The administrators of the league are genuinely excited about this season and it's because of one simple reason – the football will almost certainly be better than ever. No star names arrived this season but it has been perhaps the best transfer period for Australian clubs who have signed quality players across the board. Foreign players arrived from the top leagues of Europe such as Spain, France and The Netherlands still in the peak of their careers.

"If you look at the pedigree of a number of these players, there's an outstanding amount of qualify footballers coming," A-League boss Damien De Bohun said. "Look at Ninkovic at Sydney FC, Corona just got unveiled at Brisbane and Sorenson will be fascinating at Melbourne City, coming from the English Premier League and as a goalkeeper."

The calibre of foreign players will raise the standard even further this season but won't seal all the cracks still appearing in the league. Brisbane Roar came very close to joining Newcastle Jets in being taken over by the FFA for financial reasons and ongoing instability of Central Coast Mariners raises concerns over the competition's viability. It's little surprise then TV audience and the negotiations for the broadcast deal will be "the single biggest focus" of the FFA.

It's hoped the next TV deal will be what brings it into the mainstream and provide every club with financial stability. However, SBS bumped the A-League to their second channel SBS 2 in a major blow for the competition who came close to securing a deal with Channel Nine for this season.

"The biggest issue for us in the short and medium term is finalising and resolving our next broadcast deals. At the end of the day, that accounts for a significant amount of sports income," De Bohun said.

The international club matches such as Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham's tours have raised network interest and this season's A-League will be crucial in fostering that.

"We're currently in an agreement and we've all been looking at certain ways to get the best outcome of football. We want the most number of people who can possibly watch the Hyundai A-League to get their chance with the market penetration of Channel 10, Nine and Seven. We're not there yet but it's fair to say we have bona fide interest from all those broadcasters," De Bohun said.

The interest in this season could influence the decision to expand the competition to 12 teams if it leads to a bumper TV deal. But with clubs still hemorrhaging money that's far from the priority of the FFA.

"We now have clubs in the right markets and we're building with them to increase the fans' support. The most important thing is to build the existing clubs in their respective markets," De Bohun said.

THE CLUBS

The biggest step from a franchise to a club model was taken during the A-League break.

"It's been a fairly hectic period for us," Wanderers chief executive John Tsatsimas said. And he's not just talking about rebuilding the playing squad.

For the first time since the collapse of the National Soccer League in 2004, Australia's top-tier football clubs will have youth academies reaching as far down as the Under 12s,  providing the most talented juniors with a clear pathway to the top.

The seeds have been sown to produce the first true A-League club-developed player, something Tsatsimas can't wait to claim one day when presenting a professional contract to a player who came through the youth ranks of his club.

"We started out with two or three teams and now we're actually branching out to have not only the senior groups but also younger ages at our club. The younger ages invariably are from our immediate territory," he said.

The Wanderers are the latest club to sign off on their long-term home. The redevelopment near their existing site in Blacktown will begin soon giving them a state-of-the-art training and administration base which will also house their football nursery.

An even greater development will be the construction of a brand new football-specific stadium in Parramatta. A capacity of approximately 30,000 and improved corporate facilities and match-day experience in a modern stadium will lead the way for A-League clubs.

"It enables us to house everything at the one venue which is a very unique thing in the A-League. Combined with the stadium announcement, it is fantastic. Without the Wanderers, that announcement for Pirtek Stadium's redevelopment to be the first cab off the rank wouldn't have happened," Tsatsimas said.

THE COACHES

From the dugout, the view hasn't changed. "Football is still football," as Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold said, but there will be one major difference impacting the state of the game this season.

The FFA implemented a kinder fixture list for clubs competing in the Asian Champions League after Western Sydney Wanderers' horrendous schedule last year contributed to their ninth-place finish.

Even though Sydney FC recruited plenty of depth to compete in two competitions, a better scheduling list means there is less chance of players facing a game 24 hours after arriving in a country.

"Even though Western Sydney Wanderers are our biggest enemy, their biggest enemy last year was the schedule," Arnold said. "This year it took a team that won the Asian Champions League and last year struggled for the wooden spoon for the FFA to look at the scheduling and adjust it."

The salary cap exemptions introduced won't be used in their entirety this season for many coaches who began recruiting before the new rules were introduced.