FFA launches Hyundai A-League season
Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop officially launched the Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season in a unique event held at the Telstra Customer Insight Centre in Sydney.
Speaking at the official launch, Gallop echoed the genuine excitement that fans around the country are feeling on the eve of the 11th season of the Hyundai A-League.
“The Hyundai A-League has cracked the mainstream of Australian society and that’s a big deal, but we are just at the beginning of the journey,” Gallop said.
“This season we have seen a rise in the quality of the visa players committed to our A-League clubs. In seasons past, we’ve seen new arrivals become household names – Broich, Berisha and Carrusca, to name a few. Last season, we had players unknown to our audiences who became fan favorites, players such as Ben Khalfallah, Marinkovic and Dimitrijevic. This season, there are more imports such as Sorensen, Leonardo, Holosko and Piovaccari will add to the excitement.
“But it’s not just the imports to watch out for, we have returning Socceroos in Bozanic, Franjic, Vidosic and Zullo who will line up with current Socceroos, McKay, Galekovic, Elrich and Mooy. To have these Socceroos within the ranks of the Hyundai A-League shows that the competition has come of age and is as legitmate platform to develop international players.
“It’s also fitting that we launch the Hyundai A-League season here at the Telstra CIC. Football has the most tech savvy and connected fans in Australian Sport. They are youthful, cosmopolitan and passionate with an insatiable appetite to consume everything to do with football and we want feed this hunger for football amongst our fans as we all march towards a digital world.”
FFA joined forces with Official Telecommunications partner Telstra to stage a unique video-conference with all ten Captains for the Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season using state of the art technology which was streamed on www.a-league.com.au and to all Australian TV networks – LIVE. Following the official launch, all the ten Hyundai A-League clubs conducted “virtual media conferences” with media and selected Hyundai A-League Club Members utilising technology from Telstra and BlueJeans, who are the global leader in cloud-based video collaboration services.
The Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season will again feature 10 clubs, 135 regular season fixtures and 6 sudden death matches in the Hyundai A-League 2016 Finals Series that culminates with the Hyundai A-League 2016 Grand Final on Sunday 1 May.
All Hyundai A-League matches will be broadcast LIVE and in HD by Fox Sports and Sky Sports in New Zealand with SBS TV broadcasting one match live ever Friday as well as matches during the Hyundai A-League 2016 Finals Series on one-hour delay.
Globally, a record 84 Countries, outside of Australia and New Zealand, will broadcast Hyundai A-League matches or highlights this season with a potential reach in excess of 250 million viewers.
ABC radio, which will broadcast uninterrupted live coverage of all regular season and Hyundai A-League 2016 Finals Series games into households around the country on its ABC Radio platforms. In addition Croc Media will broadcast Friday night matches and Hyundai A-League 2016 Finals Series matches on radio stations throughout the Super Radio Network to 56 markets across regional New South Wales and southern Queensland as well into Victoria and Western Australia through various broadcasters.
The Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season will kick-off this Thursday (8 October) when the Western Sydney Wanderers host Brisbane Roar, with the second match played on Friday (9 October) evening between interstate rivals, Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory at the Adelaide Oval. The following day the Central Coast Mariners begin their campaign against Perth Glory which will be followed by the Sydney FC and Melbourne City FC meeting at Allianz Stadium. The opening round will be completed on Sunday (11 October) with the Newcastle Jets travelling across the Tasman to face Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium.
Hyundai A-League 2015/16 Season – Round 1 Fixtures
Thursday, 8 October
Western Sydney Wanderers v Brisbane Roar Pirtek Stadium 8:00 PM
Friday, 9 October
Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory Adelaide Oval 7:40 PM
Saturday, 10 October
Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory Central Coast Stadium 5:15 PM
Sydney FC v Melbourne City Allianz Stadium 7:30 PM
Sunday, 11 October 2015
Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets Westpac Stadium 5:00 PM
