The A-League: Great Goals, Wacky Playoff System

By: Daryl | February 9th, 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWB_1NeSKps

Australians are lovely people, and their A-League is getting better all the time. But their playoff system is batshit crazy.

First enjoy the action from Queensland Roar’s 2-0 win over Sydney FC in yesterday’s Minor Semi-Final second leg (don’t worry, we’ll explain later.) The Brazilian Reinaldo’s goal in front of 36,000 is a thing of beauty. He shows muscle, then pace, then a bit of skill to wrongfoot a defender and then composure to lift the ball into the top corner. Queensland Roar won 2-0 on aggregate. But to understand what happens next you’ll need at least a Phd in Quantum Physics.

Actually it’s not all that bad. Just different. The A-League uses what’s known as the Page Playoff System, most popular in curling(!)

So basically once the A-League regular season is over and you have the top four teams…

1. Central Coast Mariners
2. Newcastle Jets
3. Sydney FC
4. Queensland Roar

…you get a Major Semifinal (1 vs 2) and a Minor Semifinal (3 vs 4.) The winner of the Major Semifinal (Central Coast Mariners vs Newcastle Jets) gets a bye to the actual honest to goodness final where the winner gets a trophy, known as the Grand Final. The loser of the Major Semifinal isn’t out, but now has to play in the Preliminary Final.

Stay with me here.

The loser of the Minor Semifinal (in this case Sydney FC) is out. Finished. The winner of the Minor Semifinal (Queensland Roar) then plays the loser of the Major Semifinal in the Preliminary Final. Then the winner of that game gets the other spot in the Grand Final.

So now the loser of the Central Coast Mariners vs Newcastle Jets Major Semifinal will play Queensland Roar in the Preliminary Final, with the winner of the Central Coast Mariners vs Newcastle Jets games waiting for them in the Grand Final. Newcastle Jets currently lead 2-0 from the first leg, the second leg takes place tomorrow.

Though the Major and Minor Semifinals are two-legged affairs, the Preliminary and Grand Finals are both single knockout games. Glad that’s all cleared up then.