A-League head of operations Archie Fraser was remaining positive despite a poor average attendance for round 1 of the 2009/10 season.

Despite Adelaide United pulling 13,847 against Perth Glory, all other matches were below expectations but Fraser was upbeat yesterday even though attendance numbers were down.

''This is in line with our expectations - we are in this for the long term,'' he said.

''There is scope for improvement but it's fantastic to think that, in less than 12 months, we have two new teams in the competition who performed so well in the opening round.''

Fraser expected crowd numbers to grow throughout the season, beginning with some big games in round 2.

''There are some fantastic games coming up with the 'F3 Derby', another Queensland derby, Melbourne and Brisbane wanting to get runs on the board, the longest road trip in domestic football and Sydney's first home game,'' Fraser added.