Unite Round: Keep, Move or Bin?

Written by Lachlan Sherriff

The second Unite Round in A-League history is in the books. And without a contract for the future, our chances of seeing it again in 2025 are in doubt.

Following the cancellation of the controversial decision to award Sydney the rights to the Grand Final for three years, the APL struck up a deal with the New South Wales government to host Unite Round for the remaining two years of the initial Grand Final contract. The inaugural Unite Round saw all A-League Men and Women games in matchweek 12 of the 23/24 season played in Sydney.

The second Unite Round, and the final one under the current contract, has recently concluded. And as somebody who went, while I definitely enjoyed myself, I also couldn't help but notice the negatives, which may turn the APL off from scheduling a third Unite Round.

Unfortunately, as much as I would have liked to visit all twelve games, that was physically impossible. Initially, I planned on splitting my time between the men's and women's games. However, after the APL made the decision to move the women's matches from Leichardt Oval to Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, which is about twice the journey from the men's venue in Allianz Stadium, I couldn't attend any women's matches. The APL tried to make amends by making all entry to an A-League women's game during Unite Round free, but the last minute switch still turned myself, and many others, off from attending an ALW game.

And between the women's matches being moved and threats of a train strike, Unite Round was already off to a bad start before most fans even touched down in Sydney.

Nonetheless, the first match between Western United and Perth Glory was promising. The crowd was far from full, but both actives made their voices heard, especially Western United's, who were rewarded to a 3-1 win.

And for the F3 derby later that night, the crowd only got better. While many were against the idea of a derby being played during Unite Round, the atmosphere at Allianz Stadium was still top tier.

But while those who attended were enthused at the Mariners 2-1 comeback win over Newcastle, the stadium still wasn't nearly as packed out as the APL would have hoped - especially since the match was between two clubs from the New South Wales area.

On day two, Adelaide kicked the day off with a 3-2 win over Brisbane. And while it pulled a decent crowd and atmosphere, it was no match for what was coming next.

Sydney FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers at Allianz Stadium. The second Sydney derby of the season, and for many fans who travelled to Sydney for Unite Round, the only one they'll go to in their lives.

This game obviously pulled the best crowd of the weekend, by far. It was the only game where fans watched from the upper tiers of Allianz Stadium, and the atmosphere was second to none, as Sydney won 4-2 in a six goal thriller.

However, it wasn't a sell out. Only 30,777 people attended the Sydney derby, leaving nearly 15,000 seats untouched. And while the atmosphere was great, fans who have attended other Sydney derbies would probably tell you there have been much better atmospheres at past ones.

There's a debate that we shouldn't have played derbies on Unite Round, sure. But more importantly, if you have a Sydney derby that not only Sydney FC and Wanderers fans were attending, but also fans of twelve other clubs, a sell out is a necessity. And it didn't happen.

Not only this, but the crowds on Sunday were, to put it lightly, terrible.

In fairness, I was impressed by the turnout of Wellington Phoenix fans for their match against Melbourne Victory. As someone who's never watched an A-League game in New Zealand, it was the most Wellington Phoenix fans I had ever seen in the same place as me - by far.

But the turnout from Victory fans was underwhelming, and not many neutral fans bothered turning up, while the one's who did seemed uninterested.

Perhaps it was the lack of excitement in the game, with Kosta Barbarouses scoring the only goal for Wellington in a 1-0 win, or perhaps people were simply too fatigued - or hungover - to show up after four games of A-League. Either way, the crowds at Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory weren't great.

Things weren't much better in the second game between Macarthur and Auckland. For a team based in New South Wales, you'd have expected a better turnout from the Macarthur fans, while Auckland barely had enough fans to scrape together an active. If you told someone this game was played under covid restrictions, they wouldn't have batted an eyelid.

Auckland won the final game of Unite Round 1-0, a goal from Guillermo May enough to seal the win for Auckland in front of numerous empty bays.

I had a lot of fun at Unite Round. Meeting new people, going to the fan zone and the added bonus of getting to sightsee Sydney were all cherishable memories. It was an awesome three days.

But compared to the AFL's Gather Round and the NRL's Magic Round, Unite Round has been underwhelming. And that's okay. You don't always have to copy the NRL and AFL.

The key thing you can't help but wonder is what state government would willingly pay for a product that isn't succeeding. I hope someone would, but I do have doubts.

But if Unite Round does continue, perhaps the best thing to do would be to move it elsewhere. Melbourne could host it. So could Adelaide, or even a neutral venue like Gold Coast.

Unite Round is a lot of fun for all the people who go. But with crowd numbers barely improving from last season despite two derbies, it may not be safe from a scrap.

I personally hope it continues. But after two years of underwhelming turnouts, there's a very good chance it doesn't.