A-Leagues Shine In Strong Summer Of Football

• Academy products lead strong transfer window for A-Leagues clubs.
• Goals galore, and late drama, headline entertaining summer of football.
• A-Leagues global front-runner in minutes for young talent.

19 February, 2025: The A-Leagues’ Summer of Football has officially come to a close, ending an enthralling period of action on and off the pitch across the Ninja A-League Women and Isuzu UTE A-League Men.

The ‘Summer of Football’ saw entertaining football, late drama and goals galore with 290 goals scored in 96 games across both leagues, as the average goals per game across both the Isuzu UTE A-League Men and the Ninja A-League Women 2024/25 season surpasses more than three per game.

The summer period was also headlined by the continued rise of exciting young talent across both leagues. In the Ninja A-League Women, more than 18 scholarship players have been promoted to senior contracts this season, as the league continues to uncover the next generation of stars. The boom in youngsters shining through has once again been reflected in the recent Young CommBank Matildas squad for the February international window with 25 of the 26 players selected currently playing in the A-Leagues.

In the Isuzu UTE A-League Men, we’ve seen 46 academy players promoted to full-time professional scholarship contracts, with an additional 31 players promoted from scholarship to senior professional contracts. While minutes played across the season for players under-23 is also up 21% year-on-year.

The Isuzu UTE A-League Men has also been named one of the best leagues in the world for under-21 match minutes, with the league ranking second globally behind only the Serbian SuperLiga for percentage of match minutes given to players born in or after 2004, based on current or the last completed season in the top 50 divisions worldwide.

The increase in minutes for young stars has not only seen more Isuzu UTE A-League Men players continue to feature in the Senior and Young Subway Socceroos (7 and 17 respectively in the latest squads), but has also caught the eye of a number of the top leagues across the world, with the A-Leagues recording another strong transfer window. Across the leagues, clubs generated more than $4 million in transfer revenue with a number of players including academy products making the move to the UK, Europe and the United States.

The next generation of stars, alongside international heroes, continues to see crowds grow across the competition with the average match attendance so far this season reaching more than 9,200, an increase of 14% year on year. Notably seven clubs have seen year-on-year growth in attendance in season 2024/25. Free-to-air TV audiences on Network 10 also continue to rise, up more than 15% compared to the same time last season.

A-Leagues Commissioner, Nick Garcia said: “After a fascinating period of A-Leagues action, it’s been great to see the continued growth in some of our core metrics.

“On the field, we’ve seen quality and entertaining football week in week out, led by international heroes and the next generation of stars. It’s great to see more top young talent coming through the A-Leagues and more of our players getting their chance at national level. We hope the continued growth in the pathway will set up clubs, our leagues and national teams for future international success.”

“Off the field, we continue to see some of the world’s top leagues look to the A-Leagues to bolster their squads, which is a credit to our clubs and their continued investment into their academies and pathways. We’ve also seen crowds and our free-to-air audiences on the rise, as an exciting and tightly-contested run home kicks off in our regular seasons.”

Fans across the country can access a mountain of football with every single A-Leagues match available to stream live on Paramount+, while every Saturday, viewers can enjoy a whole evening of live and free football on 10 Bold and 10 Play.

For more information on the A-Leagues head to www.aleagues.com.au

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