‘It creates atmosphere’: A-League celebrates beautiful chaos amid signs of a vibrant future

In a rollercoaster 20 years of the A-Leagues, sardonic Australian football fans might dryly suggest there have been more downs than ups. But last month an unusual source brought reason for optimism.

Chad Gibson, Brisbane Roar's inaugural captain, poster boy of the league launch two decades ago and now the club's co-creative brand director, walked into a full dressing room holding a stack of shirts.

Unfolding them, he revealed a new home jersey based on Brisbane's first design – accompanied by Gibson's own match-worn Queensland Roar shirt – as well as goalkeeper jerseys and a third strip, all met with applause and attentive eyes. And then, building to a climax, he reached for a cream and maroon checked shirt, something more street than cleat.

"I wanted to make a jersey that hadn't been seen before in Australian football, and take it to the next level," Gibson told the players. There was a whistle from someone in the room along with nods and smiles, and from there the momentum has built.

The shirt featured on the Instagram page of Classic Football Shirts, exposing it to the account's 1.2m followers. The club sold out its initial run in all but the two largest sizes, and the throwback home shirt has sold an even larger quantity.

That the A-League's original public face has helped provide a new vision for the club – and hope for merchandise sales around the competition – is significant, according to the Roar's chief operations officer, Zac Anderson.

"The numbers we've been able to do over the last week [since the shirts went on sale] is really about our supporters and our fanbase showing love to the club, and also the product that's been designed, the story behind the jersey," Anderson says.

"Of course, we want to see ROI [return on investment] which can help the business grow, but really it's for the fan, right? It's for the nostalgia of 20 years and controlling a really important revenue vertical that the club's not had for a long period of time."

Much has been made of the challenges of the A-Leagues. Annual club distributions from head office were slashed by $1.5m in July and the APL burned through tens of millions of dollars on its failed "Keep Up" content strategy.

But the celebrations of season 20, positive post-Covid crowds and a bold new expansion club from New Zealand have invigorated the league. This weekend promises vibrant, noisy full or near-full stadiums, which A-Leagues commissioner Nick Garcia says remains the competition's key attraction in a crowded marketplace.

"Atmosphere and filling seats is so important because it drives the bottom line of the club, it creates great atmosphere for the fans, which looks really good on TV as well, he says. "And last but not least, it creates atmosphere, which the players love, and creates home game advantage."

Covid's capacity restrictions, opposition to the grand final hosting decision and Melbourne crowd trouble stalled attendance growth in recent years but fans are returning, especially for the competition's core franchises. Six clubs have seen an increase in attendances between 2018-19 and 2023-24, and Auckland is expected to sell out Mount Smart Stadium for the club's first game on Saturday.

Garcia believes even those entities with smaller attendances, the recent expansion clubs Western United and Macarthur, are well positioned for uplift given their location in growth corridors in the west of Melbourne and Sydney respectively.

"Macarthur do a lot of [community engagement] through football participation at schools," Garcia says, highlighting the Bulls attracted a record attendance of 7,723 in their final home game of last season against Sydney FC. And he notes Western United are now playing out of the 5,000-capacity Ironbark Fields as they work towards building their own stadium. "They've got less seats, but they've got far fewer empty seats."

Tim Brown, the former A-League and All Whites player who now lives in San Francisco, has invested in Bill Foley's new Auckland FC franchise alongside Kiwi NBA star Steven Adams. "There's no doubt [the league] has lost its way a little bit in the last few years but these things ebb and flow," Brown says.

"The A-League will flourish and become the pre-eminent sports league in this part of the world. How long it takes is a question, and who the people are that actually drive it forward is also a question, but I think that potential is enormous."

Two international icons – Spain's World Cup winner Juan Mata and Brazilian Douglas Costa – headline Saturday's match between Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC at CommBank Stadium. The investment in these two marquee names by Sydney's biggest clubs shows the A-League can be more than a factory line for overseas competitions. "Having that structure of a league which is all about developing brilliant young talent doesn't preclude having superstars in it," Garcia says.

With outbound transfer fees growing almost tenfold in two years to approximately $20m last year, clubs are adopting approaches to suit their circumstances. Some with wealthy owners can go into the season prioritising success, some like Adelaide will continue to skew towards youth development, while the likes of Newcastle and Perth will look to rebuild their fanbases after periods of ownership uncertainty.

Professional Footballers Australia co-chief executive Beau Busch says there have been some poor decisions made in the past few years, and there is now "no room for mistakes" in the competition's administration. But he believes there is "real optimism" heading into a new season.

The PFA has been analysing crowds as part of a forthcoming report into the competition, and Busch too believes atmosphere is the league's essential ingredient. "Clubs and the league need to focus on the core fan experience, both in-stadium and at home. They must stay visible and accessible, and connect with their communities," he says. "There's buzz for round one, but keeping that energy all season will be key."

Garcia says this season is about re-engaging "lapsed" fans, and clubs re-connecting with communities. "We're going into the 20-year anniversary, and that is an amazing opportunity to celebrate everything that's gone in the last 20 years," he says. "There's been ups and downs, it's been a rollercoaster, it's been incredibly exciting, but I do think we are a unique proposition."