The Hyundai A-League today launched its traditional Summer of Football that will see 16 matches in 17 days during the Christmas/New Year festive season.
The Hyundai A-League today launched its traditional Summer of Football that will see 16 matches in 17 days over Australia and New Zealand during the Christmas/New Year festive season.
Global football icons Alessandro Del Piero and Shinji Ono joined FFA CEO David Gallop to kick off the Summer of Football at one of Australia-s most recognisable summer playgrounds, Sydney-s Bondi Beach.
The Summer of Football kicks off tomorrow night with the first ever Hyundai A-League match at North Sydney Oval when the Central Coast Mariners take on Wellington Phoenix.
The 16 matches in 17 days include games on Boxing Day (Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar), New Year-s Eve (Central Coast v Perth Glory) and New Year-s Day (Western Sydney Wanderers v Wellington Phoenix).
The big fixtures include a Melbourne derby this Saturday night and the marquee Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney Wanderers clash on 28 December.
“The Hyundai A-League is a cool way to inject some genuine sporting passion into the holiday season,” said David Gallop.
“Boxing Day and New Year-s Day in Sydney, News Year-s Eve in Gosford, a Melbourne derby and almost daily football action around Australia makes this an exciting time for football fans.
“The Hyundai A-League continues to grow in stature and popularity and we-re looking forward to seeing more big crowds in the holiday period.”
It-s football-s Time to Shine as the growth of the last two seasons has continued in 2013/14. TV audiences are up 31%, crowds up 9%, membership up 38%, and the Hyundai A-League-s avid fan base is up 14%.
Go to www.a-league.com.au for tickets and check www.foxsports.com.au and www.theworldgame.com.au for TV broadcast information.
Hyundai A-League Summer of Football (all times are AEDT)
Dec 19 Central Coast v Wellington North Sydney Oval 7.30pm Dec 20 Brisbane Roar v Newcastle Jets Suncorp Stadium 8.00pm Dec 21 Melbourne Heart v Melbourne Victory AAMI Park 7.45pm Dec 22 Wellington Phoenix v Sydney FC Westpac Stadium 5.00pm Dec 22 Perth Glory v Adelaide United nib Stadium 7.00pm Dec 23 Western Sydney v Central Coast Pirtek Stadium 7.00pm Dec 26 Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar Allianz Stadium 7.30pm Dec 27 Melbourne Heart v Wellington Phoenix AAMI Park 7.30pm Dec 28 Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney AAMI Park 7.45pm Dec 29 Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets Coopers Stadium 5.00pm Dec 31 Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory Bluetongue Stadium 6.00pm Jan 1 Western Sydney v Wellington Pirtek Stadium 7.00pm Jan 3 Adelaide United v Sydney FC Coopers Stadium 7.30pm Jan 4 Newcastle Jets v Perth Glory Hunter Stadium 5.30pm Jan 4 Melbourne Victory v Brisbane Roar AAMI Park 7.45pm Jan 5 Central Coast v Melbourne Heart Bluetongue Stadium 5.00pm
Summer of Football - Live
You can follow all the Summer of Football action by checking back to www.footballaustralia.com.au/aleague/SummerFootball throughout the festive period.
We'll have unique Summer content bringing football to the fans as well as all the news surrounding upcoming Hyundai A-League matches.
You can send us your tweets of where and how you are enjoying the Summer of Football. #SummerFootball. With 16 matches in 17 days it's guaranteed to be a busy period!