Despite the fact that some clubs are in dire financial trouble, Australian football stalwart Kevin Muscat is confident the A-League can survive and prosper.
The former Melbourne Victory captain is upbeat about the situation the domestic league finds itself in after six seasons and believes there is plenty to work with for the future even though Football Federation Australia had to close up the North Queensland Fury operation.
"I'm optimistic," he said. "I think we've got to be realistic, (but) look how far we've come in a short period of time.
"It's only six years and it's still a young competition, and we're still finding that there are these teething problems.
"North Queensland is a massive disappointment. Hopefully, the powers-that-be learn from these mistakes and errors, and we can build a stronger structure to get this competition to where we all want it to be.
"I've always maintained we've got to where we've got to by not shooting down things the FFA has done. I'd rather we embrace the positives of the past six years.
"If we learn from the mistakes, it will make it a much stronger competition."
Apart from the now-defunct Fury, the likes of Premiership favourites Brisbane Roar, sophomore club Gold Coast United and New Zealand's Wellington Phoenix are all under clouds but Muscat's comments indicate that there are still plenty of positive thoughts about the life of the competition.