Years ago Craig Foster derogatively referred to the A-League as the English Premier League of Asia. Although he meant that as a negative comment, about our style of football, I argue that we can become the EPL of Asia, in a good way.
Afshin Ghotbi believed that the A-League could be a hub for ambitious Asian footballers aiming for a big break to get into Europe and that eventually the A-League could become the best league in Asia, attracting the best talent.
Unfortunately that ambition is still a way off the horizon.
Our sponsors still don’t pay enough money to match that ambition; the Socceroos are still subsidizing our leagues; and our wages are half or a third of Asian counterparts in the J-League and K-League.
However, with a bit of ambition and foresight I believe that we can make some steps towards reaching that goal.
Right now, when the sponsors are bidding to represent the A-League, FFA or the individual clubs, despite ACL participation, they are primarily doing this to reach the Australian market.
Unfortunately, a lack of population has limited the business scale, and as long as A-League remains the way it is, it will never compete financially with the big Asian clubs.
However, there is one option that so far hasn’t been explored: the South-East Asian market.
Imagine if Adelaide United’s great run to the finals of the Asian Champions League was captained by Thai Datsakorn Thonglao and spearheaded by Indonesian Bambang Pamungkas?
Players like Bambang are rock stars in their own countries and I’m quite sure a similar scenario will pique the interest of these countries and open the A-League up to a very large market that has not been explored by any major Asian countries.
Those countries may take an active interest in the A-League and we may convert some fans to support an A-League club.
The prospect of going into any South East Asian country, like Indonesia, and seeing the locals wearing an A-League top with their star local player on the back of the shirt is not impossible. After all, many Australians ended up supporting Leeds United due to the exploits of Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka, and perhaps an A-league club could do the same with a Suree Sukha of Thailand and an Erol Iba of Indonesia.
If the South East Asian countries take an active interest in the A-League and watch it in large numbers, suddenly the TV rights value will increase. Similarly, the value of sponsorship for the A-League and their individual clubs will skyrocket.
The more money in the A-League, the more we can pay the players, and perhaps this ‘crisis’ of the exodus of players to Japan and Korea may be avoided.
We can then aim to attract the best Asian talent in the same way that the EPL attracts the best talent in Europe, as Afshin Ghotbi envisioned.
Perhaps we can then make Craig Foster’s fears of becoming the EPL of Asia come true.
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Robbos said | February 8th 2009 @ 6:59am | Report comment
I totally agree. I remember travelling in the Greek islands in 1999 & seeing huge amounts of Newcastle shirts worn by the Greek locals because Nikos Dabizas was running around for Newcastle.
I’m surprised no clubs has done this, but I suppose Foster was right, in the begining we were a little Anglo central from where we got A-League players from than Brazil & only now are we starting to even remotely look at SE ASIA. Imagine Bambang running of Robbie Fowler or Thai captain Datsakorn Thonglao putting a thru ball to Viduka. in the A-League.
Dave said | February 8th 2009 @ 7:17am | Report comment
Good thought provoking stuff Das. Remember HAL is not even 4 years old yet. Its reputation, thanks to performances such as AU, is starting to spread. This will attract more interest and in turn players. Australia has a fantastic standard of living and this may compensate for some of the lesser finacial rewards.
It is a process that will take a decade or more…gradually the HAL will become one of the major leagues of Asia.
Koala Bear said | February 8th 2009 @ 8:52am | Report comment
Das,
And why not .?.. Barick Obama said “yes we can” … I believe we can and it should be the dream of all Australians to have a league to rival the EPL … if not a league that is the EPL of Asia..
I don’t believe that Fossie is anti EPL .. Those who have said he is do not watch enough of UCL on TWG (SBS) .. Fossie is an international football commentator living in Australia that many see as anti EPL but he is misunderstood .. (your article) ..
Football in Australia for more than a hundred years has struggled within itself for a united front; for many reasons in the past that has been discussed on the roar for why it did not happen .. In the end it took Mr Crawford with Johnny Warren’s aid, help and contribution with his belief in Australian football to get his report done for the government to intervene to get Australian Football stepping off onto the right foot…
We have arrived and now we are organising, expanding, and competing internationally.. Of course it will take years more, maybe a decade, maybe two, maybe many more years to come after. We in Australia have only just begun the journey as the power house of Asia .. The rivalry with C-League, K-League and the well organised J-League is healthy, and will push each other to rival the top competitions of the world ..
