Flexible program for final matches

FOOTBALL Federation Australia head of leagues Greg O’Rourke won’t rule out venue changes, despite confirming the A-League season will resume on July 16 with a derby between Melbourne Victory and Western United.

Having been suspended in March because of COVID-19, the 2019-20 A-League campaign will return with 27 regular-season matches to be played in 28 days ahead of a finals series set to conclude with an August 23 grand final.

Almost all of the remaining matches will be played in NSW, where five venues — ANZ Stadium, Bankwest Stadium, Central Coast Stadium, McDonald Jones Stadium and Netstrata Jubilee Stadium — will be used.

One match — Brisbane Roar’s July 19 clash with Adelaide United — will be played at Gold Coast venue Cbus Super Stadium before both teams head to the NSW hub.

The Victory-United battle on July 16 is expected to be played at AAMI Park, as is the July 19 match between Melbourne City and United.

However, O’Rourke is yet to confirm the venues for both games and has not ruled out playing them in NSW, depending on further border and travel restrictions that may arise.

“Over the past three months all stakeholders have been working hard together with one goal in mind — to finish what we started,” he said.

“We know the COVID-19 environment has been very difficult for many people in our community and we hope that delivering an extravaganza of matches that will allow our fans to basically see a game every day will be a unique experience for those who have stood by us.

“While we don’t see the draw changing, the planning we have undertaken provides us with agility to shift between certain states if required. This version of the draw displays our current venue plan.”