25/04/2026
Congratulations Newcastle Jets and the people of Newy! What a season for the town. Australia Cup and A League winners. And well done for the people showing up and backing the young team.
I wish that was it now. Champions. I'm not a fan of "Premiers". You've won the league, this should be the biggest achievement but it feels somewhat undermined because of the finals series. As an English football fan, I've grown up with the league being the be all and end all. At least this qualifies the Jets for the champions league but still, A League champions should be bestowed on them now, not leaving it to a knockout tournament to decide.
That said as a futsal professional, I am also used to having finals series or playoffs to determine the champions. In Spain top 8 play for the right to be champions. It kind of diminishes the regular season importance but I haven't seen it materially affect games much in terms of excitement or attendance in futsal. And clearly NBA works this way. The big thing is having "best of" series which will generally find the best team, rather than single knockout where you could have a lucky day.
Finals are a big deal in Australia so it's pretty much accepted, but I just feel that in football, the league should be more significant!
What is the best league format for sport? What do you prefer as a player / coach / spectator?