But expansion is the key; a massive population growth, a 24 team comp, promotion and relegation and a 10 month long season all achievable within 20 years or so..
~~~~~~~
KB
dasilva said | February 8th 2009 @ 9:31am | Report comment
I think the difference between getting imports from SEA and other leagues is that SEA countries (that I’ve know of, correct me if I’m wrong) don’t have this trail-blazer who perform really well in the foreign league. Their sides aren’t particularly successful in the ACL. Some of the countries (singapore, thai, malaysia) suffer from cultural cringe – poor performance of national team and clubs in the ACL has made them cynical about their own players. Apart from few of the Thai sides in the past (one of them made the ACL final) they have been judge by an external standards and haven’t really pass. Therefore most of them just focus on the EPL teams.
However having few players from the countries excelling in the foreign league – or doing well in the ACL may change that as suddenly they have a player that excel in the international arena and give the football fans in SEA countries something to be proud of. Also pointing out that K-league and the J-league haven’t bought in to the SEA market as well so it’s very much untapped.
I remember watching a story on Singaporean football where the locals were mostly cynical of their own team. We have one local there (probably ex-international student) who was wearing a Melbourne Victory top but then rubbish his own domestic league (too many foreign players). So the process is already starting without any singapore foreign players. We just need to accelerate it and eventually become a global brand.
KB
Yeah – he is not anti EPl
He did say that A-league is endangered into becoming the EPL of Asia- when commenting of the style of football.
His more of a style police rather then anti-english football
I’m just thinking that perhaps his fears may ironically become true.
dasilva said | February 8th 2009 @ 9:48am | Report comment
Asian player pool a ready solution to talent drain
A-League clubs need to open their minds to the vast talent pool waiting to be tapped in South-East Asia, writes Michael Cockerill.
South-East Asia offers huge potential for A-League clubs to restock their squads as long as they treat the players with respect, according to the assistant coach of Thailand’s national team, Steve Darby.
Darby, an Englishman, has coached at club level in Singapore and Malaysia, has strong connections in Vietnam, and is assisting compatriot Peter Reid for the duration of Thailand’s 2011 Asian Cup qualifying campaign. Darby also spent a decade in Australia, including a spell in charge of Sydney Olympic, before moving to Malaysia 10 years ago, and keeps a close eye on developments in the A-League.
The recent introduction of the three-plus-one rule by the Asian Football Confederation – designed to encourage the movement of Asian players across the region – has sparked a sudden interest in Australian players from clubs in South Korea and China, with A-League clubs unable to compete with the wages on offer.
While there are fears the talent drain will affect the standard of play in the A-League, Darby has no doubt part of the solution lies in Australia’s own backyard. Leagues across South-East Asia are less developed than those in the Far East and Middle East, and players are more affordable.
“It’s a question of the A-League clubs being more open-minded,” Darby said. “I know what the perception is in Australia, that the players in South-East Asia aren’t good enough. That’s rubbish. There’s plenty of players around here who are easily good enough for the A-League. We’ve got a player in our [Thailand] team, Sutee Suksomkit, who Chelsea had a look at four years ago, they wanted to sign him and loan him out to Brentford, but they couldn’t get a work permit. That’s got to tell you something.
“The three-plus-one rule has changed the landscape, everyone’s talking about it. The first thing I’d do if I was the FFA is introduce it to the A-League, and force the clubs to look at Asian players. The A-League clubs are starting to lose players already, and if they want to replace them they’ve got to be realistic. They’re not going to get the top players from Japan, China, or Korea, because of the wages. But they can get the top players from South-East Asia. There’s some excellent bargains around.”
Adelaide United are hoping to become the first A-League club to dip into the South-East Asian market by signing skilful Thai national team captain Datsakorn Thonglao, but generally A-League clubs have been slow to recognise the possibilities.
