I mean, in theory it’s correct. If we can’t beat teams from Hong Kong, and the Philippines, it’s a sad reflection on the strength of football in this country.
That’s not to say that clubs from those nations can’t be strong, but the AFC Eastern Heirachy generally is
Japan
South Korea
China (or back in the day when they had squillions of $$$)
Australia
Playing in the Philippines will be hard given it’ll be an absoloute fucking sweat bath.
Yeah to be fair to that mind set - we’ve had what, two good showings out of seven attempts? Plus the national coefficent is seriously ugly (AFC club competitions ranking - Wikipedia).
That said, two trophies in 20 years is probably not a terrible overall return for the league, but we have been disappointingly poor as a general rule.
I totally get where you’re coming from. ACL2 looks way more interesting (variety wise) than the ACLE.
Imagine the fun Speedy or Harps would have if Western United qualified into our group and had to play Eastern
Future expansion of the league:
Thailand ahead of us in current calcs and have outscored Australia in points earned in recent years more than not.
Australia only outscored Thailand in 2016 (SFC and MV to Rd 16 in ACL) and 2023-24 (CCM winning Cup)… And that 2016 result will drop off next year.
CCM have got about as good a draw in ACLE as they could have hoped for, so hopefully can score some points.
October 15: Japan v Australia
October 24: Hiroshima v Sydney
Bad timing for me. Heading over there in Feb/March so cant do a second trip earlier sadly.
Good opportunity to get some points early and set the tone for the tournament.
Is there a reason these in these home and away ties, the return legs are always in reverse order? You always seem to play team 1,2,3,3,2,1? Is it just to try and have some balance for form shifts? Seems weird not to just play 1,2,3,1,2,3.
October it is!
For those with amnesia, we played Kaya in the Champions League play off a few years back at Kograh, and beat them 5-0.
Well, fuck it, doing all 3 away days.
Do they always have the group matches so close to each other, I would have thought we would be playing them into next year?
I spent ages on a train trying to get to that game and ended up needing to give up and turn back not having gotten close, that rain was apocalyptic.
Gross, I hate that place
Probably a cost things?
I’d be surprised if the ACL games pull any more than 5k max - especially if the club stick to their usual level of advertising.
