A-League to roll but locations may move

FOOTBALL Federation Australia leagues head 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 due to COVID-19, the 2019-20 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 at five venues in NSW— ANZ Stadium, Bankwest, Central Coast Stadium, McDonald Jones Stadium and Netstrata Jubilee.

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

The Victory-United opener is expected to be played at AAMI Park, but O’Rourke is yet to confirm the venues as FFA aims to deliver an “extravaganza of matches” to “finish what we started”.

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

“We know the COVID-19 environment has been very difficult for many people … 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.

“As we are a truly national game, the current border controls means that some of the match-day venues may need to change; however, we have secured venues in both a NSW hub model and a hybrid hub model which has most games in NSW but allows for a few games in other states.

“Whilst 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.

“We will continue to work with the federal and state governments to ensure the health and safety of our players, coaches and other stakeholders.”