Australian Professional Leagues

The Australian Professional Leagues, commonly abbreviated to the APL, and sometimes referred to as the A-Leagues, are the governing body for the A-League Men, A-League Women, A-League Youth and E-League. Since their formation, they have been mostly independent of Football Australia, but remain under their umbrella.

Australian Professional Leagues
AbbreviationAPL
Established31 December 2020
Legal statusActive
Location
OwnerFootball Australia
CEO
Danny Townsend (2021–)

The APL has rebranded various aspects of the professional leagues, including renaming and redesigning the logos for the men's, women's, and youth leagues. However, the decision to host the 2023, 2024, and 2025 grand finals in Sydney was met with backlash from fans, former players, and active support groups, with some clubs stating their preference to host grand finals at their home grounds.

History

On 31 December 2020, Football Australia announced the Australian Professional Leagues would be unbundled from the rest of the governing body, taking over the operational, commercial and marketing responsibilities, although Football Australia would still manage disciplinary and integrity matters, club, player and official registration, transfers and match scheduling.[1] Ahead of the 2021–22 season, the APL rebranded various aspects of the professional leagues:[2]

In addition to the renamings, the logos of the men's, women's and youth leagues were changed to reflect the new identity of the league. The change drew some criticism from social media, with fans saying that the new logo was "lazy",[3] whilst some pointed out the resemblance to the logo of South Australian company Adelaide Building Consultants.[4] Others praised the rebranding as it brought the men's and women's competitions under the same brand.

2022 Grand Final decision
City Terrace protest
Original Style Melbourne protest
City Terrace and Original Style Melbourne, the active supporter groups of Melbourne City FC and Melbourne Victory FC respectively, protesting the decision by Australian Professional Leagues to give A-Leagues Grand Final hosting rights to Sydney for the next three seasons in the 20th minute of the Melbourne Derby on 17 December 2022.

On 12 December 2022, the APL announced that the 2023, 2024 and 2025 grand finals would be hosted in Sydney,[5] an announcement that was met with universal backlash from fans of all teams, former players and active support groups.[6][7] Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix both released a statement after the announcement, saying that "they will always prefer to play any grand final that they earn the right to host, at their home ground".[8][9] Western United released a statement, saying that they "do not support the grand finals being held in Sydney".[10] Adelaide United winger Craig Goodwin appeared in a video promoting the Grand Final, saying "they're (grand finals) everything you dream of as a kid", however he has stated that he does not support the decision to host the grand final in Sydney.[11]

References
  1. "Australian Professional Leagues to be unbundled from Football Australia". 31 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  2. Panas, Philip (29 September 2021). "APL launches unified rebranding of Australian Football". Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  3. Francis, Kieran (29 September 2021). "New A-League logo criticised by fans but what matters is football's progression in Australia". Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  4. "Building firm could sue A-Leagues over 'bizarre' logo clash". 30 September 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  5. "Why Sydney is the new home of the A-Leagues Grand Finals". 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  6. "'Terrible decision': A-Leagues' move to sell off grand final rights to Sydney sparks fan anger". TheGuardian.com. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  7. Rugari, Vince (12 December 2022). "'Absolute disgrace': A-League grand final move slammed by fans, owners and a Socceroo". Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  8. "Melbourne Victory Statement: A-Leagues Grand Finals". 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  9. "A Statement to our fans". 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  10. "CLUB STATEMENT". 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  11. "Craig Goodwin on Twitter". Twitter.com. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
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