The majority of home sides in the A-League bettered their record crowds from last season in the opening round of the 2018-19 campaign in a boost for the FFA, however television audiences remained a concern across the board.
Melbourne Victory, Wellington Phoenix and the Brisbane Roar all topped their best crowd figures for 2017-18 on the opening weekend of the 2018-19 season, with all five home sides also attracting a crowd that was bigger than their average for last season.
Victory's Melbourne derby crowd of 40,504 was the biggest attendance for the fixture since the round two Melbourne derby in 2016, when Tim Cahill made his Melbourne City debut. It was the biggest A-League crowd since 44,843 watched the Western Sydney Wanderers vs Sydney FC derby clash in February 2017.
Relaxed rules around active support meant there was a renewed buzz among Victory's supporter groups at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, an atmosphere that was added to by City's stunning win and the debut of Japanese star Keisuke Honda.
The FFA are understood to be delighted with the way Honda has approached the start of his stay at Melbourne Victory and were full of praise for his Melbourne derby display.
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This echoes the sentiments of coach Kevin Muscat and those within the Victory, who have been impressed by the way the star has integrated with the squad. Marquees in the past have been known to separate themselves from the main group slightly but this has not been the case with Honda.
There was some disappointment from a large Japanese media contingent at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night when Honda chose not to speak after the game, however Victory and the FFA were of the view that he had carried out enough promotional duties in the lead-up to the game.
Brisbane Roar's crowd of 14,859 for their 1-1 draw with Central Coast Mariners at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday was extremely impressive given the start of the match was delayed due to extreme wet weather. Their best crowd last season was just over 12,000.
Honda's attitude has been first class, while crowds across the league for round one were strong. Credit:AAP
The Phoenix's crowd provided the New Zealand side with a much needed shot in the arm – 9174 turned up to watch them beat last season's grand finalists the Newcastle Jets, an improvement of around 1000 people on their 2017-18 crowd peak.
Crowds of more than 10,000 at Adelaide United's draw with Sydney FC at Coopers Stadium and Perth Glory's stalemate with Western Sydney Wanderers at nib Stadium were also positives. Both averaged just more than 9800 and 9000 respectively last season.
None of the NSW sides played at home on the weekend but all bar Newcastle Jets will return to play in front of their fans in round two. However, Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers will spend the season at temporary homes.
Sydney host the Wanderers in the Sydney derby at the SCG on Saturday night with the Sydney Football Stadium undergoing refurbishment. Sydneysiders are used to watching their teams at rectangular stadiums and the SCG's oval configuration is less than ideal for soccer.
The Wanderers will share their home fixtures between ANZ Stadium and Spotless Stadium as they wait for their new stadium at Parramatta to be finished.
Television audiences remain a problem across the league. Some 69,000 people watched the Melbourne derby on Fox Sports, compared to 121,000 for the first edition of the rivalry last year. Figures for free-to-air audiences on One were unavailable. The other two Melbourne derbies in 2017-18 had Fox Sports audiences of 77,000 and 59,000.
The Adelaide and Sydney season opener was watched by 67,000 people on Fox Sports, more than 30,000 less than the A-League's opening game last year. It was the lowest television audience for a season opener since 2011-12.
Anthony is a sport and general news reporter.
