Show us your fans...

On the weekend where Gold Coast United decided to forfeit home advantage of their round six match against Adelaide United for fear of losing money by playing it at home, perhaps it is time for the Australian football to start thinking less Dutch or Brazilian, but American? In terms of franchise development, that is.

The MLS in the United States is being watched by record numbers and is a model of how the Hyundai A-League should be trying to market itself. The Football Sack's own Christian Layland recently ventured State-side and took in a match between the LA Galaxy and the Chicago Fire. He returned with tales of full stadia and match day carnival-type atmosphere with music and BBQ's and free match day programmes.

In terms of a sporting landscape, population aside, the United States doesn’t have anything to offer that we can't match here. So why then, in a country which loves football are we seeing stadiums at 20 percent capacity, whilst the Yanks pack them in?

There has been a lot of talk of a promotion-relegation system in Australian football. Whilst promotion-relegation is the life blood of football in Europe the fact is that we are not yet ready for it here - despite the Asian Football Confederation's threats that we must have a relegation-promotion system in place in the near future.

The answer could lie in the form of the North American Soccer League. Not the NASL of old which took the sport of football State-side in the 1970's with Pele, Best and Beckenbauer, but the new, reformed NASL which acts as a second tier competition to the MLS, for teams which have big dreams but are not quite ready yet. It is a league which allows teams to grow, a luxury not afforded to poor old North Queensland Fury. The NASL allows teams to play in a high-standard, national competition which has the potential to draw crowds.

Imagine a NSW Premier League team like Sydney Olympic being able to entice fans down to the ground with the prospect of matches against Brisbane Strikers or South Melbourne, great names of Australian football's past, coupled with the knowledge that if they pack in the fans week in week out their local club is next in line to step up to the A-League and have stars such as Harry Kewell and Thomas Broich stopping by once a fortnight to ply their trade.

It would give so many communities which have State League teams in their neighbourhood the chance to put their money where their mouth is and demand a licence from FFA. Look at Villareal in Spain - if the Spanish model was to hand out franchises based on city size then the 'yellow submarine' would never get a look in, they are from a tiny town and play in a small stadium. But they fill that small stadium because they are in the Champions League. Now look at Gold Coast United, based smack bang in the heart of the fastest growing population area in Australia.

A model like the current NASL would force the shambles that is Gold Coast United to get their house in order or risk being replaced by another team knocking at the door behind them. Gold Coast are the worst run club in Australian football history. Look at the area, look at the stadium, look at the owner and his bank balance and yet they can't figure out a way to get the locals to leave the beach to come watch a game?

Forget excuses, use it or lose it. Hopefully one day soon we will have a model in place which will see teams like Gold Coast United replaced if they aren’t showing that they want it badly enough. Get rid of the marketing and media team who have taken them backwards over the past three years and replace them with backroom staff who are going to get the fans in and not just trot out excuses about poor transport links.

Perhaps a promotion-relegation system isn't as far off as we might think but in a slightly different model. Teams go down based not on poor performance but by being forced to make way for teams below them beating down the door to get in.