“Since the A-League started [in 2005], I don’t think I’ve ever seen a coach up here looking for players,” Darby said. “They should be coming up to watch the international games, and doing their homework. To be honest, the A-League is not even on the radar of most of the local players. It’s not in television up here. They don’t know anything about it. There’s not a lot of desire from the players to go to Australia, they’re all talking about Korea, or Japan. But that can change if the A-League clubs go about things the right way.”
Significantly, that involves a recognition that the best South-East Asian players won’t always come cheap. The Vietnamese league pays the highest wages in the region – the best players get about $US130,000 ($202,000) net a season. Vietnam’s star player, striker Le Cong Vinh, recently changed clubs for a sign-on fee of $US500,000.
Indonesia, which pays its top players around $US100,000 net, is the next most lucrative competition in the region, followed by Malaysia [$US90,000], Singapore [$US90,000] and Thailand [$US50,000]. With the tax regime in Singapore about to get tougher, the S-League, especially, offers rich pickings for the A-League.
It’s not only about money. “I think the most important thing for players is to go somewhere where they’ll feel at home,” Darby said. “If you genuinely want them, then you’ve got to look after them. Making sure they’re happy with the food, for instance, is a big thing. Basically, you’ve got to treat them with respect.”
Player Nationality Position Age Club
Suree Sukha Thailand Wingback 26 Chonburi FC
Datsakorn Thonglao Thailand Playmaker 25 Hoang Anh Gia Lai [Vietnam]
Teerasil Dangda Thailand Striker 20 Muang Thong United
Sutee Suksomkit Thailand Midfielder 28 Tampines Rovers [Singapore]
Le Cong Vinh Vietnam Striker 23 T&T Hanoi
Zamani Misbah Malaysia Defender 27 KL Plus
Indra Putra Malaysia Midfielder 27 Kelantan FC
Lionel Lewis Singapore Goalkeeper 26 Home United
Shahril Ishak Singapore Midfielder 25 Home United
Khairul Amri Singapore Striker 23 Tampines Rovers
Bambang Pamungkas Indonesia Striker 28 Persija Jakarta
Boaz Solossa Indonesia Midfielder 22 Persipura Jayapura
Firman Utina Indonesia Playmaker 27 Pelita Jaya
Budi Sudarsono Indonesia Striker 29 Persik Kediri
Midfielder said | February 8th 2009 @ 10:56am | Report comment
Das
I am busy today working on some client works … but the short answer is yes … the long answer to follow latter ..but it will need lots of money and a different media treatment …
dasilva said | February 8th 2009 @ 12:41pm | Report comment
Mid
Thanks for the short answer
I realise that this is very much a long term view. That we have to make baby steps (including stabilising the A-league in Australia) before we become a global brand like the EPL
Although Adelaide interest in Datsakorn Thonglao is a good step in the right directions. Let’s hope he stars in the A-league and also do well in the ACL if we do qualify.
The Auteur said | February 8th 2009 @ 1:04pm | Report comment
Why not get players from Africa too? They’ve got the technical ability and they’d be able to handle the physicality of the A-League. Eugene Dadi was pretty good for the Glory.
dasilva said | February 8th 2009 @ 1:14pm | Report comment
The Auteur
I don’t mind getting players from Africa from a purely personal point of view. I’m quite sure there are players who are good enough from Africa to raised the standards
My point on SEA is that it’s great idea from a financial and marketing point of view and to establish a global brand. All the star players from AFrica go to europe. The few that succeeds in the A-league is not going to effect that much in Africa as they are plenty of players in Africa playing in the EPL, La Liga, Ligue 1 etc. I think it’s impossible to think people in Africa will start supporting the A-league in any reasonable numbers
AFAIK the best of SEA players play in SEA. Therefore this is a place that has been untapped from foreign leagues. If we get the star players from these countries. I believe we can get the countries to start supporting the A-league. If people in SEA started buying A-league tops and watch A-league in large numbers then suddenly the value of the a-league will skyrocket and maybe A-league could become an international brand.
Hopefully the crew in the A-league can see this before the J or K league can.
dasilva said | February 8th 2009 @ 1:15pm | Report comment
probably should be pure football point of view.