We demand that the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) reverse their decision to host the A-Leagues Grand Finals in Sydney from 2023 for the next three years, and instead play it at the home of the side that earns the right to host the Grand Final.

On Monday 12/12/2022 at roughly 8am, the APL and A-Leagues released the news that the next three seasons grand finals will be played solely in Sydney after a landmark deal between the APL and Destinations NSW. It will be held in Sydney regardless of who earns the right to host the Grand Final, a tradition stretching back to the beginning of the A-League in 2006.

(https://keepup.com.au/news/lock-it-in-sydney-to-host-a-leagues-grand-finals-for-next-three-seasons

Reasons given by the APL include establishing a tradition similar to the FA and EFL cups being played at Wembley Stadium, giving fans time to plan with certainty of the venue, hosting a “week-long extravaganza” and attempting to break the record for highest attended Liberty A-League Grand Final.

(https://keepup.com.au/news/why-sydney-is-the-new-home-of-the-a-leagues-grand-finals

It is also understood that the deal from Destination NSW is worth around $10 million a year, which many suspect to be the real reason.

Football fans believe this decision to be anti-fan and anti-football. Our tradition is earning the right to host the Grand Final, which the APL insists is more important than the Premiership. The FA and EFL Cups are cup competition, where there is no earning the right to host a final. A more fitting comparison would be to have a set destination for the Australia Cup yearly.

To counter their point that it would give fans certainty of the venue, it is not known until the week before that your team will be playing in the Grand Final, still leaving a last-minute dash for flights, tickets, and accommodation. 

Whilst a week-long extravaganza does tickle the interest, it is simply not worth trading away home advantage for a team in the Grand Final.

The APL claims that fan groups were consulted, however the active supporter groups have all provided statements opposing the change.

Players such as Craig Goodwin have had sound bites taken out of context for promotion of this change and fellow Socceroo’s teammate Jamie Maclaren has claimed that players were not consulted at all.

We don’t need to be like other codes where the Grand Final is at a set place and time every year. We are a true national sport, with teams in all the mainland States. 

The highest attended Grand Finals have all occurred outside of NSW from the 56,000 in Perth to the 50,000 in Adelaide. Please do not take that from us, the football fans that provide the lifeblood for the game that we all love.