Soccer-Australia's A-League kicks off after close-season turmoil

By Ian redeem

MELBOURNE, - The A-League kicks away on fri followers a tumultuous come together season that saw Australia's top flight reduced to 12 teams with the exit of debt-ridden Western United.

Fans learned a new use for the word "hibernation" last month when Western United's expulsion left Melbourne with two teams in the league.

Whether the 2022 champions ever return has been parked to one side, with organisers keen for the sport to move on from the off-season narrative of cost cutting and financial gloom.

With professional soccer holding a small slice of Australia's crowded sports market, few A-League teams have ever been flush with cash.

Finances became even tighter last season as administrators slashed annual distributions to clubs, leaving their football departments to do more with less.

With low salary caps, none of the teams yield the kind of spending power needed to lure the world's top talent but some have proved more adept than others at thriving in an era of belt tightening.

There were few surprises when Melbourne City, part of the same ownership group running Manchester City, lifted their second title last season after beating cross-town rivals Victory 1-0 in a Grand Final of Australian heavyweights.

But not even the backing of a billionaire could help Auckland FC convert a debut season of startling dominance into a championship.

The Steve Corica-coached New Zealanders were set for the Grand Final after beating Victory 1-0 away in the first leg of the semi-finals but lost 2-0 in the return match on home soil.

Having stewed over their missed chance during the off-season, Auckland will look for a measure of revenge when they face Victory in Melbourne on Saturday.

Victory will hope their new signing Juan Mata, the Spanish World Cup winner, can help them go one step further after losing two successive Grand Finals.

At the other end of the spectrum, the feast-or-famine operations of the league's smaller outfits is likely to play out as usual.

Central Coast Mariners went from double-defending champions to missing the playoffs last season, and with the shock exit of coach Mark Jackson on the eve of the season they face an uphill battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

Sydney expansion team Macarthur are hoping South Korea international Ji Dong-won and a raft of new signings can lift them into the playoffs and cast off the shadow of a spot-fixing scandal that saw multiple players face court this year.

While the austerity drive means there are few household names on A-League squads, it has given more chances to young, homegrown talent. Several players took their opportunities last season to earn contracts in Europe.

Australian soccer took a small but important step on the road to a brighter future with the launch of a second division competition last week, giving some of the country's oldest and most successful clubs a platform after decades in the wilderness.

The second tier will run concurrently for the first three months of the A-League, adding a bit of extra buzz to a domestic game that craves exposure.

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