So it the Australian Grand Prix has been postponed until the end of the year.
Usually that event is an incredible pain in the arse for South Melbourne, as it messes with a ton of operational matters.
Fixturing is the most obvious grand prix related issue that most fans will have to deal with. Apart from relatively minor inconveniences like diminished parking access, the assembly of the grand prix's infrastructure usually means that the area around Lakeside Stadium is out of bounds for several weeks.
That often means no more than one home fixture within the opening seven or eight weeks when the weather is still warm, neither the state leagues or juniors nor the AFL have started their seasons, and before people have become even more jaded than they usually are about all things South.
It also means that all those home games that we didn't get early in the season get piled up in winter, taking a toll on fans and the playing surface. On top of that, our senior teams are forced to scour Melbourne looking for grounds to train on.
So now that we're not going to have a March grand prix, will we get some positives out of this? I guess we should be able to avoid training away from Lakeside and our grounds down near pit lane. But will we be able to somehow score an extra home game within the first six weeks?
2021's fixture isn't the worst when it comes to the grand prix impacting our early season, perhaps because of the later start to the coming season. Still, I think it's worth taking a shot at getting one fixture reversed, that being the round 4 game away to Port Melbourne.
Considering the fixture, it'd be worth at least asking the question. Unlike the rest of our stretch of winter home games, our scheduled home game against Port in the middle of the season is not a part of double-header with a senior women's game.
You'd like to think we'd get at least some boost in membership and attendance, and it would ease the burden on the Lakeside surface during the winter months. Well, maybe not, but it'd still be nice to have to play the usual streak of early season away games when the main reason for that annual extended road-trip no longer exists.
I sometimes wonder what would happen if the A-League expanded and the political powers that be allowed South Melbourne to join. That being said, I'm hoping that that is the case when a second division is started. There've been a few recent announcements about it recently in terms of how they envision its structure.
ReplyDeleteIt's encouraging, but I wonder. It really makes me wonder if it will contribute well to grassroots football and provide a proper platform for not just clubs but also for players to perform.