MARK Bosnich has launched an impassioned plea for a change in the A-League season for both men and women, doubling down on his belief that the competition suffers for playing into the summer months.<\/p>\n
Professional football in Australia runs from October through May, with Cricket Australia\u2019s Big Bash League the only other tournament on a similar scale to play through the summer months.<\/p>\n
Kick-off times in summer were moved back for the 2023\/24 season, with no games to start before 5pm local time.<\/p>\n
Bosnich has previously called for a move to the winter and autumn months for the A-League Men and Women, but speaking to SEN 1170, called for an imminent decision to be made.<\/p>\n
The Australian football legend doesn\u2019t buy the argument that the summer months present the game with a free slate and added he\u2019s raised the issue with the game\u2019s hierarchy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to change the time of the year that we play, we really do. That needs to happen like tomorrow,\u201d he said on SEN 1170’s The Run Home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want the players in Australia who I care about, both boys and girls, your job as administrators is to provide the best possible environment for them to play in. In my opinion, you\u2019re not doing that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember some of them saying, \u2018maybe eventually\u2019. Not eventually, [it\u2019s got to happen] now.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re just putting it off\u2026 it was explained to me that [the A-League] would get less TV rights. It shouldn\u2019t matter, it\u2019s not as if they get extortionate TV rights right now anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want everyone listening to this\u2026 be honest right now, do you ever pick up the newspaper and see seven pages of soccer? Summer in Australia is for cricket, it\u2019s for tennis, it\u2019s for beaches and it\u2019s for holidays.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople, the last thing on their mind is [A-League].\u201d<\/p>\n
The Australian Professional Leagues, or APL was formed in December 2020 to take control of the A-League, the first time it had become officially independent of Football Australia.<\/p>\n
But Bosnich said it hasn\u2019t benefitted the competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to think about the fans. It\u2019s got worse, it must be said, it\u2019s got worse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone thought after the clubs went separate and became the APL that things were [going to improve], it hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just gone downhill. [From] broadcasting to scheduling, every second day there\u2019s something that comes up and you think, \u2018oh, not again\u2019. It\u2019s like they\u2019re doing it on purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo enough. It is the most participated sport in the country, it\u2019s got a wonderful potential, always has done, but you need to start doing things for the most important people in the game which are the fans and the players.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no Craig Foster on the coverage, there\u2019s no Robbie Slater. I\u2019m starting to think it\u2019s because they don\u2019t want those type of people on the coverage because they would hold, the game, to account.\u201d<\/p>\n