A-League Men grand final 2023: Melbourne City v Central Coast Mariners – live

Updates from season finale at CommBank StadiumKick-off time in Parramatta is 7.45pm AESTAny thoughts? Email or tweet @JPHowcroft

Coming off the back of a record breaking Socceroos performance in Qatar, you could have been forgiven for thinking Australian football was primed to take a leap forward. Alas not. And the decision to sell hosting rights to the grand final to NSW shortly after the World Cup has played its part in continuing the divide between supporters and administrators that has held the game back for decades.

Joey Lynch filed the following last December:

Ten days. That’s how long it has been since Australia played Argentina in the World Cup’s last 16; a week and a half since Garang Kuol came within a whisker of sending the game into extra-time. Now, Lionel Messi and co are bound for a World Cup final, while Australian football has descended into a resentful civil war that is threatening to irreparably sever the relationship between the A-Leagues and its most devoted supporters.

Two days on from the initial announcement, the furore surrounding the Australian Professional Leagues’ (APL) move to sell hosting rights for the next three men’s and women’s grand finals to Sydney shows no signs of abating. If anything, it’s getting worse.