The
A-League is the major
Australasian domestic
football (soccer) competition, which kicked off its inaugural
2005–06 season on 26 August 2005. Football has had a troubled history in Australia, and has not traditionally been a major spectator sport. The A-League aspires to improve its status. Following the end of the
National Soccer League, the former governing body Soccer Australia (now known as
Football Federation Australia or FFA) announced the formation of a new 8-team competition to revitalise the sport. Clubs are from cities in
Australia or
New Zealand. The cities currently represented are:
Adelaide,
Brisbane,
Gosford,
Melbourne (2 teams),
Newcastle,
Perth,
Sydney (2 teams) and
Wellington (New Zealand).
Auckland (New Zealand), the
Gold Coast and
Townsville have been represented in the past by teams no longer competing in the league. The average crowd for the inaugural home and away season was 10,861.
The league has attracted corporate support with Hyundai as major sponsor, and is televised on Fox Sports and SBS.
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