Tim Cahill's Melbourne City adventure has been a failure for the A-League

Is the A-League better off after Tim Cahill's one-and-half seasons at Melbourne City?

You would have to say no.

Cahill's profile as arguably the most popular and well-known player in Australia led people to believe his move to the A-League would be a boost for the competition.

He signed a multi-million dollar three-year contract and the FFA even created a new rule to help Melbourne City to sign him.

There was initial novelty after the former Everton star joined for the 2016-17 season, which was helped sparked by the stunning volley he scored in the Melbourne Derby on his league debut and the winning goal in the 2016 FFA Cup final against Sydney.

But interest quickly wore off as it became apparent he couldn't function well alongside City's star Uruguayan Bruno Fornaroli, who occupies a lot of the same central areas on the pitch, and it became clear that Cahill was second choice.

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Cahill turns 38 today and the type of player he has developed into in the twilight of his career is an out-and-out centre forward, who can pop up with a goal in the penalty area, but won't contribute to a huge amount to build-up play and can generally only press for around 65 minutes.

Most coaches are looking for a starting striker who can hassle the opposition's defence every week for 80 minutes, link-up well with fellow attackers to help create an attractive style of play and ultimately score goals.

Gallop was ecstatic when Cahill joined the A-League

Unfortunately Fornaroli last season and Ross McCormack this campaign were deemed by John Van't Schip and Warren Joyce to fit their style of play better, with both coaches also hesitant to concede possession and send lots of crosses into the area, which definitely plays to Cahill's strengths.

With Cahill spending more time as an impact substitute, the hope that he would ignite the league with goals and headlines quickly faded.

Right now, the A-League appears to be floundering in a post Socceroos hangover, with only one match in the last two weeks getting a crowd of 10,000+ and the previous round's top attendance was only 8,215 in the Wanderers-Brisbane match at ANZ Stadium.

Melbourne City's average crowd for the season sits at 8,389 - admittedly with two Melbourne derbies to come - but only Central Coast and Wellington have had less people through the gates to date.

In Cahill's debut season in 2016-17, City attracted 10,528 spectators per home match but this was still short of the 11,062 average achieved in 2015-16 and similar to almost every league campaign since the club entered the competition in 2010.

The statistics suggest Cahill's presence in the league has had almost no effect on A-League and Melbourne City attendances, which would have been expected from the return of Australia's greatest ever player.

It's now clear that bringing aged legends to the A-League doesn't really help the competition - the time that Harry Kewell spent with Victory and City also proves this.

Sydney FC's partnership with Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero is a slight exception with their average crowd rising to 18,000+ during his two seasons in the competition, but since then their crowds have plateaued, and also despite the fact they have been the best team in the league for the past two campaigns.

The hope is that we will see a positive impact from Cahill's time Down Under in the future, through the time he spent nurturing youngsters at Melbourne City, his many youth academies throughout the nation and a spike in player participation.

There is no doubt Cahill will be remembered as a Socceroos legend, the best player currently to have worn the green and gold, and also an English Premier League star at Everton.

He has scored a stunning 50 goals in 103 appearances for the national team, and has hit the back of the net at the last three World Cups.

There will be some enduring images of Cahill at City. Pic: Getty

His performance in the second leg against Syria was unbelievable, having barely played 90 minutes for his club over the previous season, Cahill lasted the 120 minutes and scored both goals to keep Australia's World Cup qualification alive.

Barring injury, he will be in the Socceroos squad for Russia and expect him to play a significant role off the bench.

But unfortunately what won't be thought of fondly is his time playing in Australia.

The A-League and Melbourne City are not better off.

But here's an argument that he was worth the investment: