The new ACL Elite boasts increased prize money and could open up a pathway to sorely needed riches
Central Coast Mariners won the AFC Cup earlier this year and will play in next season’s Asian Champions League.Central Coast Mariners won the AFC Cup earlier this year and will play in next season’s Asian Champions League.– then owner Mike Charlesworth was forced to deny reports that his club were looking to withdraw, such was the financial strain of participating in a competition that offered such paltry monetary rewards.
Dwindling fortunes on the continent ever since the Wanderers’ miracle in Riyadh has seen the ACL, which has recently been re-branded and will now be known as the AFC Champions League Elite, drift from the conscience of Australian football fans. That will only grow depending on how they fare in the tournament. In the new streamlined competition, featuring just 24 teams , gone is the traditional group stage, replaced by what is known as the “Swiss model”, where 12 teams from each of the East and West Zones are grouped together to play eight group games – four at home, four away – with the top eight from each side advancing to the round of 16.
The real opportunity, naturally, comes from winning the competition. While that has looked increasingly unlikely for A-League clubs in recent years, given the struggle to often even get out of the group stage, the 10-year anniversary of the Wanderers’ success is a reminder that nothing is impossible.
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