With Western Sydney winning the 2012/2013 A-League Premiership, a much overlooked fact is not just that a expansion club has managed to win a major trophy in it’s first season, but that it will be playing continental football in just it’s second.

Despite how monumental this achievement is when you consider the significantly higher standard the Wanderers will face in 2014, the reality that this achievement has received little attention in Australia is hardly surprising.

A combination of poor results, a perception of incapable officials, inappropriate stadium sizes, lack of media attention or coinciding club issues (such as fan boycotts during Melbourne Victory’s last ACL campaign) has meant there has been little fan response to what should be the pinnacle of club football in Australia.

Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share

While history has showed us that there was an initial enthusiasm for these ‘Asian Nights’, with encouraging crowds attending Sydney and Melbourne’s initial campaigns and encouraging crowds in Adelaide following their unexpected run to the final in 2008, these days have appeared to many to be long gone with sub 6k crowds almost expected, especially when regional teams such as Central Coast are involved.

Yet the qualification of Western Sydney Wanderers could provide Asian football fans a beacon of hope for a renaissance of continental football in the nation.

Backed with a very knowledgeable fan base, playing out of a proper stadium that is usually at least 60% full and being a big city team with the obvious media advantages could be the start of a new era where Asian football is again taken seriously by the football community.

One could also anticipate that given the Wanderers previous form of travelling over land and sea in excellent numbers that there is a decent probability that there could be a respectable amount of away fans following their team through the continent as well.

Also with Melbourne Victory finishing third and also odds on to take part in some form of ACL action, it may eventuate that the expected attention from the largely Sydney based football media may rub off on Melbourne fans to again turn up in the numbers they reached in their first campaign, even playing at Docklands would likely not work as well in their favour.

The key for our administrators that we trust is to ensure that they sell continental football as one of those events that just can’t be missed, our local version of those famous European nights we all know and love.



Lay the foundations for these traditions and we will reap the rewards in hopefully many many Australian campaigns to come!