Marquee means marquee.
10/02/10 21:21 Filed in: Hyundai A-League
Lessons for the A-League Season 6.
With some exceptions and a few surprises aside, crowds at the A-League this season have been disappointing to say the least. A couple of weeks ago, however, Robbie Fowler and the Fury pulled an extra 7000 fans on the Melbourne Victory average for the year. 27,000 fans came along to see Robbie Fowler, aka God, play against the Victory in the Melbourne Capital. In a season where a 12,000 gate is seen as a successful attendance, that crowd was a highlight for the year. It was clear that the fans came to see the Fury marquee, and it highlights an important lesson for clubs going into season 6 - we need strong marquee brands to keep building interest in the clubs and the competition.
What makes a marquee truly Marquee? I think clubs have lost their way on this a little. Marquee doesn't mean a player who was a star in the A-League last year, or a player with outstanding ability, or even a fringe Socceroo who has been playing 2nd division in Nepal and wants to come home to pasture. Marquee means Marquee with a capital M. Charisma, pulling power, a cult status with fans - and it’s not just about talent. A Marquee player needs to tick some pretty special boxes. Has he played for a huge team overseas? Did they sing songs about him at his old club? Has your son or daughter got a poster of him up on the bedroom wall right now? Has he got a personal line of Nike/Adidas/Puma clothing? Will Les Murray blush like a schoolgirl when interviewing him? You get the picture.
Of course he still needs to be able to play the game - I am not calling for Romario or Jardel re-runs here. But if many of these boxes can’t be ticked, then clubs are probably better off taking their money and paying for a guest player that can, even if it is for a handful of games.
No John Aloisi Marquee is going to get the average Premier League loving punter to the stadiums (despite this last fortnight’s spectacular resurgence). Not even a Serginho van Dijk or a Carlos Hernandez, no matter how electric they have been this year, is going to stir my Olympiakos loving uncle back to the game he once frequented weekly. David Beckham’s visit with the Galaxy in 2007 against Sydney uncovered a hidden glut of sport’s consumers looking for that Marquee factor. The Cove banner said it all on that day- “70000 people, we play EVERY week”. In a sport’s market saturated with competition, and lets face it, often ignored by the mainstream media, clubs need to keep thinking big.
If there is one thing that Season 5 crowd figures have shown us all, it is that the A-League needs to leverage the vast market of player talent that football offers from around the world, to snare the occasional superstar that adds an exotic flavour to the round ball game. Real marquee players provide the hook, and the atmosphere of a decent crowd this generates brings the buzz that will attract the curious and the old heads alike. Then its up to the football itself to keep them there. That’s a lesson for another day.
This story also appears in the February 2010 edition of Half Time Heroes, Check it out!
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