Matildas’ 23 World Cup players signing for W-League teams this season, and with the product on the pitch arguably the highest quality it’s ever been given improved pay and conditions for athletes, we’re not seeing that translated into bums on seats.

The quality on the pitch might never have been higher, but this isn’t translating to increased attendances. Photograph: Daniel Carson/Getty Images

So why is this happening? It’s a question that was posed to one of Australia’s biggest women’s football fan groups on Facebook recently, sparking the longest discussion thread in the group’s history. “Are they lacking role models, marketing, community connection, relevance, or is there something more?” the original poster asked. From the conversation that followed, the answer appears to be all of the above.

There’s the difficulty of accessing the multiple smaller, suburban stadiums over the course of the season, particularly those which lack public transport options. There’s the need for smarter marketing that’s both more widespread and better targeted towards young adults and millennials with spending power rather than young children and teens. There’s the double-header conundrum where the W-League is still seen as pre-game entertainment before the A-League, which reinforces wider cultural attitudes about women’s sport not being a serious endeavour in its own right. There are the unfavourable kick-off times like 6:30pm on Thursdays or 5pm on Fridays, making it difficult for parents of school-aged kids or those with 9-5 jobs to attend. And there’s the increasingly worrying summer weather, making earlier games particularly unattractive for players and spectators everywhere.

This Facebook discussion highlighted the same problems identified by former Premier League boss Richard Scudamore on his recent trip to Australia to advise the strategic direction of the A-League. According to Scudamore, a thriving competition requires, among other things: club loyalty through consistent use of appropriately sized and accessible stadiums; an emphasis on match-day experiences and atmosphere; the support and development of local talent; and the use of digital channels to better market the game.

In other words, Australian football needs to be reverse engineered if it wants to succeed. By focusing on the basic elements that successful clubs and leagues elsewhere demonstrate — stadiums, atmosphere, accessibility, marketing — the game can become the thing that gets people through the gates and switching on the TV. But Australia’s football fans already knew this. And they’re happy to talk about it without what you imagine was a hefty consultancy fee.

If anything, this topic highlights an increasing need for clubs and leagues to better include fans into the discussion of how to grow football in Australia. Without fans, football is just 22 people running around on a pitch. Better representation of fan perspectives at board level, for example, would give football the information it needs to make the game more attractive to the very people who, at present, are largely frozen out of the decision-making process. The W-League is the perfect microcosm of the challenges facing the game in Australia, and its fans clearly point the way forward— all you need to do is ask.